My Best 20 Minute Dinner Recipes

No one wants to spend hours cooking dinner.  Am I right!?!

I've been working on coming up with a list of quick, easy dinners to make during the week.  My kids are starving by around 5:30 which means I have got to come up with something fast.  I make dinner 6 nights a week and then we get take out or go out the other night.  All of these recipes can be made in about 20 minutes, are colorful and yummy!

Home cooked meals don't have to be complicated, require hours of prep or be really messy.  All of these meals were made with love and the prep work and clean up were fairly simple.

I hope you find a new recipe or two you're excited to try!

CHEESEBURGER SALADS
Grill burgers and serve them on a bed of lettuce.  Top the burger with all of your favorite toppings.  We add tator tots and fruit for an easy meal.  This works well for lunch or dinner and it's great way to eat up leftover burgers after a cookout.

CHICKEN MEXICAN RICE DIP
This is Kevin's favorite dinner dip!  It's easy 1 can of shredded chicken, 1 bag of Mexican Rice cooked as directed, jar of your favorite salsa, corn, black beans, red/yellow/orange/green peppers, jalapenos, chips and toppings.  Cook the rice in a big skillet.  Once it's cooked add in all of the other ingredients.  Stir until well combined and serve warm.  Kevin prefers no toppings and I like more salsa, sour cream, chips and lettuce with mine. 

Build Your Own TOSTADAS
I bought a bag of tostadas (flat hard shell taco) from Aldi for $1.49.  I made taco meat with all of our favorite toppings (pepper jack cheese, extra sharp cheddar, peppers, onions, jalapenos, lettuce tomatoes and salsa).  Put the tostadas on a baking sheet.  Top with meat and cheese.  Put them in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.  Then everyone gets to build their own tostadas with their favorite toppings.  They were SO GOOD!

BRINNER
We all love breakfast for dinner.  We love blueberry waffles (they're faster to make than pancakes), bacon, scrambled eggs and fruit.  I use a boxed pancake mix for Light and Fluffy pancakes.  I just modify the recipe a bit by adding in fresh blueberries. 

VEGGIE PACKED CHICKEN LO MEIN
I buy the frozen veggie lo mein from Sams and add in tons of good stuff.  It takes just like chinese take out for much cheaper!  Saute all of the veggies in olive oil and soy sauce.  I like to do zucchini, onions, carrots, edamame and peppers.  Add in the shredded chicken.  Microwave the lo mein.  Add it into the pan of sauteed veggies and chicken. Stir until well combined and serve.

MEATBALL GNOCCHI
I added gnocchi to my latest Walmart grocery pick up order for the first time.  It was super affordable at under $2 for the Sam's Choice brand.  I love gnocchi, but had never made it at home.  Turns out it's SUPER easy.  Bring salty water to a boil and boil the gnocchi for TWO MINUTES.  Scoop it out with a slotted spoon when they float to the top.

Cook ground beef in a skilled with seasonings, onions and Worcestershire sauce.  Leave it really chunky like meatballs.  Drain.  Heat pasta sauce.  Build delicious bowls of gnocchi - gnocchi, pasta sauce, meatballs and mozzarella cheese.  These turned out to be amazing.  My only recipe note is that this dish DOES NOT REHEAT WELL.  The gnocchi gets really tough when you reheat it.

Hope you enjoyed six of our favorite meals this month!!  It was a delicious month at my house.