Keep this list of 110 Easy Family Friendly Dinner Ideas handy, and never again stress about the answer to the question: “what’s for dinner?”

110 Family Friendly Dinner Ideas

“What’s for dinner?”

It’s the age-old question that has plagued adults, especially moms and dads, for centuries. Especially now that most of us are at home with our kids 24/7, making all of our meals from home.

Even as a food blogger, there are days when I am SO tired of trying to answer this question. The answer often involves weighing the following:

  • what ingredients do we have on hand?
  • how long will this dish take to make?
  • what is everyone in the mood to eat?
  • how much prep work is involved, and how much hands-on cooking is involved?
  • how tired is the cook?
  • will everyone eat it?

It’s time to rethink dinner

Working and parenting in the digital age can be stressful. There’s so much pressure to pursue fulfilling careers, parent this way or that, and cook up nutritious, wholesome, healthy meals that are also Instagram-worthy. And we’re supposed to do this every single day?

I don’t think so.

As someone who creates recipes for brands and also works as a food blogger and influencer, I say: it’s time to rethink dinner.

Stop thinking you need to create massive, gorgeous looking and amazing tasting gourmet meals for your families every single day. Not possible. And also not necessary.

Most kids don’t care about variety as much as parents do. They just want to eat. And frankly, cooking that way and trying to keep interesting, unique, trendy ingredients in stock can really get expensive.

So let’s rethink dinner. Take the stress off of the task of feeding our families.

What works for us

Rigatoni with Italian Sausage is an easy, hearty family dinner recipe perfect for busy weeknights. Find this pasta recipe on http://www.UrbanBlissLife.com
A Top Reader Fave Recipe: Hearty Rigatoni with Italian Sausage

You don’t need fancy equipment or gourmet ingredients to feed your family.

What works for my family dinners?

  • We make larger meals a few times a week.
  • Then the rest of the meals are the basics: tacos, pizza, basic pasta, homemade breaded chicken tenders, grilled cheese sandwiches.

Our side dishes are usually basic. My husband and I eat a lot of salads and veggies. The kids’ dishes are always loaded with lots of fresh fruit and one veggie we know they’ll eat. And we almost always have a starch like fries, rice, or tater tots to complete the meal.

That’s it. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy expensive, no weird or hard-to-find ingredients.

Easy family-friendly dinner ideas to inspire you

Taco Pasta recipe on UrbanBlissLife.com
Taco Pasta

To help all of my fellow busy moms and dads (and those without kids!) out there, I’ve put together a list of 110 easy family-friendly dinner ideas.

If you are part of our Food, Wine, Travel Bliss Tribe, you will receive the FREE 110 Dinner Ideas Checklist in your email!

To get this FREE 110 Dinner Ideas Checklist, subscribe to our weekly newsletter with exclusive food, wine, and travel tips!

This list is meant to help answer the dreaded “what’s for dinner????!” question when you’re drawing a blank. I hope it helps alleviate some stress from your dinner routines, and helps encourage you to ease up on expectations and focus on the joy of feeding our loved ones.

Ways to get creative with these easy family friendly dinner ideas

Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs Dairy-Free two bowls
Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs with Pasta
  • Try having each family member be in charge of choosing the dinners for one week, and rotate.
  • Or, depending on how many people are in your household, each person can be in charge of selecting dinners for one or two particular days of the week.
  • When planning meals for the week ahead, select one dinner idea from 7 different categories.
  • Is there a family friendly dinner idea that ALL of the people in your house absolutely LOVE? Keep the family fave dish in permanent rotation, and maybe just switch up ingredients now and then. For example: Meatball Mondays. Maybe one Monday you have Swedish Meatballs with Pasta, the next you have Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs, the next Monday you have Manchego Cheese-stuffed Spanish Meatballs, followed by Slow Cooker Honey Bourbon Meatballs, and so on.

110 Easy Family Friendly Dinner Ideas

110 Family Friendly Dinner Ideas printable PDF

Now that you have some ideas how to make this work for your own family, here are 110 Easy Family Friendly Dinner Ideas.

You can download the Free Printable Checklist of 110 Family Friendly Dinner Ideas and subscribe to our weekly newsletter with exclusive cooking, baking, wine, and travel tips. Feel free to print and post on your refrigerator or pantry door for inspiration!

Breakfast for dinner ideas

Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Sandwich
Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Sandwich

During the school year, my family eats Breakfast for Dinner almost once a week. It’s such an easy, fast way to feed the family that everyone loves.

Make your own charcuterie board

the ultimate fall grazing table/charcuterie board

Charcuterie boards and grazing tables are all the rage. But they’re also a fantastic easy way to get dinner on the table fast. No need to prep every ingredient to make it Instagram worthy, just plop these items on a plate and let the family dig in!

To create your own charcuterie board, find at least one item in each category:

  • meat (salami, pepperoni, prosciutto, jerky, deli meat slices)
  • cheese (cubes or slices of cheddar, gouda, brie, mozzarella, provolone)
  • fruit (grapes, apple slices, orange slices, bananas, pineapples, mangos, avocado)
  • veggies (carrots, celery, broccoli, radishes, peppers, mushrooms)
  • carbs (crackers, bread sticks, baguette slices, bagel slices, tortillas, toast)

Soups

bowl of Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Instant Pot Immunity Boosting Chicken Noodle Soup

When it comes to easy family friendly dinner ideas, soup is probably one of the easiest, heartiest, and sometimes fastest way to get dinner on the table.

These soup recipes make a complete meal in one big bowl. You can easily incorporate lots of good, healthy nutrition and comfort food sustenance all at once!

Hearty salads

Thai Chicken Salad close up with dressing
Thai Chicken Crunch Salad

Salads aren’t just side dishes or after-thoughts. There are so many salads that make satisfying, delicious main courses, too! Try any of these easy salad recipes that are family friendly dinner ideas.

Sandwiches

Classic Chicken Salad Sandwiches, perfect for picnics, brunch, and afternoon tea sandwiches. Recipe on UrbanBlissLife.com.
Classic Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Somewhere along the way, sandwiches became known strictly as Lunch food, and not Dinner food. But sandwiches provide kids with a variety of nutritious vitamins and minerals in one yummy hand-held dish, so why not enjoy these for dinner, too?

  • Grilled cheese – my trick to making grilled cheese sandwiches restaurant-style: slather some mayo on the outside of each slice before placing on the griddle or in your panini maker. Sounds weird, but this is an old restaurant trick that really does make bread crisp up even more than butter, and adds a little extra umami that butter can’t add.
  • Ham/turkey & cheese sandwich
  • Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches – add-in ideas: bacon, thin apple slices
  • Chicken salad sandwiches
  • BLT sandwiches – add avocado slices to make my fave BLTA sandwiches! Or, make a BELT: Bacon Egg Lettuce Tomato sandwich, with a fried egg.
  • Open-faced sandwiches – I’ve got so many options on the blog!! Choose from Pesto Caprese Tartines, Blackberry Citrus Ricotta Toast, or Spring Crudite Toast
  • Egg salad sandwiches
  • Tuna salad sandwiches
  • Philly cheesesteaks
  • French dip sandwiches

Grain dishes

Filipino Bacon Fried Rice - easy family friendly dinner
Filipino Bacon Fried Rice

Pasta dishes

family friendly dinner idea: Instant Pot Sausage Peppers & Pasta
Instant Pot Sausage & Peppers Pasta

Seafood dishes

closeup of full pan of seafood paella
Seafood Paella

Meat dishes: chicken

Easy Lemon Herb Roast Chicken with roasted vegetables, recipe on UrbanBlissLife.com
Lemon & Herb Roasted Chicken

If you don’t have an Instant Pot or Air Fryer yet, I highly recommend both for easy, fast cooking that tastes delicious! This is the 8-quart Instant Pot and the 5.8 Quart GoWise Air Fryer that we have and use every day.

Meat dishes: pork

family friendly dinner idea: Instant Pot Baby Back Pork Ribs

Meat dishes: beef

Cast iron rib eye steak with chimichurri sauce

Make sure your meat is always cooked to the proper temperature by using a meat thermometer. This is the digital meat thermometer we use every day!

International cuisine

family friendly dinner idea: pork and peanut dragon noodles
Pork & Peanut Dragon Noodles

Easy family friendly dinner ideas don’t have to be equated with bland or boring. Here are a few of our favorite (and reader fave!) recipes with an international taste twist. These are some of my favorite better-than-takeout recipes! These can all be made in under 45 minutes, with most of them being 30-minute meals.

Classic fave family friendly dinner ideas

Breaded Chicken Tenders: a family friendly dinner idea
Easy Breaded Chicken Tenders

In our quest to constantly feed our children wholesome food, it’s important to remember that the classic tried-and-true kid favorites are always a good option. Here are a few easy family-friendly dinner ideas that have always been reliable options for us.

110 Family Friendly Dinner Ideas

Click the button above to subscribe and get these 110 Family Friendly Dinner Ideas in a printable checklist PDF.

Then print out and keep on your refrigerator door, pantry door, or next to your meal planner for easy access when planning meals!

You can also make dinnertime stress-free by making sure you have essential cooking tools and appliances. Shop my personal favorites that I use every day in my Kitchen Essentials Shop!

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110 Family Friendly Dinner Ideas
Marlynn Jayme Schotland 2021 profile pic

About Marlynn

I'm a cookbook author, recipe developer, photographer, WSET 2 Certified wine pro, mom of two, and dog lover. I'm here to help you with fast, easy, and delicious recipes, food & wine pairings, cooking & baking tips, plus food and wine travel guides.

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7 Comments

  1. Erin @ Platings and Pairings says:

    What an amazing, extensive list of delicious meals Marlynn!!! We can all use so much more of this right now!!! Definitely bookmarking and pinning for later.

  2. Catherine @ To & Fro Fam says:

    It’s a good thing kids care less about variety than adults do, because my kids basically eat slight variations of about 5 foods! ;) But in all seriousness, this is such a great resource for family friendly dinner ideas. I’m often in a dinner rut. And now that we’re trying to stretch the time between grocery store runs, I sometimes don’t know what to do with random combinations of ingredients. I’ll be referring back to this post again and again, I’m sure!

  3. Mama Maggie's Kitchen says:

    I am definitely running out of ideas on what to serve for dinner. These Family Friendly Dinner Ideas are perfect! I really want to try all of them especially those Seafood dishes!

  4. Denay DeGuzman says:

    What an incredible collection of easy dinner ideas! Thank you so much for compiling and sharing this delicious resource!

  5. Chef Mireille says:

    what a fabulous collection! This collection has so much variety that I love. It will definitely add some new flavors to my diet for a few months to come. Thank you!

  6. Noelle says:

    So many great recipes in this roundup! Great ideas, thank you!!

  7. Anita says:

    This is such an awesome list! I need all the help I can to plan for my family meals since everyone is at home and need to be fed all the time. :)