Best Easy Dinner Ideas – Cheap Dinner Recipes To Try Tonight
Want more cheap and easy meals? Check out our favorite 5-ingredient meals , our top 30-minute meals , and food editor June’s entire Budget Eats series. You won’t believe what she comes up with for under $25!
One of the best ways to save some money is to go meatless (and not just on Mondays). And we don’t mean by replacing proteins with all those high-priced meat substitutes (though we’re all about those sometimes)—instead we’re talking about making vegetarian meals out of cheap beans, tofu , and plants. Try our vegan lasagna , our creamy mushroom pasta , our tofu katsu curry , or our vegan crunchwrap to see how versatile and filling these meals can be.
When it comes to weeknight dinner , we’re all looking for something affordable, quick and easy, and satisfying (we’ve got to look forward to them all day, after all). These recipes hit all three criteria, with ease. You don’t have to drop major dough to make something delicious that can be on your table in an hour or less—save money by choosing cheaper proteins (we’re talking chicken , ground proteins, or vegetarian options) and time by making these dishes all in one pan , in your fave kitchen appliance, or via some of our top kitchen shortcuts. Whatever your style, these cheap and easy meals will please your entire family without breaking the bank.
PHOTO: LUCY SCHAEFFER, FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER
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Is there anything better than a one-skillet meal? We don’t think so, particularly if it’s as family-friendly and quick as this one, featuring spiced ground beef, flavorful rice, hearty beans, and lots of cheese. It all comes together in just 40 minutes with minimal prep, and is perfect for when you want to spice things up.
Get the Mexican Beef ‘N’ Rice Skillet recipe.
Parker Feierbach
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The bell pepper is an excellent vessel for stuffing meat, rice, and, of course, cheese. It’s strong enough to hold its shape in the oven, and the flavor is subtle enough to go well with just about anything. This is our favorite recipe, but the customization options are endless—check out all our stuffed pepper recipes here too.
Get the Classic Stuffed Peppers recipe.
Lucy Schaeffer
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With only 5 ingredients, these black bean tostadas are the easiest and fastest meal to throw together. You can always include additional toppings like corn salsa, avocado ranch, or endless crunchy veggies like radishes or pickled red onions, but these are also delicious if you keep things simple, like we did here.
Get the Black Bean Tostadas recipe.
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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A breaded fried cutlet is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and these cabbage schnitzels are no exception. Coated in crispy golden brown bread crumbs and drizzled with a luscious mushroom gravy, this vegetarian spin on a meaty classic will delight meat lovers and vegetarians alike.
Get the Cabbage Schnitzel recipe.
ERIK BERNSTEIN
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Use your favorite jarred or homemade salsa verde to make this extremely easy and flavorful dish. Everything cooks in the same pot for a mess-free and, most importantly, quick weeknight dinner. It’s about to be one of your new favorites.
Get the One-Pan Salsa Verde Shrimp & Rice recipe.
ETHAN CALABRESE
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Cooking the macaroni directly in the goulash means the pasta gets to soak up all that beef and tomato flavor while simultaneously releasing some of its starch into the pan, thickening the goulash to create a hearty, comforting stew. Once you cook pasta this way, you might never go back to boiling water again.
Get the Goulash recipe.
PARKER FEIERBACH
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Whenever we crave steak, this dish is always what we want to make. It comes together quickly and is so full of flavor. It makes us forget chicken fettuccine Alfredo ever existed. If you want the steak without the pasta, may we suggest Cajun butter steak?
Get the Creamy Steak Fettuccine recipe.
ANDREW BUI
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If you’ve never made risotto because you didn’t want to stand there stirring forever, then this recipe is for you. It packs all the satisfying flavor of a slow-stirred version into a fraction of the hands-on time!
Get the Baked Risotto with Lemon, Peas & Parmesan recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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We paired quick-cooking chicken cutlets with a spicy-sweet coconut milk sauce that’s out-of-this-world tasty. Tomatoes (and tomato paste) bring it back down to Earth, so you can make this over and over (and over!) again.
Get the One-Pan Coconut-Lime Chicken recipe.
ANDREW BUI
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We love a classic lasagna, but it can be a lot of work. This easy skillet version has everything we love about the original—including the frilly-edged long noodles—but without the confusing layering steps. Instead, you’ll toss the cooked noodles in an oniony marinara sauce, dollop with pesto, and top with ample slices of fresh mozzarella and a shower of grated Parmesan.
Get the Tricolore Skillet Lasagna recipe.
PARKER FEIERBACH
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If you’re a fan of crispy, savory egg rolls, then you might consider this unwrapped version your dream dinner. Without the need to wrap or fry, this veggie-packed meal comes together in well under an hour. Garnish with crispy raw scallions, toasted sesame seeds, and plenty of sriracha or chili oil.
Get the Egg Roll Bowls recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER
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If you think every bowl of chili should be hidden under mounds of melty cheese and a big dollop of sour cream, this is the casserole for you. With roasted sweet potatoes and black bean chili layered together under a gooey blanket of cheese, this easy vegetarian weeknight dinner is both incredibly comforting and surprisingly hearty.
Get the Chili Cheese Sweet Potato Casserole recipe.
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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If you’ve ever had to make the post-party decision between Taco Bell and McDonald’s, this one is for you. Eliminate the need to choose and make a Big Mac Crunchwrap instead. It features two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed… large flour tortilla. 😉
Get the Big Mac Crunchwrap recipe.
Parker Feierbach
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Want something awesome for dinner but don’t want to spend your entire evening cooking and cleaning? Arroz con pollo (chicken with rice in Spanish) is the the perfect recipe. It’s an easy one-pot meal that doesn’t taste like one, and it tastes even better as leftovers.
Get the Arroz Con Pollo recipe.
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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Craving chicken Parm but trying to eat less meat or save some money? This cabbage recipe is about to blow your mind. It’s even Italian mother-approved!
Get the Cabbage Parmesan recipe.
PHOTO: ANDREW BUI; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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Cozy, warming, and perfectly rich, our classic French onion soup is a recurring favorite on the weekly rotation. But when we want to put those bowls away and dig into something a bit heartier, we turn to the tried-and-true potato to transform the staple soup into a filling comfort food we crave.
Get the French Onion Baked Potatoes recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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Craving chicken Parm but not in the mood for all the time it requires to prepare this labor of love dish? Opt for our chicken nugget Parmesan casserole instead. This comforting dish has all the cheesy flavor you know and crave, but with simple shortcuts to cut down on all that hands-on cooking time (and effort).
Get the Chicken Nugget Parm Casserole recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON
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While the potatoes here cook, the salmon takes a quick bath in an easy marinade that will double as cooking fat in this simple dish. In just 45 minutes, you’ll have a delicious and filling meal that can be customized every time you make it.
Get the Salmon & Potato Skillet recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON
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Rather than crumbling the ground meat as in classic chili, you’ll form those same elements into perfect meatballs. Bathed in a tasty chili sauce, the dish becomes a dip and an app all in one, perfect for a low-key weeknight or game-day meal.
Get the Skillet Chili & Meatballs recipe.
PHOTO: LUCY SCHAEFFER; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON
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Meatballs don’t take the sloppy out of sloppy Joes, they just turn it into a whole new form. Trust us—these little ones are just as delicious as the original ground beef version. Cheesy, hefty, and super-saucy, this skillet dish also comes together in just under an hour, making it the perfect anytime meal.
Get the Sloppy Joe Meatball Bake recipe.
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON
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The Instant Pot is a great way to make jambalaya, a Cajun classic, in just an hour. On top of being super-quick dinner to cook, you won’t need pre-cooked rice or meats. All the rice, veggies, broth, and chicken go in the Instant Pot together and get cooked under high pressure for the perfect, fluffy jambalaya.
Get the Instant Pot Jambalaya recipe.
PARKER FEIERBACH
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A taquito is essentially a rolled taco with many of the topping like guacamole and sour cream on the outside. They’re traditionally shallow fried to get that beautifully crisp exterior. Our version is baked with an option to make them in the air fryer!
Get the Spicy Chicken Taquitos recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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An ode to baked ziti, this dish is amped up with chicken and spinach and features fun, twirly fusilli pasta rather than ziti. Unlike most baked pasta dishes, you’ll skip the pot of water and instead just add more water to the baking dish. Not only does this cut down on dishes, the hands-off approach adds a little breathing room to dinnertime. Win!
Get the No-Boil Baked Chicken Pasta recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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Craving homemade enchiladas and being in a hurry aren’t really compatible since the classic Mexican dish requires many steps and a fair amount of time. Enter these chicken enchiladas, a quick take on the dish that comes together in one skillet.
Get the Green Chile Chicken Skillet Enchiladas recipe.
Ethan Calabrese
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An easy alternative to takeout, our simplified pad Thai recipe is designed to satisfy noodle cravings fast. We skipped some traditional ingredients (such as dried shrimp, tamarind, pressed tofu, and bean sprouts), opting instead for ingredients that you can pick up at your local grocery store.
Get the Pad Thai recipe.
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE
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We LOVE breakfast for dinner, and one of our faves is these tostadas. The best part is you can change up the toppings every time you make them, and they’ll always be an incredibly easy and delicious dinner (or anytime meal!).
Get the Breakfast Tostadas recipe.
ERIK BERNSTEIN
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If chicken pot pie excites you, but pie crust intimidates you, you’ve arrived at the perfect recipe. Classic chicken pot pie filling is baked into a stress-free casserole and, best of all, topped with biscuits baked to a tantalizing golden brown.
Get the Chicken Pot Pie Casserole recipe.
ETHAN CALABRESE
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We’re so obsessed with Taco Bell’s Crunchwrap Supreme that we have multiple copycat recipes. While we love our vegan Crunchwrap and our Big Mac Crunchwrap, we still have a special place in our hearts for the original meat-loving version. They’re not Taco Bell prices, but they’re still pretty dang close.
Get the Copycat Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme recipe.
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