60 Best Dinner Ideas

We’re rounding up our 60 best dinner ideas! We’ve got everything from super easy pastas to slow cooked tender taco fillings – we’ve got you covered when you’re wondering: what should I cook for dinner tonight?

It’s the eternal question: what’s should I make for dinner tonight? It’s always hard to balance taste, easy, and heath. Plus when there are just SO many ideas out there, how do you decide? I have the worst indecision ever so I put together this lil round up of our 60 best dinner ideas. Now, all you have to do is pick one!

Our best chicken dinner ideas

There’s a reason why chicken is the most popular protein. Chicken is flavorful, fast, and makes the best dinners.

• Lemon Pepper Chicken and Cous Cous. Freshly squeezed lemon juice and zest with poppy pepper adds a huge amount of flavor in this Greek inspired dish.
• Teriyaki Chicken. There’s a reason why teriyaki chicken is a perennial favorite: sweet and savory juicy chicken with loads of sauce, perfect for serving up with rice and veggies.
• One Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice. Possibly the best comfort food ever: chicken and rice cooked up with a trio of aromatics. So simple but so, so good.
• Malaysian Coconut Chicken Curry. Rich, spicy, and full of coconut flavors, juicy chicken, and tender chunks of potato.
• Thai Basil Chicken. You can make this with ground chicken or chicken thighs – either will taste amazing. This is a super quick and flavor forward stir fry that will save you $$ on take out.
• One Pan Dijon Mushroom Chicken. One pan, chicken, mushrooms, dijon, kale, all the good stuff!

Our best beef dinner ideas

There’s something so satisfying about beef for dinner, especially if it’s a special occasion.f

• Beef Tenderloin. Tenderloin might be the ultimate in luxuriousness. Here’s everything you need to know so you don’t mess up.
• Steak Frites with 8 Different Kinds of Steak Sauces. If you want the ultimate steak house experience at home, make one of these 8 steak sauces and serve up your steak with perfectly crispy fries. Pro tip, check out this post on how to cook steak.
• Tomahawk Steak. Why go home when you’re already at home? Go big instead and treat yourself to a tomahawk steak. Everything you need to know about tempering, temperature, and how to cook your big bone in steak without ruining it.
• Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Bowl. Thinly sliced beef marinated in a sweet and spicy marinade, then fried to smoky perfection and served over rice or vermicelli and doused in fish sauce.
• Osso Buco. It doesn’t get better than rich and meaty melt in your mouth beef shank in a bone marrow tomato sauce.
• Bulgogi. Thin and tender sliced meat marinated in a sweet and spicy sauce, just right for eating in rice bowls or alongside a salad if you’re feeling healthy.

Our best pork dinner ideas

Pork the one you love – that’s an old school pork slogan and I LOVE it. It cooks fast, it’s juicy, and it’s super filling.

• Pork Tenderloin. Tenderloins are a great dinner choice. The cook up quickly and become melt in your mouth pieces of awesomeness, especially drenched in a lemon rosemary, fennel sauce.
• Easy Chinese Char Siu. I LOVE a big bowl of rice topped off with char siu and the best part is that it’s so much easier to make than you think. Marinate, roast, slice, and you’re in rice bowl heaven.
• Air Fryer Pork Chops. These air fryer pork chops are one and done. The herby green sauce is full of fresh rosemary, crushed fennel seeds, lemon, and parsley.
• Oven Baked Tonkatsu. All the crispy crunch of Japanese tonkatsu without the deep frying so it’s healthier. Serve this up with rice and a big side of shredded cabbage.
• Larb Moo Pork. Ground pork is the star of this stir fry featuring fish sauce, shallots, mint, and cilantro. Eat it wrapped up in little lettuce cups with rice.
• Honey Garlic Ribs. Hands off oven baked honey garlic pork ribs: crispy, sweet, savory, and super addictive.

Our best pasta dinner ideas

For those days when nothing but carbs will do, these are our best pastas. Comfort food at its best!

• Brown Butter Parmesan Noodles. These are just like the butter noodles you loved as a kid, but all grown up with nutty brown butter, loads of garlic, and parm.
• Vodka Sauce. Why just drink vodka when you can have it in your pasta sauce too? Creamy, tomato-y, and fancy enough for date night or easy enough for a quick weeknight dinner.
• Velveeta Mac and Cheese. Classic for a reason, this is THE mac and cheese recipe you’ve been searching for. Super creamy, cheesy, and full of noodles.
• Creamy Cacio e Pepe. Extra creamy cacio e pepe that’s full of cheese and pepper and a not so traditional ingredient: cream.
• Ragu di Prosciutto. Everyone loves Bolognese sauce but what about Modenese sauce? This sauce is from an area just a bit North of Bologna and is made with ground pork, prosciutto, and mortadella.
• Weeknight Pasta Tips. Here’s everything you’ll ever need to know about making the greatest weeknight pasta of your life. Grab some fridge ingredients, read these tips and cozy up to a plate of deliciousness.

Our best noodle dinner ideas

Do you love noodles? We do too, we are totally on board for that noodle life. Slurp up because these noodle bowls for dinner are going to give you life.

• Zha Jiang Mian. A super umami forward sweet and savory meat sauce that tastes amazing with noodles.
• Beef and Broccoli Chow Mein. Forget ordering takeout and make beef and broccoli chow mein at home.
• Pork Belly and Kale Fried Noodles. Crispy pork belly and hearty kale in a sweet and smoky noodle dish.
• Yaki Udon. Thick and chewy udon noodles with pork and cabbage, just like the kind you get at a Japanese summer festival.
• Khao Soi Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup. Deliciously warming coconut curry noodles with chicken, lime, and crunchy wonton crisps.
• Mayo Ramen. Don’t knock it til you try it: an egg yolk and mayo mixed into your ramen broth gives you a luxurious creamy bowl that’s restaurant level.

Our best Instant Pot dinner recipes

Set it and forget it with these Instant Pot dinner ideas. Pressure cookers are a dinner life saver.

• Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo. A classic favorite made quick and easy in the Instant Pot.
• Instant Pot Chili. This is a dinner time favorite, especially if you have a toppings bar with shredded cheese, fritos, and sour cream.
• Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Pasta. When you want chicken pot pie flavors but you don’t want to roll out pie crust, this pot pie pasta is here to save the day.
• Instant Pot Pasta and Meatballs. Put everything in the Instant Pot, including the meatballs and raw pasta, and turn it on for al dente noodles and meatballs in a tangy rich tomato sauce.
• Instant Pot Butter Chicken. Creamy, saucy, tomato butter chicken that’s just begging for naan and rice.
• Instant Pot Ginger Chicken and Rice Soup. Light and gingery with tender bits of rice, carrots, and mushrooms in a soy sauce seasoned broth, done in a flash.

The best Mexican-inspired dinners

Taco Tuesday everyday, am I right? But we have so many more ideas, not just tacos!

• Chicken Tinga. Chunks of chicken in a tomato chipotle sauce: sweet and smoky and savory. We love this in tacos and also just with Mexican rice.
• Chicken Enchiladas. Juicy chicken tucked into tortillas and smothered in enchilada sauce and cheese.
• Barbacoa. Juicy, soft, tender spiced beef perfect for tacos, rice plates, or burritos.
• Air Fryer Chicken Tacos. You can make crisp and crunchy tacos in your air fryer! These New Mexico style chicken tacos are filled with chicken and avocado.
• Al Pastor. Sweet and smoky thanks to chipotle in adobo al pastor is perfect with roasted pineapples tucked into tortillas.
• Birria Tacos. Tender, fall apart beef inside a crisp taco served with spicy consome for dipping.

Our best soup dinner ideas

Soup (and stew) for dinner is underrated. It’s cozy, it’s filling, it’s heathy! Soup forever, please and thank you.

• Lasagna Soup. If you want all the flavors of lasagna but don’t want to layer, this soup is here to the rescue.
• Chicken Tortilla Soup. Like tacos in a bowl. Warm and filling with crispy crunchy tortillas on top.
• Crock Pot Beef Stew. This stew will warm up your house with so many amazing cozy smells. Plus, who doesn’t love when dinner’s already done when you get home?
• Spicy White Bean and Barley Soup. Nutty barley, filling protein forward white beans and lots of greens in this spicy, tasty, warming soup.
• Sundubu Jjigae. This soft tofu kimchi stew is pure spicy comfort heaven.
• Coconut Curry Chickpea Stew. Curry, coconut, and two kinds of chickpeas: soft and crispy.

Our best stir fry dinner recipes

Stir fries are the OG quick and easy dinner. Start a pot of rice, show off your stir fry skills and dinner is on the table in no time.

• Spicy Beef Udon Stir Fry. Fresh greens, strips of beef, onion, and spice in a one pan udon stir fry.
• Mapo Tofu. If you love the spice, this is the dinner for you. Soft and silken tofu in a ruby red hot spicy Sichuan chili sauce.
• Ginger Beef and Onion Stir Fry. Full of huge umami flavor thanks to the onions, ginger, and tangy lemon soy sauce.
• Thai Curry Stir Fry Udon. Minimal chopping, one pan, spicy, noodle goodness full of crispy ground pork, sugar snap peas, and fresh herbs.
• Yangzhou Fried Rice. Fried rice is the ultimate stir fry: all your proteins and veggies and carbs in one delicious dish.
• Shrimp and Snap Pea Stir Fry. A sweet and spicy shrimp stir fry that comes together in a snap.

Our best ground beef dinner ideas

Ground beef is the ultimate ingredient. It keeps well in the freezer so if you have some, you’re never far from dinner. Plus, it’s incredibly versatile, easy to cook, and affordable too.

• Bolognese. The meatiest pasta sauce full of rich flavors due to onions, carrots, celery, milk, and beef broth. Perfect for a big bowl of pasta.
• Salisbury Steak. Modern retro here we come: juicy tender beef swimming in mushroom gravy. The 80s are in, right?
• Shepherd’s Pie. Technically shepherd’s pie should be made with lamb, but I won’t tell if you won’t. Saucy beef mixed with corn and peas topped off with creamy mashed potatoes and baked to a bubbly golden brown.
• Swedish Meatballs. Forget Ikea, these homemade Swedish meatballs are tender, juicy, and perfect with a creamy sauce and mashed potatoes.
• Meatball Subs. Juicy, tender slow simmered tomato sauce meatballs covered in cheese on a toasted submarine bun.
• Juicy Lucy Burgers. All beef burgers stuffed with cheese inside the patty. If you love cheese burgers, this is next level.