Kid-Approved Meals for the Nights You’re Doing It All Alone.
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You know the drill. Your partner is on shift. It is 5pm. Someone is melting down, someone else can’t find their shoes even though nobody is going anywhere, and the dog is somehow puking in the living room for whatever reason. And you’re standing there just trying to figure out what to feed everyone.
I have been a firefighter wife long enough to know that shift nights require a completely different dinner strategy. Not because I can’t cook, but because I am also the only adult in the house, which means I am doing bedtime, homework, baths, breaking up fights, feeding the dog, and emotional support all at the same time as trying to get food on the table.
So, I took some time to sit down and think about my go-to dinners. The ones I always turn to whenever I’m in a pinch.
These are the seven dinners I commonly rotate through. They are fast, they are tasty, my boys eat them without a full negotiation, and most of them require minimal cleanup because I am not setting myself up to tackle a pile of dishes at 9pm after I finally got everyone to sleep.
7 Easy Dinners for Busy Moms
1 – Lemon Garlic Chicken with Rice and Broccoli
This is my most-made busy night dinner and honestly one of my favorite meals period. It sounds fancy but it takes just about 30 minutes to whip up, uses one pan, and the flavor is so delicious. The lemon and garlic make every bite flavorful, my kids actually ask me to make this dish often.
First and foremost, I got the original recipe from The Kitchn. Over time, I’ve simplified it because hey, I’m a mom and sometimes I need to skip a few steps without skimping out on flavor. So, here’s how I throw mine up together.
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder in a pinch)
- Juice of 1 lemon (optional)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour or 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups white rice (cook per package instructions)
- 2 cups broccoli florets (fresh or frozen both work)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper seasoning.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 6-7 minutes per side until golden and cooked through. Set cooked chicken aside.
3. Begin cooking white rice according to packaging and broccoli (I normally use frozen broccoli that I can steam in the microwave).
3. Add butter to pan until melted. Then mix in garlic, salt, pepper, and flour or corn starch.
4. Slowly mix in milk and chicken broth, bringing it to a boil before reducing the heat. Add in your chicken. Squeeze in lemon if wanted. If you don’t have lemons, you can add in more lemon pepper seasoning to bring out the citrus flavor.
5. Serve chicken over rice with broccoli on the side. Drizzle some extra cream onto your broccoli if desired and enjoy this delicious dinner!
2 – Firecracker Meatballs with Rice and Broccoli
This was a recipe that I originally tried from Hello Fresh. I used to subscribe to their meals and loved the convenience of having every ingredient I needed along with simple follow along instructions.
You can actually still find the original recipe here, but I’ve simplified it even more over the years so here is how I make our firecracker meatballs below.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- handful of chopped green onion + scallions
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic paste or minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 2 tbsp light mayo
- 1 tsp siracha
- 2 cups white rice
- 2 cups broccoli florets
DIRECTIONS:
1. Chop up green onions and scallions, then separate. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In large mixing bowl, add in ground beef, panko bread crumbs, paprika, 1 tsp soy sauce, chopped scallions, salt and pepper. Mix well.
3. Begin cooking broccoli and rice according to your preference. Line baking sheet with foil and begin forming meatballs. Once all meatballs are on the baking sheet, cook in over for 15-20 minutes.
4. While meatballs cook, prepare your firecracker sauce by mixing together sour cream, mayo, sriracha, and 1 tsp soy sauce. Set aside.
5. Once meatballs are finished cooking, serve on rice with broccoli, topped with firecracker sauce. You can use less or completely omit sriracha if your kids don’t enjoy a little spice.
Busy Mom Tip: If you’re in a pinch for time, use premade frozen meatballs. You can even use turkey meatballs, it’ll taste just as yummy, I promise!
3 – Crockpot Bean & Cheese Burritos
Alright moms, I didn’t promise that every meal would be loaded with veggies, but you can always throw in a side salad to just about any meal if needed. For this meal, we’re keeping it ULTRA-SIMPLE and basic.
I don’t know about you, but I love me a bean and cheese burrito and so do my kids. Plus, you can make your own refried beans in the crockpot making it so simple to whip this meal together. So, here’s what you’ll need.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 onion
- 1 lb pinto beans
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp chicken bullion
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ~6 cups water
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp lard or butter (I prefer lard)
- flour tortillas of choice
- shredded cheese of choice
DIRECTIONS:
1. Sort and rinse beans. Add into crockpot.
2. In a pan, grill half of an onion on both sides until browned. Then add onion on top of beans in the crockpot.
3. Add in chicken bullion, cayenne pepper, and garlic. Pour over water and cook on HIGH for 5-6 hours.
4. Switch to “KEEP WARM” once completed and add in lard. Add salt & pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender, blend the beans until desired texture is reached. You can also use a potato masher, but the immersion blender saves a lot of time.
5. Warm up your tortillas and add beans + cheese. Wrap up and serve warm to enjoy. My kids will normally eat these on their own, but you can always serve it up with some spanish rice or mexican corn.
4 – Simple Chicken Parmesan
Another go-to, easy dinner favorite. Mostly because you don’t have to spend much time on the preparation! I’ll go over all of my tips and tricks below.
Trust me when I tell you this is the easiest version of chicken parm you can get. And yes, it has some yummy veggies added in for micronutrients.
INGREDIENTS:
- Kirkland Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Fillets
- Carbe diem spaghetti noodles (these are low carb/high fiber noodles, if carbs don’t matter to you, use your favorite noodles)
- 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
- 1-2 cups of spinach
- Mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan cheese (shredded or grated)
View the easy chicken parm recipe video here!
DIRECTIONS:
1. Boil your noodles according to the package and air fry your chicken breast fillets.
2. Heat sauce in a pan & then place cooked noodles into the pan. Place cooked chicken on top of the noodles.
3. Add add’l seasoning of choice if desired, add chopped greens onto chicken, and top with mozzarella.
4. Allow the cheese to melt & it’s ready to serve!
5 – Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken
Another crockpot win that practically makes itself. Plus, my kids tend to enjoy a sweet chicken, so this is one of our go-to’s when I need a fast meal and don’t have time to negotiate what’s for dinner.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp sugar-free ketchup
- 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp chili paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
By dinner it is tender and saucy and everyone is happy. Serve over rice. Takes 5 minutes of morning prep and pays off all day.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Add chicken into your crockpot.
2. Mix all other ingredients together and pour over chicken. Cook on low for ~5 hours.
3. Chicken should be tender enough to shred with a fork when ready. Serve over rice with any veggies of your choosing.
6 – Lazy Hamburger Helper
If you grew up eating hamburger helper when your mom was in a time crunch, me too. However, I was never a fan. It just always had a very cheap taste I can’t stomach as an adult.
However, as a parent I have learned why so many of our moms relied on this simple staple meal: it was easy.
So, instead of buying the already made hamburger helper, I like to make my own. Don’t worry, it’s still just as simple, just tastes a little more fresh and yummy. Here’s what you’ll need to throw this lazy girl dinner together.
INGREDIENTS:
- Goodles Mac & Cheese (choose whichever flavor you enjoy most, I personally love the aged white cheddar & thrilled cheese flavors most)
- 1 lb of lean ground turkey or ground beef
- Frozen veggies of choice (I tend to use broccoli florets or peas & carrots)
- Salt & pepper
- Drizzle of olive oil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat olive oil in a medium pan & cook ground meat until fully cooked. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
2. In a small/medium sized pot, cook your noodles according to directions on the box. While noodles cook, cook your veggies according to the package directions (I’m a huge microwave-steam veggie girly because it saves a lot of time).
3. Once everything it cooked, mix together in your pan until well combined.
4. Serve and enjoy as is or top with more cheese.
7 – Mini Cheeseburger Sliders
Lastly, probably the kids favorite meal out of the entire list of easy dinners for busy moms are the mini cheeseburger sliders. I mean, who doesn’t love a cheeseburger? The one deal I make with them though, is that whenever I make these, they have to be served up with a veggie of their choice.
They almost always pick broccoli. Now that I think about it, broccoli does tend to be our go-to veggie, but hey they eat it and don’t complain, so neither will I.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 lbs lean ground beef
- Salt & pepper
- Paprika
- Chopped onions (optional, but you’ll want to sauté these first before adding your meat to the pan)
- 24 Pack of Kings Hawaiian Dinner Rolls
- Sliced cheese of choice
- Mayoinnaise
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp mustard (optional)
View the mini cheeseburger sliders recipe video here!
DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook up ~2lbs lean ground beef with your choice of seasoning (tip, add in some diced tomatoes or onions for added veggies and flavor)
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Slice a 24 pack of dinner rolls (I love Kings Hawaiian ) in half so there’s a top & bottom.
4. Spread mayonnaise onto the sliced rolls.
5. Add cooked ground beef onto the bottom half of the rolls and top with shredded or sliced cheese of choice.
6. Place the top of the buns on top of the cheese & meat.
7. Brush the top of the buns with a melted butter, mustard (optional), garlic, and pepper mixture.
8. Cook in the oven at 350F for ~10-15 minutes (until tops have a slight golden brown color)
Serve up with some air fried french fries and veggies for an even more tasty and complete meal! Your kids will ask you to make this one every week, so sorry in advance.
Easy Dinners for Busy Moms, Tips from a Mom Like You
- Keep your pantry stocked with the basics: a bag of frozen meatballs, a few cans of diced tomatoes, pasta, rice, and a rotation of sauces means you can always make something when you’re in a rush.
- I never attempt fancy new meals when my husband is working. Often times, I’m just trying to get through the day between sports practice, school pick-ups, and everything else. Dinner is not an extra challenge I’m trying to take on.
- Here me loud and clear on this one: frozen vegetables are not cheating.
- Double up a recipe when you can. Leftover lemon garlic chicken becomes tomorrow’s lunch. Leftover firecracker meatballs get eaten for dinner the next day. Don’t judge me, this is what works for us.
- This one might sound silly, but using high-quality cookware will make all of the difference when it comes to cleaning up. I LOVE our Caraway pans, specifically our Caraway Fry Pan. I use this multiple times a day and clean-up is SO simple because of it’s well made non-stick features.
So, I leave you with this…if you made it to dinnertime on a solo-parenting night and everybody got fed, that is a win. Full stop. It does not matter if it came from a crockpot or a freezer bag.
You showed up. You got them fed. You got yourself fed. You did it all when you didn’t realize you could. That is the whole job and you rocked it.
Save This for Your Solo-Parenting Night
Pin this post so you always have these easy dinners for busy moms available when your brain is feeling overwhelmed. And if you make the lemon garlic chicken or the firecracker meatballs, come tell me about it on Instagram @thatmomkarissa. I genuinely want to know if your family loved it as much as mine does.
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