5 Family Friendly Dinner Recipes

I cook 3 nights a week in my house and making family friendly dinner recipes is mandatory so there isn’t a mutiny.

One of my early blog posts was about my 5 favorite dinner recipes. I wanted to update that post to reflect how I’m cooking now. We ate those few recipes so many times that we haven’t made them in a long time. We needed a break from them so I’m sharing my new 5 family friendly dinner recipes.

They’re also easy recipes so if you’re a beginner cook, these recipes are a great place to start. If you just don’t like cooking in general, you’re going to like these recipes because they’re quick & easy.

A few of them are my own and a few are from other bloggers. Either way, these dinners are made fairly regularly and they’re ones that my family doesn’t (usually) complain about. While looking at this list, I’m realizing, once again, that we eat a lot of chicken. I knew this but seeing it in black & white? Dang.

Alright…let’s jump right into this list! Each recipe is also going to have a note about why I think it’s family friendly & any changes you could make to make it more family friendly if you need to.

1. Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sliders:

Of course these are on the list! Anytime I’m in a rut or am not really in the mood to cook, I make these. They’re so quick and easy and they’re different from our usual routine of grilled chicken & roasted veggies. The components can be made in advance which is definitely another perk. Make these with fries or serve with chips & you’ve got a quick dinner.

Photo of a Buffalo Ranch Chicken Slider, one of the 5 family friendly dinner recipes

Family Friendly? You can make these as spicy as you want them depending on what sauce you choose or how much sauce you put on them. I have notes directly on this blog post (double check) that tells you what I use/how spicy it is. Not a ranch fan? Use blue cheese. Not a coleslaw fan? Just leave it off! Every time I make these, I don’t put any coleslaw on a few of them to please a couple of family members. It makes everyone happy without you feeling like a short-order cook.

2. Summer Garden Pasta:

Photo of a big pot of Summer Garden Pasta against a white background

Pasta that’s light & has veggies in it? Yes, please! I just made this last week and let me tell you, it just never gets old & is perfect for winter too. Pro-Tip #1: use part of a rotisserie chicken (roughly 2 cups of meat) and use that instead of grilling your chicken. Makes it so much easier! Pro-Tip #2: Use pasta that has hidden veggies in it. I think it’s the Mueller brand. You don’t taste a difference in the pasta but you get a little extra vegetables at dinner too! Win-win!

Family Friendly? Well, it is pasta and I feel like most kids like pasta. It’s flavor isn’t overpowering & you can adjust the lemon juice if your kids don’t like a decent (it’s not very strong) lemon flavor.

3. Macy’s Salsa Chicken:

This is literally the easiest to cook meal on this list. Sprinkle taco seasoning all over the chicken & then put salsa on the top of that. Throw it in the oven & voila! Dinner is ready. If you like cheese, add some on the top of the chicken when it’s done cooking and throw it back in the oven until it melts. Yum!

Family Friendly? Adjust the spice! Use a milder taco seasoning or use less. Use mild salsa or use less. Easy as pie!

4. Lemon Chicken Pasta:

Photo of Lemon Chicken Pasta, one of my 5 Family Friendly Dinner Recipes

This isn’t quite chicken piccata (which I LOVE) but it is a lot easier & quicker. I use 4 chicken breasts when I make it (because there’s 4 of us eating) but the sauce easily makes enough for about 6 pieces. Make extra chicken if you want to eat leftovers with meat. Otherwise, you can just have some lemon alfredo pasta.

Family Friendly? It’s basically alfredo but it also has lemon in it. Reduce the lemon juice amount if your fam isn’t a huge fan. You could probably leave it out altogether honestly but I love dishes that have lemon in them! Add some broccoli into the dish so it gets covered in sauce & it’ll make eating that broccoli even easier!

5. Easy Beef Pasta Skillet:

Macy made this dish for us one night & it was a hit. It was super easy too. Plus, it’s finally not a chicken recipe. It reminded us a little bit of goulash so if you like that, you’ll like this too. A tip: we used a 24oz jar of sauce & it was a little dry. Ours might have cooked a little too long but we plan on adding more sauce next time we make it because we like things a little bit saucy. You could always use a small can of tomato sauce & just add a little extra Italian seasoning. (We don’t use the McCormick’s brand of seasoning. We just used Italian seasoning that we had on hand.)

Family Friendly? It’s similar to goulash or spaghetti. And who doesn’t like spaghetti?! The seasoning wasn’t overpowering either so it’s not going to smack you in the face with the Italian seasoning. With 2 cups of cheese, this dish is plenty cheesy too!

There you have it! 5 Family Friendly Dinner Recipes for you to try. Even if you don’t have a whole family to feed, these recipes are great & yummy for you too!

These are dishes that are on rotation for us so I think you’ll love them too. Comment below & tell me which recipe you’re going to try next. I’d love to hear from you!

Love,