25 Favorite Dinner and Snack Recipes I Make for My Family
Over the past six months, I have shared so many of our everyday meals, snacks, treats, and simple homemade recipes that keep our home running. These are the dinners I have loved making, the meals we have truly loved eating, and the snacks I keep coming back to when I want something homemade and nourishing.
This roundup includes 25 of my favorite recipes from recent videos. Some are easy weeknight dinners, some are fun weekend recipes, and a few are homemade staples that make feeding a family feel a little easier.
1. Crispy Beef Burger Bowls
These crispy beef burger bowls have all the best parts of a burger, but served in a bowl with crispy potatoes, pickles, seasoned beef, and homemade burger sauce. It is filling, high protein, and such a fun dinner when everyone wants something a little different.
Recipe link: Crispy Beef Burger Bowls with Special Sauce
2. Skillet Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce
This skillet chicken is served with rice, fresh veggies, yum yum sauce, and a basil cream sauce that tastes like a lighter, herby ranch. It is a great way to use up fresh herbs and makes a really good weeknight dinner.
Recipe link: Skillet Chicken Bowls with Basil Cream Sauce
3. Grilled Flatbread with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Balsamic Glaze
This grilled flatbread is soft, chewy, lightly crisp, and topped with pesto, mozzarella, and a sweet balsamic glaze. It feels like pizza taken outside for summer, and it is such a fun recipe to make on the grill.
Recipe link: Grilled Flatbread with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Balsamic Glaze
4. California Style Salmon Rice Bowls
These salmon rice bowls are fresh, colorful, and so easy to put together. The salmon cooks on a sheet pan, then gets served over rice with avocado, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, lime, and a creamy sriracha sauce.
Recipe link: California Style Salmon Rice Bowls
5. Skillet Shells and Cheese
This skillet shells and cheese is rich, creamy, and family friendly. It is made with shell pasta, a homemade cheese sauce, white cheddar, and a bubbly breadcrumb topping.
Recipe link: Skillet Shells and Cheese
6. Crispy Sourdough Pan Pizza
This sourdough pan pizza has a crisp bottom, a fluffy crust, and those little crispy cheese edges that make homemade pizza night feel extra special. I love that it bakes in pans and makes enough for the whole family.
Recipe link: Crispy Sourdough Pan Pizza
7. Chocolate Pecan Crumble Snack Bars
These no bake snack bars are made with pecans, oats, dates, flax, coconut oil, cocoa, honey, and flaky sea salt. They are rich, chocolatey, and perfect straight from the freezer when you want a little homemade treat.
Recipe link: Chocolate Pecan Crumble Snack Bars
8. Basil Beef Rice Bowls
These basil beef rice bowls are made with ground beef, peppers, onion, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime, fresh basil, cucumber salad, and sriracha mayo. They are quick, flavorful, high protein, and full of texture.
Recipe link: Basil Beef Rice Bowls
9. Classic Chicken Salad with Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
This classic chicken salad is made with tender Instant Pot shredded chicken, homemade mayo, grapes, walnuts, lemon, honey, garlic, and fresh herbs. It is perfect for lunches, wraps, sandwiches, or quick dinners.
Recipe link: Simple Homemade Chicken Salad From Scratch
Also: How to Cook a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot
10. Lemon Cupcakes
These lemon cupcakes are bright, soft, and full of fresh lemon flavor. They are made with olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, sour cream, and topped with a generous lemon buttercream frosting.
Recipe link: Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream
11. Ginger Orange Turmeric Shredded Beef
This shredded beef is braised with orange, ginger, turmeric, tomato paste, bone broth, garlic, and warm spices. It is tender, flavorful, freezer friendly, and so good served with rice and veggies.
Recipe link: Ginger, Orange & Turmeric Shredded Beef
12. Leftover Beef Fried Rice
This leftover beef fried rice is one of those simple meals that reminds me why fried rice is genius. It uses leftover meat, leftover rice, carrots, peas, eggs, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and oyster sauce for a fast dinner that tastes way better than it should for how easy it is.
Recipe link: Leftover Beef Fried Rice Stir Fry
13. Kamut Tortillas
These homemade Kamut tortillas are soft, stretchy, and made with freshly milled flour and sourdough starter. They take a little time, but they are so good for breakfast burritos, wraps, and freezer meals.
Recipe link: Same Day Sourdough Kamut Tortillas
14. Creamy Peanut Lime Chicken Noodle Bowls
These chicken noodle bowls are saucy, crunchy, and full of flavor. They are made with a creamy peanut lime coconut sauce, seared chicken, noodles, cucumber, red pepper, cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime.
Recipe link: Creamy Peanut Lime Chicken Noodle Bowls
15. Smoky Citrus Pork on Sourdough Ciabatta
This smoky citrus pork is cooked until tender, then broiled with the sauce until it gets a little crispy. It is amazing on sourdough ciabatta with mustard, mayo, pickles, and Swiss cheese for a Cuban inspired sandwich.
Recipe link: Smoky Citrus Pork Sandwiches
Also: Smoky Citrus Pulled Pork
16. Healthy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
These double chocolate banana muffins are sweetened mostly with bananas and a little maple syrup. They are made with cocoa, flax, chocolate chips, and flour, and they make such a good snack muffin for kids.
Recipe link: Healthy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
17. Chicken Pot Pie Skillet
This chicken pot pie skillet has all the creamy, comforting filling of chicken pot pie without having to make an actual pie. Serve it with biscuits and you have one of the best family comfort food dinners.
Recipe link: Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Skillet
18. BBQ Chicken Pizza with Jalapeño Ranch
This BBQ chicken pizza is made with sourdough pizza crust, barbecue sauce, mozzarella, red onion, cilantro, and a drizzle of jalapeño ranch. It is one of those homemade pizza nights that feels extra fun without being complicated.
Recipe link: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Also: Sourdough Pizza Crust with 100% Freshly Milled Flour
19. BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Slaw
These stuffed sweet potatoes are filled with warm BBQ chicken and topped with a tangy ranch cabbage slaw. It is a simple, fresh dinner and such a good way to use leftover chicken.
Recipe link: BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Tangy Ranch Slaw
20. Homemade Greek Yogurt
Homemade Greek yogurt is one of my favorite kitchen staples because it is simple, economical, and so useful. I like to keep part of the batch plain and flavor the other part with maple syrup and vanilla bean paste.
Recipe link: Homemade Greek Yogurt: Vanilla Bean & Plain
21. Chicken Teriyaki Bowls
These chicken teriyaki bowls are made with caramelized chicken, fluffy rice, broccoli, and a glossy homemade teriyaki sauce. It is meal prep friendly, family friendly, and one of those dinners I know I will make again and again.
Recipe link: Air Fryer Chicken Teriyaki Bowls
22. Simple Sunday Spaghetti with Italian Sausage
This simple spaghetti dinner is made with Italian sausage, veggies, tomato sauce, cream, Parmesan, and pasta. It is easy, flavorful, and exactly the kind of dinner that makes everyone wander into the kitchen asking what smells so good.
Recipe link: Simple Sunday Spaghetti with Italian Sausage
23. Cherry Vanilla Protein Smoothie
This cherry vanilla protein smoothie tastes like a thick cherry vanilla treat, but it is made with frozen fruit, protein powder, citrus, and just enough liquid to blend. It is perfect when you want something sweet but still nourishing.
Recipe link: Cherry Vanilla Protein Smoothie Bowl
24. Loaded Veggie Burritos
These loaded veggie burritos are filled with roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, rice, fresh corn salsa, and a creamy green sauce. They are hearty, colorful, meatless, and really satisfying.
Recipe link: Loaded Veggie Burritos with Everything Green Sauce
25. Simple Birria-Style Tacos
These birria style tacos are made with slow braised beef and crispy tortillas dipped in the flavorful broth. They feel restaurant worthy, but this version is simplified enough to make at home.
Recipe link: Oven-Braised Birria-Style Beef Tacos
From my Kitchen to Yours
I hope this list gives you some fresh inspiration for your own kitchen. These are the recipes I keep coming back to because they are practical, nourishing, and actually work for our busy family life.
Whether you are looking for an easy weeknight dinner, a homemade snack for the kids, or a from-scratch recipe to make your kitchen feel a little more alive again, I hope you find something here that you love.
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it the next time you need dinner ideas or a little motivation to get cooking again.
