10 Quick & Easy Recipes for Busy Nights

It’s 5:30 and you still have to pick up one child from after school activities, another child has to be at sports practice at 7pm, and you have to help another child with a project. Running through the drive thru sounds tempting, but you hate to spend the money. You’d feel better if you could put a home-cooked meal on the table, but you just don’t know how you can do it. You need help—quick and easy recipes that are faster than the drive thru.

These simple, delicious, and time-saving recipes are the answer. Dinner—saved!

Be sure to also check out our 6 easy crockpot meals for busy nights!

If you follow our tips for keeping your freezer stocked with sautéed onions, cooked chicken, and browned ground beef, you’ll be able to put the 6 bonus recipes on the table in no time. With prep time already mostly done, there is little left to do to serve up a delicious home-cooked meal.

1. 30 Minute Hash Brown Potato Soup

Potato soup in a brown soup bowl, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and garnished with chopped green onions.

Using frozen hash browns in this one pot meal is a super quick way to put potato soup on the table without a lot of fuss or mess.

Hash Brown Soup

2. Southwestern Hamburger Skillet

Kidney beans, ground beef, and egg noodles topped with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onions, in a skillet.

Southwestern Hamburger Skillet is one of those great "use what you have" recipes—it works well in many different variations, making it a great way to save money.

Southwestern Hamburger Skillet

3. Tortellini Zucchini Soup

Tortellini Zucchini Soup is an easy 20 minute soup that is good to the last drop—so good that you might need to double the recipe! It freezes well, so it’s a good dish to stock your freezer.

Tortellini Zucchini Soup

4. Skillet Kielbasa

Sliced kielbasa with sliced onions on a white plate.

Four ingredients pack a flavorful punch in this quick and simple Skillet Kielbasa.

Skillet Kielbasa

5. Shrimp Scampi

White plate with shrimp, minced garlic, and parsley on a bed of fettuccine

This quick and easy shrimp dish has a flavorful and rich garlic butter sauce and is served over hot pasta.

Shrimp Scampi

6. Easy Tuna Casserole

Mix and bake this easy tuna casserole in under 30 minutes (the tuna can be swapped out with chicken if you have picky eaters).

Tuna Casserole

7. Pasta Carbonara with Tomatoes & Spinach

White plate with penne pasta, cooked baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, and shredded mozzarella cheese. There is a fork on the plate.

Ripe cherry tomatoes and fresh baby spinach are the perfect addition to pasta with a carbonara sauce. They cook up quickly on the stovetop with minimal fuss but make a refreshing and flavorful dinner.

Pasta Carbonara with Tomatoes and Spinach

8. Pasta with Parmesan and Lemon Sauce

Cooked spaghetti on a blue plate with a fork. The plate is garnished with two lemon slices and a sprig of parsley.

Lemon and garlic add zest to this easy stovetop pasta dish. Pasta with Parmesan and Lemon Sauce is a delicious vegetarian dinner that is perfect for evenings when you need something quick that doesn’t heat the kitchen.

Pasta with Parmesan and Lemon Sauce

9. Pasta with Homemade Pesto

Rigatoni on a white plate topped with shredded parmesan cheese and pesto.

Delicious homemade pesto is easy to make and needs no cooking, just blending, and it is ready by the time the pasta is done cooking.

Pasta with Homemade Pesto

10. Mexican Ravioli

A plate of ravioli covered with melted cheese and marinara sauce and a black olive, garnished with a sprig of parsley, with a tossed salad and a fork in the background

Mexican Ravioli is a quick 5 ingredient stovetop meal that packs a southwestern flavor punch.

Mexican Ravioli

Bonus: 6 Quick & Easy Recipes Using Cooked Ingredients from the Freezer

1. Toasted Cheeseburger Burritos

A burrito with ground beef, tomato slices, and melted cheese, cut in half on a white plate.

Toasting burritos adds a delightful crunch and switching up the burrito filling gives a cheeseburger twist to a traditional favorite.

Toasted Cheeseburger Burritos

2. Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

White bowl and fork with rice, black beans, sausage, tomatoes, and green chilies

Using chopped cooked chicken, onions, and peppers from the freezer along with a box mix puts Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya on the table in under 30 minutes.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

3. Stovetop Chicken

A red square soup bowl with a soup with sliced mushrooms and linguini. There is a spoon in the bowl.

This tasty stovetop chicken recipe is quick and easy and can be adapted to use what you have on hand—just about everything about it can be changed as needed or desired. Add more or less chicken, noodles, vegetables, or even broth, or change the vegetables and/or seasonings for variety or personal preference.

Stovetop Chicken

4. Easy Orecchiette Florentine

Red square bowl with orecchiette pasta, sliced onion, chopped bacon, roasted bell peppers, cooked spinach, and Alfredo sauce.

Hearty orecchiette pasta combines with chicken, roasted red peppers, spinach, and Alfredo sauce for a satisfying Italian-style meal.

Easy Orecchiette Florentine

5. Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

This beloved southern favorite is creamy and delicious, and when you have cooked chicken on hand (which you will if you are following the Secrets of a Busy Cook!) it’s easy to make.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

6. Quick & Easy Mexican Style Soup

White bowl filled with soup of beans, tomatoes, and beef, topped with shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream, garnished with cilantro.

This hearty one pot meal is ready in only 30 minutes (15 minutes if you keep cooked ground beef and sautéed onions in your freezer!).

Quick & Easy Mexican Style Soup

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