Life as a parent is busy enough without the added stress of having to prepare dinner every night for a hangry household.
Between being a mum or dad taxi for school runs and after-school activities, your work commitments, and doing all those odd chores around the house, it can feel impossible to serve up a nutritious meal everyone will enjoy.
The good news, though, is that you don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen to make something healthy and delicious.
Indeed, with a few smart shortcuts and a portfolio of simple recipes, you can whip up a gourmet dinner in no time at all that even Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsey would be impressed by!
Here are 10 quick and nutritious dinner ideas that busy parents should make.
Alternative to Cooking
Before we highlight the recipes, it’s worth pointing out there is an alternative to cooking every night.
When you are short on time or inspiration, ready meals such as MACROS can be a lifesaver as they provide healthy and tasty chef-prepared dishes that just need to be heated up.
Recipe Options
If you are in the mood to cook, you’ll be pleased to read that these recipes can all be made in under 30 minutes.
1. Speedy Chicken Stir-Fry
A stir-fry is one of the easiest ways to pack in plenty of vegetables and protein without spending hours in the kitchen.
For this recipe, simply slice up some chicken breast, throw in your favourite stir-fry veggies like capsicum, carrots, and snow peas, and then cook everything in a hot pan with a splash of soy sauce and garlic.
If you serve it over steamed rice or noodles, you’ll have created a balanced and colourful meal everyone is sure to love!
2. Veggie-Packed Spaghetti Bolognese
You are always onto a winner if you serve up spaghetti bolognese, and a good cooking hack is to make a huge pot of it, which you can freeze in different portions.
The great thing about this dish is that you can make it even healthier by sneaking in extra vegetables like grated zucchini and carrots into the sauce.
You also don’t need to make the sauce from scratch, as there are plenty of quality tomato-based pasta sauce jars you can use to save time.
3. One-Pan Salmon and Veggies
On those days when time has gotten away from you, or you have returned home late from work, this dish is an absolute lifesaver.
All you need to do is place the salmon fillets on a baking tray and surround them with chopped sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes.
Then drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper over it before baking it at 200°C for about 20 minutes.
Not only will you have a protein-rich meal that oozes with flavour, but there also won’t be much washing up to do, too!
4. Mexican-Inspired Chicken Tacos
Tacos are always a hit, and for some reason, this is one dish kids don’t seem to mind helping make.
While you are sautéing the diced chicken with Mexican seasoning and warming up the taco shells in the oven, the kids can be grating the cheese, shredding the lettuce, dicing the tomatoes and scooping out the avocado – which will save you a bit of time.
5. Five-Minute Omelette
Eggs are packed with protein and make for a super-quick meal, so they are perfect for when you are really pressed for time.
This recipe is so easy to make – all you do is whisk together eggs with a splash of milk, pour into a hot pan, and add fillings like spinach, mushrooms, and cheese.
Then, once it has set in place, fold it over until it’s ready and serve with wholegrain toast or a simple salad for a satisfying and healthy dinner.
6. Quick Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry
Beef and broccoli stir-fry is a popular takeaway option for many Aussies at Chinese restaurants.
However, you can easily make it at home by slicing beef into thin strips and cooking them in a pan with garlic and ginger.
After that, just add broccoli and a splash of oyster sauce and serve with rice or noodles.
7. Pizzas
Another great time-saving option that kids always love is homemade pizzas.
You can buy ready-to-cook bases from local supermarkets, but if you can’t find them, consider using pita bread instead.
All you need to do is spread tomato sauce or barbecue sauce on the pizza base or pita bread, sprinkle grated cheese over it and add your favourite toppings like ham, mushrooms, capsicum, and yes, even pineapple!
It should only take about 10 minutes to bake, and you can serve it with homemade garlic bread and a side salad.
8. Hearty Lentil and Vegetable Soup
A warming soup doesn’t have to take hours to cook, and it is a particularly good option during the colder winter months.
Just throw tinned lentils, diced tomatoes, and a mix of chopped veggies like carrots, celery, and pumpkin into a pot and simmer everything together with vegetable stock and salt and pepper to taste.
Once it is done, serve it with some nice crusty French bread.
9. Tuna Crisp
One way to guarantee children will want to eat their dinner is to tell them they are having crisps!
For this recipe, you simply put a big tin of tuna into a casserole dish and add any flavour of condensed soup you want to it. Make sure to mix it nicely and season to taste.
After that, place a layer of crisps on top of the mixture and some cheese if you want. Bake for 20 minutes and serve with mashed potatoes or crusty bread, and marvel at the kids’ faces as they lap it up!
10. Speedy Chicken and Quinoa Salad
For a light but nourishing meal in the summer, toss together pre-cooked quinoa, shredded rotisserie chicken, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and feta cheese.
This shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to do and then when you are finished, just drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice on top of it before serving it up.
