5 Weeknight Dinners I Can't Stop Making

It's going to be a delicious week.

By
Laurel Randolph
Laurel Randolph
Laurel Randolph
Laurel has over 10 years of experience developing recipes and writing about food. She is the author of 4 cookbooks, including the bestselling "The Instant Pot Electric Cookbook."
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Published April 14, 2025
Laurel Randolph
Beef stroganoff with noodles in a red pot

Simply Recipes / Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

Every Monday, our editors bring you Simply (Weeknight) Recipes, five quick and easy dinner recipes to make this week.

While I often spend a week eating the same thing for breakfast and inhale leftovers for lunch day after day, I crave variety for dinner. It's the one meal I rarely eat alone, and I want it to feel special.

Don't confuse special for difficult—a 15-minute plate of pasta or toast piled high with tasty toppings is enough to make me excited for dinner. After all, I have packed weekdays just like everyone else, and I often end work exhausted and hungry.

These five easy meals fit the bill. They're all ready in a flash, super flavorful, and don't require lots of clean-up.

  • Tuscan-Style Chicken Thighs

    Overhead view of a blue dutch oven and small white bowl of tuscan-style chicken thighs recipe

    Simply Recipes / Photo by Rachel Vanni / Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh

    Recipe developer Theodora Kaloudis says, "Deciding what to make for dinner shouldn’t be that hard, so I fall back on simplicity. You don’t need much to make a great meal—just a handful of hardworking ingredients and a shortcut or two. This 4-ingredient chicken dinner is a great example."

  • Stovetop Stuffed Shells

    Stovetop Stuffed Shells in a large pan with a large serving spoon

    Simply Recipes / Sara Haas

    Recipe developer Sara Haas turned a classic Italian-American dish into a stovetop 30-minute dinner. "Inspired by [my husband's] love of noodles and sauce and our mutual admiration for a good baked pasta dish, I created this stovetop version of stuffed shells. There’s no need to turn on the oven with this easy (and quicker) recipe," says Haas.

  • Black Bean Toasts

    Black bean toast on a plate next to another plate with a serving and a bowl of lime slices

    Simply Recipes / Sara Haas

    This 15-minute dinner combines two of my favorite foods: toast and tacos. It's cheap and adaptable depending on what you have on hand. Recipe developer Sara Haas says, "This black bean toast has gone through many iterations. In fact, I would say that it’s different every single time I make it. That’s because I love utilizing my pantry and fridge staples to create it. "

  • Beef Stoganoff

    A shallow bowl of beef Stroganoff over pasta on a dinner table

    Simply Recipes / Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

    If there's one thing everyone at the dinner table, it's beef stroganoff. The combination of tender beef, mushrooms, shallots, and sour cream is so good served over egg noodles. As founder Elise Bauer says, "It will put a smile on everyone's face."

    Continue to 5 of 5 below

  • Skillet Tortilla Pizza

    Skillet Tortilla Pizza

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    My life changed when I learned you could make little individual, thin-crust pizzas using tortillas. Now it's a favorite at my house. Pro tip: toast the tortilla on one side, then flip and add toppings, covering with a lid to melt the cheese, if needed.

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