Time-Saving Hacks for Busy Weeknight Dinners

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Let’s be real—between work, school pickups, errands, and everything else on the to-do list, getting dinner on the table during the week can feel like a major feat. But that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor or resort to takeout every night. With a few smart hacks and a little prep, you can serve up hearty, homemade meals even on your busiest nights.

Here are my favorite time-saving tricks for easy, delicious weeknight dinners:

1. Plan Ahead, Just a Little

https://amzn.to/4lFcvPvA weekly meal plan might sound like a chore, but it actually saves so much time (and brainpower) during the week. Take 15–20 minutes over the weekend to jot down 3–5 dinner ideas for the upcoming week. I like to plan my meals on Friday for the following week and keep a dry-erase menu board in the kitchen for each night of the week. I like this magnetic dry-erase menu board, and love that it comes in a pack of 4 planning tools; menu, weekly calendar, monthly calendar, and notes. Once you’ve created your menu, build your grocery shopping list around these ingredients for a focused and planned out grocery trip. Bonus points if you pick recipes that share ingredients, so you waste less and shop smarter.

2. Prep Ingredients in Batches

Chop once, cook twice (or more). Wash and chop all your veggies at once—onions, peppers, carrots, whatever you need for the week. Store them in airtight containers in the fridge and you’ll be ready to toss them into stir-fries, soups, and sheet pan dinners in no time. Alternatively, you can also prep large batches of veggies and store them in the freezer in an air-tight Ziploc bag and pull out as needed for your recipes! I know that for me, life happens, and sometimes the planned meals don’t exactly go as planned. Whether it be sports, appointments, or just plain-old forgetting, this trick helps ensure that the veggies you buy on Friday will last until you need them.

3. Embrace the Power of the Sheet Pan

One pan, minimal mess, and everything cooks together—what’s not to love? Sheet pan dinners are lifesavers on hectic nights. Toss protein and veggies in a quick marinade, spread them on a pan, and let the oven do the work. I love throwing some onions, broccoli, garlic, green beans, and chicken on a sheet pan with olive oil and seasonings, and baking in the oven at 350°F for about 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken reaches at least 165°F internally. Less than 10 minutes of prep and you have a full meal and no extra dishes!

4. Double Up and Freeze

If you’re already making chili, tomato sauce & meatballs, or casseroles—double the batch! Freeze half for a night when you’re too tired to cook, or use the leftovers in a new recipe! I like using my leftover tomato basil sauce to make a delicious tomato soup, or my leftover chili to make chili mac! You’ll thank yourself, and your wallet, later.

5. Keep a Few Go-To Shortcuts

There’s no shame in using smart store-bought helpers. Think pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, frozen veggies, or jarred sauces. I always have a stock of canned/frozen veggies, boxed meals (gasp – I know!), and other recipe helpers in my pantry, because life is hard and dinner doesn’t have to be. Use them to speed up dinner while still keeping it homemade-ish, remember, fed bellies are the best!

6. Theme Nights Save Time (and Sanity)

Taco Tuesday, Breakfast Thursday, Slow Cooker Sunday—theme nights take the guesswork out of dinner. They give structure to your meal plan and make it easier to rotate favorites without getting bored. I also love theme nights because they can help you stretch your grocery budget with things you already have on hand. In my family, Thursday nights are almost always breakfast for dinner nights, because I always have things on hand to make a quick batch of waffles, pancakes, eggs, etc., which helps me focus my grocery budget on other meals and snacks that we need throughout the week.

7. Clean as You Go

This isn’t exactly a cooking tip, but it’ll make your evenings feel easier. I always try to start cooking with a clean kitchen, counters clean, dishes in the dishwasher or put away, because it makes your environment less chaotic to start. While you’re cooking, try to stay on top of cleaning the counters between prep, putting ingredients away when done using them, and putting the dishes in the dishwasher as you go. This creates minimal mess and alleviates the after-dinner stress of getting the kitchen cleaned up before bed, so you can focus on things that really matter.

With these little tricks in your back pocket, weeknight dinners don’t have to be a daily struggle. Keep it simple, make it fun, and don’t stress perfection—just getting a home-cooked meal on the table is a win in itself!

Got a favorite weeknight dinner hack? I’d love to hear it—drop it in the comments!