49 Easy Recipes with Dinner Shortcuts for Busy Moms
These dinner shortcuts for busy moms exist because we know we all have those tired days, the ones where by five you have nothing left and we’re all hungry.
And I love a good shortcut. Grab a rotisserie chicken from the store and turn it into a quick and yummy rice dish with any good veggie, crispy tacos, or quesadillas. These dishes can turn out even better than the dish you cooked for hours.
If you can incorporate a shortcut here and there, then you save tons of time at the end of the recipe and the whole family is happy, and you’re the happiest because there’s less prep and less cleanup.
What Dinner Shortcuts Actually Save You Time
The dinner shortcuts I love are the ones that take away a step I was already dreading. A cooked chicken saves at least forty minutes and a hot oven. A bag of frozen sweet potato chunks takes away the peeling and the cubing, which is honestly the part I put off every single time.
The ones I skip are the ones that swap out a whole recipe for something that tastes like a packet. Everything here still asks for about ten minutes of your hands, and I think that’s what keeps it feeling like you cooked.
I’ve organized these by what you already have rather than by the dish, so find whatever’s sitting in your kitchen and start there.
Recipes with Delicious Rotisserie Chicken For The Ultimate Dinner Shortcuts
I love to grab a rotisserie chicken when I’m at the store, and honestly it saves my whole week. Pull the meat off the bone the night you bring it home and keep it in a container in the fridge. That way you have shredded chicken ready for three different dinners.
High Protein Dill Pickle Chicken Salad With Zero Mayo
Shred a rotisserie chicken and there’s nothing left to cook at all. No mayo to make either, or you can add mayo, but add jarred dill pickles and you have the best chicken salad.
Cheesy Crispy Rotisserie Chicken Tacos
The chicken is already cooked, so all you’re doing is crisping it with cheese until the edges go golden. I love these on a night with nothing planned. YOu can shred it or cut the chicken into dices.
Rotisserie Chicken Quesadillas with Veggie Fajitas
Quesadillas built from leftover chicken and whatever peppers are in the drawer. I make these the night after a roast chicken.
Rotisserie Chicken Blue Corn Tostadas
Warm shredded chicken over blue corn tostadas with cheese and lime. Everyone builds their own. Nobody needs a plate.
Healthy Rotisserie Chicken and Rice Skillet
Chicken and rice in one skillet with the chicken already cooked. Twenty minutes from the fridge to the table.
The Rotisserie Chicken and Broccoli Rice I Make with Leftovers
Broccoli and rice and shredded chicken, all in one pan. The dinner I make on the third night when the chicken is nearly gone.
Keep Tortillas in the Pantry to Save Last Minute Dinner
I love keeping tortillas in the pantry for moments like these, because they can always save dinner. Grab a protein you already have, or cook one quickly, and serve it in a warm tortilla with a little cheese.
20-Minute Cheesy Elote Quesadilla with Cumin Lime Crema
Buy the cotija already crumbled and the corn already frozen and you’ve taken out the only slow part. Twenty minutes, and completely meatless.
Cilantro Lime Chicken Quesadillas
Swap in rotisserie chicken instead of cooking the thighs and it drops to about ten minutes. I love a dinner that short.
Extra Cheesy Chiles Rellenos Quesadillas
Roasting and peeling poblanos is honestly the part I always put off, so a can of whole green chiles saves the night. All of chiles rellenos with none of the frying.
Stuffed Sweet Corn Poblano Quesadillas
Canned corn and jarred roasted poblanos mean nothing to roast and nothing to shuck. There’s warmth here without any real heat, so everyone eats it.
Mini Chicken Quesadillas
I make a whole tray of these on a Sunday with rotisserie chicken. They reheat beautifully all week, which is really the point of them.
Mini Crispy Baked Ground Beef Tacos in Just 35 Minutes
These bake instead of fry, so there’s no pan of oil to stand over. Pre-shredded cheese and a packet of seasoning make them faster still.
Canned Foods and Low Sodium Broth Make Dinner
I buy low sodium chicken broth in bulk and keep beans and tomatoes in the pantry at all times. Honestly, that’s most of what stands between a tired Tuesday and dinner. Open a few cans, add broth, and you’re most of the way there.
Loaded Cheesy Beef Nachos
Canned black beans, jarred salsa and pre-shredded cheese on one sheet pan. I love that it’s filling enough to be a real Friday night dinner.
Extra Cheesy Creamy Lasagna Soup
Everything lasagna has with none of the layering. Canned tomatoes and a carton of broth do the base, and the ricotta goes on at the end.
Creamy Mexican Street Corn Chicken Soup in 30 Minutes
A carton of broth, frozen corn and rotisserie chicken, so there’s almost nothing to prep before it goes on the stove.
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
This is what saves dinner on a cold night with nothing planned. Canned enchilada sauce and a carton of broth do the heavy lifting.
Healthy Ground Chicken Taco Soup
Canned beans, canned corn, a carton of broth and a packet of taco seasoning. One pot, and it feeds everyone twice.
Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Soup
I love that this one comes almost entirely out of the pantry. Canned beans, canned corn, a carton of broth, and rotisserie chicken when you want it faster.
Smoky Tomato Chicken and Corn Soup
A can of fire-roasted tomatoes gives you all that smoky flavor without ever touching a grill. It freezes beautifully for the week after, too.
Colombian Chicken Stew (Sudado de Pollo)
This is the one I grew up eating, and it still makes enough for two nights. A carton of low sodium broth, and a jar of sofrito if you haven’t made your own.
20-Minutes For The Best Canned Black Beans
A can, twenty minutes with garlic and cumin, and no planning ahead at all. Over rice it’s dinner on its own.
25-Minute Seasoned Ground Beef
One pound of this turns into nachos or tacos or a whole tray of quesadillas. A can of tomato sauce brings it together in twenty-five minutes.
Quick Corn Tuna Salad
Canned tuna and canned corn, and honestly that’s the whole recipe. I make it when twenty minutes is more than I have in me.
The Best Tuna Salad Recipe For Sandwiches
A can of tuna is my original shortcut dinner. Nothing to cook, nothing to thaw, and it feeds everyone on the worst kind of night.
Cuban Beef Picadillo That Solves Weeknight Dinner
The beef browns in about ten minutes and everything else comes out of the pantry. Olives, capers, a can of tomato sauce, and a jar of sofrito if you haven’t made your own.
Black Beans and Rice with Green Chiles
Canned beans, canned green chiles, a pouch of microwave rice. Nothing to chop, nothing to soak, honestly nothing to think about.
Vegan Arroz con Gandules
A jar of sofrito saves you the blender and the cleanup. I love that it’s meatless and cheap and stretches further than almost anything here.
45-Minute Creamy Coconut Milk Chicken Thighs
One can of coconut milk which you should always keep stocked in the pantry. same with low sodium stock to make, and these two come together to make the best creamy coconut sauce.
Tortilla Chip Enchilada Skillet
Rolling enchiladas is the part that takes me forever, so this skips it entirely. Canned enchilada sauce, a bag of chips, pre-shredded cheese.
One Pan Dinner Shortcuts
My favorite thing about these is not having a sink full of pans waiting at nine o’clock. Pull out one skillet or one sheet pan, get everything in it, and let the oven or the stove do the rest while you sit down for a minute.
One-Skillet Onion and Pepper Kielbasa with Rice
Kielbasa comes already cooked, and frozen pepper strips mean no chopping at all. Really you’re just warming everything through.
One-Skillet Sweet Corn Fried Rice with Kielbasa
Kielbasa is already cooked (the best dinner shortcut) and the corn comes from a can or frozen. This is mostly just stirring, and leftover rice makes it faster still.
Cajun Sausage and Rice
This is my favorite for a week when I haven’t been to the store. Pre-cooked andouille needs nothing but browning, and cajun seasoning does all the flavoring.
Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
Peeling and cubing sweet potatoes is the step I always dread, so buy them already cubed and frozen. Everything cooks in the same skillet anyway.
Quick and Easy Arroz con Carne
Steak and rice in the same pot, and a pouch of microwave rice makes it faster still. There’s nothing to serve alongside it, which I love.
One-Pan Pork Belly Fried Rice
I buy the slow-cooked pork belly from Trader Joe’s, and it only needs a quick stir-fry to crisp. Leftover rice and frozen pineapple do the rest.
Sheet-Pan 15-Minute Steak
A whole Trader Joe’s haul on a single sheet pan. Ribeye, baby corn and scallions roasting together, and I still love that it’s fifteen minutes.
Frozen Fries and Shrimp for the Easiest Nights
These lean more casual than the rest. Honestly, some nights that’s exactly right. Keep a bag of fries and a bag of breaded shrimp on hand, turn on the oven, and make something to dip while it bakes.
Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos
Buy a bag of frozen popcorn shrimp and the hard part is done for you. Bake it while you whisk the sauce, and honestly nobody will guess.
Taco Bell Nacho Fries
I keep frozen fries on hand for nights exactly like this. The seasoning and a drizzle of nacho cheese do the rest, and it tastes like the drive-through.
In-N-Out Animal Style Fries
Frozen fries and frozen diced onions, so the only real cooking is caramelizing the onions while the fries bake. It asks almost nothing of you.
Popeyes Cajun Fries
You probably already own the spice blend for these. A bag of frozen fries, three minutes of real work, and they taste like the drive-through.
Loaded Fries with Bacon Cheddar and Ranch
This is my favorite kind of loud, messy dinner. Frozen fries, pre-cooked bacon from the packet, ranch from a bottle, twelve minutes in the oven.
Thirty Minutes or Less
These are the ones I turn to when I have nothing left in the tank. Everything here is on the table in about half an hour, so start the rice or the pasta first and let the protein cook while it goes.
Smoky Shrimp Pasta with Angel Hair and Sweet Onions
Frozen shrimp thaw under cold water in about five minutes. Angel hair cooks in three. Dinner before the table is even set.
Easy 20-Minute Chimichurri Shrimp With Tomatoes
Frozen shrimp again, and twenty minutes start to finish. I keep a bag in the freezer for exactly this kind of night.
30-Minute Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta
I stopped ordering this out because the copycat is so close. A can of chipotles in adobo carries the entire sauce.
30-Minute Bistec de Carne
Ask the butcher to slice the steak thin and it cooks in about four minutes. Rice underneath, a fried egg on top, and I could eat it every week.
30-Minute Seared Salmon with Lemon Orzo
It still surprises me that this goes from freezer to table in half an hour. The fillets thaw in cold water while the orzo cooks.
Sazon-Spiced Miso Butter Salmon
A packet of sazon does all the seasoning work, and frozen fillets are completely fine here. Twenty-five minutes from start to finish.
Air Fryer Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
My shortcut here is the air fryer, especially on a night when standing at the stove feels like too much. Season them, set it, walk away.
Southwest Chicken Wrap with Chipotle Crema
Rotisserie chicken and a tortilla, and honestly that’s it. I make an extra one for lunch the next day.
If You Like This You’ll Love These
Here are a few others I’ve made and loved:
Rotisserie Chicken Recipes That Save Dinner for everything else one bird can become.
32 Cheap Family Dinners Your Family Will Love for the weeks that get tight.
25-Minute Seasoned Ground Beef since it’s the base for a lot of this list.
45 Family Dinner Ideas When You’re Craving Mexican for the nights you have a little more time.
If you try any of these dinner shortcuts, leave a comment. I love reading your comments and will try to get back to every single one.
