Healthy Family & Kids Dinner Recipes

We took all the flavors of classic pot pie and made it super-easy to pull together in the crock pot. Look for ready-to-bake biscuits with minimal ingredients to keep it healthy. Biscuits tend to be high in sodium, so we advise only half a biscuit per serving if you're watching your salt intake.

Thanks to the quick-cooking power of chicken tenders, this honey-mustard chicken dinner comes together fast and easily for a family-friendly weeknight meal. The baby carrots are cooked in a simple orange juice and butter sauce which is lovely drizzled over the chicken and couscous.

This one-pan pasta that combines lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal is garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. I call it "Mom's Skillet Pasta" and she called it "Devon's Favorite Pasta." Either way it's a quick and easy weeknight dinner we created together and scribbled on a little recipe card more than a decade ago, and it remains in my weekly dinner rotation to this day. It's a simple dinner the whole family will love.

Air fryers need a lot less oil to create a deep-fried crispy crust. Here, chicken thighs are marinated in buttermilk and dredged in a simple breadcrumb coating. With the help of a little cooking spray, they cook up nice and crispy with a lot less fat. Serve them with your favorite dipping sauce or slice them up to top a salad.

Here we have all the delicious components of a meat lasagna, but in a totally new format. Instead of a meat sauce, we make a meatloaf and fill the center with a mini lasagna. We keep it healthy by sneaking in some veggie servings with spinach and making a homemade sauce that's delicious, beautiful and has way less sodium than store-bought versions.

We gave the plain old taco an easy, one-bowl makeover by turning it into soup! We garnish this zippy dish with pickled jalapeños, Cheddar cheese and tortilla chips, but feel free to mix it up with any of your favorite taco toppers.

Chinese five-spice powder, a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns, adds a hint of warmth and the suggestion of sweetness to this healthy chicken recipe. It's great on just about anything you grill or roast, so it's worth keeping in your spice cabinet.

Prepared pie crusts make assembling these free-form tarts quick and fast. Feel free to swap in your favorite jam, meat or cheese. Serve with a simple green salad for an easy brunch or light dinner.

Would you, could you make this creamy green soup recipe? How about if we told you it's dairy-free--just flavorful pureed veggies topped with a perfectly poached egg and ham? Trust us, whether you eat it in a box or with a fox, in a house or with a mouse, both you and your kids will love this storybook-perfect soup.

No sneaky ingredients here, just delicious comfort food. You can enjoy this super-cheesy mac and cheese in the same time it takes to cook the boxed version. Whole-wheat noodles add fiber, while sharp Cheddar adds richness. A hefty twist of black pepper balances the cheese's salty tang.

Using a pressure cooker is a great way to slash time from dishes that typically take hours. The beef in this rich and flavorful stew is melt-in-your-mouth tender in only 30 minutes.

This gluten-free pizza crust is packed with protein, thanks to creamy Neufchâtel (reduced-fat cream cheese), mozzarella cheese and almond flour. We like our almond pizza crusts topped with veggies to round out the meal, but feel free to use your favorite toppings.

Simmer eggs in a rich tomatoey cream sauce studded with chickpeas and silky spinach for a super-fast vegetarian dinner. Serve with a piece of crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Be sure to use heavy cream; a lower-fat option might curdle when mixed with acidic tomatoes.

Substituting riced cauliflower for rice trims calories and carbs in this veggie-packed dish. Use the vibrant flavors of traditional fried rice--ginger, scallions and tamari--to create a low-carb fried rice version of the classic takeout meal.

There's no pasta here, but this gluten-free and low-carb cauliflower "mac & cheese" is as comforting and creamy as your family's favorite cheesy dish.

Raw cashews are the base of this velvety smooth sauce. (A high-speed blender will yield you the creamiest results.) Nutritional yeast and tomato paste provide rich umami flavor to this easy vegan dinner.

Give buttery shrimp scampi a healthy update with delicately sweet spaghetti squash. The parsley-flecked squash "noodles" slash calories, add fiber and leave this classic dish still plenty decadent.

Fish tacos make a satisfying meal the entire family will love. Many restaurant versions are deep-fried, but our technique includes coating the fish in a seasoned whole-grain breading and spritzing it lightly with cooking spray before baking on a rack until golden brown. The result is a crispy exterior with moist and flaky fish inside.

Chicken thighs are easy on the budget and great for grilling because they stay moist in the heat. Here, they are paired with a fresh corn and tomato salad for a simple summer dinner. When grilling skin-on chicken thighs, watch for flare-ups. Move the chicken away from the flames and reduce heat, if necessary, to keep it from charring.

Grilled salmon and veggies make for a colorful and balanced seafood dinner that's ready in just minutes. The grill turns the salmon flaky and moist while tenderizing the crispy pepper and onion pieces. Round out the meal with brown rice or quinoa.