30 Family-Friendly Sunday Dinners You'll Want to Make This Fall
Polish off your restful weekend with one of these cozy dinners that's sure to please everyone in the family. From simple sheet-pan dinners to comfortingly creamy casseroles, these recipes show off fall produce like butternut squash, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts in delicious ways. Recipes like our Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice Soup and Maple-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato Wedges and Brussels Sprouts are perfect ways to start a new week.
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Roast Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
This sheet-pan dinner combines chicken thighs and sweet potatoes for a healthy dinner that cooks up fast in a very hot oven. Serve with a fall salad of mixed greens, sliced apples and blue cheese.
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Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
Make a double batch of this quick vegetarian chili, full of black beans and sweet potatoes, and eat it for lunch the next day or freeze the extras for another night. We love the smoky heat from the ground chipotle, but omit it if you prefer a mild chili. Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread and coleslaw.
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Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice Soup
Got leftover cooked chicken or turkey? Cook up a pot of soup! This recipe is a healthier twist on a classic creamy turkey and wild rice soup that hails from Minnesota. Serve with a crisp romaine salad and whole-grain bread.
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Maple-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato Wedges and Brussels Sprouts
This easy sheet-pan recipe brings together many fall favorites into a hearty dinner.
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Chipotle Meatballs with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Enjoy homemade meatballs for multiple dinners with this big-batch recipe. Serve them over chunky mashed sweet potatoes tonight, then make this Chipotle Meatball Torta with Roasted Veggies recipe later in the week (or freeze the leftovers for up to 3 months).
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Sweet Potato-Black Bean Tacos
Tender, smoky sweet potato is the star of these vegetarian tacos. A mashed black bean spread with onion holds everything in place. Serve with your favorite taco toppings.
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Sweet Potato, Sausage & Apple Casserole
This sweet potato, sausage and apple casserole is perfect for brunch or dinner. The crunchy top of the toasted bread combines winningly with a custardy filling studded with apples, sweet potatoes and savory sausage.
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Steak Enchilada Bowls with Sweet Potato Rice
You won't miss the regular rice in these hearty bowls, which feature sweet potato "rice" that's quickly made in your food processor. The simple swap means a welcome burst of color and flavor, plus way more vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium. This quick and easy recipe is sure to become a weeknight favorite. It takes about half an hour to prep, but you can make it even faster by swapping in store-bought sweet potato rice.
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Brussels Sprouts & Pepperoni Pizza
If you want to spark some joy in your house, give this pizza combo a try. Brussels sprouts, pepperoni, lemon zest and fontina cheese make this healthy pizza recipe anything but boring. Preshredded Brussels will speed up your prep time, but try to get pepperoni sliced fresh from the deli--it has better flavor and texture than the shelf-stable kind.
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Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
Fresh herbs, Worcestershire sauce and ground pepper carry the flavor in this quick-cooking shepherd's pie with a sweet potato topping. Ground beef adds a rich, savory flavor, but ground turkey or ground meat substitute would work well too.
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Slow-Cooker Turkey Chili with Butternut Squash
This slow-cooker turkey and butternut squash chili is the perfect balance of sweet and spicy. The sweetness of the butternut squash tames the kick from cayenne, making this easy crock-pot chili just right for kids and adults alike. For those who prefer a spicier chili, just pass hot sauce at the table.
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Roasted Gnocchi & Brussels Sprouts with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
In this quick vegetarian dinner recipe, you can skip boiling the gnocchi--they'll cook through while roasting on the sheet pan with the rest of the ingredients. If you can't find Meyer lemons, use 1 small regular lemon in Step 2 and use 4 teaspoons lemon juice and 2 teaspoons orange juice in Step 4.
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Noodle-Less Butternut Squash Lasagna
Slices of butternut squash stand in for noodles in this veggie-packed lasagna with spinach, mushrooms and a creamy Parmesan cheese sauce. You can make the Parmesan cheese sauce with regular flour or swap in gluten-free flour to make this dish gluten-free. Look for a squash with a long, straight neck for the best results. Serve with a green salad for a vegetarian meal that you'd be happy to serve to company.
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Four-Bean & Pumpkin Chili
This healthy vegetarian chili has a fragrant touch of cinnamon for added flavor. Let diners top it with whatever suits their taste.
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Garlic Roasted Salmon & Brussels Sprouts
Roasting salmon on top of Brussels sprouts and garlic, flavored with wine and fresh oregano, is simple enough for a weeknight meal yet sophisticated enough to serve to company. Serve with whole-wheat couscous.
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Italian Pork with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
This simple Italian-inspired recipe combines pork shoulder with aromatic fennel. As the pork cooks, its juices drip down to flavor the sweet potatoes that are nestled in the bottom of the slow cooker. Serve with steamed green beans for a complete meal.
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Parmesan Chicken & Brussels Sprouts
Parmesan and breadcrumbs combine for a crispy chicken topping without having to go through the full dredging process. While your oven's on, roast some potatoes to serve alongside for a balanced, filling meal.
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Layered Brisket Dinner with Tangy Mustard Sauce
Perfectly seasoned red potatoes and baby carrots accompany this filling brisket dish.
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Butternut Squash & Black Bean Tostadas
The butternut squash-and-black bean base in these healthy vegetarian tostadas has a mild, sweet-spicy flavor thanks to ancho chile powder. If you can't find ancho chile powder, other mildly spicy chili powder can be used. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.
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Butternut Squash Carbonara with Broccoli
You've never had carbonara quite like this! Loaded with veggies, this spiralized veggie noodle recipe is a healthy copycat of a traditional carbonara recipe. Butternut squash gets spiralized into long, tender noodles for a lower-carb version of this creamy, cheesy pasta dish. Look for a squash with a large, straight neck to make the longest veggie noodles.
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Honey-Mustard Pork with Spinach & Smashed White Beans
Drizzle the quick honey-mustard pan sauce over the pork and beans in this 30-minute dinner for a comforting, healthy weeknight meal.
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Dijon Chicken with Roasted Broccoli & Butternut Squash
Precubed butternut squash is a timesaver in this easy baked chicken recipe. Look for it in the produce section.
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Braised Beef and Root Vegetables with Butternut Squash Polenta
Tender pot roast and tasty root vegetables are served on a bed of creamy butternut squash polenta. If you aren't a fan of polenta, you can serve this recipe with mashed sweet potatoes. Peel and cube 2 medium sweet potatoes; cook in boiling water until tender. Drain and mash, adding fat-free milk, then season with salt.
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Sheet-Pan Mediterranean Chicken, Brussels Sprouts & Gnocchi
In this healthy dinner recipe, chicken thighs, Brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes and packaged gnocchi are all roasted on the same sheet pan for a complete meal that couldn't be easier to make. And though it's simple, this dish gets tons of flavor from Mediterranean seasonings, including garlic, oregano and red-wine vinegar. It all adds up to a dish that's ready to go into heavy weeknight rotation in your house.
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Chicken Tacos with Brussels Sprouts
To add a variety of textures to these chicken tacos, we poach the chicken to keep it super-tender and moist while broiling the Brussels for a crisp mix-in. The creamy sauce rounds out the combo.
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Lemon-Garlic Dump Dinner with Chicken, Potatoes & Brussels Sprouts
Tender chicken breast is bathed in a lemony marinade that brings a bright pop of flavor to this one-dish meal. The vegetables get crispy edges and, along with the juicy chicken, make this a winning combo.
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Taco Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
Revamp traditional shepherd's pie with this Tex-Mex take on the classic comfort food with taco seasoning, black beans and a little jalapeño. The flavor- and veggie-packed filling gets topped with cilantro-lime sweet potatoes for a satisfying and healthy dinner recipe.
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Maple-Bourbon Chicken with Grilled Sweet Potatoes
The sweetness in this Maple-Bourbon Chicken recipe is from the real maple syrup and grilled sweet potatoes. Bacon is also included!
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Maple-Mustard Pork with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cauliflower
The combination of sweet maple syrup and tangy mustard makes a flavorful marinade for quick-cooking pork loin chops in this healthy dinner recipe. Serve with roasted sweet potatoes and cauliflower for an easy, tasty meal that's ready in under a half an hour (if you marinate the pork ahead of time).
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Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Layering apple slices into grilled cheese sandwiches adds a little crunch to a favorite soup dipper. And creamy butternut squash soup with ginger, cumin and turmeric is a nice change of pace from grilled cheese's usual tomato soup partner. Serve the duo for a comforting and easy weeknight dinner for the family. The soup keeps well in the fridge, so save leftovers for lunch or dinner later in the week.