22 Family-Friendly Dinners to Make in 2022

Ground Beef & Potatoes Skillet
Photo: Photography / Caitlin Bensel, Styling / Ruth Blackburn

These recipes will help you shake up your routine in 2022. Enjoy updated takes on classic recipes, like chicken and tuna casseroles, vegetarian baked pasta and deliciously cozy beef stew. This collection of dinners has a little something for everyone, so you're sure to find a meal your whole family will love. Recipes like our Ground Beef & Potatoes Skillet and One-Pan Garlicky Shrimp & Rice are tasty dishes that will have you scraping your plate.

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Chicken Enchilada Skillet Casserole

Chicken Enchilada Skillet Casserole
Jacob Fox

This simplified take on cheesy chicken enchiladas only requires one pan for cooking and eliminates the need to stuff and roll corn tortillas. Charring the veggies in a cast-iron skillet adds depth of flavor. Don't worry if you don't have one, because you can use any oven-safe skillet instead.

02 of 22

Baked Spinach & Feta Pasta

Baked Spinach & Feta Pasta
Jason Donnelly

Feta softens in the oven before it's combined with spinach and pasta, with the pasta cooking right in the baking dish. Enjoy this one-pan dish on its own as a vegetarian main or serve with sautéed chicken breast for a boost of protein.

03 of 22

One-Skillet Bourbon Chicken

One-Skillet Bourbon Chicken
Photography / Antonis Achilleos, Styling / Christine Keely, Ali Ramee

Coating the chicken in cornstarch might seem like an extra step, but the reward is twofold: it gives the chicken a crispy exterior and also thickens the sauce. Legend has it that bourbon chicken was originally named after Bourbon Street in New Orleans; it can often be found on menus at Chinese American restaurants.

04 of 22

Ground Beef & Potatoes Skillet

Ground Beef & Potatoes Skillet
Photography / Caitlin Bensel, Styling / Ruth Blackburn

In this healthy dinner recipe, ground beef and potatoes are paired with colorful veggies, including kale, tomato and peppers. Everything is cooked in one skillet, which allows for layers of flavor to build quickly while also cutting back on the number of dishes.

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One-Pan Garlicky Shrimp & Rice

One-Pan Garlicky Shrimp & Rice
Caitlin Bensel

This one-pan garlicky shrimp and rice dish makes a great easy dinner with easy cleanup. The garlic mellows as it cooks and infuses its flavor into the sweet shrimp and rice in the pan. A squeeze of lemon at the end brightens up the dish.

06 of 22

15-Minute Sheet-Pan Chicken Tenders & Broccoli with Everything Bagel Seasoning

15-Minute Sheet-Pan Chicken Tenders & Broccoli with Everything Bagel Seasoning
Jacob Fox

Dinner is ready in only 15 minutes and cleanup is a breeze with these easy broiled chicken tenders coated in everything bagel seasoning with fresh broccoli on the side. The three-ingredient dipping sauce adds just a hint of sweet and spice.

07 of 22

French Onion Dip Chicken & Rice Casserole

French Onion Dip Chicken & Rice Casserole
Greg Dupree

This creamy French onion dip chicken and rice casserole topped with crispy potato chips is perfect for game day or whenever you want a comforting meal the whole family will love.

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Tuna Casserole with Peas

Tuna Casserole with Peas
Leslie Grow | Tuna Casserole with Peas

Maya Feller, M.S., RD, CDN, of Brooklyn-based Maya Feller Nutrition, has worked with many low-income families and is well-versed in the realities of putting food on the table that is healthy, tastes good, isn't time-prohibitive and is affordable. "A traditional tuna casserole provides both protein and carbohydrates to keep you full, and is kid-friendly and easy to make," she says about this tuna casserole recipe. (This recipe was part of a feature story, "The Real Cost of Healthy Food," in EatingWell magazine and has not been tested by our Test Kitchen.)

09 of 22

Black Bean Fajita Skillet

Black Bean Fajita Skillet

You can often find presliced and ready-to-cook fresh vegetables in your grocer's produce section. Use these to your advantage to cut down on dinnertime prep. Here, presliced fajita vegetables are sautéed with canned black beans and Southwest seasoning for a quick and easy Tex Mex-inspired meal. Plus, this recipe requires just three ingredients, not including basics like salt, pepper and oil. You can easily take your bowl up a notch by adding some cheese, sour cream or another tasty topping.

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Monticello's Macaroni

A dish of baked macaroni and cheese
Jerrelle Guy

This is the macaroni and cheese recipe that would have been made in the kitchens at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson first became familiar the creamy, cheesy baked dish of macaroni from his time in Paris and it was enslaved cooks, James Hemings, Peter Hemings, Edith Hern Fossett and Frances Gillette Hern, who prepared this favorite dish over the years. The popularization of this iconic American dish can be traced to Black cooks, like Peter Fossett (the freed son of Edith Hern Fossett), Rufus Estes and Freda De Knight, who helped spread the dish throughout the United States. Learn more about Macaroni and Cheese at Monticello.

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Baked Tomato & Feta Pasta

Baked Tomato & Feta Pasta
Jason Donnelly

Tomatoes and briny feta cheese form the base of the sauce that coats the pasta in this easy one-pan meal. Enjoy on its own as a vegetarian dinner or top with grilled chicken for some extra protein.

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Beef & Mushroom Stew with Mashed Potatoes

Beef & Mushroom Stew with Mashed Potatoes
Jacob Fox

This hearty beer-spiked beef stew is served with creamy mashed potatoes for a shepherd's pie vibe.

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Chile-Spiced Shredded Beef with Cheesy Polenta

Chile-Spiced Shredded Beef with Cheesy Polenta
Tara Donne

Let your slow cooker do the heavy lifting to make a Sunday dinner that yields leftovers for another night. Tuck the rest of the spiced beef and your favorite fixings into corn tortillas or spoon over baked sweet potatoes.

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Chicken Sausage & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan

Chicken Sausage & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan
Jamie Vespa

This one-pan pasta combines tasty chicken sausage and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal that's garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. It's a quick and easy weeknight dinner everyone is sure to love. This recipe is a variation on our Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan, which is a super-popular recipe developed by Devon O'Brien.

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Broccoli & Quinoa Casserole

Broccoli & Quinoa Casserole
Photography / Antonis Achilleos, Styling / Christine Keely, Ali Ramee

This broccoli-quinoa casserole makes a hearty vegetarian main dish. As the quinoa absorbs water and cooks, it creates the perfect amount of steam for cooking the broccoli. Swap in tricolor quinoa, if you prefer.

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Spaghetti & Spinach with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Spaghetti & Spinach with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce (tk final title)
Photography / Kelsey Hansen, Styling / Greg Luna

To achieve flavor quickly in this pasta recipe, we use the oil from sun-dried tomatoes to create the base of the cream sauce. Meanwhile, the residual heat of the pasta wilts the spinach in record time for a fast weeknight dinner.

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Cheesy Ground Beef & Cauliflower Casserole

Cheesy Ground Beef & Cauliflower Casserole
Jason Donnelly

Ground beef and cauliflower combine to create a hearty weeknight casserole that both kids and adults will love. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

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One-Skillet Cheesy Ground Chicken Pasta

One-Skillet Cheesy Ground Chicken Pasta
Victor Protasio

Make this cheesy ground chicken pasta recipe for a busy weeknight dinner. Serve with a simple side salad and a glass of red wine.

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Buffalo Chicken & Cauliflower Casserole

Buffalo Chicken & Cauliflower Casserole
Jennifer Causey

This creamy low-carb Buffalo chicken and cauliflower casserole is spicy and satisfying. Cauliflower and celery add a tender-crisp bite while a sprinkle of blue cheese on top adds a savory finish.

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Winter Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup

Winter Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup
Jacob Fox

Our meatless version of the Indian-inspired British colonial soup includes parsnip and squash to keep it hearty and satisfying.

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Chicken & Cauliflower-Rice Casserole

Chicken & Cauliflower-Rice Casserole
Will Dickey

Get your veggies and your protein fix in this easy, gluten-free chicken and cauliflower-rice casserole. Riced cauliflower stands in for traditional rice, making this creamy casserole low in carbs but—with the simple combination of Cheddar cheese and chicken—suitable for even the pickiest of eaters.

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White Bean & Sun-Dried Tomato Gnocchi

White Bean & Sun-Dried Tomato Gnocchi
Jacob Fox

Sun-dried tomatoes are the star of this recipe— providing texture and umami. Combined with the spinach, they make this dish a great source of vitamins C and K.

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