Healthy Recipes Healthy Mealtime Recipes Healthy Dinner Recipes Healthy Family & Kids Dinner Recipes 18 Family-Friendly Summer Dinners with Three Steps or Less By Danielle DeAngelis Danielle DeAngelis Instagram Twitter Website Danielle DeAngelis is a rising journalist and current Fellow for EatingWell.com. Through her previous experiences as a news writer, she has focused on covering sustainability and human interest stories. Her passions of reading, writing and eating local all guide her in her position at EatingWell. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Published on July 23, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos These delicious meals are guaranteed to impress the whole family. With only three steps or less, these recipes are packed with summer ingredients like tomatoes and basil. Recipes like our BBQ Chicken Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw and Black Bean Fajita Skillet will have everyone digging in for seconds. 01 of 18 BBQ Chicken Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw View Recipe This zippy, creamy slaw is so good you might find yourself making it for other sandwiches. Still, it pairs beautifully with the tangy pulled chicken for an incredibly quick dinner you can make even on your busiest nights. To save even more time, use a preshredded coleslaw blend. 02 of 18 One-Pot Spinach, Chicken Sausage & Feta Pasta View Recipe A little bit of Sunday meal prep goes a long way in this one-dish Greek-inspired pasta recipe. The pasta is cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge to use for meals all week, but any leftover cooked pasta you have on hand will do. Chicken sausage with feta is especially good in this recipe. 03 of 18 One-Pan Chicken Parmesan Pasta View Recipe This chicken Parmesan pasta uses the one-pot pasta method to cook your noodles, chicken and sauce all in one skillet for a fast and easy dinner with minimal cleanup. Finish the dish under the broiler to achieve a delicious melted cheese crust. 04 of 18 Stuffed Potatoes with Salsa & Beans View Recipe Taco night meets baked potato night with this simple recipe for loaded baked potatoes with salsa, beans and avocado. This easy, healthy family dinner comes together with just 10 minutes of active time, so you can make it on even the busiest of weeknights. This recipe is just as delicious with sweet potatoes in place of russets. 05 of 18 Homemade Chicken Tenders with Everything Bagel Seasoning over Salad View Recipe Using everything bagel spice is a quick way to season and add extra crunch to breadcrumbs for chicken tenders. If you can't find any premixed, make your own by combining equal parts dried minced onion and garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, salt and ground pepper (see Associated Recipes). This healthy chicken recipe tops a simple salad for an easy dinner that's ready in 25 minutes. 06 of 18 Black Bean Fajita Skillet View Recipe 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. 07 of 18 Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole View Recipe Katie Webster Casseroles make perfect meal-prep dinners--this enchilada version is so easy to prep ahead. The whole casserole can be built and left to hang out in the refrigerator for up to three days. Then all you have to do is bake it off on a busy night and you have a healthy dinner on the table in a jiff. The quick homemade enchilada sauce in this recipe is great when you don't have any of the canned sauce on hand--just season crushed tomatoes with spices and salt for an instant enchilada sauce. 08 of 18 Skillet Chili Mac View Recipe Poblanos add a kick of heat to this chili mac recipe. If that's not your thing, swap in green bell peppers to tone down the heat in this easy pasta dish, which mashes up mac and cheese and chili into a seriously satisfying skillet dinner. 09 of 18 Air-Fryer Turkey Stuffed Peppers View Recipe Stuffed peppers are a classic family meal--and they're fun to eat, too. Instead of roasting the sweet peppers in the oven, use an air fryer to get them crisp-tender but not soggy. 10 of 18 Spinach-&-Artichoke-Dip Grilled Cheese View Recipe Jacob Fox This spinach-and-artichoke-dip grilled cheese offers the classic ooey-gooey filling, packed with plenty of spinach and artichokes, between two slices of crispy toasted bread so you can ditch the dipping. 11 of 18 Creamy Spinach Pasta View Recipe This might be one of the creamiest light pasta dishes you've ever had! The mascarpone cheese adds a richness to the spinach pasta that's unexpected--especially in a healthy pasta recipe. 12 of 18 Two-Ingredient-Dough Margherita Pizza View Recipe You won't believe how quick and easy it is to make this healthy pizza. Thanks to a two-ingredient dough that combines self-rising flour and Greek yogurt, there is no need for a rise time. Just roll, top and bake, and you'll have a delicious dinner on the table in under half an hour. 13 of 18 Veggie Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup View Recipe Leslie Grow | Veggie Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup Maya Feller, M.S., RD, CDN, of Brooklyn-based Maya Feller Nutrition, upgrades this popular budget-friendly combo. "Adding veggies to a classic sandwich—in this case, broccoli, zucchini and red bell pepper—boosts the nutrient-density of the meal," she says. This recipe was part of a feature story, "The Real Cost of Healthy Food." 14 of 18 Air-Fryer Burgers View Recipe Jacob Fox This simple air-fryer burger recipe is a splatter-free method to cook up juicy burgers without a lot of fuss. The toppings are classic, but you can always adjust them to suit your taste. 15 of 18 Pesto Pasta Salad View Recipe A creamy pesto sauce turns this simple pasta salad into a delightful dinner. Adding broccoli to the pasta cooking water just before the pasta is done is a convenient way to briefly cook it so that it turns a vivid shade of green and softens slightly. 16 of 18 Beefless Vegan Tacos View Recipe Take taco night in a new direction with these healthy vegan tacos. We've swapped crumbled tofu for the ground beef, without sacrificing any of the savory seasonings you expect in a taco. You can also use the filling in burritos, bowls, taco salads and to top nachos. 17 of 18 Classic Mac & Cheese View Recipe 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. 18 of 18 Toaster-Oven Quesadillas View Recipe We love finding new ways to use our kitchen tools and appliances. These toaster-oven quesadillas with peppers and avocado are the perfect example of an unexpected toaster-oven hack we had to share. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit