4 Easy Weeknight Dinner Ideas That Are Ready In 20 Minutes

Burger wraps

If you do not have time for a classic cheeseburger on a busy weeknight, these burger wraps are my new go-to. They are so easy to make that the hardest part was cooking the ground beef.

1. Cook up your ground beef, seasoning with Sucklebusters 1836 beef rub. Feel free to add in some onion or pepper if you choose to, but I left mine plain because I am serving raw onion on the side.

2. For the amazing sauce, whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, some garlic and onion powder, paprika and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Cover and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of minutes before serving with the wraps. If you have any left over, store it in a mason jar in the fridge and it will last a couple of weeks.

3. Set out flour tortillas, all the condiments and toppings on the counter and let everybody build their own burger wraps. Whatever your family likes on their burgers, have it out. We served it with mac and cheese, and it was such a delicious, quick and easy weeknight dinner.

Calzones

Calzones is another great quick and easy meal option and a way to change up a traditional pizza night. Of course we all love homemade pizzas, but sometimes we get bored of the same thing. So try making your pizza in a pocket!

1. For an amount of dough that makes for four calzones, mix 4 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of softened butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons each of yeast and salt, and 1 1/3 cups warm water, at around 105-100 F. If the dough is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water at a time, and if it is too sticky, add 1 teaspoon of flour at a time.

2. Let the dough rise, dump it onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out. Of course, you can also always get store bought dough if you do not have the time or energy to make your own.

3. Fill the calzone with whatever you want! What I like most about this meal is that I can customize them to each person's liking, which is so fun. I have my home-canned pizza sauce, onions, pepperonis, cheese, black olives, ham and meatballs.

4. Fold them and fold in the sides to close the calzones.

5. Bake them!

6. Coat with butter, and add Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Garlic butter would definitely also be a great addition.

BBQ sausage with rice

I always try to keep some sort of a smoked sausage in the freezer so that I can have a quick and easy protein accessible to me at any time.

This meal was super easy to put together and literally took around 10 minutes to put together, and I even meal prepped some for myself for the week.

1. Cook up some rice.

2. Cut up your sausage and cook it in a pan until it gets some color on both sides.

3. Add in cut up zucchini, and season with whatever you like.

4. Make the sauce by mixing 12 oz of BBQ sauce, 3/4 cup Italian dressing, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.

3. Wait until the zucchini cooks down, then add the sauce. Let it thicken up for a couple of minutes and serve.

Grilled pesto chicken

This grilled pesto chicken was so delicious and super easy. It is perfect for these warmer spring and summer nights, especially for a busy weeknight. It makes for a light, refreshing, absolutely delicious dinner, and it takes almost no time to feed my family.

1. Get some thin cut chicken breast, or take a full breast and cut it in half long-ways. Season it up with some olive oil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, or just whatever you know your family is going to enjoy.

2. Let it sit for a couple minutes, and then put it on the grill. Since the pieces of chicken are thin, it should only take a couple of minutes to cook them up. After a couple minutes on one side, flip it and let it continue cooking on the other. To know when to finish, check it with a food thermometer – you want to make sure the internal temperature of cooked chicken is 165 F.

3. Top the chicken with some shredded mozzarella cheese and pesto, put the lid on it, and turn the heat off. Let that pesto warm up and that cheese melt from the heat of the chicken.

4. Serve with your favorite sides: I chose butter noodles and Parmesan roasted green beans, which have recently been my go-to.

Easy weeknight dinners

Having to feed your family quick and easy meals does not mean it has to be bland and boring. I hope that this article has inspired you to make fun and simple dinners, so do give these recipes a try and I am sure that your family will enjoy them just like mine did.

What are your go to cheap easy weeknight dinners? Share your favorites in the comments below.

Next up, check out my Pantry Challenge: 4 Cheap and Healthy Meal Ideas.