How to Cook Dinner Every Night: 5 Top Tips

1. Plan your meals

The most important thing that will get you cooking more is to plan your meals; this can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. You could have a big calendar, do it in a spreadsheet system, or do it on a napkin at the beginning of every week.

At least on a weekly basis, you need to know what you are making for dinner that week. Even if you don't say, "Monday I'm making pasta, Tuesday I'm making whatever," at the beginning of every week, have seven meals that you can make and have the ingredients for them.

Sometimes I have four weekly menus that I rotate through. That keeps it easier for me. I also like to have a master list. I have a list of slow cooker recipes that I know we like, and I pick from those. If you do this monthly, that's even better, but at least once a week, sit down and write out seven meals.

When you wake up in the morning, before you get to about 10:00, make sure you know what you're making that specific day. Make sure you have enough time to do it, and make sure you have the ingredients.

You must do this because if four o'clock rolls around and you still don't know what you're making, you have set yourself up for failure. Planning ahead of time will save you a lot of heartache in the long run.

2. What does cooking from scratch mean?

Think about what cooking from scratch really means. Does it mean that you are making roast chicken, green beans, homemade rolls, and a pie every night? No, it doesn't mean that.

Cooking from scratch can mean a lot of different things. It can mean you're having scrambled eggs and bacon and toast. That is cooking from scratch. It can mean you're having a salad. It could mean you're having a sandwich.

That all is cooking from scratch, so don't get into your mind that it has to be a super complicated thing. Remember that simple meals count.

3. Freezer meals

You know the saying, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. That's true, but sometimes you do have to plan to fail. There are going to be nights when your little meal plan is not going to happen.

You are not going to feel like doing it despite your best efforts. You're going to be missing something you need, or someone will be sick, and you're at the doctor's in the afternoon, and it just doesn't happen.

That is why you need a plan for those days when your plan doesn't work. You need things in the freezer. If you like freezer meals, you need something simple that you know you can just make as fast as scrambled eggs. You need to have frozen pizzas in your freezer.

Maybe that's not going to scratch, but it's still better than getting takeout if saving money is your goal. You have to have backup plans for those days when things don't go according to your plan because they will happen.

4. What is worth making from scratch?

You need to consider what is worth it to make it from scratch. A lot of things are worth it to me—things like bread, desserts, and things like that.

If you feel like you spend a lot of time making salad dressing and you know, a salad will be a really easy meal but that you have to make the dressing and it's just super annoying, then don't do that. Buy salad dressing.

You need to think about what is worth making from scratch and what isn't. When you do that, think, "Am I doing this to save money or am I doing it for health reasons?"

There are certain things that are worth that and certain things that aren't, so don't waste your energy on things you don't like doing that don't have much of a benefit.

5. Embrace leftovers

Another thing that will change your life if you wonder how to cook dinner every night is embracing leftovers. I hate leftovers, almost all of them.

Even more than leftovers, I hate cooking a brand new meal every night, so I will serve leftovers. Everyone else will generally eat them without complaining.

Sometimes I feel like this isn't enough. I'll make something like an appetizer or a salad to round it out, but I don't have to start with a brand-new thing every day.

At least one night a week, I am serving something already made. If your family doesn't like to eat leftovers, I would still make them and serve them and tell them that if they don't want to be them, that is fine, but this is what you're making.

So the tips for how to cook dinner every night without going crazy are to plan your meals, plan to fail, consider what is worth making from scratch and what isn't, and embrace your leftovers.

How to cook dinner every night

You can make dinner every night with a few simple habits in place. What is your go-to meal for nights when you don't feel like cooking? Share your favorites in the comments below.