14 Easy Meals for Busy Moms
If you’re looking for simple dinner options for those hectic weeknights, we’ve got you covered! These quick and easy meals for busy moms are perfect for you!
Is it just me, or does life reach a new level of crazy when school starts? You’d think there’s extra time to do things when the kids are in school, but it’s the total opposite! I feel like I’m barely hanging onto the reins, being drug through the day from sunup till sundown.
For that reason, I have been looking for hacks to make my day as easy as possible! Ordering groceries online, getting help with the yard work, and making lists for everyone to help with chores.
I already have a few back to school hacks to get the kids going, but I needed to work on ways to reduce stress for myself. That meant finding super easy meals to make lunch and dinner a snap!
Easy Dinner Ideas
This Paleo/Whole30 slow cooker flank steak recipe is keto, dairy free, and quick and easy to make! With just a few ingredients, you can have a delicious taco dinner ready with almost zero time in the kitchen.
Quick and easy Instant Pot pulled pork is perfect for batch cooking and meal prep. It's also keto-friendly, gluten free, dairy free, and Paleo too! Throw it in a sandwich or on a salad - it's delicious no matter how you eat it!
This Instant Pot paleo chili recipe made in the pressure cooker is a quick and easy family friendly meal! Yummy Whole30 chili will warm you up on a cold day!
There's nothing easier than a sheet pan meal! This quick & easy one pan dinner combines Paleo Tzatziki Sauce with Greek sheet pan chicken and veggies - a healthy option for a busy weeknight family meal!
A quick and easy vegetarian spaghetti and meatballs recipe for those busy days!
This quick chicken and rice recipe is the perfect solution for dinner on a busy night! With only five ingredients and 20 minutes of cooking time, you’ll have dinner ready in a flash - and with only one pot to wash!
This easy one pot chicken broccoli pasta recipe is the perfect dinner on a busy night. Quick and easy, family friendly, and ready in just 15 minutes!
This simple recipe is a great way to use up leftover roast beef (or other meat). Toss it together for a deliciously effortless meal!
These healthy egg muffins are great to make ahead and freeze for a quick breakfast or snack! Just pop in the microwave and they are ready to eat!
Quick and Easy Lunches
One thing that was easy to tweak was what I eat for lunch. Since I typically just grab what I can, healthy frozen options work great for me. These quick and easy meals fill me up and keep me going until dinner!
I just have to share my favorites – so here are five easy lunches for busy moms, because I know you need ideas too!
Birds Eye Veggie Made™ Garlic Chicken Bowl
Even thought I love vegetables, I find myself struggling to eat enough of them every day! I don’t always want to much on raw veggies, and it just takes too long to cook them for lunch. That’s why one of my favorite lunch options is the Birds Eye Veggie Made™ Garlic Chicken Bowl.
Birds Eye Veggie Made™single serve bowls provide delicious and nutritious alternatives to my favorite frozen meals. The pasta is actually made 100% from vegetables! And honestly, I can’t even taste the difference. This chicken bowl is great after I finish my workout – tasty flavor and filling without being too heavy.
Birds Eye Veggie Made™ Mac & Cheese
Sooo sometimes I don’t want to feel like I’m eating my veggies. You know? Those days when your body is like “omg lets sit on the couch and eat junk and watch tv allll day.”
No? My body is the only one that says that? Ok.
But there’s that other voice that reminds me that if I do just sit around and eat a bunch of chips and cookies, I’m going to feel pretty yucky later. So I found a comfort food alternative that still – gasp! – has veggies!
Once again Birds Eye has used 100% veggies to make pasta, so this mac & cheese gives me 1 serving of vegetables per serving, with no artificial flavors, preservatives or dyes. It’s also made with real cheese! Creamy goodness that I can enjoy and feel good about eating. It’s also a great side to add to dinner so that my kids eat veggies without realizing it!
Shhh, don’t tell them.
Gardein Classic Meatless Meatballs
Just like there are days when I don’t feel like eating my veggies, there are also days when I want to feel like I’m eating substance. Like I want ALL the protein.
But guess what – sometimes we don’t have leftovers and there’s no way I’m thawing meat to cook at lunch.
I can easily put these Gardein “meatballs” on the stove in some marinara sauce and have lunch ready in as little as 8 minutes! Angel hair pasta or zucchini spirals cook just as fast, so I have a hot meal ready to go. And of course I make the most of my time by emptying the dishwasher while my lunch cooks!
These meatless meatballs are vegan, non-GMO, dairy free and kosher – PLUS they have 14g of protein. Not only are they perfect for my lunches, but the kids love them and they are great when I forget to plan anything for dinner.
I’m sure none of you have EVER done that, right? Right.
Healthy Choice Café Steamers Grilled Chicken Marinara with Parmesan
I’ve shared my love of Healthy Choice bowls before, but this one is my new favorite. Not even kidding, I barely snapped this photo before I devoured the bowl.
As you can probably tell from my last name, I love pasta. I LOVE Italian food. I love red sauce. Healthy Choice got it right with this one, as the pasta steams to the perfect texture and the chicken and sauce have an amazing flavor.
They inspired me to want to add broccoli to our pasta dishes for dinner – just like I did with our easy one pot broccoli pasta!
This comes with parmesan on it, but I add a little extra just because I can. Definitely recommend picking this one up on your next trip to the store, and check out the power bowls too!
Udi’s Sweet Potato Crust Chicken BBQ Pizza
Have I mentioned I love pizza? It’s one of the things that my husband and I have in common, and we even got pizza on our second date! Unfortunately, my body just isn’t happy with eating regular pizza all the time. And did I also mention I am trying to increase my veggies?
I know what you’re thinking. Sweet potato crust? That has to be gross. Ok, but trust me when I say IT IS GOOD.
I let Kaiden try it (another pizza lover in our family) and he liked it! We both agreed that we couldn’t really even taste the sweet potatoes in the crust. And we like sweet potatoes! The sweet barbecue sauce really gave it flavor, as well as the cheeses and white meat chicken. I liked that it’s gluten free and grain free as well! I have a few family members who eat gluten free, and I am guessing this will be a hit for them.
This also has 22 grams of protein per serving, which is pretty awesome for a pizza! Y’all know how I feel about protein!
Mom tip: If you let your kids share this pizza, make sure you hide any future pizzas deep in the freezer. DEEP. Under the bags of mixed veggies that they won’t touch.
My Easy Meal Secrets
Ok so this isn’t all that secret, but I do have my own drawer in the freezer for my lunches! I try to keep this stocked with enough tasty easy meals to get me through the week. I also try to buy extras because inevitably, someone will ask to grab from my stash.
I can’t complain about them wanting to eat more veggies though, right?
I also try to keep it super easy to restock when I run out of things. As soon as I use the last of a particular meal, I add the exact name (like Udi’s Sweet Potato Crust Chicken BBQ Pizza) to our shopping list app. Arien enjoys grocery shopping, and I want to make sure he can find what I want! No excuses for him to come home empty handed.
What are your favorite easy meals for busy moms? I always need fresh ideas so please share!
