Life

11 Delicious Dinners To Make From The Same 5 Ingredients, Without Being Boring

by Autumn Jones

Meal planning can be overwhelming. Searching for recipes, making long lists of ingredients for each dish, and making it home from the store without forgetting anything is enough work to feel like a part-time job. With all the other daily responsibilities, feeding you and your family shouldn't be something that causes you to break out into hives. Luckily, you can make dinner time easier by creating dinners from the same set of ingredients.

Stocking up, or buying ingredients in bulk, will help you have everything you need for a diverse collection of meals at your fingertips. (It's also a few less chang-chings from the grocery store cash register.) You may not think of lemons as something you can make into main dishes, but there are plenty out of the ordinary ingredients that can make more than one interesting and tasty dish.

This round-up has 11 ideas for dinners you can make using salmon, chicken, lemons, corn and spaghetti squash. These recipes are so diverse, your family won't even notice they're eating the same ingredients for the third time in one week. 

1Lemony Cheesy Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is that miracle vegetable that gives us the feel of eating pasta while pumping us full of veggie love. For a fun twist on pasta night, try this lemony cheesy spaghetti squash dish. Aside from the delicious recipe, A Cozy Kitchen gives you a tip for preparing spaghetti squash that will make you feel like a cooking pro. 

2Seared Salmon With Chipolte Honey Lime Butter

When it comes to complimenting the natural flavors of salmon, Cooking For Keeps has the solution. A fast and flavorful meal, this seared salmon with chipolte honey lime butter will give you a high quality dish in only 20 minutes. That leaves you plenty of time to mix up some margaritas to serve with dinner.

3Vegan Creamy Miso Corn Soup

Nothing says comfort like a steamy bowl of soup. And as long as you have a blender, soups are easier to prepare than you might think. For a sweet and savory bowl of goodness, try this miso corn soup from I Am Food Blog. This dish pairs well with fuzzy jammies and old episodes of Friends. 

4Baked Spaghetti Squash With Tomato & Ricotta

You only need 4 ingredients to whip up this baked spaghetti squash with tomato and ricotta. When it comes to a simple, satisfying dinner, the ladies at Big Girls, Small Kitchens have your back. The cheesy love of this dish will make you forget you're noshing on a vegetable and not linguini. 

5Slow Cooker Chicken & Corn Chowder

I love a good recipe that is mostly hands off - like this slow cooker chicken and corn chowder. This creamy one-pot dinner from Damn Delicious will have your home smelling like a hearty festival of ingredients. Did I mention bacon makes an appearance?

6Rosemary Lemon Pasta

Sometimes all you need are a few simple ingredients to create a satisfying meal. Love and Lemons shows you how to combine a few unexpected ingredients in their rosemary lemon pasta. You may not have foreseen collard greens and almonds making an appearance in this dish, but once you try it you'll wonder why you didn't think of this yourself! 

7One Pan Lemon Herb Salmon

If you're short on time but still want a home-cooked dinner, Damn Delicious will help you have lemon herb salmon with zucchini the table in under 40 minutes. The secret to this easy dinner, is baking the salmon and the zucchini at the same time, on the same baking sheet.

8Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Add some Mexican flare to the golden gourd with Love and Lemons's version of stuffed spaghetti squash. Chunks of avocado paired with roasted cherry tomatoes, and poblano peppers — among other delectable toppings — will give you cause to rethink taco shells.

9Baked Walnut & Rosemary Encrusted Salmon

This baked walnut and rosemary encrusted salmon will conjure up the ambiance of your favorite foodie spot. Adventures In Cooking makes high quality dishes like this one, less intimidating with easy to follow directions and short lists of ingredients.  

10Lemon Pizza

Just when you thought you'd seen every topping known to womankind, along comes A Cozy Kitchen with their spin on the classic pizza pie. Mixed with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, and pepper, this lemon pizza is a surprising culmination of textures and flavors. 

11Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Gimme Some Oven has the (protein-packed) answer to what's for dinner. Using a combination of canned and fresh ingredients, this slow cooker chicken tortilla soup will help you feed a crowd, or guarantee you will have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.  

Images: Courtesy of Love and Lemons; A Cozy Kitchen; Cooking For Keeps; I Am Food Blog; Big Girls, Small Kitchens; Damn Delicious; Love and Lemon; Damn Delicious; Love and Lemons; Adventures In Cooking; A Cozy Kitchen; Gimme Some Oven