We love the rewards of cooking at home: more time together with family, easy on the budget, that warm-and-cozy feeling in your home when a meal is bubbling on the stove, and being able to share traditions and those oh-so-important life skills with the kids.
Plus, with new recipes we haven’t tried, we get to learn new moves, too.
But even when you want to cook more meals at home, there are still those days when the idea of standing at the stove after a long day at work or wrangling the kids has you itching to call for carryout.
That’s why, if you have a goal of serving more home-cooked meals, you need a plan.
1. Check out this list of dinners starring dishes that are ready in less than 30 minutes, need just a few ingredients each, and that will wow the kids. Bookmark them or pin them on Pinterest for easy access.
2. Keep the ingredients for your favorite quick recipes on hand. No last-minute trips to the grocery store for you—who has time? Add the nonperishable ingredients from these recipes to your list for the next big grocery trip. That way, all you’ll need to grab on your weekly run to the store are the fresh add-ins.
3. Ask the fam to help. See if your partner or the kids can take care of any prep during your commute. That way, once you’re home, you can toss everything together and get cooking.
4. These recipes make great leftovers. Keep in mind that cooking once to eat twice is a winning strategy to eating more home-cooked meals.
These 20 recipes stand ready to help you make delicious homemade meals in a flash.
1. Crispy Baked BBQ Chicken Tacos with BBQ Ranch
Ready in: 25 mins
Number of ingredients: 12
These BBQ chicken tacos bake to a golden crispiness in the oven, and the homemade BBQ Ranch dressing is the perfect creamy-and-tangy dip.
FULL RECIPE: Crispy Baked BBQ Chicken Tacos with BBQ Ranch
2. Grilled BBQ Burger Kabobs
Ready in: 10 mins
Number of ingredients: 8
These burger kabobs are one of our favorite easy kabob recipes. They’re a playground for burger lovers, leaving the door wide open to experiment with different ingredients, toppings, and seasonings. Turn this recipe into a make-your-own-kabob party, setting out all the fixin’s so folks can take their pick, and see what mini-burger combos you can come up with.
FULL RECIPE: Grilled BBQ Burger Kabobs
3. BBQ Sloppy Joes on the Grill
Ready in: 30 mins
Number of ingredients: 10
BBQ sauce + tomato sauce = perfect Sloppy Joe sauce. This BBQ Sloppy Joes recipe reminds us of dinners we loved when we were kids, with just the right twists to make this dish exciting and new. Adam McKenzie of This Jew Can ‘Que deems Head Country the best BBQ sauce for sloppy joes, and that the ground beef BBQ sloppy joe is king.
FULL RECIPE: BBQ Sloppy Joes on the Grill
4. BBQ Jackfruit Tacos
Ready in: 15 mins
Number of ingredients: 9
We love the jackfruit tacos at the food truck, and we couldn’t wait to sauce them up. Jackfruit shreds like pulled chicken, pork, or beef, and loves to party with jalapeno, radish, and your favorite flavor of our Bar-B-Q sauce.
FULL RECIPE: BBQ Jackfruit Tacos
5. Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Mac and Cheese
Ready in: 20 mins
Number of ingredients: 22 ingredients
This Instant Pot mac and cheese takes what everyone loves about this favorite comfort food—the perfect chew, creamy cheese, and the ideal canvas for any original pasta masterpiece—and makes it super quick and easy for a weeknight. The added smoke from our BBQ sauce, the spice of jalapenos, and the bright flavors of fresh scallions and parsley appeal to the grown-up tastes of any kid-at-heart.
FULL RECIPE: Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Mac and Cheese
6. 3-Minute BBQ Chicken Tacos
Ready in: 5 mins
Number of ingredients: 6
When you shop your pantry and dip into the BBQ you couldn’t quite finish over the weekend, these shredded chicken tacos are ready in just 3 minutes.
FULL RECIPE: 3-Minute BBQ Chicken Tacos
7. 5-Minute BBQ Chicken Sandwich
Ready in: 5 mins
Number of ingredients: 5
Skip dinner in or lunch at your desk? Not when this sandwich is on the menu. One short session with the grill or oven and these sandwiches stack up in minutes, making it an easy recipe for college students or a weeknight wonder with the kids.
FULL RECIPE: 5-Minute BBQ Chicken Sandwich
8. Weeknight BBQ Chicken Pizza
Ready in: 10 mins
Number of ingredients: 5
Need a quick dinner idea for school nights? This BBQ chicken pizza recipe is ready in minutes. Here’s how to make homemade pizza with store bought dough (read: pita or naan bread from your deli is the shortcut of dreams) and make sure that once everyone’s at the table, it’s phones down and forks up. Use our Sugar Free sauce and deliver a healthy homemade pizza night.
FULL RECIPE: Weeknight BBQ Chicken Pizza
9. Quick and Easy Steak Tacos
Ready in: 20 mins
Number of ingredients: 11
The best steak for tacos? In this recipe, it’s chuck steak. The inexpensive, well-marbled cut makes for the perfect hearty filling for street-style steak tacos. All it takes is a simple marinade and a quick sear on a smoking-hot grill before you’re ready to fill your tortillas to the brim.
FULL RECIPE: Quick and Easy Steak Tacos
10. Cheesy BBQ Breakfast Sliders
Ready in: 20 mins
Number of ingredients: 7
These Cheesy BBQ Breakfast Sliders are the epic combination of Head Country Bar-B-Q Hickory Smoke Sauce, breakfast sausage, bacon, cheese, and an egg with a gooey, runny, mouthwatering yolk. Think of it as a handheld version of a fully loaded breakfast buffet. Makes 8 sliders.
FULL RECIPE: Cheesy BBQ Breakfast Sliders
11. Instant Pot Philly Cheesesteaks
Ready in: 25 mins
Number of ingredients: 11
Thinly sliced steak, gooey melty provolone cheese, and our Championship Seasoning fill every bite of these oh-so-easy sandwiches the entire family will love. Make these for game day or homegating and you’ll have your new favorite reason to party in a parking lot.
FULL RECIPE: Instant Pot Philly Cheesesteaks
12. Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Ready in: 25 mins
Number of ingredients: 16
Succulent pulled chicken is paired with a zesty broth, fire roasted tomatoes, spicy chipotle BBQ sauce, and a bit of punch from freshly squeezed lime juice in these Instant Pot chicken tacos, which are ready in just 20 minutes. Taco night couldn’t be easier.
FULL RECIPE: Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Tacos
13. Sheet Pan Chicken Tenders with Sweet & Sticky BBQ Sauce
Ready in: 20 mins
Number of ingredients: 7
Dinner, done. These chicken tenders are dippable and dunkable, and they’re ready in under 30 minutes—without the mess or guilt of deep-frying.
FULL RECIPE: Sheet Pan Chicken Tenders with Sweet & Sticky BBQ Sauce
14. Sheet Pan Asian BBQ Salmon
Ready in: 20 mins
Number of ingredients: 8
In one of our most-popular recipes of all time, two pounds of salmon get infused with the flavors of Asian cuisine before a blazing-hot few minutes in the oven. What results is deep flavor with a hint of smoke, and a crisp crust of sweetness that holds it all in. Pairs deliciously with Japanese beer or a dry white wine.
FULL RECIPE: Sheet Pan Asian BBQ Salmon
15. Air Fried Chicken
Ready in: 20 mins
Number of ingredients: 4
We love to play with our air fryer, and so does BBQ World Champion Doug Scheiding of Rogue Cookers. After some testing, trial, and error, Doug offers this recipe for gluten-free, low-carb, air-fried chicken. Take the time to do the prep work Doug describes. It’s worth it.
FULL RECIPE: Air Fried Chicken
16. BBQ Bacon Chicken Sandwiches
Ready in: 30 mins
Number of ingredients: 10
The BBQ bacon chicken sandwich: It’s a classic for a reason. This version comes stacked with chicken hot off the grill, melty cheese, and added (and optional) spice with grilled jalapeños. It all comes together in an impressively brief 30 minutes.
FULL RECIPE: BBQ Bacon Chicken Sandwiches
17. Cheesy BBQ Chicken Pull-Apart Sliders
Ready in: 25 mins
Number of ingredients: 13
This twist on the classic BBQ sandwich is a treat for the kids, who love to watch the cheese stretch when they pull their servings from the baking dish. The garlic-herb butter takes this dish over the top. If you want to count on leftovers, make extra.
FULL RECIPE: Cheesy BBQ Chicken Pull-Apart Sliders
18. BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Sheet Pan Nachos
Ready in: 25 mins
Number of ingredients: 15
We love when our favorite foods team up. These nachos are layered deep with all the fixings of a classic cheeseburger—ground beef, bacon, plenty of cheese, and an added drizzle of your favorite flavor of our sauce—and topped with fresh green onion and spicy jalapeños. This recipe calls for an oven, but if you’re outside or tailgating, pop these on the grill or smoker and enjoy the melty goodness.
FULL RECIPE: BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Sheet Pan Nachos
19. Sweet Brown Sugar BBQ Meatballs
Ready in: 25 mins
Number of ingredients: 10
These meatballs are a classic mix that starts with beef and pork. Pan-fried, they take on a crispy crust while the inside remains juicy and tender. What remains in the pan after the meatballs have cooked is the basis for a sauce that stars sweet brown sugar and our Original sauce. A topping of fresh, chopped chives sets off the caramelized glaze.
FULL RECIPE: Sweet Brown Sugar BBQ Meatballs
20. Bacon Blue Cheese Cowboy Hot Dog
Ready in: 30 mins
Number of ingredients: 8
Got hot dogs? Then you’ve got a party. We love how prepared onion rings and BBQ sauce make for a quick and easy way to gussy up everyone’s go-to fun-time food.
FULL RECIPE: Bacon Blue Cheese Cowboy Hot Dog