Its been a long day, molding young minds, making big differences, encouraging and inspiring. You have taught hard, graded tirelessly, and planned lessons for eight plus hours. You are ready to go home and relax.
But then the dreaded thought crosses your mind (or one of your offspring asks), “What’s for dinner?”
Making dinner is the last thing you want to tackle right now, but don’t be tempted to hit the drive through!
With these fast and easy meals for teachers, you will make a dinner you can be proud of, without spending the whole evening in the kitchen.
Each main course has just five ingredients (just one exception), and takes 30 minutes or less to make.
Plus, the total grocery bill for this whole week’s worth of meals is under seventy dollars! To feed a family of four – with leftovers for lunch the next day!
Beef and Barbecue Casserole : Fifteen min prep time, 20 min total – five ingredients
This is a meal we stumbled on when I was going to make Spaghetti (again) and 
my son asked if he could find some other “easy beefy dinner.”
When he found this recipe I was not immediately sold, but he was so excited he even offered to cook it! Well I could not say no to that.
It comfortably feeds our family of four, but usually no left overs. We typically have it with a bag of salad.
While it sounds like a strange combination, I can honestly say it is now one of our favorite go-to “beefy” meals! And yes, my son still cooks it. 🙂
- 1 to 1.5 lb ground beef
- 1 can of crescent rolls or crescent sheet
- 1 cup Barbecue sauce
- 1 tbs yellow mustard
- 1 1/2 cups cheese (cheddar or colby)
Set the oven to 350. Unroll a tube of crescent rolls, or crescent dough sheet, into a greased 9×13 or 9×9 pan. Put into the oven for about seven minutes to slightly cook the dough.
Meanwhile, brown the beef in a skillet. Once the beef is browned, add the barbecue sauce and mustard, mixing well.
Pull the pan from the oven and spoon the beef mixture onto the crescent dough. Spread the cheese on top. (feel free to add more than two cups of cheese – no one will judge you)
***Super time saving Tip*** Buy already shredded cheese! It is the same price per ounce, without the trouble of shredding it yourself. It tends to spoil faster in the fridge, so keep it tightly closed in the freezer.
Put the pan back into the oven for another 5 minutes or until the cheese reaches desired melty goodness.
Creamy Italian Chicken Pasta: 20 min prep, 20 min total – five ingredients
You will not even believe how amazingly flavorful this meal is until you try it. 
Party for your taste buds! It looks so fancy too, this is actually one I serve to company. I absolutely love this meal.
And its not just good for dinner, but the leftovers are great for lunch the next day!
- 1 lb of chicken
- 1 package of cream cheese (8 oz)
- 2 cup of Italian dressing
- 8 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 box of pasta (spaghetti noodles work great, but any shape noodle will do!)
Fill a pot with water and heat on high to boil. Put in noodles and cook until done.
Meanwhile, cut chicken into bite sized pieces and heat in a large skillet until fully cooked.
Turn skillet to low heat and add remaining ingredients directly to the chicken. Stir until well mixed (it will take some time to melt the cream cheese).
Serve the chicken mixture over the noodles. SO GOOD!
Mini-Meatloafs: Ten min prep time, 30 min total – five ingredients
To be honest, this is one of my favorite meals. I have always liked meatloaf, but it takes forever to cook!
But not when they are miniature! Cooked as tiny loafs in a muffin pan, they are ready after about twenty minutes in the oven! Pair them with peas and mashed potatoes – cant beat them!
This recipe makes a lot. After stuffing a family of four, there are always leftover mini-loafs! Lunch for the next day!
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup spaghetti sauce
- 1 box of stuffing mix (6 oz)
- 1 and 1/2 cups of cheese
Set oven temperature to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Spoon mixture into muffin pans. I typically use two pans and evenly divide between them. The smaller the portions, the faster they cook!
One more thing – cleaning muffin pans is the worst! Use muffin liners to make clean-up much easier!
***Super time saving Tip*** Buy already shredded cheese! It is the same price per ounce, without the trouble of shredding it yourself. It tends to spoil faster in the fridge, so keep it tightly closed in the freezer.
Cheesy Curry Chicken Casserole: Fifteen minute prep time, 30 min total – seven ingredients
This meal is probably my husband’s favorite. Warm, gooey, and cheesy – a whole 
meal (veggies too!) in one dish.
BONUS – there are always left overs for lunch the next day!
- 1 lb chicken
- 1 box of spiral (or whatever shape you like) noodles
- 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (not totally necessary, but makes it extra rich and creamy)
- 1 and 1/2 cups cheese
- 1 tbs curry powder (or more, if you like curry!)
- 3 cups (or so) of mixed frozen veggies – as much or little as you want
Turn the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large pot with water and heat on high. When it begins to boil, add noodles and cook until soft and drain.
Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and cook in a skillet.
In a large bowl, add chicken soup, mayonnaise, curry powder, and cheese. Mix it all up!
***Super time saving Tip*** Buy already shredded cheese! It is the same price per ounce, without the trouble of shredding it yourself. It tends to spoil faster in the fridge, so keep it tightly closed in the freezer.
In a greased dish, 9×13 or so, spread out the noodles, then the veggies (you can drop them right in, frozen and all), then the chicken. Spoon the chicken soup mixture on top, spreading out to the corners.
Pop the dish into the oven for about 15 minutes to heat through and melt all the goodness.
Enjoy!!
Chicken (or beef) Tex-Mex Burritos: Ten min prep, 20 min total – five ingredients (plus accessories!)
This is my go-to one-pot meal any time I am really crunched for time (or just 
too tired to do anything else).
So simple, but so warm and hardy- and always leftovers for the next day’s lunch!
- 1 lb of chicken or beef
- 2 cans of beans (black and/or kidney work great)
- 1 jar of salsa
- 1 package of taco seasoning
- flour tortillas
Accessories! Whatever you like on your burritos! Maybe…
- cheese
- sour cream
- corn
- rice
- lettuce
This is the easiest meal ever.
In a large pot, brown the chicken or beef until fully cooked.
Add all the rest of the ingredients into the pot. Stir it up and heat through.
Pile into tortillas with your favorite burrito accessories.
DINNER DONE!
Looking for other time savers? Check out all the ways you can streamline your classroom with Google Forms!
Can the mini meat loaves be made in advance and frozen and baked later? Thanks.
Kathy, Yes! I often freeze leftovers and pop them into the oven or toaster to heat through