5 ingredient meals are the perfect solution for busy weeknights. From a cheesy taco casserole to savory pepperoni chicken and roasted salmon, these simple yet satisfying dinners help you save time and money in the kitchen!
Table of Contents
If you’re looking for even more quick and easy dinner ideas, be sure to check out our vast collection of dump-and-bake recipes, these 30-minute recipes, and these easy dinner ideas for picky eaters, too!
There are so many great reasons to prepare 5 ingredient meals on a regular basis! They’re simple, which typically means the prep time is minimal. These are also cost-effective options that will help keep the grocery budget in check. Finally, fewer ingredients often mean less clean-up at the end — and who doesn’t love that?!
Dinner Ideas with 5-Ingredients or Less
Meatball Subs with Frozen Meatballs
Just toss together these 5-ingredient meatball subs with frozen meatballs for an easy dinner in the oven or Crock Pot — with just 5 minutes of prep!
Old Fashioned Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe
For a quick lunch or a light dinner, it’s tough to beat this old-fashioned egg salad sandwich recipe. The easy, make-ahead option comes together in just minutes with a handful of simple ingredients.
Shrimp Pesto Pasta
Whip up a pot of shrimp pesto pasta when you need a flavorful 5-ingredient dinner in about 30 minutes!
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken
This easy 3-ingredient slow cooker buffalo chicken is delicious in sandwiches, sliders, or wraps; in tacos or quesadillas; and on top of salads, pizzas, or baked potatoes!
4-Ingredient Baked Ravioli
With just 4 ingredients and 5 minutes of prep, this baked ravioli casserole is an easy dinner that the whole family will love!
Sheet Pan Sausage and Peppers
Sheet pan sausage and peppers with onions all cook together on a single tray for an easy dinner that’s ready from start to finish in 30 minutes or less!
Dump and Bake Meatball Casserole
You don’t even have to boil the pasta for this easy Dump and Bake Meatball Casserole! With only 5 simple ingredients, family-friendly weeknight dinners don’t get much better than this!
Flatbread Pizza
Prepare a restaurant-quality naan flatbread pizza recipe at home in about 15 minutes! The easy dinner includes store-bought crust, marinara or pizza sauce, a blend of Italian cheeses, and all of your favorite toppings. Serve each pizza with a crisp Caesar salad, tomato salad, or marinated cucumbers for a quick weeknight meal.
Chicken Crescent Rolls
Just 5 ingredients and 10 minutes of prep for this easy dinner! The cheesy chicken crescent rolls are baked until golden brown and served with a creamy gravy. It’s simple comfort food that the whole family will love!
Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole {4 Ingredients!}
With just four basic ingredients you can have a healthy and easy chicken enchilada casserole ready to go in the oven — with only 10 minutes of prep time! Nutritious and family-friendly weeknight dinners don’t get any faster than this. Garnish each plate with your favorite toppings, and serve the flavorful casserole with corn salad, rice, ranch-style beans, or tortilla chips and guacamole for a family-friendly weeknight meal!
Crescent Roll Pizza Pockets
Easy and fast, these crescent roll pizza pockets make a delicious dinner that’s ready in less than 30 minutes! A kid favorite, the shortcut homemade calzones can be customized for each individual diner — keep them vegetarian, load them up with pepperoni, or make them simple and cheesy with just 3 basic ingredients! Served with a side salad and some extra marinara sauce for dipping, this is one meal that the whole family can agree on.
4-Ingredient Pork Loin Roast
That’s right…you only need 4 ingredients and about 5 minutes of prep for this easy, healthy, and juicy Pork Loin Roast! It’s a simple and wholesome dinner that will impress your friends and family — with minimal effort on your part.
Pizza Quesadilla
Easy and fast, this pizza quesadilla is a healthy dinner that’s ready in just 15 minutes! A kid favorite, the “pizzadillas” can be customized for each individual diner — keep them vegetarian, load them up with pepperoni, or make them simple and cheesy with just 3 basic ingredients! Served with a side salad and some extra marinara sauce for dipping, this is one meal that the whole family can agree on.
Baked Pancakes with Pancake Mix
With just 5 simple ingredients and 5 minutes of prep, you can serve fluffy Baked Pancakes to a group — no flipping on the griddle necessary! Perfect for a weekend brunch, a holiday gathering, or a simple weeknight dinner, these Bisquick oven baked pancakes are the fastest and easiest way to feed a crowd! Plus, they’re freezer-friendly, making them a great way to prep ahead!
Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin (4 Ingredients)
You can pull together a juicy, delicious bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin in the oven or on the grill with just 4 ingredients and 10 minutes of prep! The combination of brown sugar, mustard, and smoky bacon makes this sweet-and-savory dinner a total crowd-pleaser!
4-Ingredient Brown Sugar Dijon Roasted Salmon
This 4-ingredient roasted salmon recipe will soon become a weeknight staple in your family’s meal rotation! With a simple brown sugar Dijon mustard glaze, the fish develops a crisp exterior and a moist, buttery inside. Garnish each fillet with lemon wedges and fresh herbs for a restaurant-quality dinner in just 15 minutes!
4-Ingredient Chicken Quesadilla Casserole
This 4-ingredient chicken quesadilla casserole comes together in just 5 minutes — no prep work necessary! It’s the ultimate family-friendly dinner to make your busy weeknights just a little bit easier.
5-Ingredient Almond-Crusted Baked Tilapia
This 5-Ingredient Almond-Crusted Baked Tilapia is a simple and delicious way to add seafood to your weekly dinner menu — with just 5 minutes of prep! Add some garlic, butter, and Parmesan for a low-carb, protein-packed dish that’s full of flavor!
Baked Ham with Apricot Glaze {5 Ingredients!}
You only need 5 ingredients and 5 minutes of prep for this sweet, savory, and smoky baked ham with apricot glaze! If you use a smaller boneless ham, it’s ready in less than 1 hour for an easy weeknight dinner. With a larger ham, the delicious glaze is perfect for Easter, Christmas, or other special occasions. Serve the glazed ham with a salad, Southern pineapple casserole, and cheesy twice baked potatoes!
Sticky Honey Garlic Chicken {5 Ingredients}
With just 5 ingredients and 5 minutes of prep, this sticky and crispy honey garlic chicken is an easy weeknight dinner recipe for stress-free evenings! Use white meat chicken breasts, thighs, wings, or drumsticks — or a combination of parts. The tender, juicy, and flavorful meat is delicious served with rice, sesame noodles, steamed broccoli, or ramen noodle salad, and can easily be adjusted to feed only 2 people.
Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes {5 Ingredients!}
Pasta with cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and fresh basil is an easy 5-ingredient vegetarian dinner that’s ready from start to finish in about 20 minutes! It’s the perfect summer meal when you don’t feel like cooking, as the simple recipe let’s summer’s produce shine. Garnish the pasta and burst cherry tomato sauce with Parmesan cheese, and serve each bowl with a crisp green salad and a loaf of crusty bread.
5-Ingredient Amish Easy Baked Spaghetti
This 5-Ingredient Amish Baked Spaghetti is an easy dinner recipe that your entire family will love! The one-dish meal comes together quickly on busy nights for simple, cozy comfort food!
5-Ingredient Ham and Noodle Casserole
This ham and noodle casserole is an easy one-dish meal that takes advantage of your delicious leftovers! While the base of the recipe only requires 5 simple ingredients, there are plenty of optional additions to make it your own — from extra veggies like peas or broccoli, to a crunchy Ritz cracker topping. Use what you have in your kitchen!
5-Ingredient Chicken Parmesan Sandwich
You only need 5 ingredients and about 5 minutes of prep for this easy chicken parmesan sandwich! Frozen chicken patties are baked until crispy, topped with marinara sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan, and served on toasted rolls. A family favorite!
5-Ingredient Garlic Parmesan Tilapia
Learn how to cook tilapia in just 15 minutes! This 5-ingredient garlic parmesan crusted tilapia recipe is a delicious and easy dinner that the whole family will love. Serve the fish with rice, a loaf of crusty bread, or a simple green salad.
3-Ingredient Crock Pot Pulled Chicken
Dinner doesn’t get much easier than this 3-ingredient Crock Pot pulled chicken! With a bbq seasoning rub and a bottle of Italian dressing, you’ll have tender, juicy, shredded slow cooker chicken to serve on sandwiches, with potatoes, rice, cornbread, or coleslaw.
4-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole
This 4-ingredient crescent roll ground beef casserole comes together in just minutes for an easy weeknight dinner! It’s a simple one dish meal that you will turn to again and again when you need to feed your family…fast.
5-Ingredient Dump-and-Bake Beefaroni
This healthy, homemade Dump-and-Bake Beefaroni recipe is a 5-ingredient easy dinner that only requires about 5 minutes of prep! You don’t even have to brown the meat or boil the pasta before it all cooks in one dish!
4-Ingredient Apricot Glazed Pork Chops
With just 4 ingredients and about 5 minutes of prep, a pan of tender and juicy apricot glazed pork chops is an easy dinner for stress-free evenings! Serve the sweet and savory meat alongside cornbread, rice, pasta, or a loaf of crusty bread.
3-Ingredient Apricot Glazed Chicken
With just 5 minutes of prep, this crispy, sticky, apricot glazed chicken is an easy dinner for stress-free evenings! Use a combination of chicken breasts, thighs, wings, or drumsticks — whatever your family loves.
3-Ingredient Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Whip up a traditional Italian pasta dish in 20 minutes with this 3-Ingredient Spaghetti Aglio e Olio! The simple recipe combines spaghetti, olive oil, and garlic for a vegetarian side dish or weeknight dinner that the whole family will love!
Sloppy Joe Casserole {5 Ingredients!}
Topped with fluffy, golden biscuits, this 5-Ingredient Sloppy Joe Casserole is a family-friendly, easy dinner recipe for busy nights! Pair it with a salad or simple green veggie for a quick meal that the whole family will love.
5-Ingredient Taco Casserole
Your busiest weeknights just got a little bit easier, thanks to this 5-Ingredient Taco Casserole! Thanks to a crescent roll crust, it’s an easy dinner recipe that’s on the table in about 30 minutes!
4-Ingredient Chicken Taquitos
You only need 4 ingredients and about 10 minutes to pull together this crowd-pleasing appetizer or light dinner! Perfect for sports fans watching the big game, or for hungry little ones who need a weeknight meal FAST, these Chicken Taquitos are an easy family-friendly finger food!
4-Ingredient Oven Baked Pork Chops
Easy pork chop recipes with few ingredients are always weeknight winners! Here, you only need 4 ingredients and about 5 minutes to prepare flavorful, juicy, and tender baked pork chops!
5-Ingredient Taco Biscuit Cups
These kid-friendly, freezer-friendly, prep-ahead 5-Ingredient Taco Biscuit Cups will please everyone at your dinner table! For those crazy nights when you need a quick meal right now, you can’t beat the convenience of a simple and delicious hand-held supper!
4-Ingredient Baked Tortellini
With this easy dump-and-bake dinner, frozen ravioli goes straight from the freezer to the oven — no boiling or thawing necessary! Baked tortellini is a deliciously simple 4-ingredient casserole for your busiest weeknights.
5-Ingredient Pepperoni Chicken
Pepperoni chicken is an easy 5-ingredient dinner that’s ready in less than 30 minutes! Chicken breast cutlets are browned in a skillet, topped with pesto, pepperoni slices, and mozzarella cheese, and then finished under the broiler.
3-Ingredient Taco Mac and Cheese
Weeknight dinners don’t get much easier than this 3-ingredient taco mac and cheese! A box of creamy mac and cheese combines with zesty Rotel tomatoes and green chilies, as well as ground beef or pork sausage. It’s packed with flavor, and it’s ready in less than 30 minutes. Don’t forget some cilantro on top, a side salad, or chips and salsa for dipping!
3-Ingredient Grilled Beer Brats
With just 5 minutes of prep, these 3-Ingredient Grilled Beer Brats are a simple and delicious addition to your next summer cookout or tailgate! Add hoagie rolls, sauerkraut, and your favorite mustard or relish for a fun twist on the classic family dinner!
5-Ingredient Crescent Roll Chicken Casserole
You only need 5 ingredients and about 10 minutes to pull together this easy Crescent Roll Chicken Casserole! The buttery, flaky crescent rolls are stuffed with chicken and cheese, then finished with a cheesy sauce. Add broccoli or other vegetables to the dish, or serve them on the side. It’s great with salad, rice, noodles, or a loaf of crusty bread.
