Last updated on February 12th, 2024
Here’s a great list of dinner ideas for busy Moms to keep you out of the fast food drive-thru line and on your way to wherever you need to be!
Whether you’re working late hours, traveling, or shuffling your kids to and from sports practices and games, eating dinner fast or even in the car is oftentimes an absolute necessity.
In order to help you plan ahead and feel good about what you’re eating on the fly, keep scrolling for lots of delicious, healthy dinner ideas for busy Moms.
As we all know, sometimes on busy nights, getting from point A to point B without having to stop at home to make dinner, is a reality.
So, preparing these delicious, portable, easy meals in advance and before the next activity is a beautiful thing!
Quick Dinner Recipes
In addition, if you’re eating en route, I’ve provided links to some handy food containers the whole family can use for whichever of these healthy recipes you decide to make.
So refill your printer’s paper tray and print out these incredible dinner ideas for busy Moms!
You’ll be so relieved that you’ve done some meal planning before the weeknight craziness when the last thing on your list after a long day is cooking dinner.
Whatever night of the week it is, I’ve got you covered!
1. Pasta Salad as a Quick Dinner
Pasta salads are great for the picky eaters in your home.
Who doesn’t love anything involving pasta?
These easy dinners are also great for transporting because you don’t have to heat them up.
Just put them in a container with a lid, keep chilled in a little cooler with a fork, and you’ve got yourself an easy to eat dinner in the car.
We love our Summer Fresh Orzo Salad.
It’s so easy to make and so yummy!
In addition, the feta cheese is a great way to add in a good source of protein to the salad.
But if you want to add even more protein, add some grilled chicken to make it more satisfying.
For transporting pasta salads, we think these glass meal prep containers are perfect.
2. Green Salads
Salads are perfect quick dinner ideas!
And, I’m not talking about just a plain lettuce, tomato, and a slice of cucumber type of salad!
On the contrary, I’m talking about a good, hearty green salad!
These quick recipes are some of my favorite salads:
Each of these 10-minute meal salads has nuts or seeds (like sunflower seeds or slivered almonds), healthy veggies (like fresh green beans), protein, and a delicious dressing.
Not only will these salads fill you up, but they’ll also wake up your taste buds!
Throw some chunks of rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken on top and you’ve got yourself a delicious, healthy, easy-to-eat-on-the-go meal.
For these green salads, we really like the Bentgo Salad Containers.
They even come with a disposable fork and you can separate the salad, toppings, and dressing in their own compartments to keep your salad as fresh as possible.
3. Sandwiches as a Quick Dinner
Sandwiches don’t get enough respect!
Because, really, they’re the perfect on-the-go meal option!
No utensils required!
Our Pesto, Toasted Pine Nut, Mozzarella Panini recipe is an amazing sandwich choice!
For our sandwich quick dinner in the car, we like these 3-compartment food containers.
They’re perfect for storing your sandwich, some cut up fruit and some nuts or whatever side you’re craving.
4. Cold Soups
Cold soups are another fantastic option for a quick dinner in the car.
Try some delicious Classic Spicy Gazpacho or Chilled Cucumber Soup.
If you’ve never tried cold soup before, you must try these recipes!
And you don’t even need a spoon if you use these 20 ounce meal mugs.
They’re perfect for enjoying your soup while traveling.
Just pop the lid off and sip your yummy soup!
5. Bowl Recipes as a Quick Dinner
To me, there’s nothing better than a meal in a bowl.
These healthy meals have all the ingredients of a 3 course dinner, but are nice and compact and can be taken anywhere:
A great travel container for bowl recipes is this collapsible silicone bowl with lid.
You’ll be the envy of all the other sports parents at the ball field.
6. Hearty Meat, Grain, & Veggie Salads
If I’m going to eat a salad for dinner, this is the kind of salad I want!
Something hearty and filling and full of flavor.
Yet, something that’s healthy too!
Our Asian Chicken Salad and Layered Salad in a Mason Jar recipes are awesome meat, grain, and veggie salad options!
I really like the quart size wide mouth mason jars for the layered salads because they’re easier to layer ingredients and they fit a LOT!
But, remember to bring an extra bowl to use for pouring out the salad for eating.
The idea behind these layered salads in a jar is to keep all the ingredients as fresh as possible without getting soggy.
Finally, with all of these recipes, you will need to plan ahead.
Or as most people call it these days: Weekly Meal Plan.
So be sure to click on these recipes and print them out for the next time you go to the grocery store.
Or even better, order your ingredients online if you don’t have time to grocery shop for grocery pickup or delivery.
And don’t forget to arm yourself with the proper food storage containers, utensils, and a nice little travel cooler to keep them in.
We really like this CleverMade soft-sided collapsible cooler.
It’s a nice large size to fit in all of those containers and drinks.
For more quick and easy dinner ideas, read our really popular post on 10 Quick & Healthy Dinner Ideas For The Frazzled Sports Mom.
And if you’re looking for more snacky ideas, check out this article by BuzzFeed, 25 Make-Ahead Snacks That Are Perfect for Traveling.
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