11 Tips From Chefs For Stress-Free Weeknight Meals

The phrase "family dinners" might call to mind a hot plate of homemade food served on a round table, but this image is quite far from the American reality. In 2014, less than 60% of dinners consumed in the United States were actually prepared and served at home, according to a study detailed in the Washington Post. This number contrasts significantly with the situation in 1984, when nearly 75% of dinners were reportedly home-cooked. 

Unfortunately, for many, this relative decline in cooking at home comes with no disbelief. Thanks to stressful work schedules, long commutes, and the commitments of child-rearing, not everybody feels like they have enough free time to make an elaborate meal at the end of the day. 

While the stresses of daily life can certainly slow you down, the good news is that all is not lost. According to a group of professional chefs, there are plenty of strategies to make healthy, and delicious weeknight dinners without breaking a sweat. From prepping dinners to making pizzas out of leftovers, these cooking tips could very well help you enjoy your evening meals.

In his role as a judge on "Iron Chef," Andrew Zimmern may seem all about the details; however, as a home cook, his goal is efficiency. In a conversation with Today, the celebrity chef confessed that he tries to keep his weeknight cooking time under 20 minutes, and that he does so by prepping his food in advance. "I like to plan as much of the week's food as I can and cook most of it on Sundays. That's my day to cook three, four, or five things," he told the outlet.

As revealed in his interview, some of Zimmern's favorite foods to prepare for later include items that are easy to store. The celebrity chef recommends preparing liquids like soups and pasta sauces in advance and then keeping them in your freezer. To put this method to the test, you can start out by making this twenty-minute tomato basil soup. From there, pour your creation into a vacuum-sealed bag, rather than a plastic container. This strategy won't just maximize your freezer space, but it will also ensure that your soup will be easy to defrost come weeknight dinner time. 

Soups and sauces aren't the only items that Zimmern likes to make in advance. As the chef added, salad ingredients — like roasted vegetables or quinoa — can be whipped up on a Sunday afternoon, stored in the fridge, and then assembled into a healthy dinner days later. 

Not everyone is a huge fan of leftovers, but Guy Fieri doesn't think they have to be a drag. The "Mayor of Flavortown" says that leftover dinner items can make a huge difference when it comes to speeding up your weeknight meals. In an interview with Today, Fieri explained: "Repurposing leftovers is a fundamental, economical, and time-saving way to cook because it makes the most of your food money and time in the kitchen."

However, just because Fieri enjoys eating leftovers, doesn't mean that he suggests eating the exact same thing every night. On the contrary, Fieri told the outlet that the best leftovers are the ones that can be reused to prepare a totally new meal. "On the weekend, I'll cook up a meal with dishes that can be easily turned into other stuff later in the week," he added. 

To take Fieri's advice, try making big batches of food that can be easily added to other recipes. For example, you could start your week off by making this delicious chicken roast, keeping in mind that a larger bird will leave you with more leftovers. Enjoy roast chicken thighs on Monday night and then strip the breast to use in a Waldorf chicken salad on Tuesday night. More leftover chicken meat can be added to tacos, salads, or even creamy pasta Alfredo. The possibilities are almost endless.

Cookbook author Lindsay-Jean Hard may be a whiz in the kitchen, but she still understands that not everybody has a ton of time to make a gourmet meal after work. Thankfully, as she revealed in a conversation with NBC, the culinary professional is ready to offer us a solution: Frittatas. According to Hard, frittatas are relatively easy to whip up since they are crustless and don't require any specific ingredients beyond eggs. As she told NBC, all you have to do to make a good frittata is combine some ingredients and then throw them into the oven to bake.

The best part is that you can use your leftovers by adding them to a frittata. In her interview, Hard explained that frittatas are, "easily adaptable to whatever stragglers you have in the fridge — veggies, cheeses, [and] other odds and ends." One of the most unusual and delicious ingredient combos that she's ever tried involved some leftover breakfast treats. "One of my friends adds tater tots to [her frittatas] and now I'm a convert," she explained. "I add them in whenever I have them on hand."

To make this lazy weeknight dinner, mix some eggs with milk or cream and add in your toppings of choice. Cubed ham, crumbled sausage, and shredded chicken are all great meat items that can add extra protein to your finished product. In terms of vegetables, leftover spinach, peppers, and onions can also bring flavor to your creation.

As the authors of the award-winning cookbook "Zahav," Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook know a thing or two about cooking. When it comes to weeknight dinners, the pair suggests preparing a round of hummus to use as a base; then, they say to add in some extra ingredients to dress your creation up. As Solomonov and Cook wrote in their cookbook "Israeli Soul" (via NBC), you can turn hummus from a fun snack to a full meal by adding some exciting toppings. "A plate of hummus with apricots and pine nuts doesn't need more than a couple of ounces of ground beef seasoned with Turkish coffee to make a convincing dinner," they wrote.

In "Israeli Soul," the cookbook authors proposed two dozen ways to dress up your hummus. Some of their recommendations included chicken salad, lima beans, and butternut squash. However, you can be creative and add in whatever leftovers are loitering in your fridge. You don't have to stick to traditional toppings and pair your hummus with baked falafel. Instead, try throwing in some other common leftovers, like oven-roasted vegetables, creamed spinach, or a quinoa salad. 

Chef Sara Moulton knows so much about cooking during the work week that she literally stars in a show called "Sara's Weeknight Meals." According to the TV personality, the most common struggle with weeknight cooking has more to do with planning your meal than with actually cooking it. As Moulton divulged in an interview with nola.com, "The hardest part of cooking is figuring out what you're going to cook." 

Thankfully, the celebrity chef says that this problem has an easy solution. Rather than worry endlessly about what you're going to make for your weeknight dinners, Moulton suggests organizing your fridge into three columns: One for protein, one for veggies, and one for starches. She advises home cooks to buy five ingredients for each of these three groups — one for every day of the week. "So, now you have five things from each column in-house. You can just open the refrigerator and say, 'I'm going to take that item from Column A, that item from Column B, and Column C and make dinner,'" the chef explained.

To put Moulton's idea to work, stock your fridge with some of your favorite foods from each category. Don't forget to be creative and select different kinds of starches, including root vegetables like sweet potatoes, tubers like yuca, and grains like the ones found in tabbouleh salad. 

One of the hardest parts of preparing weeknight dinners is ensuring that the final result is actually healthy. Chef Chris Riley, the founder of The Daring Kitchen, says that he found at least one way to up the nutritional value of his quick and easy meals: Make salmon bowls. In a chat with Eat This, Not That!, Riley revealed his preference for this scrumptious and relatively low-cal dinner. "Typically, when you have to make something fast, you end up with a greasy and unhealthy meal. But with the salmon bowls, you don't have to sacrifice time or healthiness," he shared.

To make a fully-cooked salmon bowl, prepare a batch of brown rice and then make this 15-minute air fryer salmon. Serve both ingredients together in a bowl with whatever other vegetables you have in the house. To repurpose your leftovers, you can even consider throwing last night's veggies into the mix. Sautéed mushrooms, garlic spinach, or even roasted peppers could all taste wonderful with salmon and rice. 

If, however, you're in the mood for raw fish, you can also try making a salmon and shrimp poké bowl. For this recipe, you'll need a super fresh cut of salmon, some pre-cooked shrimp, and whatever other veggies tickle your fancy. Assemble all of the elements into a single bowl and top with a bit of soy sauce. The entire process from start to finish, shouldn't take more than 40 minutes. 

When it comes to whipping up a quick and easy weeknight meal, Chef Cary Taylor is all about elevating some ramen. The RealGood Farm Box chef says that he likes to add some fun ingredients to some basic ramen noodles in order to create a unique meal. And, interestingly enough, some of these ingredients include leftovers from previous dinners. "My go-to quick meal is store-bought ramen noodles that I doctor up with chicken stock from the box, kimchee, chili garlic sauce, leftover rotisserie chicken, and green onions," the chef told Eat This, Not That! If you have extra eggs lying around the fridge, Taylor says you can also add them to your noodle soup. "I like to crack an egg and poach [it] in the broth as well," he added. 

To make ramen for a weeknight dinner, you can start out with some canned broth and a pack of instant noodles. Heat the two items up together so that they cook quickly and then feel free to add whatever ingredients you wish to the pot. In terms of using leftovers, definitely consider adding any kind of dark poultry meat to your ramen. The scraps of meat that you'll commonly find on a turkey's wing or a chicken drumstick are rich in flavor and will pair wonderfully with this soup. To give this combo a try, you can prepare a batch of this chicken thigh ramen.

One of the challenges of weeknight cooking is remembering which ingredients to buy for any given meal. Because of this, it's not unusual for home cooks to realize that they are missing an important element of their recipes, only to end up running to the grocery store in the middle of their cooking session. Luckily, Chef Adrienne Cheatham has a solution for this issue: Always rely on the same ingredients and try to keep them on hand. As she revealed in a conversation with Martha Stewart, Cheatham always keeps two key ingredients in her kitchen and then incorporates them into multiple recipes.

According to the interview, one of Cheatham's top ingredients is Greek yogurt. "You can do so many things with yogurt," she revealed. While yogurt might call to mind sweeter fare like a breakfast parfait, Cheatham suggests using it for savory items. For example, the chef recommends mixing Greek yogurt with lemon zest and garlic to make a delicious sauce. Another condiment you can make is cucumber yogurt sauce, perfect for pairing with heartier weeknight meals, like salmon or lamb.

Another one of Cheatham's favorite food items is reportedly fish sauce. Per the chef, this element can function to open or deepen the flavors of other ingredients. "I always have a bottle of fish sauce, a couple of dashes and it adds a bit of umami," she explained. 

For many Americans, the most stressful part of preparing weeknight dinners is trying to guess which foods their children will actually eat. Interestingly, Padma Lakshimi of "Top Chef" says that parents would do well to enlist their kids in the cooking process. In an interview with Buzzfeed, Lakshimi hinted that it's way more difficult to turn your nose up at a meal when you were the cook. "I think one of the best ways to get kids to eat — and especially eat something healthy — is to empower them by contributing to the meal in some way," she recommended.

Some ways to incorporate kids into the cooking process include simple things, like inviting them to participate in grocery shopping. Children can also help out with activities like prep work, mixing ingredients, and plating. According to Lakshimi, some of the tasks that have worked well in her household are, "Washing the lettuce for a salad, chopping vegetables (if they're old enough to handle a knife), shelling peas, peeling potatoes, ripping the fresh herbs, [and] stirring the soup." Regardless of the chore that parents choose, they will be allowing the kids to become more accountable for their meals. "Give them a part of the meal for which they can be responsible," Lakshimi said.

Not all recipes require tons of equipment, and chef Alex Guarnaschelli knows it. She keeps her weeknight dinners simple by using one-pot recipes. One of her favorites is eggplant parmesan, which she assembles using flavorful grilled eggplants. Of the dinner item, Guarnaschelli told Buzzfeed: "[It's] so simple — a one-pot meal. We make individual portions and it's a one-stop shop! That's our favorite meal."

To make baked eggplant parmesan, bread some eggplant slices and layer them in a casserole dish with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and garlic. While this recipe does involve several steps, the good news is that you can make several nights' worth of food in just one pot. Rather than preparing a single round of eggplant parm, go ahead and make way more than what you need. You can serve this casserole meal two days in a row. Or, alternatively, you can make several trays of this dish all at once, freeze however much you don't want to eat, and defrost each portion in the coming weeks as needed. 

While eggplant parm is an awesome option for this style of one-pot meal, there are plenty of other options out there that follow the same principles. Beef stew — or any other dinner easily prepared in a Crock Pot — is ideal for making in bulk and then serving a week or two later.  

If you are looking for a crowd-pleasing way to use up leftover ingredients, listen to chef and cookbook author, Matt Jennings, who knows how to repurpose these food items in a way that will convince people of all ages to enjoy them: Serving them on top of a pizza. In an interview with Food & Wine, Jennings revealed that his family in Florence, Italy, makes Friday night dinners easy by preparing a pizza topped with the uneaten fare from their fridge. And, to those that say their stores aren't full of black olives and prosciutto, nessun problema! According to Jennings, his family has used all sorts of non-traditional elements as toppings. The chef explained, "Char cucumbers and sprinkle feta on top. We've even put toasted ground nuts, dried fruit, and canned beans on the avanzi — although not necessarily at the same time!"

To take a page out of chef Jennings' book, start out by making some homemade whole-wheat pizza dough. Then, peruse this list of weeknight pizza ideas. You can add any number of unusual ingredients to your "leftover pizza," including chilies, barbecue chicken, ground beef, and butternut squash. Shredded spicy chicken can easily go on tacos one night and then top a Southwestern-style pizza with red peppers and onions the next night. The more creative that you are, the more interesting your results will be.