It's 5:15 p.m.—What's for Dinner? 20 Quick & Easy Ideas to Make Tonight

Whether you’re armed with 5 ingredients or only have 15 minutes, you can still get a healthy, delicious dinner on the table fast.

Reviewed by Dietitian Victoria Seaver, M.S., RD

Perhaps one of the most relatable feelings in the world is this: staring blankly into an open refrigerator at 5:15 p.m., wondering "What's for dinner?" Even though I love meal planning, my good intentions while sipping my coffee on Saturday morning aren't always actionable when it's time to make dinner. Maybe I was too ambitious when I chose a recipe. Maybe I forgot an ingredient—or my husband used that ingredient for lunch. Whatever the reason, I can't think of a week where I've followed my meal plan to a T.

And then there are some weeks when meal planning just doesn't happen at all—nor does a trip to the grocery store. There are certain pantry ingredients that I always have around for those weeks—think boxed mac and cheese with frozen broccoli for color and added nutrition. But there are only so many meals I can whip up without exhausting my options.

So as we check off the last items on our summer bucket list and transition to more structured routines—for me that means our daughter is back to school and we have her busy sports schedule to juggle—I'm going to make my life a little easier when it's time to make dinner. And that's where this new collection of quick, easy and very delicious recipes comes in.

Half of these recipes were created with only 5 ingredients (we don't count staples most people have in their kitchen, like oil, water, salt and pepper, in the total), with many being pantry staples like canned tuna and beans, so perhaps you can make them without making a trip to the store. The others are ready in 15 minutes or less. And some are even a combination of both—5 ingredients and ready in 15 minutes, like this Miso-Glazed Salmon.

Get the Recipe: Miso-Glazed Salmon

My family loves salmon, so I could put it on our dinner menu every week and no one would complain. The fish is glazed with a combination of miso paste, lime juice, soy sauce and honey, which add tons of flavor with just a few ingredients. Picking up a rotisserie chicken on my weekly trip to Costco means I can get Chicken & Cabbage Salad with Nước Chấm Dressing on the table in 15 minutes. And as the weather cools down, I'll make a double batch of Roasted Cauliflower & Curry Soup so we can have leftovers for lunch, or I'll freeze half for another meal later in the fall.

We've also taken these recipes and created a month's worth of meal plans, complete with shopping lists that you can download to your phone, because even though I love making meal plans, I know not everyone does. Now when the clock strikes 5:15 p.m., we hope you feel a little bit more calm and relaxed. What will you make first? We can't wait to find out.

5-Ingredient Dinners

You don't need a lot of ingredients to make a recipe taste brilliant. By relying on flavorful condiments (some of which you may already have on hand!) like balsamic vinegar, canned chipotles and Cajun seasoning, these 5-ingredient main dishes burst with flavor. Plus, fewer ingredients means you spend less time slicing and dicing, and more time enjoying your evening. (We don't count water, salt, pepper or canola or extra-virgin olive oil in the total number of ingredients.)

Get the Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower & Curry Soup

Get the Recipe: Sheet-Pan Carrots & Chickpeas with Tahini

15-Minute Dinners

For those nights when you feel like there's no time to cook but you really don't feel like takeout either, these dinners are on the table start-to-finish in 15 minutes flat. Created around quick-cooking proteins like eggs and shrimp plus cooked chicken, canned tuna and beans, these meals are ready in no time.

Get the Recipe: Chicken and Cabbage Salad with Nước Chấm Dressing

Get the Recipe: The Best Shrimp and Grits

A Month of Meal Plans

Put these recipes into action! This month of meal plans—complete with shopping lists— incorporates all of these 5-ingredient and 15-minute recipes and answers the question of "What's for dinner?" In these plans, EatingWell's senior nutrition & news editor Maria Laura Haddad-Garcia and I share how we incorporate these simple but delicious recipes into our busy schedules so we have healthy dinners on the table every night of the week.

Want more meal-plan inspiration? Sign up here to get ThePrep—our weekly dinner plan—delivered to your inbox every Saturday. It has everything you need to make meal planning and meal prep as easy as can be, including a downloadable shopping list.

Week 1: Simple 5-Ingredient Dinners That Are Packed with Flavor

Get the Dinner Plan & Shopping List

Week 2: Protein-Packed Dinners the Whole Family Will Love

Get the Dinner Plan & Shopping List

Week 3: 15-Minute Dinners for When You Don't Have Time to Cook

Get the Dinner Plan & Shopping List

Week 4: Easy & Delicious Dinners with No Added Sugar

Get the Dinner Plan & Shopping List

Credits

Senior Food Features Editor: Carolyn Malcoun

Associate Food Editor: Alex Loh

Senior Nutrition & News Editor: Maria Laura Haddad-Garcia

Senior Editorial Director: Penelope Wall

Associate Editorial Director: Victoria Seaver, M.S., RD

Senior Digital Creative Director: Jesse Blanner

Senior Art Director: Maria Emmighausen

Visuals Editor: Cassie Basford

Art Director: Sabrina Tan

Senior Social Media Editor: Sophie Johnson

Associate Social Media Editor: Alysia Bebel

Recipe Developers: Liv Dansky & Julia Levy

Recipe Testers: Amanda Holstein, Alena Jen, Catherine Jessee and Amanda Stanfield

Photographer: Jen Causey

Food Stylist: Melissa Gray

Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

Senior Producer: Matthew Francis

Recipe Editor: Hilary Meyer

Digital Producer: Beth Stewart

Fellow: Dillon Evans

Newsletter Editor: Allison Little

Email Producer: Mikayla Morris

Copy Editor: Anne Treadwell

…and the entire staff of EatingWell