Emergency Dinners (when you forgot to plan)
Emergency dinners are quick and easy to make with what you’re likely to already have on hand. They are perfect for nights when the chicken is still frozen, everyone’s just walked in the door and is starving or the original plan fell apart.
Maybe you forgot to thaw the chicken.
Maybe you had one of those days where you finally look up to catch your breath and it’s already 6 pm and everyone’s hungry.
Or maybe you forgot you’re the one everyone in the family that everyone is talking to when they ask “What’s for dinner?”
No matter the reason, we all need a few emergency dinners in our back pocket to pull from so we can sit down to eat already.
What Makes an Emergency Dinner?
An emergency dinner is something you can pull together quickly and with ingredients you are likely to already have on hand. It’s a back-up on a crazy day or when your original plan fell apart.
To qualify in this collection, recipes need to be at least one of the following:
- Pantry Friendly: Uses primarily shelf stable ingredients you already have on hand. This can vary wildly for all of us, but simple ingredients are key.
- Freezer Friendly: Built around ingredients likely to be found stuffed somewhere in your freezer.
- Rotisserie Chicken Shortcuts: Recipes that leverage pre-cooked chicken to get dinner on the table quickly.
- Flexible Ingredients: The recipes are easy to adapt based on what you actually have. Very forgiving.
- Minimal Prep: Quick and easy recipes that come together at the last minute to save the day.
The recipes below don’t have to check all of these boxes. But each one was hand chosen because it is realistic, practical and can help you get a delicious meal on the table when dinner feels like an emergency.
Pro Tip: Find a handful of these recipes that are absolute favorites in your house and keep as many of the ingredients on hand at all times as possible. Then you are ready to go when the emergency dinner bell rings! 😉
Emergency Dinners
Scroll through the collection below to find a rescue dinner that fits your needs. Click on the title or photo to be taken to the original recipe website for ingredients and instructions.
And come back often because we are always updating this and adding new recipes.
Have a recipe you’d like to see included? Or other suggestions or feedback? Let us know!
Additional Tips & Tricks:
Fall back on familiar recipes. It’s less of a lift to make something you’ve made a hundred times before. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel on a night when there’s enough chaos already.
Easy side dish options can help you complete a meal when needed. We’re talking microwave baked potatoes, bagged salads, Air Fryer roasted veggies or some instant or freezer rice. Simplify where you can.
Shortcuts for the win. It’s more than acceptable to get some help from the store, whether it’s as simple as picking up a rotisserie chicken or whether you’re buying some frozen chicken tenders, pre-made macaroni and cheese and a steamable bag of broccoli to create a whole dinner you didn’t have to cook. Fed is fed.
If you are looking for some store-bought shortcuts, check out ideas and products to stock your fridge, freezer and pantry in this post on how to make easy dinners using store-bought foods. It’s a great trick to have some things stocked for these types of emergency dinner nights.
