Friday, September 12, 2025

22 Easy Fall Recipes for Busy Nights

Easy fall recipes for busy nights.

Fall feels like the best and busiest time of year! It’s the back-to-school transition, the arrival of evening activities, and all kinds of new routines. It feels like a lot, and somehow dinner still needs to be made!?

These recipes are the weeknight lifesavers that I need when life feels a little crazy: cozy, simple, and very doable meals that don’t ask for much, but deliver big.

Here are the easy fall dinners I’m making on repeat!


Easy Fall Dinner Recipes

Short rib noodle soup in a bowl.

Instant Pot Spicy Short Rib Noodle Soup

Short ribs simmer away in an Instant Pot or slow cooker, and are served in bowls with tender noodles and lots of delicious broth! This is one of my all-time cold-weather favorites.

Ricotta meatballs in a skillet.

Ricotta Meatballs with the Crispy Topping

One of the most popular weeknight dinners on the site! Homemade ricotta meatballs baked under a blanket of crispy topping. Serve it with garlic bread or pasta!

Coconut chicken in a skillet.

Chicken with Coconut Kale

A luxurious-feeling but super easy one-skillet meal packed with protein! I love to serve this one over a pile of steamy rice.

Sausage, kale, and white bean soup in a bowl.

Sausage, Kale, and White Bean Soup

Such a simple, delicious, and cozy soup! Herby Italian sausage, kale, smoky paprika, creamy beans and potatoes, and a splash of cream.

Chickpea curry in a skillet.

Steph’s Chickpea Curry with Spinach and Rice

Amazingly creamy, saucy chickpea curry served over rice with a dollop of chili crisp and a side of cucumber salad. Ready in 20 minutes!

Red pepper cashew pasta in a bowl.

Red Pepper Cashew Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower

Three-ingredient red pepper cashew sauce, roasted crispy cauliflower, and piles of noodles. Hearty and so delicious!

Butter chicken meatballs in a bowl with rice.

Butter Chicken Meatballs

Storebought (or homemade) chicken meatballs covered in a rich and mildly spiced tomato gravy that is made luxurious with just a little bit of butter and cream. One of my family’s absolute favorites!

Egg roll tacos on a plate.

Brandon’s Egg Roll Tacos

Egg rolls meet tacos! I love this! Easy to make and ridiculously good with a classic egg roll filling, crunchy veg, pillowy tortillas, and a spicy gochujang sauce.

Sesame butter noodles in a bowl with cabbage salad and egg.

Shortcut Sesame Butter Noodles

One of my favorite back-pocket recipes! Packaged noodles for ease, butter for creaminess, honey for sweetness, and sesame oil for depth. Just tangly slips of joy!

Wontons in a chili sauce in a bowl.

Chicken Wontons in Spicy Chili Sauce

Big, beautiful, bossy flavors! Shiitake mushrooms and chicken wontons swim in a brothy flavor-filled sauce and get finished with a swirl of sesame oil and chili crisp on top.

Lentil soup in a bowl.

The Best Detox Crockpot Lentil Soup

This one is such a classic, and has been made so many times by so many of you! Lentils, squash, kale, and all sorts of soothing and nutritious things. Made in the crockpot so super hands-off, too!

Gnocchi in a bowl with mushroom sauce.

Gnocchi with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Delicious pillowy gnocchi swimming in a silky creamy sauce that’s laced with thyme and loaded with little slips of garlic butter-browned mushrooms! This is fall!

Beef stew in a dutch oven.

Life Changing Instant Pot Beef Stew

Six ingredients, 45 minutes, SO EASY. The perfect, comforting meal that’s filling, heart, and incredibly simple to make.

Bowl with sweet potatoes, quinoa, kale, avocado, egg, and chipotle tahini.

Chipotle Tahini Bowls

The chipotle tahini in this recipe is in my top 10 sauces of all time. It’s perfectly smoky, luxuriously creamy, and the perfect spicy combo with a pile of roasted sweet potatoes.

Gnocchi soup in a bowl.

Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Another crockpot favorite for fall soups! You let it simmer all day with chicken to make a delicious soup base, and then add creaminess and carby-ness with gnocchi before serving. Love this one!

Chicken tortilla soup in a bowl.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Just a basic and super delicious chicken tortilla soup! I could eat this every week, and the bonus is that it makes for excellent leftovers for lunch.

Gnocchi in a skillet baked with cheese.

Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi with Spinach

This is so cheesy, cozy, and comforting and it really is a stunner all bubbled up in a skillet. Serve with bread and salad!

Wild rice soup in a bowl.

Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup

This really is the best wild rice soup (and as a Minnesotan, I know these things!). You can even add chicken too if that’s your thing, or keep it veg with mushrooms only. Either way, it’s not fall without it!

Minestrone soup in a bowl.

Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

This soup has a shocking amount of veggies! And packed with cannelini beans and cheese, it’s the perfect balance of nourishing and nutritious but also filling and comforting. Made all in one pot!

Spicy peanut soup in two bowls.

Spicy Peanut Soup with Sweet Potato + Kale

Another one of the most popular soups on the site! There’s something so magical about the sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and peanut butter coming together to make the most creamy (vegan!) bowl of deliciousness.

Red curry chicken in a bowl with rice and broccoli.

Red Curry Chicken Stir Fry with Spicy Cashew Sauce

Caramelized red curry chicken sits next to a bed of hot, fluffy rice and steamed broccoli and then totally sauced up with the BEST spicy cashew sauce. Ooof, this is so, so good.

Slice of chicken enchilada casserole on a spatula.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

A five-ingredient stacked enchilada casserole layered with tortillas, beans, and chicken and covered with cheese and enchilada sauce. Basic, easy, filling, and so good.


Little Things That Make Fall Cooking Easy

I have a few favorite tricks and tools to make dinner easier throughout the week. Here’s what I recommend checking out! (FYI: Some links below are affiliate links!)

  • Air Fryer: I use this multiple times per week, if not every day. My favorite use is for the Air Fryer Chicken – it is the best chicken I’ve ever made and is quick enough to add to a dinner plate in under 15 minutes.
  • Instant Pot: Perfect for soups, and a whole lot of other things!
  • Slow Cooker: The OG of making dinner easier. There are several recipes above that use it, and so many others to enjoy! The bonus is that it also makes your house smell amazing on cozy chilly nights after school/work.
  • Freezer Meals: This kit of freezer meals is a lifesaver. You can prep up to 22 meals, stick them in the freezer, and pull them out to get dinner on the table (hands-off!) quickly and easily.

Happy fall to you and yours! Here’s to making weenight cooking easier!

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Friday, September 5, 2025

Single Serve Cottage Cheese Pancake

Cottage cheese pancake on a plate with butter and syrup.

News Flash: Cottage Cheese Makes An Amazing Pancake.

Lindsay Ostrom headshot.

Guys, this cottage cheese pancake is really something.

It’s got a souffle-like texture with a golden, buttery edge and fluffy, rich insides – and I never would have expected myself to love something like this so much (what?! cottage cheese! not again!). But whipping up one of these pancakes for myself after getting the girls off to school is just a real joy and delight in my life right now.

This is a pancake for one person, and it will need to be fried in butter, because that is the law. With just the right heat, it’s going to get this golden, crispy, extremely beautiful exterior that makes it look like a pancake you’d be getting from a bougie brunch spot in New York City. Except… it’s you. In your house. In your pajamas.

I do not make this pancake for health reasons – I just love the taste and texture. But I know many of us have protein on the radar, and this girl packs in a nice solid 15 grams of protein for us. Thank you, ma’am!

This is a fun one. I hope you love it.

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Single Serve Cottage Cheese Pancake


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  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 7 minutes
  • Yield: 1 big, wonderful pancake!

Description

A cottage cheese pancake with a souffle-like texture with a golden, buttery edge and fluffy rich insides. SO GOOD. And 15 grams of protein, too!


Ingredients

Units
  • 1/4 cup cottage cheese (4% milkfat)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or 2 1/2 tablespoons gluten free all-purpose flour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • teeny tiny bit of salt (let’s say 1/8 teaspoon)
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter for frying
  • maple syrup for serving

Instructions

  1. Make Batter: Blend together cottage cheese, egg, flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth.
  2. Melt Butter: Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat for a minute or so. Add the butter until melted.
  3. Cook Pancake: Pour pancake batter into the pan (I do enjoy one mega, buttery, super large pancake so I do this all in one, hence the single serve).
  4. Flip and Finish: Cook until bubbles form on top, about 1-2 minutes. Check underneath to ensure it’s nice and golden, then flip and finish for 1-2 minutes longer.
  5. Serve: Serve with maple syrup, or whatever toppings you like!

Equipment

Notes

This will be a souffle-like texture that will get real nice and fluffy in the pan, and then its fluffiness will start to deflate as it rests and as you eat it.

It can take a bit of playing around to get your stove temperature just right to get that perfect golden-browning, so don’t hesitate to adjust based on what you’re seeing. For me, the best temp is medium high, as directed.

  • Prep Time: 3 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 minutes
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: breakfast, cottage cheese, cottage cheese pancake, high protein breakfast, protein pancake

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Thursday, July 31, 2025

Instant Pot Spaghetti

Instant Pot Spaghetti in a bowl topped with basil and parmesan.

My Kindergartener Can Make This Recipe – And I Actually, Genuinely Love It

Lindsay Ostrom headshot.

It’s a parenting first!

I love the idea of matching your kid’s age to a number of goal recipes – for example, when you’re 5 years old – you learn how to make 5 recipes. (I got this idea from Nita and Jess at Healthy Happy Eaters – they are wonderful.)

My daughter’s favorite dinner is spaghetti, so I thought making it in the Instant Pot might help it feel more manageable:

  • it’s one single pot.
  • no cutting board required.
  • it has higher sides so there’s less splattering.
  • no draining of boiling water.

We started making it this way “to help her” but quickly realized… Instant Pot spaghetti is actually kinda special. It’s silky, flavorful, and extra clingy. Makes for an ideal combo with house favorite garlic bread and air fryer broccoli.

These days, when my family requests spaghetti for dinner (made by me, or my daughter), THIS is the spaghetti they are asking for. Some people might be offended by the breaking of the noodles, which you have to do to get them to fit – but in our house we roll with it and the shorter noodles work great for kids.

The ratios are just how I like them: meaty, saucy, so comforting. A home run hit with my kids and my husband every time.

(But I’d make this for myself even if I didn’t have kids!)

Hope you love it! If you love easy dinner recipes – check out this mega page of all my favorites!

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Spaghetti in a bowl.

Instant Pot Spaghetti


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  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings

Description

My whole family loves this Instant Pot Spaghetti! Silky, flavorful, a delightfully clingy. Easy enough for my kids to make it too!


Ingredients

Units

Instant Pot Spaghetti:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound ground beef (I use 85/15)
  • 1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning
  • 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 24ounce jar pasta sauce
  • 1 3/4 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon (I use the chicken base)
  • 8 ounces spaghetti, broken in half (1/2 pound)

Extras / Toppings:

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • Parmesan cheese
  • parsley or basil
  • red pepper flakes

Instructions

  1. Meat: Turn the sauté function on in the Instant Pot. Add oil, ground meat, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, garlic, and salt to the Instant Pot. It should sizzle. Sauté until the meat is browned and cooked through.
  2. Sauce: Add the jar of sauce, the water, and the noodles. Make sure the noodles are tucked underneath the liquid.
  3. Cook: Cover, seal, and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
  4. Release Steam: Lay a towel over the vent to avoid splatters; release the steam right away to avoid overcooking the noodles.
  5. Rest: When you open the cover, the noodles will be cooked and it will look very saucy / wet. Use tongs to stir it up and distribute the sauce; let everything rest for 10 minutes. This is important because the noodles will absorb the sauce and everything will cling together just right!
  6. Done! Stir the butter in until melted and a little creamy. Top with Parmesan, serve with house favorite garlic bread to dunk in the sauce, and get a simple green salad on the side. Oooh so good.

Notes

Personally I love making this with Italian sausage! It has more flavor (you can even skip the salt because the sausage itself has a lot of salt in it). So, sausage is my pick – however, my family loves it with the classic ground beef so that’s what I am including in the recipe. 🙂 

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: Italian

Keywords: instant pot spaghetti, easy spaghetti recipe, kid-friendly recipe, instant pot pasta recipe

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