Coming up with something different for dinner every night can sometimes feel like the hardest part of feeding a family!
I find it really useful to have a collection of simple family dinner ideas that I can come back to when I’m meal planning or just can’t think of what to cook.
Today I’m sharing three delicious family meals that are filling, relatively straightforward to make and perfect when you’re feeding a crowd:
- Tandoori Chicken Pasta
- Keema Jacket Potatoes
- Chicken & Potato Curry
The Tandoori Chicken Pasta is probably my favourite of the three. Instead of wasting all those lovely juices left behind after cooking the tandoori chicken, I use them to flavour the pasta sauce. So good!
Hopefully you’ll find a new family favourite amongst these three recipes. ❤️
Tandoori Chicken Pasta
If you love tandoori chicken and pasta, why not put the two together?
For this recipe, I marinate chicken drumsticks in yoghurt, tandoori masala and spices before baking them in the oven.
The best part is that we don’t throw away the delicious juices released by the chicken while it cooks. They’re mixed with some pasta water and added to the tomato pasta sauce, giving it loads of extra flavour.
Ingredients
For the Tandoori Chicken
- 2kg chicken drumsticks, with skin
- 1 cup low-fat Greek yoghurt
- 4 tablespoons tandoori masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic & ginger paste
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
For the Pasta
- 500g penne pasta
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 red onions, sliced
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- Juices from the baked tandoori chicken
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic granules
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
Method
Add the Greek yoghurt, tandoori masala, salt, garam masala, chilli powder, garlic & ginger paste, sunflower oil and lemon juice to a large mixing bowl.
Mix everything together until well combined.
Add the chicken drumsticks and coat them thoroughly in the marinade.
Cover and refrigerate. I prepared mine the day before and left the chicken to marinate overnight.
When you’re ready to cook, arrange the drumsticks on foil-lined oven trays and pour over any marinade remaining in the bowl.
Bake until the chicken is completely cooked through.
Once cooked, transfer the drumsticks to a separate plate or tray, but don’t discard the juices left behind.
Carefully pour those juices into a bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, cook the penne according to the packet instructions. Before draining, reserve approximately one cup of the pasta water.
Combine the pasta water with the juices from the tandoori chicken.
Heat one tablespoon of sunflower oil in a large pan and add the sliced red onions. Cook until softened.
Add the salt, garlic granules and mixed herbs, followed by the chopped tomatoes.
Mix everything together before pouring in the reserved tandoori chicken juices and pasta water.
Bring the sauce to the boil.
Add the cooked pasta and stir until everything is thoroughly coated.
Cover and cook for another 5–10 minutes, allowing the pasta to absorb some of that lovely tandoori-flavoured sauce.
Serve the pasta topped with the baked tandoori chicken.
Delicious!
Keema Jacket Potatoes
Jacket potatoes are one of those wonderfully simple family dinners that you can change completely depending on what you put on top.
Instead of the usual beans, cheese or tuna, I made a quick lamb keema topping.
The combination of a fluffy baked potato, spicy mince and melted cheddar makes this such a comforting and filling dinner.
Ingredients
- 1kg lamb mince
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 2 red onions, sliced
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon garlic & ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- Baking potatoes
- Grated cheddar, for serving
Method
Start by baking your potatoes.
Bake them for approximately 1½ hours, or until the skins are crispy and the centres are beautifully soft and fluffy.
Around half an hour before your potatoes are ready, start making the keema topping.
Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan.
Add the sliced red onions and cook until softened and nicely browned.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes and add the garlic & ginger paste, salt, mixed herbs, smoked paprika and chilli powder.
Mix everything together.
Add the lamb mince and stir it thoroughly into the tomato mixture.
Cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until the lamb mince is completely cooked through.
Once the jacket potatoes are ready, carefully cut them open.
I like to add a little grated cheddar first, followed by a generous spoonful of the hot keema mixture.
Finish with another sprinkle of grated cheddar.
The heat from the potato and mince will start melting the cheese.
So simple but so good!
Easy Chicken & Potato Curry
The final recipe is a classic chicken and potato curry.
This is the sort of everyday family curry I’ve made countless times. It uses straightforward ingredients, everything cooks together in one large pan, and it’s lovely served with rice, chapatti or naan.
For this particular dinner, we enjoyed ours with naan.
Ingredients
- 1.8kg whole chicken, cut into pieces
- 850g potatoes, quartered
- 3 tomatoes, sliced
- 2 onions, sliced
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic & ginger paste
- 500ml water
Method
Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan.
Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and bay leaf and allow the whole spices to cook briefly in the oil.
Add the sliced onions.
Cook until the onions are soft and nicely browned.
Add the sliced tomatoes and mix everything together.
Continue cooking until the tomatoes have softened. If you find the mixture beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan, add a small splash of water and continue stirring.
Once the onions and tomatoes have cooked down into a lovely base, add the garlic & ginger paste.
Add the salt, garam masala, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric and chilli powder.
Mix everything thoroughly, adding another small splash of water if necessary.
Add the chicken pieces and potatoes.
Pour in the water and bring everything to the boil.
Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the potatoes are tender.
Serve with naan, chapatti or plain boiled rice.
Three Simple Family Dinners
One thing I’ve learnt from cooking for a large family is that family meals don’t have to be complicated to be delicious.
You can take something as simple as a jacket potato and turn it into a really satisfying dinner by adding homemade keema and cheese.
A basic pasta dish becomes something a little more special when you use the juices from your tandoori chicken to flavour the sauce.
And sometimes you just can’t beat a traditional chicken and potato curry bubbling away in a big pan.
These are exactly the kinds of recipes I like having in my regular meal rotation: filling, adaptable and made from ingredients that aren’t difficult to find.
What to Make This Week
If you’re planning your family dinners, you could try:
Tandoori Chicken Pasta when you want something a little different. Prepare the chicken marinade the night before and you’ve already got part of tomorrow’s dinner sorted.
Keema Jacket Potatoes for an easy comfort-food night. You could even prepare the keema in advance and simply reheat it while the potatoes bake.
Chicken & Potato Curry when you’re craving a proper home-cooked curry. Serve it with whatever you have available – rice, naan or chapatti all work beautifully.
I hope these three easy family dinner ideas give you a little inspiration for your own meal plan.
And if you’re stuck wondering “What on earth am I going to cook tonight?” – save this post and come back to it when you need some ideas! ❤️
