Sunday night always mean one thing in my house: family dinner time! Ever since I was a young child, my parents made it a point to cook an elaborate meal every Sunday to bring the whole family together. Fortunately, my husband has a similar family tradition, and we’ve been able to enjoy Sunday dinner as a mixed family for years! It’s my favorite day of the week. Unfortunately, planning the meals can get tough when you’re in charge of feeding a lot of people. Use these family dinner ideas the next time you’re in charge of Sunday dinner, they’re delicious AND they’ll feed everyone!
Family Dinner Ideas For Sundays
Pizza
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, optional
- 5 1/2 to 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or Pizza Flour Blend, enough to make a soft, smooth dough
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast or instant yeast. It’s easiest to use instant yeast
Instructions
One: Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, in your lukewarm water. Make sure it’s lukewarm.
Two: Mix in the flour (starting with 5 cups, but adding more if your dough is too runny.)
Three: Knead the dough with your hands until it “bounces” upon touch.
Four: Place dough in bowl, cover, and let rise.
Five: Divide the dough, shape into rounds, and place on a greased baking sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cover with your favorite toppings. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool before enjoying! This will be your kids’ favorite recipe from these family dinner ideas!
Homemade Sloppy Joes
- 1 1/2 Pounds Ground Beef
- 1/2 Onion Diced
- 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
- 1 green pepper, thinly diced
- 1 cup of water
- 3/4 cup of ketchup
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- pepper to taste
- Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
One: Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet. The meat should be completely browned.
Two: Mix in garlic, bell pepper and a cup of water.
Three: Add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, salt and black pepper. Add in another cup of water, mix thoroughly and let everything simmer until the liquid evaporates and the mixture is thick. The entire process should take 30-40 minutes.
Four: Once the mixture has thickened, season with salt and pepper and serve on toasted buns.
Macaroni and Cheese
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
- 1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 pound Colby cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs
Instructions
One: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While that is in progress, grease a baking dish and melt 3 additional tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Add flour to the butter on the saucepan. Next, add the half and half. The mixture should be thick. Slice the cheese, and add the slices to the flour and butter mixture. Once melted and stirred add the nutmeg, cayenne, and mustard.
Two: Cook the macaroni pasta in another pan. Draining when cooked perfectly, and then dump it back in the pot. Place the cheese mixture in the pot with the macaroni and stir well. Drop the mixture of cheese and macaroni into the greased baking dish.
Three: Melt two more tablespoons of butter in a glass mug. When melted, add in the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top of the macaroni and cook for 45 minutes.
Spaghetti Bake
- 16 oz. spaghetti
- 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb. ground beef
- kosher salt
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
- 1/2 c. basil, chopped
- 1 c. shredded mozzarella
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 c. Parmesan
Instructions
One: Preheat oven to 350 degrees before beginning.
Two: Cook spaghetti according to package directions, draining when done and returning to pot.
Three: Heat oil in a large skillet and cook onions and garlic until soft. Add ground beef to the mixture, add Italian season and cook until no longer pink.
Four: Add crushed tomatoes, and basil to the meat mixture. Simmer until softened. When soft, add the noodles to the mixture and toss.
Five: Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, adding parsley for garnish. This is one of my absolute favorite family dinner ideas!
Now that you’re set with these family dinner ideas, go get cooking!
