profile

Bright, bold recipes for every cook

20 Low-Stress Weeknight Dinners

Published 4 months ago • 1 min read

Take the Guesswork Out of Dinner

Some nights, cooking feels extra hard, even for us. Maybe your workday was long and stressful or your weekend was super busy and you didn't have enough time to rest.

The thing is, you still gotta eat, and takeout isn't always an option. So we've pulled together a list of weeknight dinner recipes for you to keep on hand when you need a little inspiration.

20 Low Stress Weeknight Dinners

What you'll find here:

  • Dinners in 30 minutes
  • Recipes with under 10 ingredients
  • Throw it together dishes
  • Simple comfort meals
  • Shareable, low-effort dinners

If you need some help deciding, here are some of our top picks for low-stress weeknight dinners:

UNDER 30 MINUTES

​Easy Sheet Pan Shrimp Tacos​

Super simple, fresh, and flavorful one-pan dinner that's ready in 30 minutes.

10 INGREDIENTS OR LESS

​Guacamole Chicken Salad​

Great for quick, no frills dinners (or lunches) when you want something easy but crazy good too.

THROW IT ALL TOGETHER

​Roasted Veggie Couscous​

Roast your favorite veggies (pick what you like!), cook up some couscous, and toss it all with an easy dressing and goat cheese.

SIMPLE COMFORTS

​Creamy Zucchini Soup​

Easy, cozy, and full of earthy flavors and nutrients (plus, it's relatively budget friendly)!

LOW-EFFORT + SHAREABLE

​Ultimate Chili Dogs with Homemade Chili​

With mostly inactive cook time, this recipe is easy enough for a weeknight dinner and great for potlucks.

Stay tuned for our early spring and Easter favorites coming your way later this week.

We hope you're all having a great week, and happy cooking!

-Emily and Rachel

Bright, bold recipes for every cook

by Emily & Rachel Conklin, Cooking with Conks

We’re Rachel & Emily, sisters, home cooks, and the duo behind Cooking with Conks. We share fresh, bold, flavorful, and approachable recipes that are always worth digging into. We believe anyone can learn to cook something great. All it takes is a little confidence, a few tips, and a recipe that makes you excited to try new flavor combinations. If you love good food with a California twist, you’re in the right place. Let’s cook!

Read more from Bright, bold recipes for every cook
Chicken and steak kabobs on the grill

Pull Up A Chair with Rachel & Emily Conklin Hey Reader, Can you believe we're already more than half way through the year? Check out our most popular posts from January to now. We're Halfway Through 2026 So far this year we've cooked, baked, blogged, judged, and basically done all things food. We've been working hard to create recipes and blog posts that are informative, easy to understand, and enjoyable. Our goal is always to make cooking feel approachable and fun! We're counting down our...

17 days ago • 2 min read

Pull Up A Chair with Rachel & Emily Conklin Hey Reader, What we've been up to: simple cooking, new recipes, and perfecting old favorites. Plus our latest take on internet culture. Let's Catch Up It's summer and there's a lot of excitement that comes with that. Fresh foods, juicy fruits, ice cold drinks, and plenty of sunshine. We've both been busy with work, but we're still finding time to cook, experiment, and update recipes behind the scenes. Lately we've been into simple meals and snacks:...

about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Picture of a hand holding up a slice of BBQ chicken and pickle pizza

Pull Up A Chair with Rachel & Emily Conklin Hey friends! Here's what's been happening this week: we judged a local food competition, shared some new recipes, and renewed our focus on approachable meals. Let's Catch Up This past weekend, we had the pleasure of judging a food competition designed to support a local non-profit. We were alongside four professional chefs. No pressure! Restaurants and bakeries brought their best savory and sweet dishes to the competition. We spent the afternoon...

about 2 months ago • 2 min read