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Sometimes the laziest dinners are your kid's favorite dinner.
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Crackers & Fruit, A Bowl Of Cereal, & 10 Other Lazy Dinner Wins From Real Moms

I'm all the way here for quick and easy meals. Some might even call my approach to weeknight fare "lazy," but I say that the lazy way is sometimes the best way — especially when it comes to dinnertime. Honestly, sometimes a mom's laziest dinner win turns out to be a kid's new favorite meal.

Because what makes these lazy dinners a win is their ability to please kids and be comprised of enough food to make up an actual meal. My own personal lazy dinner win involves convincing my kids that breakfast for dinner is fun and different — especially when cold cereal, toast with jelly, and maybe a banana (if I'm feeling fancy) are involved.

Leave it to a sleep-deprived toddler mom to come up with an easy way to turn mini bagels into a gourmet-inspired pull-apart pizza bread. Obviously I'm using "gourmet" in the most general of terms here, but throwing some ingredients on a pan, shoving it into the oven for a minute, and then serving it to your kids without them complaining is an absolute win. Even easier still? Forgoing the use of your oven at all, as many of the parents mentioned here have discovered. Read on to see if you can cobble together any of these lazy dinner wins for supper tonight.

1

Jennifer

"Cheese board: Pepperoni, cheese, crackers, grapes, strawberries, nuts. They love the presentation. It's a party and they gobble it up!"

2

Lauren

"I did mini bagels open faced with mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce in the oven. I pushed them all together so they were like a pull apart dish."

Why has nobody ever taught me how to do this? Brilliant.

3

Sarah

"Noodles and a jar of Alfredo sauce. My son thinks we are fancy and always wants more. I always keep extra in the pantry for back-up dinners."

4

Shawnda

"Velveta shells and cheese, a can of precooked chicken, and can of LeSueur sweet peas. My kids are grown now, but I started fixing it when they were 5. It was the only way I could get them to eat peas, and was all I had in the pantry."

5

Samantha

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"A bowl of Chex cereal and a side of grapes. My 5-year-old always exclaims, 'WOW! CEREAL for DINNER?' She has no idea how lazy of a dinner it is for me, or that I'm half dead inside making it — she just knows it's her favorite cereal, and thinks it's special to have it when it's almost bedtime."

6

Hayley

"My favorite lazy dinner isn't super quick, but it's super easy. Cook pasta, drain, stir in one can of chopped tomatoes, one can of tuna, one can of corn, one can of baked beans, and mixed herbs. Put in oven dish, cover with cheese, bake until golden. They love it."

Throw in a can of this, a can of that, and you're done. I think I can get on board with this lazy dinner!

7

Katrina

"'Mommy can I PLEEEEEEAASE have pancakes for dinner!' Two minutes in toaster!"

Frozen breakfast foods are always a lazy dinner win — especially toaster pancakes.

8

Amanda

There is almost nothing easier than microwaving some nuggets and heating up mac and cheese. Amanda's "Frozen chicken nuggets and macaroni" go-to lazy dinner is her youngest son's favorite. "Any time I open the freezer, he runs in saying, "noni???? (as in macaroni)."

9

Amy

"Kiddie charcuterie board: lunchables. If I’m feeling really fancy, I’ll cut up sandwich meat, American cheese, and throw in some Triscuits and call it a night. And this is for my 12-year-old. She has called it 'snacky dinner' since she could talk, and she still loves it."

Call it a 'snacky dinner' or a charcuterie board — whatever you call it, call it good enough.

10

Julie

"Make baked potatoes and top it with random sh*t from the fridge — leftover ham, leftover chili, any half-empty bags of cheese, leftover steamed veggies, etc. A can of tuna works, too!"

11

Jacqueline

"OK, I have one that's pretty lazy but my kids really liked it when they were little: soft corn tortillas, spread canned refried beans on top, then put some shredded cheese on the beans, stick 'em in the oven for like 5 minutes... 'tacos'"

That is the laziest (aka easiest) way to do Taco Tuesday and I am all the way here for it.

12

Janet

"Last night, dinner was corn thins and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese."

I would eat this and be happy about it, too.