Light Dinner Ideas For Entertaining

It can be hard to come up with a varied list of delicious and light dinner ideas for your family, especially when your goal is to prepare healthier meals that you and your kids will actually want to eat.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options out there that offer healthy meal solutions that are light on the things you want to avoid feeding your family while remaining heavy on taste. From giving your favorite types of pizzas, tacos, and salads a gourmet glow up, to coming up with new takes on typically heavier fare like pastas and steak, there are plenty of healthy dinner ideas that are sure to be crowd pleasers with your family.

These meals also make sure to keep your busy schedule in mind as well, with each taking under an hour to prepare and serve. That means you’ll have more time to enjoy your family as you sit down to eat. It also means, if you're preparing for guests, the meal will be one less thing to worry about.

Super Light Meal Ideas That Can Replace Dinner

Loaded with ingredients that are full of vitamins C and K, this healthy and balanced dish is as easy to make as it is delicious.

A fresh take on an old favorite, this crispy, juicy pork is topped with ginger-lime cabbage salad, and it's easy to make.

Try this gluten-free dish that's packed with tasty and good-for-you ingredients, like green beans and artichoke hearts roasted with Parmesan and thyme.

Healthy Dinner Ideas

Everything about this dish will please even the pickiest eaters. The apricot-lime glaze has a touch of hot sauce, making it sweet, sour, spicy, and delicious.

Toss four cups of mâche, baby greens, or spinach leaves with this homemade lemon-herb dressing, and add in a few colorful fruits and veggies to make your new favorite meatless salad.

Looking to add a little kick to your healthy dinner tonight? Try these jalapeño-infused honey and spicy radish greens that put a new twist on your typical roasted salmon.

Easy Cold Dinner Ideas For Hot Summer Days

Skip your go-to flour tortilla and opt for Swiss chard for a lighter meal. The leafy green is sturdy enough to act as a wrap without falling apart when you dip it in the homemade honey-ginger peanut sauce.

Salmon is always an easy and healthy option for dinner. This recipe only takes half an hour, and it tastes great with a side of veggies or grains.

This recipe is proof that turkey shouldn't just be reserved for Thanksgiving, offering up a woodsy roast that'll give you plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week.

Delicious. Easy Entertaining

This is nacho traditional look at the Mexican staple: Switch out the tortilla chips for vitamin C and beta carotene-packed bell peppers which are crucial to good immune function.

Seasonal veggies get a chance to shine with this pasta salad that goes perfectly with grilled zucchini and onion. And an added bonus? It only takes 20 minutes!

You'll want to leave your crockpot in the cupboard for this 25 minute stew recipe. The chickpeas in it serve as a lighter replacement for potatoes or other carb-heavy foods that often go in stews.

Best Light Dinner Ideas

You can bring a little taste of summer home with you at any point in the year with this light and delicious salad. Paired with basil and feta, this salad makes for a standalone meal or side dish.

Satisfy your pizza craving with some lighter fare with this tasty twist. With spinach, red onions, and thinly sliced ham, all topped with a half-dozen eggs, this pizza will become a family favorite.

Your steak dinner doesn't always have to be heavy when you try this lighter version. Served with a vegetable medley of peppers and eggplant, this recipe is sure to please.

Light

Quick Healthy Dinner Ideas (30 Minutes)

This unexpected combo of pork and peach is juicy, delicious and easy. All you need to do is throw these skewers on the grill, and you'll have a flavorful dinner in no time.

Kelsey Hurwitz is the assistant editor of , and covers entertainment, holidays, pets, and good news. When she’s not writing about doughnuts and talk show hosts, she can be found watching hours of bad reality TV, belting ‘70s rock songs, and searching for her next favorite snack.

Lauren Wellbank is a freelance writer based in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Martha Stewart Living, and more. She has three small children, a husband, and an over eager dog at home. When she's not writing she likes to work in her garden with her family.

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Light Dinner Ideas For Summer

Like it took all day but really took 30-ish minutes. The secret to this one is that it all cooks together in one pan. (Bonus: You won’t be left with a pile of dirty cookware when all the guests go home.)

This elegant DIY bruschetta bar looks like it came from a fancy caterer. But really, it’s just a matter of buying the right essentials and a little artful arrangement.

Best

Gaby Dalkin’s smoky, citrusy grilled salmon recipe is our go-to for any warm-weather holiday. Serve it with a crisp white wine and never look back.

Easy Summer Dinner Party Menu With Recipes + Setup

A slow cooker can be a total dinner-party savior; doing all the heavy lifting earlier in the day means more time to hang out with your guests. This restaurant-worthy dish pairs fork-tender braised beef and al dente pasta. (And don’t forget the dollop of ricotta on top.)

Jambalaya is fun, festive and one of our favorite ways to feed a crowd (it’s really just a one-pan rice dish). Crank up the jazz and serve it with a pitcher of daiquiris for a real New Orleans vibe.

If a cartoon rodent can make this dish look fancy, so can you. Plus, it’s totally vegan and gluten-free, so it’s a great thing to serve when you’re not totally up on what your guests prefer.

A Month Of Healthy Family Dinner Recipes

How to make a salad look impressive? Turns out, all you need to do is serve it on a board instead of in a bowl. This one, full of ripe figs and ribbons of prosciutto, is a first-course knockout.

There’s nothing better for a summer gathering than a good old-fashioned shrimp boil with sausage, corn and plenty of Old Bay seasoning. In this easy dinner party recipe, everything cooks together in a Crock-Pot, so all you need to do when friends arrive is slice up some good crusty bread.

Is there anything more inviting than the smell of a chicken roasting? Also, it really couldn’t be easier. Throw some veggies onto the pan or toss a salad and dinner is done.

Best Easy Dinner Ideas

This classic Moroccan dish is usually made in a traditional clay pot with a cone-shaped top that lets out the steam. But a regular skillet will work too. Sub in whatever veggies you have on hand, but don’t skimp on all the warming spices (you’ll never look at cinnamon the same way again).

Easy

OK, so we know this is not how Julia Child did things. But the slow cooker is actually a great way to get the beef melt-in-your-mouth tender. (Plus, you’ll actually have time to make dessert, and we know she’d approve of that.)

We love a taco party with friends, especially when the options are a little more exciting than you might make on a random Tuesday. This cochinita pibil—savory, citrusy pork shoulder—definitely fits the bill, and you can whip it up easily in a slow cooker or Instant Pot. We won’t tell if you don’t.

Easy No Cook Meals: No Cook Dinners For Summer

Bouillabaisse is a notoriously complex dish that can take several hours (and several trips to the fish market). But paring down the ingredients a bit turns it into a totally manageable (and totally delicious) one-pot meal that’s perfect for a dinner party.

Scallops are fabulous for a last-minute dinner party when you haven’t had time to plan or prep ahead of time. They’re pretty foolproof (really, all you need is a hot pan) and come together in minutes.

Sometimes the best way to throw a dinner party is to keep things as simple as possible. Good steaks, a bright herby sauce and plenty of good wine? We promise you’ll have happy guests.

Easy No Cook Recipes To Make For Lunch Or Dinner

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