Simple whole food dinners are easier AND faster to prepare than running to the store for something “quick and easy” that’s loaded with ingredients you don’t want in your body. And if you’re like us, almost every single time we drop the loads of money it costs to take a family our size out to dinner, we’re always left disappointed. We know we could have made much better tasting and far more nutritious food at home. Yet still, sometimes getting something wholesome on our table in time for dinner seems like an incredible feat.

These Simple Whole Food Dinners Guarantee Dinner Will Be On Your Table in No Time
Some days I’m in my kitchen ALL DAY LONG preparing non meal-related goods. It’s like the Give a Mouse a Cookie scenario. In the morning, I’ll start some bread and that will inspire me to make a creative breakfast of some sort. Before I know it, a kid will come in with a scratchy throat and I’ll realize I need to make another batch of elderberry syrup. That will remind me that my kefir is ready to be switched. Since I’m working on ferments, might as well start some kimchi! It’s lunch time by now, but I still wanted to try a new skincare concoction and realized I’m out of deodorant. After a day like that, THE LAST thing I feel like doing is preparing dinner!
When I’m on a roll with dinner being a joy to make, it’s because I have thought about my dinner plans in the morning, and have done little bits of work required for it to come together quickly and easily. There are some seasons where there is no excuse to not live that way, and other times where I’m hanging on by the skin of my teeth. For stressful or chaotic days, here are my staples of quick and simple whole food dinners. If you have done the pre-work of keeping these (long-lasting) ingredients on hand, it will be a cinch to pull dinner together!
The hands-on time ranges from 5-20 minutes for these recipes. Some may take longer to actually cook, but if you’re like me and wonder what you’ll make for dinner at 4pm, these are all great options for you! Dinner will be on the table no later than 5:30 without much of your actual time required!
FRIED RICE
This my favorite use for leftover rice, but can be made with fresh rice too. Scramble some eggs, remove from pan, and sauté any vegetables you want to include. Onions, celery and carrots are always a part of mine. If you have water chestnuts, those are a fun, fresh addition! So is bacon. Once the veggies are browned, add eggs and rice back into the pan. Season with soy sauce and butter and enjoy!
SAUSAGE, CABBAGE AND RICE
I LOVE this dinner! Brown a package of sausage (links or ground—doesn’t matter!). Chop up onion, garlic and cabbage. I prefer to keep the seasoning simple with just salt and pepper, but Charlie always goes wild with the spices. You can’t mess this up! Sauté until tender. Eat over a bed of rice. (This is kind of a deconstructed version of my grandmas Cabbage Bread recipe!)

BLENDER TOMATO SOUP AND GRILLED CHEESE
Does this combo ever NOT satisfy!? For the tomato soup, warm 2TBS butter, 1 C broth, 3-4 cans of tomatoes and a handful of fresh basil or a light sprinkling of dried and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Top with some cream and blend! (I like to use an immersion blender and leave some tomato chunks.) Make your favorite version of grilled cheese and enjoy the epitome of comfort for dinner!

SMOOTHIES AND POPCORN
Yes, this is a legit dinner staple in the Campbell house… if Charlie is not home. He would never settle for this and would take matters into his own hands if I said this was the plan! But if the kids and I are on our own, it’s almost a guarantee that this is what’s for dinner! Sometimes we round it out with ice cream for some “healthy fats.” Ha ha! But if you know me, you know I have all kinds of tricks for making even the snackiest of foods nutritionally dense.

BEANS AND RICE
People knock beans and rice, but what’s not to love!? Especially once we top it with sour cream, cilantro and lime… YUM. I cook my beans in the instant pot so it really can be something that pulls together quickly. It’s best to soak your beans first with a little apple cider vinegar, but on days where I’m looking for something quick and easy, I don’t always do that. I’ll cook black beans with 1 part beans to 4 parts water on high pressure for 20 minutes. I usually prepare about a quart of dried beans, and to that I add a tablespoon of salt, 1/4 C dried onions and hefty sprinkle of garlic powder. I don’t actually like using fresh aromatics here—the dried make it taste best.
TACOS
I’m sure you all have your favorite way of pulling these together. Depending on the amount of time we’re working with, these can go from being extremely involved where we’re slow cooking the beef and making our own tortillas, to frying frozen hamburger and sending a kid down to Ralph’s to get a package of corn tortillas! The thing about tacos: regardless of how you prepare them, they never disappoint! (Unless you’re in Okinawa and a “taco truck” gives you a “taco” made with garbanzo beans and lemon juice. Both things I love. But neither one have a place in tacos!) We love topping them with fresh cabbage, sour cream, cilantro and lime.
SOUP
Assuming you are following this tip, your house is always stocked with broth. This makes soup the most simple, delicious, nutritious, no-fuss option. Sausage links are the quickest protein to use. Add any and all vegetables you have in your fridge. Top with broth, season to taste, and serve alongside some sourdough! (I know sourdough takes time, but if you’re in the rhythm of it, it’s easy to keep it going where you always either have a loaf already made, or one that you can pop in the oven and have ready in less than an hour.)


SALAD WITH BREAD
Make up a hearty salad with either greens, or some other veggies. We’ve been on a Brussels sprout salad kick lately, which is quick with the help of a food processor.
Here is our favorite salad dressing that we’ve pretty much always had on hand in our fridge for over 10 years. Somehow, we have never gotten sick of it! Between the raw garlic and ginger, the fermented miso and apple cider vinegar, this is an incredible boost to the immune system. I pour it over any and everything when we have a sickness in the house!
Ginger Miso Dressing
- 1 tbs fresh minced ginger
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbs *organic white miso
- 2 tbs tahini
- 1 tbs honey
- 1/4 C apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbs sesame oil
- 3 tbs avocado oil
- ~1/4 C water
Add the ginger and garlic to the blender first to mince them well. Add the rest of the ingredients aside from the water and blend until smooth. I add a handful of ice to the blender to make it nice and cold and also water it down. Add as much water as you need until it’s the pourable consistency you prefer. This is a great dip if you leave the water/ice out of it.
*Miso is a soy product so it is imperative to only buy it organic and non gmo.
If you add hemp hearts to the salad, that gives you a whopping 10 grams of protein per 2 tablespoons! Or cook up some bacon for a quick protein. Serve with sourdough bread on the side.

LENTIL DAL
I use any kind of lentils— French black and green are delicious, but take 30-40 minutes to cook. Red lentils cook in 10 minutes! They tend to turn to mush quicker than the others, so try to keep them al-dente when cooking. Use whichever one you have the time for. This is a great, quick recipe to save. Pick up some naan from Costco and store in your freezer, or make your own sourdough naan if you have the time!
INSTANT POT ROAST
This beef barbacoa is sooo good! It uses humble ol’ chuck roast and simple ingredients, but turns into the most mouth-watering delight in your mouth. The original recipe calls for a slow cooker, but when it’s 4pm and I’m just now thinking about dinner, I use the insta pot. You can drop a frozen chuck roast on the trivet, up the broth to 1 cup for a 6qt pot or 1 1/2 cups for an 8qt pot. Cook on high pressure for one and a half hours, let it naturally release. Serve it along side rice or potatoes, in tacos… anyway you like it!
INSTANT POT WHOLE CHICKEN
Again, this can go into the instant pot straight from the freezer! I just run it under hot water long enough to be able to get the packaging off of it. Using the trivet, I place the chicken in the instant pot and pour 1 1/2 cups of pineapple juice over it. (Just use one cup if you have a 6qt instant pot.) That makes it so spices can stick to it, and I will load it up with organ salt, garlic powder, dried onions, paprika or chili powder and herbs. This article has a great chart for cook times based on the size of your chicken and the size of your instant pot.
Serve along side some steamed vegetables and sourdough.

SIMPLE IDEAS FOR SIMPLE WHOLE FOOD DINNERS
This list might have been a no-brainer for some of you, but there’s a common misconception that eating a whole-food diet requires time and money that people don’t believe they have. I hope this list of my family’s quick staples encourages you to get in your kitchen and make some simple whole food dinners for your family!
Leave a comment below and let us know what you would add to the list!
4 responses to “11 Quick and Simple Whole Food Dinners”
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I can’t wait to start trying these recipes and putting them in our rotation.
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I’m sure you have a few quick meals up your sleeve, too… please share! ☺️
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That chicken and the fried rice have me salivating right now!! You’re right, those are quick, easy, and very nutritious. The popcorn and smoothie/ice-cream nights bring back many good memories for me❤️
Thank you for the tips, inspiration, and recipes! I’ve got to do something about this chicken craving right now
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Did I get the popcorn and smoothie dinner idea from you!? The kids LOVE those nights! Ha ha. I hope that chicken you get on serves you well! ❤️
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