99 Dinner Ideas You Didn't Have to Think Of
Let my actual dinners inspire yours.
Months ago, I started posting what I’m actually making for dinner on Substack Notes. It’s a record of the dishes my household leans on most and the ways we repurpose leftovers.
I’ve recently found, though, that it’s tricky to scroll back into the earliest of those dinner plans. The infinite scroll is not so infinite.
So I decided to create this all-in-one-place dinner idea resource as a thanks to paid subscribers—it includes the best of the dinner plans I’ve posted on Substack Notes so far, plus a few fresh favorites. You could print it out, stick it on your fridge, and work your way down the list, or just grab a few that appeal to you.
You’ll see that there aren’t always recipe links here—this is not the index of cookbook recipes that we’ve shared on The Dinner Plan. These ideas are meant as 99+ jumping-off points and inspiration-sparkers. Where you take them is up to you.
Reading this is cooler weather? You might enjoy this list of 43 Winter Dinners You Didn’t Have to Think Of, too.
Focaccia sandwiches with sautéed zucchini, mozzarella or ricotta (or burrata), lots of fresh herbs, pickled peppers or Calabrian chili. Or do roasted eggplant slices! Or roasted honeynut squash!
Roasted sweet potatoes, split and topped with black beans, cheese, avocado, salsa. Or topped with gochujang/maple-sauced crumbled and crisped tofu. Or topped with lemony dressed kale, feta, and pita chips.
Roasted russet potatoes, split and topped with crème fraîche (or a mix of crème fraîche and cottage cheese!), plus scallion or red onion, and silky smoked salmon. Or topped with your favorite chili and cheddar. Or topped with broccoli and cheese.
Any of #2 or #3, but on top of tater tots.
The Pork Shoulder Cycle: Slowly roast a big pork shoulder on the weekend, then pull apart and serve in lettuce wraps with ginger-scallion sauce, etc., Momofuku style. Or add to noodles with the same accoutrements. For a cycle like this, I prefer to keep the base protein pretty neutral, so it can fit into a range of dishes. Like…
Toss the pork with barbecue sauce, and pile into sliders with pickles and slaw.
Or add to bowls with shredded cabbage/beans/cilantro/avocado/hot sauce/lime.
Serve the meat tossed with pasta, adding a little broth, olives, tomato. (Could add greens. Could add breadcrumbs on top on make crispy.)
Use it for hot Cuban sandwiches with ham, pickles, mustard, Swiss
Toss the last bits on a big sheet pan of nachos (End Pork Shoulder Cycle—note all of this would probably work with braised lamb or most shreddable meat. Probably some plant-based options too!)
Slow-roasted arctic char (or salmon if you prefer) with Japanese bbq sauce, served with rice, avocado, cucumber, furikake. Can add spicy mayo. Also can do this with tinned mackerel (right out of the tin at room temp) instead, or broiled eel (our fish shop sells this pre-prepped and frozen, I’ve seen it in Japanese grocery stores as well.)
Or serve the char with lemony yogurt + a chunky Greek-ish salad. Or an herby green sauce and lemony grains or orzo. Or a really pickle-y tartar sauce. Or dollop on a creamy horseradish sauce. Or top with pistachio dukkah (I like the one in the caption here) and serve with roasted carrots or broccoli also topped with pistachio dukkah. Or do it up in tacos, crumbling on a little bacon for smoky richness.