3 Fun Dinner Recipes

To me, the dinners that are the most fun – and many of the meals that I remember fondly from my childhood – are interactive. I always enjoyed picking and choosing my own unique ingredient combinations, mixing and matching to make the perfect grouping of flavors, and I still do!

To capture the essence of fun at your dinner table tonight, check out my suggestions for 3 Fun Dinner Recipes.

Make Your Own Spinach or Cobb Salad

The key to making meals as much fun as possible is often the element of choice, and it’s nice to be able to see what your options are.

If you have a lazy susan, get it out. If not, the center of your kitchen table will work nicely, or you can set up a buffet sidebar by laying out an array of dishes filled with one ingredient each with everything that’s available to assemble your salads.

Sometimes on Sunday afternoon dinners at my grandparents’ house we would start the meal with a spinach salad served in this way. If spinach greens aren’t your thing, romaine or baby greens work just as well.

Lay out a smorgasbord of sliced hard-boiled egg, sliced ham or crumbled crispy bacon (or a warm bacon vinaigrette, like this one from Alton Brown at the Food Network), grilled chicken, caramelized onions, crumbled blue cheese or aged cheddar, diced avocado, cherry tomatoes, and a few tasty dressing options.

Serve with a loaf of crusty bread, or maybe a light pasta dish or grain salad, to round out the meal.

Fun Taco Salad Bar

Nothing says mix-and-match or make it your own like a taco bar.

When I was a kid, taco night was one of my favorite nights, and though I would somehow go through upwards of ten napkins sometimes while eating this drippy finger food, I think this was a meal that everyone really enjoyed. Best of all, it’s quick to make and requires little cooking, except for the preparation of the protein.

At my house, we always liked to set out a bunch of serving dishes with all of the available taco accoutrements for everyone to pick and choose as they pleased.

You may want to include a spicy ground beef filling (like this one from Martha Stewart).

Or try shredded chili chicken (like this one from Sarah at AllRecipes), or refried beans for your filling.

Don’t forget the shredded cheese, sliced black olives, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, pickled jalapenos, salsa and sour cream. Oh, and of course you’ll want to have an assortment of soft and hard taco shells. Yum!

Pancake Dinner

Nothing says fun like breakfast for dinner, especially when you get to add your own ingredients to the mix.

I like to stir together a big batch of pancake batter (like this one from the Food Network) and pour it into a big squeeze bottle. Then, let each of your dinner guests or dining companions (a.k.a. your kids, the dog, etc.) select what they’d like to top their pancakes with from an array of little bowls that you’ve already filled with nuts and seeds, dark chocolate and peanut butter chips, sliced bananas, berries, cooked sausage crumbles and crispy bits of bacon.

Dole out the batter, sprinkle with toppings, and cook as your normally would.

Want an egg with that pancake? Simply draw a circle big enough to crack an egg into onto a hot buttered pan, then let it set for a minute before filling in all around the batter circle to form your pancake. Crack an egg into the center hole and continue to cook your pancake as you normally would.

Serious fun for the whole family awaits. Enjoy your dinner!

Looking for more dinner recipe fun? Search here on rememberstuff.me.