Best Recipes For When You're Tired Of Making The Same Old Dinners

Cooking is a hobby loved and shared by many. As a matter of fact, it can be a very relaxing and fun thing to do. One habit so many of us are guilty of getting into, however, is making the same old favorite meals week after week. It's understandable why — the ingredients and recipes we constantly use are oh-so familiar, that the process is super quick and easy. But let's face it: Your family is beyond bored eating the same old things, and you're tired of making them.

So, we here at Mashed feel your boredom and have come to the rescue with some recipes that will switch up your weeknight dinners and get you back to being excited about cooking. From our stuffed chicken that's filled with cream cheese, artichokes, and mozzarella to spicy noodles that are tossed with a tasty sauce of sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, chili oil, and brown sugar, your recipe book is about to get a major upgrade. You can thank us later.

First on deck is our recipe for veal ossobuco. This delicious dish will take you an hour to prepare and about two hours and 45 minutes to cook. But note that two hours of that time is actually just the veal braising in the oven. We'll admit that this is a bit time-consuming to put together, but it's sure to kick your dinner up and few notches, and you will be so glad you learned how to make this fancy-looking meal.

You will need quite a few ingredients for ossobuco, including veal shanks, extra-virgin olive oil, all-purpose flour, dry white wine, kosher salt, black pepper, unsalted butter, carrots, celery ribs, a large onion, garlic cloves, bay leaves, low sodium chicken broth, a can of diced tomatoes, two lemons to zest, fresh thyme, and Italian parsley.

You can plan to serve this scrumptious Italian dish over risotto, mashed potatoes, or even polenta. Give it a try, because we're not joking when we say this recipe is definitely a winner for dinner.

If you're really in the mood to switch up your menu with a dish that looks like you spent hours in the kitchen — but would like to whip it up and have it on the table in an hour or less, try our recipe for chicken biryani. This Indian dish is jam-packed with a ton of spiced flavor, and it's sure to become a family favorite. It's something unique to make if everyone in your household likes complex spices blended for optimum flavor.

If you decide on biryani for dinner, you'll need to get together chicken breast, basmati rice, grated ginger, grated garlic, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, coriander, ground cinnamon, cardamom, salt, ground black pepper, plain yogurt, water, saffron, oil, sliced yellow onions, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and boiled water. It's a lot of ingredients, but the flavors that come together are so worth every bit of the effort.

Sometimes, something very simple makes a really fun and exciting meal, like our copycat recipe for Panera Bread autumn squash soup. Despite being soup, this is a delightfully hearty dinner, especially if you serve it with some crusty bread and a freshly tossed side salad. If you decide to go this route, you can have dinner on the table in just an hour and some minutes.

For this recipe you'll need butternut squash, ground cinnamon, olive oil, yellow onion, a crisp apple, vegetable broth, heavy cream, turmeric, curry powder, salt, and pepper.

This soup is really scrumptious, and it will be one of your favorite recipes to make considering it's really very simple to make. Enjoy it on a crisp fall night or even smack-dab in the middle of summer when you're simply craving something cozy.

If you sort of feel like pasta but want something really different, you should definitely try our spicy noodles recipe, which is a ramen noodle dish that's sure to be a popular meal and is really so easy to make. In addition to the ramen noodles, the recipe calls for chicken thighs, oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, brown sugar, white pepper, minced garlic, a carrot, mushrooms, baby bok choy, and a green onion.

Dare to be a bit different tonight with your dinner planning — you won't regret trying this tasty recipe, most especially if you're craving some homemade ramen!

We all dread those nights when we really need to cook dinner, but we also really don't feel like it. This tortellini dish is meant for that kind of occasion. And how does needing only 25 minutes to put it together sound?

For this recipe you'll want to get started with organizing your ingredients, which include frozen cheese tortellini, Italian sausage, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, minced garlic, crushed tomatoes, heavy whipping cream, frozen spinach, and shredded Parmesan cheese. 

This meal is all you need to serve for dinner, but a Caesar salad complements this pasta really well. Go all-out and make it a full-on Italian-themed night, complete with a checkered table cloth and bottle (or two) of cabernet.

This recipe is called "the stuffed chicken breast recipe everyone will love" for a really good reason — it's just that yummy. And let's be honest: Chicken is such an easy choice to make, because everyone usually loves it, and you can be ready to serve this meal in 45 minutes total. What's not to love about that? If we haven't convinced you already, let's just say that the chicken is stuffed with spinach, cream cheese, garlic, artichokes, and mozzarella. Yes, you heard that right — that's chicken filled with so much cheesy goodness.

In addition to the stuffing ingredients mentioned above, the only other items you will need are boneless chicken breasts, minced garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

A shrimp po boy sandwich is always a great idea for a meal, whether it's lunch or dinner. Our own shrimp po boy recipe can be put together in less than 30 minutes, and it will definitely be a winner in your recipe book.

The ingredients list is pretty hefty, but you likely already have most of them in your kitchen. Pull together shrimp, egg, milk, hot sauce, all-purpose flour, garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, cornstarch, cornmeal, baking powder, canola oil, creole seasoning, Duke's mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, horseradish, hot sauce, lemon juice, capers, dried dill, dried parsley, and hoagie rolls.

Serve some chips or a potato salad with this meal for a super fun casual night, and you're all set to dig in and enjoy.