Easy fall dinners that are cozy, simple, and totally doable for busy weeknights. Soups, curries, casseroles, and more!
22 Easy Fall Recipes for Busy Nights
Fall feels like the best and busiest time of year! It’s the back-to-school transition, the arrival of evening activities, and all kinds of new routines. It feels like a lot, and somehow dinner still needs to be made!?
These recipes are the weeknight lifesavers that I need when life feels a little crazy: cozy, simple, and very doable meals that don’t ask for much, but deliver big.
Here are the easy fall dinners I’m making on repeat!
Easy Fall Dinner Recipes
Instant Pot Spicy Short Rib Noodle Soup
Short ribs simmer away in an Instant Pot or slow cooker, and are served in bowls with tender noodles and lots of delicious broth! This is one of my all-time cold-weather favorites.
Ricotta Meatballs with the Crispy Topping
One of the most popular weeknight dinners on the site! Homemade ricotta meatballs baked under a blanket of crispy topping. Serve it with garlic bread or pasta!
Chicken with Coconut Kale
A luxurious-feeling but super easy one-skillet meal packed with protein! I love to serve this one over a pile of steamy rice.
Sausage, Kale, and White Bean Soup
Such a simple, delicious, and cozy soup! Herby Italian sausage, kale, smoky paprika, creamy beans and potatoes, and a splash of cream.
Steph’s Chickpea Curry with Spinach and Rice
Amazingly creamy, saucy chickpea curry served over rice with a dollop of chili crisp and a side of cucumber salad. Ready in 20 minutes!
Red Pepper Cashew Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower
Three-ingredient red pepper cashew sauce, roasted crispy cauliflower, and piles of noodles. Hearty and so delicious!
Butter Chicken Meatballs
Storebought (or homemade) chicken meatballs covered in a rich and mildly spiced tomato gravy that is made luxurious with just a little bit of butter and cream. One of my family’s absolute favorites!
Brandon’s Egg Roll Tacos
Egg rolls meet tacos! I love this! Easy to make and ridiculously good with a classic egg roll filling, crunchy veg, pillowy tortillas, and a spicy gochujang sauce.
Shortcut Sesame Butter Noodles
One of my favorite back-pocket recipes! Packaged noodles for ease, butter for creaminess, honey for sweetness, and sesame oil for depth. Just tangly slips of joy!
Chicken Wontons in Spicy Chili Sauce
Big, beautiful, bossy flavors! Shiitake mushrooms and chicken wontons swim in a brothy flavor-filled sauce and get finished with a swirl of sesame oil and chili crisp on top.
The Best Detox Crockpot Lentil Soup
This one is such a classic, and has been made so many times by so many of you! Lentils, squash, kale, and all sorts of soothing and nutritious things. Made in the crockpot so super hands-off, too!
Gnocchi with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Delicious pillowy gnocchi swimming in a silky creamy sauce that’s laced with thyme and loaded with little slips of garlic butter-browned mushrooms! This is fall!
Life Changing Instant Pot Beef Stew
Six ingredients, 45 minutes, SO EASY. The perfect, comforting meal that’s filling, heart, and incredibly simple to make.
Chipotle Tahini Bowls
The chipotle tahini in this recipe is in my top 10 sauces of all time. It’s perfectly smoky, luxuriously creamy, and the perfect spicy combo with a pile of roasted sweet potatoes.
Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Another crockpot favorite for fall soups! You let it simmer all day with chicken to make a delicious soup base, and then add creaminess and carby-ness with gnocchi before serving. Love this one!
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Just a basic and super delicious chicken tortilla soup! I could eat this every week, and the bonus is that it makes for excellent leftovers for lunch.
Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi with Spinach
This is so cheesy, cozy, and comforting and it really is a stunner all bubbled up in a skillet. Serve with bread and salad!
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup
This really is the best wild rice soup (and as a Minnesotan, I know these things!). You can even add chicken too if that’s your thing, or keep it veg with mushrooms only. Either way, it’s not fall without it!
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
This soup has a shocking amount of veggies! And packed with cannelini beans and cheese, it’s the perfect balance of nourishing and nutritious but also filling and comforting. Made all in one pot!
Spicy Peanut Soup with Sweet Potato + Kale
Another one of the most popular soups on the site! There’s something so magical about the sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and peanut butter coming together to make the most creamy (vegan!) bowl of deliciousness.
Red Curry Chicken Stir Fry with Spicy Cashew Sauce
Caramelized red curry chicken sits next to a bed of hot, fluffy rice and steamed broccoli and then totally sauced up with the BEST spicy cashew sauce. Ooof, this is so, so good.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
A five-ingredient stacked enchilada casserole layered with tortillas, beans, and chicken and covered with cheese and enchilada sauce. Basic, easy, filling, and so good.
Little Things That Make Fall Cooking Easy
I have a few favorite tricks and tools to make dinner easier throughout the week. Here’s what I recommend checking out! (FYI: Some links below are affiliate links!)
- Air Fryer: I use this multiple times per week, if not every day. My favorite use is for the Air Fryer Chicken – it is the best chicken I’ve ever made and is quick enough to add to a dinner plate in under 15 minutes.
- Instant Pot: Perfect for soups, and a whole lot of other things!
- Slow Cooker: The OG of making dinner easier. There are several recipes above that use it, and so many others to enjoy! The bonus is that it also makes your house smell amazing on cozy chilly nights after school/work.
- Freezer Meals: This kit of freezer meals is a lifesaver. You can prep up to 22 meals, stick them in the freezer, and pull them out to get dinner on the table (hands-off!) quickly and easily.
Happy fall to you and yours! Here’s to making weenight cooking easier!
September 12, 2025
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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