Did you know the markup on food at a restaurant is about 300%?
Eating out can be fun, convenient and delicious. But if you need to save money, it’s often one of the first splurges to get cut from the family budget.
With a little planning and a few extra touches it’s easy to make restaurant meals at home. I’ve already shared 5 Ways to Make Restaurant Style Meals at Home Special. Now here’s a list of easy recipes to fix. Some of these are copy-cat recipes of favorite restaurant dishes. Others are just so good they could be served in a restaurant.
Italian Style Meals
- Bowtie Pasta with Roasted Red Peppers and Grilled Chicken
- Angel Hair with Red Onion and Black Olives
- Garden Rotini with Grilled Zucchini and Chicken
- Pepper Patch Pasta with Grilled Chicken
- Italian Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells
- Bacon and Tomato Pasta
- Bowtie Festival
- Creamy Tortellini with Red Bell Peppers an Peas
- Penne Gorgonzola with Grilled Chicken
- Stuffed Shells
- Bowtie Pasta with Feta and Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Spaghetti with Garlic & Oil and Tomato & Onion Salad
- Chicago Style Pizza Potpie (individual or large)
- Sausage and Mozzarella Calzones
- Olive Oil for Bread Dipping
- Tuscan Beef and Bean Stew from Kitchen Stewardship
- Olive Garden’s Chicken Alfredo from Savings Lifestyle
Asian Style Meals
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Sweet and Sour Chicken Kabobs
- Orange Chicken
- Peanut Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Mongolian Chicken from Cookin’ Mimi
Mexican Style Meals
- Shrimp Tacos
- Fish Tacos
- Enchiladas with Chili-Tomato Sauce
- Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas
- White Enchiladas
- Guacamole
- Nachos
- Chipotle Burrito Recipe from Springs Bargains
Other Good Stuff
- Barbecue Pepper Jack Chicken
- Pan Fried Steak and Steak Burgers with Red Wine Onions
- Chicken and Dumplings
- Chicken Barley Leek Soup from Kitchen Stewardship
- Garlic Lime Tilapia
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Wow – what a great resource! Thanks. I too have just tried fish tacos recently, and have been thinking about making them. I will definitely try this recipe, and many of the others as well.
Tiffany, this is awesome! Thanks so much for posting all of these in one spot. Can’t wait to give them a try : )
Jennifer
This is a super idea! Thank you for a great post.
These look Great – can’t wait to try them.
Thanks for including my Mongolian chicken recipe. I’ll have to check out all the other recipes.
mmmmmmmmmmm…. what to make first is the question of the day…. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Tiffany, thanks for including the Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo recipe!!
And, oh my DROOL, have I just bookmarked some more good recipes to try! Thanks for doing this roundup too!
You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us.
Great list! I posted the link over on my facebook page, which means it will also appear on a link-a-palooza post on my blog in a couple of weeks. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you liked it. Thank you for sharing too 🙂
Hey, these are great!
I am in training to be a chef and some of these seem really tasty! The only thing I would say is that most restaurants use a 35% food cost system. So basically for every dollar you pay for an item, 35 cents is taking care of the cost of the food. The other 65% is distributed among paying rent, electricity, salaries, cleaning supplies etc…
Although some restaurants do have astonishing food cost percentages, they will probably be out of business at some point.
If you find a good restaurant, with great service and excellent food, indulge!! It’s always nice to have people cook for you…keeps me in business!
Cheers!
Jackie, thanks for the info. 35% sounds more reasonable. And yes, I love to eat out sometimes! It’s a nice splurge.
This looks absolutely amazing! Cannot wait to make this next week! Definitely want to try it out at our next Bimbo dinner party.