What do you do for dinner after church?
We usually come home to eat, but everyone is always starving. If I don’t get some food on the table quick, their bellies aren’t the only things grumbling.
There are lots of options for quick meals after church. Here are a few tips on choosing your menu items.
Slow cooker Meals
Not every slow cooker meal is a candidate for after church dining. Some just take too long too cook. Unless you’re willing to get up at the crack of dawn, you’ll want to avoid recipes that need 8 hours of cooking time. You’re also going to want a dish that takes minimal prep time. Getting out the door for church, especially when you have young kids, is time consuming and patience-trying. Here are a couple of my favorite crockpot meals for Sunday dinner:
Loaded Cheesy Potato Casserole or Hashbrown Casserole can be stirred together the night before. Wrap ham or smoked sausage in foil and place on top of the potatoes in the crockpot. This is a quick way to heat it all together, but avoid having the ham or sausage taste permeate the casserole.
Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole can cook in just 4 hours. It also comes together quickly. And who doesn’t like brunch after church?
If I get up early enough, there’s time to make something like Italian Seasoned Salt Chicken, Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore or even pull together Sweet Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce. Chicken recipes (or beef roast or pork etc) will need longer cooking times, making it necessary to get them started early. The pasta sauce doesn’t need too long to cook, but does take 15 or so minutes to put together. Some Sunday mornings I have that extra time, and sometimes it’s a mad rush.
15 Minute Meals
Pepperoni Pizza Pasta can be made in the time it takes to boil the pasta. Make it even easier on yourself by chopping the veggies the night before.
You can actually prep Honey Lemon Pepper Salmon and have it ready on the pan. After church, pull it from the fridge and place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Pair it with baked sweet potatoes that you’ve baked in the slow cooker. Dijon Tarragon Tilapia can be done the same way.
Make it Ahead and Serve Cold
Quinoa, Broccoli and Chicken Salad can be made the day before. Grill the chicken and refrigerate. It’s just as good served cold. Other good candidates for making ahead are Pasta Salad and Chicken Salad.
What’s your favorite recipe to fix for after church?
Thank you for sharing these recipes…Sunday’s after church are always busy for us…and getting a meal on the table will be easier with some of these meals! Blessings, K
Thank you for the great list! Sundays are very long days for us during the school year. My husband is in charge of the Sunday School program at our parish and 3 of our 4 children are involved (3 year old in PK, 6 year old in K and 8 year old in 2nd). After PSR we have Mass from 11:30 to 12:30. We’re lucky to be home by 1 (after leaving at 8:30). So we are always starving! I never thought to use the crockpot for things that can cook in 4 hours or so. Pinning for future reference! Thanks again!
For the last few months we have been doing Yeast Raised Waffles, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage and fruit. You mix the waffles at night and then put it in the fridge for 12-24 hours. We can eat within 15 minutes of coming home.
Oh, that sounds fantastic!
It is great! And cheap too. When we go out for lunch after church it can be $20 or so. This breakfast is a few dollars at most and most of the ingredients I always have on hand.
We just had my favorite after-church meal only yesterday. 🙂 Spray a baking dish with oil spray. Place country-style pork ribs (like thick pork steaks) in pan and add wedges of cabbage and scrubbed, quartered potatoes of choice. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and pepper to taste. Cover with foil and place on top rack of oven. I set my oven timer for 20 minutes per pound of meat at 325 degrees. Even if we go over a little in the service, this dish is never over done if baked in a timed oven. Serve with another steamed vegetable and rolls if desired. (This leftover pork is good pulled and re-heated with bbq on buns.)
That sounds fantastic!
That sounds wonderful!
I like to do baked potatoes in the crockpot & salad with all the fixins. I prep all the salad stuff the night before.
Thanks for all the ideas!
I love this idea! Baked potato bar is always a hit!
We usually pick up a pizza, or have left overs. Tonight, we grilled out hamburgers for Supper, but I love these ideas. My Grandmother would always make a big meat, chicken or roast or something like that, and then use up left overs, And, for her Sunday evening meals were ALWAYS sandwhiches, and chips. I have a 7 year old picky eater at my house, so we usually try to fix at least ONE thing we know he will eat.
My Mom would do soup, sandwhiches, or McDonald’s on Sunday night only, and then for sunday lunch it was ham, roastbeef, or chicken.
Could I get info on the blue serving dish used with the potato casserole? It is beautiful!
That is a piece of Polish Pottery, given to me by my sister-in-law.
I buy rotisserie chickens and pull the meat off the bones the night before and put it in the crockpot in the morning with BBQ sauce. We then have BBQ chicken sandwiches. We do baked potatoes, taco meat in crockpot, sweet and sour little wieners, pinto beans with ham, taco soup, etc…
At least once a month we have Roast, potatoes, and carrots-all cooked in the crockpot. I put 1 can cream of mushroom and 1 can of cream of chicken in bottom of crockpot, then add a little water and a little flour and mix. Then I add my onions (I use big chunks because 2 of my kids don’t like onions). Then add carrots and then the roast. Turn crockpot on low and let cook overnight. I usually try to wait until around 10:00 p.m. to do this.
Then, the next morning I add my potatoes. For this purpose, I usually buy red potatoes or Golden potatoes since all I have to do is wash them and not peel. Yes, they are a little more expensive but it saves a lot of time. By the time we get home (usually around 1:30 since my husband drives the church van) everything is ready. Sometimes we will eat loaf bread with it and sometimes I will buy rolls which can be heated in 10 minutes. I also will fix slaw the night before or we will have salad with it.