16 Shortcut Recipes for Speedy Weeknight Dinners

One of the many cooking shows I often watched growing up was Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. The idea behind the show, in case you’re not familiar, was how to entertain in an approachable, semi-homemade way, using pre-made or pre-packaged ingredients to save time and effort (plus, wow, the tablescapes!).

The idea of “semi-homemade” cooking, especially on busy weeknights, is one we could all use more of today. There’s nothing wrong with leaning on pre-packaged ingredients to get dinner on the table with less work but still lots of flavor, and these 16 recipes prove it.