39 Crowd-Pleasing Sunday Dinner Ideas

Chicken Marbella — The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

The perfect Sunday begins with a long, lazy morning and ends with the family sitting down together to dinner. We want you to enjoy your day, so here's a collection of Sunday dinner ideas and recipes that are easy to prepare, can be made ahead, or are a snap to assemble in the morning and leave to cook hands-free all day, so you can treat your family to something special without spending your whole day in the kitchen. From nostalgic classics like pot roast and chicken Parmesan, to global comfort food recipes that allow you to travel without leaving home, you'll find family-pleasing weekend meals here. We've even got the most delicious plant-based shepherd's pie for those eating meat-free.

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Slow Cooker Beef Brisket With Potatoes

The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

Savory, melt-in-your-mouth-tender beef brisket is a holiday dinner favorite that you can enjoy at any time of year. It's a snap to make in the slow cooker with just a few basic pantry ingredients. Potatoes, carrots, and onions, and an easy thickened sauce stirred together near the end of cooking, make this an excellent one-pot Sunday meal.
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Katsudon Pork Cutlet Over Rice

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Katsudon is Japanese soul food at its finest. You need less than an hour to pull together this deeply satisfying one-bowl dinner of breaded and fried pork cutlets and eggs cooked in a sweet and salty broth, and served over piping hot rice. Serve it with a side salad of pickled cucumbers, or some boiled edamame, for a complete and nutritious meal.
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Cuban Mojo Chicken

The Spruce / Anita Schecter

Mojo chicken is a Cuban dish that will elevate your roast chicken game. You won't believe the bright and delicious flavor you can get into a whole chicken when you start with an overnight marinade in a flavorful Mojo sauce made with juiced citrus fruits, garlic, herbs, and spices. Serve the roasted chicken for your Sunday supper, alongside black beans and rice, or any other favorite sides for chicken.
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Coq Au Vin

The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

Coq au vin is a French country recipe designed for digging into on colder or rainy days. Braising humble chicken parts and root vegetables in a lot of delicious wine is a genius way to transform common ingredients into a rich, magnificent meal. It cooks mostly hands-free, and tastes even better made the day before, and refrigerated until time to reheat.

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Pork Enchiladas

The Spruce / Julia Estrada

Our mouth-watering pork enchiladas are the Mexican-style Sunday supper your family never knew they were missing. We use the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker to make quick work of cooking the pulled-style pork, which is then layered with corn tortillas, store-bought enchilada sauce, and Monterey Jack cheese, and baked in the oven until hot and bubbling.
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Spicy Kimchi Stew (Kimchi Jjigae or Kimchi Chigae)

The Spruce / Qi Ai

One bite of kimchi stew will tell you why it's one of the most popular hot dishes in Korea. Our recipe for the comfort food stew takes Korea's national dish of kimchi, a spicy pickled cabbage, and elevates it into a Sunday supper-worthy meal. In about 30 minutes, you get a hearty one-pot meal full of fiery, explosive flavor, with chunks of beef, onion, garlic, and tofu in a gochujang-spiked broth.
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Vegan Shepherd's Pie With Plant-Based "Meat"

The Spruce / Stephanie Goldfinger

Vegans don't have to miss out on a hearty Sunday supper with this impossibly satisfying one-dish dinner casserole. Our vegan shepherd's pie delivers all the savory feels of the traditional recipe, but swaps out ground meal for a plant-based meat substitute. The thick, seasoned filling includes healthy veggies, and the whole thing is topped with the creamiest vegan mashed potatoes.
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Vietnamese Pork Chops

The Spruce / Leah Maroney

Take your everyday pork chops to the next level with these uniquely delicious Vietnamese-style pork chops. They are loaded with salty, sweet, and tangy Asian flavors, including a gorgeous hint of citrus from lemongrass. While the recipe comes together quickly enough to serve with rice or noodles on weeknights, it tastes special enough for your Sunday supper or hosting guests.

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Homemade Chicken and Biscuits

The Spruce

Homemade chicken and biscuits are like a big hug in a bowl. Juicy, poached breast meat nestles in a creamy sauce with green peas under a topping of big, fluffy parsley biscuits. Make it a day ahead or freeze up to one month.
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Baked Ziti With Beef and Sausage

The Spruce

Baked ziti with beef and sausage is a hearty one-dish meal that freezes well, so you can make it ahead or save leftovers for lunches. Cooked al dente pasta is mixed with homemade meat sauce and ricotta, then layered lasagna-style with more cheese and sauce.
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Braised Oxtail

The Spruce / Armando Rafael

Once a Caribbean secret, oxtail lately has been growing in popularity among foodies, who prize the succulent flavor of this oft-ignored cut of meat. When braised low and slow in a highly-seasoned beef stock and red wine sauce, the meat becomes tender and flavorful. Our very rich and delicious stew is wonderful ladled over hot cooked pasta, silky mashed potatoes, or creamy polenta.
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Baked Stuffed Cod or Haddock

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Treat your family to a seafood dinner to remember with our whole baked stuffed fish recipe. Stuffing a whole cod or haddock (ask your fishmonger to scale and clean the fish) with your go-to stuffing recipe, and baking it in the oven, all wrapped in bacon strips, yields a flaky, mild fish with just the right amount of smoky flavor. Crumble the bacon into mashed potatoes for an indulgent side.

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Ethiopian Doro Wat

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

If you have dined at an Ethiopian restaurant, you may already have tried doro wat. The iconic chicken stew from the Horn of Africa is an incredibly tasty and nourishing one-dish meal. It is built on a red onion base, with layers of flavor from ginger, garlic, garam masala, and berbere spices, and traditionally topped with hard-boiled eggs.
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Easy Chicken Parmesan

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Chicken Parmesan is a popular Italian-American dish that makes a satisfying family meal. Moist chicken breasts are breaded and pan-fried to get them nice and crispy. Then you layer them in a casserole for baking smothered in a tangy tomato sauce, and a layer of melting mozzarella cheese. It's a saucy and delicious dinner served with a side of spaghetti, some garlic bread, and a simple green salad.
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Instant Pot Bolognese

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Italian bolognese sauce is famously hearty, and packed with meat, tomatoes, and vegetables. While the traditional version takes hours to cook, we slash the prep time for bolognese by using the Instant Pot pressure cooker. With white wine and cream added to the already decadent sauce base, you get a rich, unctuous bolognese in just 30 minutes, for ladling atop your choice of cooked pasta noodles.
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Carne Guisada (Caribbean Beef Stew)

The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

Carne guisada is Spanish for "stewed meat" — but the literal translation doesn't do this hearty Dominican dish justice. Even the toughest cuts of meat will fall apart and become fork-tender with the low, slow simmering action of this thick and saucy stew. It's one of the best things you can do in a Dutch oven with beef stewing meat, and is chock-full of protein, and nutrition from vegetables.

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Instant Pot Whole Chicken

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

Hold onto your hats, home chefs. If you've got an Instant Pot in your kitchen, you can cook a rotisserie-style whole chicken in just 30 minutes. The chicken is pressure cooked quickly inside the appliance, resulting in a super juicy and tender bird. Serve it with the included recipe for gravy, some boiled or mashed potatoes, and a side salad for a complete family meal.
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Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

The Spruce / Christine Ma

On chilly evenings, warm up with Taiwan's national dish of beef noodle soup. The savory, spicy, full-bodied broth is packed with tender cubes of beef, nourishing greens, and chewy wheat noodles. It is the ultimate comfort food in a bowl, and is a nourishing choice of dinner when you are staving of a cold, or crave something different and filling.
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Perfect Pot Roast With Potatoes and Carrots

The Spruce / Laura Donovan

Juicy pot roast cooked low and slow in a Dutch oven with potatoes and carrots will fill your kitchen with such wonderful aromas, the whole family will come running to ask you when it will be ready. Use a well-marbled chuck roast for this classic beef pot roast that makes a hearty, one-pot family meal. A simple homemade gravy (included) is the perfect finishing touch.
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Perfect Spinach Lasagna

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

All families will enjoy this meat-free lasagna made with prepared marinara sauce, spinach, mozzarella, and Parmesan and ricotta cheeses. Pro tip: Instead of cooking the noodles in boiling water, you can simply soak them for 30 minutes in a large, shallow baking dish filled with boiling water.

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Nashville Hot Chicken

The Spruce / Nyssa Tanner

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, this famous recipe is inspired by Prince's Hot Chicken, a now-legendary institution that first served up the deep-fried, spicy bird in the '70s. Nashville hot chicken is characterized by its spicy, deep-red glaze, traditionally made with cayenne pepper (or you can use paprika, for a less spicy version). It's almost always served on top of plain white bread, with some pickles on top. Accompany it with all the traditional sides of potato salad, mac and cheese, and coleslaw.
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Durban Chicken Curry

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Durban chicken curry is an aromatic Indian-style curry from the South African city of Durban, where a large South Indian population has shaped the cuisine. Fans of Indian food will recognize the liberal use of dried spices, ginger, garlic, and tomatoes, which bring abundant flavor to this tummy-warming dish. It cooks in about an hour, and makes a filling family meal served over hot cooked basmati rice.
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Baked Salmon Steaks With Sour Cream and Dill

The Spruce

Salmon is America's favorite fish, making it a great choice for Sunday dinner. This recipe calls for baking steaks or fillets in a sour cream and dill sauce accented by zesty lemon. Serve with oven-roasted potatoes and steamed green beans or broccoli.
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Mushroom Carbonara

The Spruce / Leah Maroney

Mushroom carbonara is a delicious vegetarian alternative to the classic, bacon-laden carbonara. With tender pasta noodles, and crispy and brown pan-fried mushrooms, mingling in a luscious sauce including garlic, Pecorino Romano cheese, and egg yolks, it tastes decadent enough to feel like a treat. You won't even miss the meat! The recipe serves 2 but can easily be multiplied for a larger family.

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Easy Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

The Spruce

Pot pie is comfort food at its best. Make this hearty one-dish casserole with tender chicken and vegetables in a creamy sauce. A puffy, biscuit-style crust is added on top for extra goodness.
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Japanese Cream Stew With Chicken and Broccoli

The Spruce / Andrew Bui

Cream stew is a popular and heart-warming dish found in Japanese home kitchens and family-style restaurants alike. Brimming with morsels of budget-friendly chicken thigh meat, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and onion, in a creamy and thick broth, our easy and healthful version comes together for your table in under an hour. It's a delicious example of Japan's "yoshoku" cuisine, a term for Western-style dishes adapted with a uniquely Japanese twist.
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Chicken Marbella

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

This storied dish is adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook, first published in 1982. This iconic one-pan meal features skin-on chicken marinated in a brine of vinegar, olives, capers, and prunes, and then baked in the same dish—it couldn't be easier. It's a little sweet, a little salty, and perfectly balanced with acidic tang; great with Spanish rice or mashed potatoes.
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Hungarian Chicken Paprikash

The Spruce

Hungarian chicken paprikash combines 5 classic Hungarian ingredients — onions, green peppers, tomatoes, paprika, and sour cream — in one winning dish. It's the Hungarian paprika that gives the dish its signature brick-red color. With its creamy sauce, it makes a filling family meal that comes together quickly in one pot, so it won't leave you with a lot of dishes to clean-up. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

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Roast Pork With Crisp Crackling

The Spruce

Succulent roast pork served with crackling makes a mouthwatering Sunday meal. Be sure to remove the pork loin from the fridge a few hours before cooking, to bring it to room temperature. Serve with applesauce and roasted root vegetables,
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Bangers and Mash With Onion Gravy

The Spruce / Ali Redmond

Bangers and mash is a popular dish in the United Kingdom that's also a budget-friendly family dinner. Cook up a batch of these hearty sausages (bangers) and easy, buttery mashed potatoes (mash), serving them with the included recipe for a mouthwatering onion gravy.
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Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Cooking these ground beef and rice stuffed peppers in the Instant Pot means you'll have dinner on the table in just a matter of minutes instead of over an hour. Bell peppers are filled with a mixture of tomatoes, cheese, herbs, and seasonings. Place in the pressure cooker and top with cheese and the peppers are finished off in the Instant Pot until nice and melted.
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Roasted Sheet Pan Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, and Broccoli

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Looking for a hearty Sunday dinner with minimal cleanup? Make a sheet-pan dinner. The chicken, sweet potatoes, and broccoli are coated in a tasty soy sauce, honey, and lemon marinade, followed by a quick trip through the oven. Add cayenne pepper for extra spice, if you like.

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Air Fryer Fried Chicken

The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

Chicken pieces cook up quickly in an air fryer, which creates a crispy crust while keeping the meat juicy on the inside. And air fryer fried chicken leaves little mess to clean up, making it perfect for a relaxing Sunday evening, especially when everyone in the family likes a different part. Just add a salad and a favorite side dish.
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Corned Beef and Cabbage Meal

The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

This classic St. Patrick's Day feast makes a great Sunday dinner any time of year. Corned beef is cooked in a briny, seasoned broth, infusing it with traditional flavoring. Cabbage, carrots, and potatoes are added near the end of cooking for a complete family dinner.
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Vegetarian Meatloaf

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

This meatloaf uses a vegetarian ground beef substitute, giving it a substantial texture that makes it easy to eat meat-free. Sneaky oatmeal and breadcrumbs in the mix add extra heft, while red bell pepper and garlic bring crunch and flavor. Freeze leftovers for weekday sandwiches.
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Savory Chicken and Sausage Stew

The Spruce Eats / Karen Hibbard

Cajun-flavored chicken stew with chunks of meaty sausage, tender potatoes, crunchy carrots, and sweet pearl onions makes a satisfying meal on colder days. Serve it with dinner rolls or sliced French bread for sopping up every last drop from bowls.

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Boneless Top Sirloin Roast With Mushrooms

The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

This roast beef recipe includes instructions on preparing a top sirloin roast for maximum flavor and juiciness. The meat is studded with garlic bits, then brushed with a simple marinade of olive oil and spices before going into the oven with mushrooms and onions. It's finished with a delicious red wine pan sauce.
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Penne all' Amatriciana

The Spruce Eats / Elaine Lemm

In less than an hour, you can have a delicious Italian pasta dish on the table. Penne all' Amatriciana features cubed guanciale or pancetta with a homemade tomato sauce flavored with onion, garlic, red wine, and chili flakes. Toss it with penne or spaghetti, it's fantastic either way.
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Classic Cabbage Rolls

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

In this classic home-style European recipe, cabbage leaves are formed into cylinders and stuffed with rice and seasoned ground beef. They're then cooked in a tangy tomato sauce. Make it in the crock pot or on your stovetop. Instructions for both methods are listed in the recipe.

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39 Crowd-Pleasing Sunday Dinner Ideas

Serve these winning recipes on family weekends