Coming up with something for your family to eat every night can be a huge hassle. It's time-consuming, expensive, and you may find yourself eating the same things often. Fortunately, there are quick family meal packs available from many restaurants that feed from two to sometimes ten people. These options can spice up dinner time and make family dinner fun for everyone.
Cooking every day isn't a possibility for everyone. At the same time, going out to a restaurant for multiple meals adds up quickly. So, how you can keep making interesting food while staying at home?
Many of the family dinner ideas on this list are ready-to-eat as soon as you pick them up. However, if you enjoy the food prep process, you'll also find some family meal kits you can quickly prepare at the house. Whether it's chicken sandwiches, potato salad, or fettuccine alfredo, you can get it from your favorite places to feed the entire household.
1. Zaxby's
If you have a Zaxby's in your area, consider getting one of the Zax family packs for your next dinner. There are two options: a 20-piece chicken tenders pack or a 30-piece boneless wings meal. Both come with french fries, Texas toast, and sauce.
If you have a family of two, there's also a Zax Family Pack of chicken fingerz made to serve two people. For quick pick up, you can place an order online at your nearby Zaxby's location.
2. Panda Express
Panda Express offers a family meal deal for when you want to get Chinese food without breaking the bank. You and your family get three large entrees and two large sides, with popular options like fried rice, lo mein, orange chicken, honey sesame chicken breast, and broccoli beef.
The deal is only available periodically, so make sure you catch it whenever you see it.
3. Smashburger
If you love food from Smashburger and want to make it yourself, you can pick up one of their Take & Make family packs. The kits contain everything you need to make one of their menu staples in minutes for four people. You can order:
The ingredients include Smash oil, seasoning, condiments, lettuce, tomato slices, cheese, onion, buns, and chicken or beef patties. Since you have complete control over the preparation, you can customize your meal to suit the taste of your different family members.
4. Moe's Southwest Grill
Moe's has a few options for Mexican at-home dinner night ideas. There is a build-your-own taco kit, nacho kit, and fajita kit. All of the family bundles come with flour tortillas or chips, protein options, salsa, and toppings such as black beans, pico de gallo, cheese queso, sour cream, lettuce, and more.
If you want to build your own family meal, you can visit Moe's Market. The market allows you to buy a la carte dips, sides, and protein. Your protein options include ground beef, pork, steak, adobo chicken, and white meat chicken. This option allows you more flexibility in how you prepare your dinners. You can order Moe's online or in the app.
5. Panera Bread
Panera has family meal deals where you can serve up some of the best items on Panera's menu for a family of four. The choices include:
Panera's deal has sandwiches just for kids as well as sandwiches for adults. After picking your combination of sandwiches, soups, and salads, you can even add a dessert such as chocolate chip cookies.
6. California Pizza Kitchen
There are several ways to bring California Pizza Kitchen home to have a family-style meal. Their typical family meal baskets are made for four to six people, and they come with pasta, pizzas, a Caesar salad, and desserts. If you want to build your own family dinners, you can pick from a limited menu of restaurant favorites.
If you're just there for the pizza, you can your family can order a Take and Bake pizza with any modifications you want. You can get a five cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza, shrimp scampi pizza, or anything else available for pickup.7. Denny's
Denny’s offers various family packs for takeout or delivery in select locations. The comfort food includes either breakfast or lunch (or both). For example, with the Grand Slam Pack, you can enjoy buttermilk pancakes, bacon, sausage links, eggs, and hashbrowns.
The other entree options include a Breakfast and Cheeseburger Pack with crinkle fries, a Chicken Tenders Pack, and a Fish and Chips pack. You can make substitutions for the sides or dipping sauces. Additionally, you can add desserts such as a milkshake or cheesecake. The meals feed four or five people.
8. Taco Bell
When you're craving Taco Bell or want a family meal on a budget, then a group pack is your best bet. It's perfect to serve at a small gathering or for family taco night. The party platters include a Taco & Burrito Cravings Pack and various Taco Party Packs. Complete the meal with soft drinks and sides, and get it delivered or pick it up at the drive-thru.
9. Trejo's Tacos Kit
If you want a bit more flexibility with your family-style taco night, consider a taco kit from the famous chef Danny Trejo. You get corn tortillas, beans, hot sauce, and two proteins. The meat selections include beef barbacoa, carnitas, or vegan jackfruit. The kits make 24 tacos, so it's awesome if you have a large family size or want to host a lot of people.
These tacos are only available to order online, and they can come to any United States address. The ingredients ship fresh and arrive ready to prepare.
10. Central BBQ
When you're in the mood for quality BBQ, you can get enough for four people sent directly to your doorstep. The Central BBQ Ribs & Pulled Pork family meal includes a container of rub, sauce, a slab of ribs, and a pound of pulled pork.
The meats arrive pre-cooked and flash-frozen to preserve their flavor. You simply need to reheat everything in the oven or on the stove depending on the heating directions
11. Auntie Anne's
Though soft pretzels aren't exactly a family meal, bringing Auntie Anne's classic recipe home is a treat for everyone. The company offers a DIY pretzel kit where you can make pretzels for ten people. You get the dough, sugars, and a recipe card for a fun family-style activity. Your kitchen will smell just like the famous restaurant chains.
12. Cracker Barrel
Cracker Barrel makes it easy to find dinner ideas for families with their Meals Made Easy planning tool. The tool allows you to select your family size, whether you want a meal that's ready now or ready later, and the category of family meal you want (breakfast included).
If you want a hot meal now, you can pick between Grilled Chicken Tenderloins, Chicken N' Dumplings, Meatloaf Family Meal Basket, or Sunday Homestyle Fried Chicken Basket. All of them come with bread and your choice of sides.
The Cracker Barrel Take N Bake meals allow you to pop something in the oven whenever you're ready to eat. There are options like Hashbrown Casserole, Mac Cheese, and sides such as mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, and buttermilk biscuits.
13. Longhorn Steakhouse
Longhorn doesn't have a family meal deal anymore, but you can place to-go orders from your local place. Now, you can bring a seafood feast, chicken wings, baby back ribs, parmesan-crusted chicken, or a chicken family meal home for dinner. Longhorn also has great sides, including mashed potatoes, sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, and grilled mushrooms. If you want to go all out, order appetizers for people to share such as chicken lettuce wraps or a garden salad.
14. Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut offers family meals in addition to simply getting a large pizza. Their small dinner box includes a medium pizza, breadsticks, and cinnamon sticks. The big dinner box has two medium pizzas, breadsticks, and your choice of side between wings or pasta.
On any order from Pizza Hut, you can add four individual beverages or a liter of coca-cola or other soda.
15. Red Lobster
Red Lobster has tons of different family meals that will surely work with anyone's taste. You and your family can feel like you went out to a fancy restaurant while sitting right at the kitchen table. Some of their meals include:
The company also has a Create Your Own family feast, where you can select two sides and three seafood entrees. All of these options serve four to six family members and they come with Red Lobster's famous Cheddar Bay Biscuits. It's a dinner dream come true. For two family members, you can expect leftovers.
16. Olive Garden
In addition to their usual catering menu with individual trays of pasta and salad, Olive Garden offers take-home entrees. The entrees include Fettucine Alfredo, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, and Five Cheese Ziti. In some locations, you can get a Family-Style Lasagna Bundle that comes with a house salad, breadsticks, and a bottle of soda.
It's important to plan ahead for this one because some of the family options take hours to prepare. You can place your order online, via phone, or with the Olive Garden app.
FAQS
Several fast-food companies and restaurant chains offer some sort of family bundle. These family meals allow you to save time and money while keeping the entire family happy. Some of the places serving family meal deals include McDonald's chicken nuggets, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Panera, Qdoba, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Outback Steakhouse.
If you don't know have any dinner ideas, family dinner can become stressful. Consider getting a meal kit from one of your favorite restaurants. Many of them include your choice of entrées and large sides for a great price. For example, TGI Fridays has several family meals that serve four to six people, including the Chicken Parmesan Pasta Box, Ribs and Wings Box, Glazed Sliders Box, and many more.
Chick-Fil-A now offers family meal bundles for their popular items in smaller quantities than their catering options. For an entree, you can choose between chicken nuggets, spicy chicken sandwiches, or regular chicken sandwiches. Then you get four sides and a choice of either iced tea or Chick-Fil-A lemonade.
Texas Roadhouse occasionally offers a family special for four people of their country dinners. You can get four entrees, a house salad, sides, and rolls. The dinner options for groups include pork ribs box, beef tips, pulled pork, or chicken. The combo is not available all year round, but anyone can always order a variety of meals from their to-go menu.
Get a Restaurant Meal Kit
Finding dinners ideas for family every day can be a struggle. You may labor in a kitchen for hours for a meal that the picky eaters around you don't want. Or, you may run out of ideas and have spaghetti for the fifth time in a week. Regardless, dinnertime doesn't have to be hard anymore. There are plenty of restaurants and fast food places that offer family meals for delivery or takeout.
You can get your kids' favorite chicken tenders or have the chicken marsala that you like without lifting a finger. Many of these options come with large sides and enough food to feed at least four or five people. While eating out can feel like too much sometimes, eating in is a great option for busy parents. If you want leftovers for tomorrow's lunch, you can easily order a little more than you need.
