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Cooking dinner for your SO can be a fun way to show how much you care. Unfortunately, trying to figure out what he’ll actually eat isn’t as much fun. It can be pretty stressful, and you might end up making something he doesn’t like!

That’s why we came up with a list of meals you won’t have to slave over a stove all day to make. They’ll satisfy any guy’s stomach and are the perfect complement to a special night together!

1. Spaghetti and Meatballs


If he doesn’t like spaghetti and meatballs, it might be time to find a new boyfriend. It is such a classic dish, and it’s incredibly easy to make! A box of noodles, a pot of water, pre-rolled meatballs and a jar of sauce is all you need to make him something he’ll be begging for seconds of.

“My mom makes spaghetti every Wednesday at home, so it’s my favorite,” says James, a student at Oregon State University. And if you’re feeling cheesy, try re-enacting the scene from Lady and the Tramp for fun!

If you want to get a little more adventurous with your pasta, try this spaghetti sauce recipe from Kludgy Mom. Garlic and basil, two aphrodisiacs, are in this sauce, which means it’s sure to stir up some romance!

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 14.5-ounce cans of tomato sauce
  • 1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons Italian or pizza seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add onions and cook until soft.
  3. Add garlic, cook for one minute.
  4. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste and water and stir.
  5. Add all seasonings and stir.
  6. Continue to simmer until well blended.
  7. Serve over pasta. Top with basil.

2. Tacos


What takes five ingredients to make and can feed your SO’s bottomless stomach? Tacos, of course! Some ground beef, lettuce, grated cheese, diced tomatoes and tortillas are going to be a lifesaver. Tacos are so easy to make—just stick everything in a tortilla, and voila! Tacos are a meal you can put any garnish on and every guy will like them, making them perfect for an easy, breezy date night dinner.

If tacos are too much of a hassle, taco soup is an even easier alternative! This taco soup recipe from Today’s Mama is perfect for date night.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 package taco seasoning
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 15-ounce can black beans
  • 1 15-ounce can corn
  • 1 4-ounce can diced green chiles (an aphrodisiac)
  • 2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
  • Dash of Tabasco sauce
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 diced avocado (an aphrodisiac)
  • Tortilla chips

Instructions

  1. In a large stock pot, brown the ground beef until crumbly.
  2. Add onion and cook until translucent.
  3. Add taco seasoning and water. Stir until meat is evenly coated.
  4. Add in black beans, corn and chiles. Mix and simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce and simmer for up to 20 minutes.
  6. Add spice with Tabasco and hot green chiles.
  7. Serve with grated cheese, avocado and tortilla chips.

3. Personal Pizzas


Personal pizzas are a great way to get your guy in the kitchen with you too! Smear your dough with tomato sauce and have a competition while you decorate to see who can make the best one. “Making a pizza with my girlfriend is fun because we actually get to goof off while making dinner!” says Anthony, a student at Santa Clara University.

Get some grated cheese, pepperoni, sausage, peppers and any other ingredients you love on your pizza and see who can make the better design! Everyone—and we mean everyone—loves pizza, so there’s no way he won’t love the cheesy goodness that is your creation.

If you want to get creative and make your own dough, follow this recipe from Creative Juice.

Ingredients

  • 3 ¾ cups bread flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 packet dry active instant yeast
  • 1 ½ cups hot water
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Instructions

  1. Combine flour, sugar and yeast into mixer with hook attachment and stir to combine.
  2. With mixer on low, slowly add hot water and oil.
  3. When dough starts to come together, add salt.
  4. Continue to mix on low until the dough comes together to form a ball.
  5. Remove ball of dough from hook and knead by hand on floured surface.
  6. Oil a large bowl and place dough inside and cover with plastic wrap.
  7. Keep dough in a warm place and allow dough to double in size (takes about 45 minutes to an hour).
  8. When doubled, put dough on floured surface.
  9. Cut dough in two pieces and shape dough into two large pizza rounds about ¼-1/2 inches in thickness.
  10. Add pizza toppings.
  11. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

4. Mac and Cheese


Mac and cheese was an essential meal for him growing up, so he’ll definitely love it. “I make myself Kraft mac and cheese at my apartment all the time, so I’d love it if a girl made it for me,” says Charlie, a student at the University of Oregon. You’ll save yourself hours in the kitchen, and the cheesy goodness is too good to not have on date night.

Try Taste of Home’s amazing homemade mac and cheese recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups uncooked macaroni
  • ¼ cup cubed butter
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 3 cups 2 percent milk
  • 5 cups (20 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ teaspoon paprika

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook macaroni according to package instructions.
  2. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium heat.
  3. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth.
  4. Gradually whisk in milk.
  5. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until thickened.
  6. Reduce heat. Stir in 3 cups cheese and Worcestershire sauce until melted.
  7. Drain macaroni and stir into sauce. Transfer to greased skillet.
  8. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
  9. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and paprika.
  10. Bake 5-10 minutes until bubbly.

5. Quesadillas


With only a cheese and a tortilla, does it get any easier? All guys love cheese, and this simple favorite is sure to be a hit on date night. “Mexican food is really good. My go-to is Mexican on date night,” says David, a student at Northwest Christian University. For all the time you save making this, you can spend more time with your SO!

If you want to add a little zest to your tortilla, try La Tortilla Factory’s barbeque chicken quesadilla recipe!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
  • ¼ – ½ cup BBQ sauce
  • 2 La Tortilla Factory 100-calorie tortillas
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

Instructions

  1. Add BBQ sauce to chicken in a bowl to coat; set aside.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
  3. Place tortilla inside skillet and sprinkle one half with ¼ cup cheese.
  4. Add half the chicken and other ¼ cup cheese and fold tortilla over.
  5. Cook for 3-4 minutes for each side.
  6. Repeat with remaining tortilla and other ingredients.
  7. Let quesadillas cool for 2-3 minutes and cut into wedges before serving.

6. Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast food is delicious, and if your boyfriend likes to sleep in, he most likely misses breakfast most days anyway. Give him his daily dose of eggs (scrambled eggs are the easiest!) with bacon and hash browns! Nothing makes a guy happier than the smell of hot bacon. “If there is bacon on my plate, I will eat it,” says Scott from Loyola University. “Bacon is my favorite food of all time.”

Try this super easy scrambled eggs recipe from All Recipes for your date night breakfast dinner.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk with a fork.
  2. Whisk in salt and pepper.
  3. Heat a small non-stick pan over medium heat.
  4. Pour egg mixture into pan and cook.
  5. Stir, scrape and cut up eggs while cooking until no liquid remains.

But what about his sweet tooth?


It isn’t truly date night until you’ve had something sweet! Chocolate and whipped cream are perfect for setting the mood on date night, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend hours rolling pie dough and adding whipped cream.

We found the perfect recipe for chocolatey goodness that you can leave in the crockpot for a few hours while you cook everything else and fix your hair for the seventh time. Crockpot chocolate lava cake from Jamie Cooks It Up is your new best friend.

Ingredients

  • 1 box chocolate cake mix
  • 1 ¼ cups milk
  • ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 3.9-ounce container instant chocolate pudding
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 12-ounce bag milk chocolate chips
  • Parchment paper

Instructions

  1. Line a ¾ quart crockpot with parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray.
  2. Pour cake mix into mixer. Add in 1 ¼ cups milk, ½ cup oil and 3 eggs. Beat on low speed for 1 minute.
  3. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
  4. Pour batter into crockpot.
  5. Pour chocolate pudding into mixer.
  6. Add 2 cups cold milk and beat until pudding thickens.
  7. Pour pudding over cake batter and don’t stir.
  8. Pour chocolate chips over the top of pudding. Do not stir.
  9. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 2 ½ hours or until top of cake is set.

The focus of date night shouldn’t be when to take the food out of the oven or whether you have enough flour or not. The main focus of the night should be on you and your SO and your time together! So take the stress out of your night and use these simple, quick meals that your guy will love no matter what. Not only will they taste delicious, but you made them. Time to get cooking!

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Morgan Hegarty is a Journalism student at the University of Oregon and National Contributor Writer for Her Campus. Originally from sunny SoCal, Hegarty has lived in California, Oregon, and Colorado, resulting in her love for any climate. Ever since she was a wee little lady, Hegarty has loved writing. In primary school Hegarty was called "Harriet the Spy" by her teacher because she always could be found writing in the black composition notebook tucked under her arm. As time went on Hegarty would continue to write and decide to make a career of it, thus choosing the UO as the perfect school for her to become an accomplished writer for either magazines or web. Her interests include England (a lifelong obsession and a future study abroad), rock music, film (she loves British comedy), and playing around with various computer programs in her spare time. When she isn't headfirst in her studies she can be found either blogging or watching "The Carrie Diaries." Hegarty's writing endeavors include her own blog called "Teenage Enthusiasm" (her baby for three years now), a teen blogger for The Huffington Post, and her time here on Her Campus.