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Our favorite easy Italian recipes that you can make ahead. They are perfect for busy weeknights or for easy entertaining!
Italian recipes are real crowd pleasers around here! If I want to serve something I know everyone will love, it’s some sort of Italian recipe.
These are some of our family’s favorite recipes and we hope you will love them too. They are perfect for busy weeknights because you can prep them ahead. But they are also elegant and delicious and perfect for entertaining. We’ve included our favorite focaccia bread, an amazing kale salad, plenty of main course options and of course desserts. Add some to your menu this week and enjoy!
Tuscan Kale Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing
Think you don’t like kale salad? Think again! This delicious Tuscan Kale Salad with crisp, buttery bread crumbs, salty, savory Parmesan and a fabulous lemon basil dressing will have the most adamant kale hater requesting seconds!
Slow Roasted Tomato Ancient Grain Salad
Think you need to avoid Italian food if you’re trying to eat healthier? Nope! This fabulous ancient grain salad is loaded with all the delicious flavors of Italy minus the refined carbs and high-calorie counts!
Italian Chicken Meatballs and Marinara
These Italian Chicken Meatballs are made from boneless, skinless chicken breasts, not ground chicken. They’re lean, light, tender, juicy and full of flavor!
Make-Ahead Italian Zucchini Involtini
With cheese-stuffed ribbons of zucchini nestled in an easy Italian sausage-tomato sauce, this delicious Zucchini Involtini is a fabulous make-ahead meal that’s perfect for family dinners and entertaining!
Italian Chicken Sausage Ravioli Lasagna
This make-ahead Italian Chicken Sausage Ravioli Lasagna is bursting with fabulous Italian flavor and tastes like you labored for hours! No one has to know the delicious little secret.
Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin
This Eggplant and Italian Sausage Gratin is bursting with delicious, universally beloved Italian flavor. It’s a dinner party worthy meal that can be made in advance and just popped in the oven at the last minute!
Make-Ahead Italian Sausage Puttanesca
This Italian Sausage Puttanesca is a delicious entree for a dinner party, but it’s also great for a weeknight meal. It can be made ahead, freezes well and its a big hit with young and old alike!
Make-Ahead Homemade Manicotti
This make-ahead, Homemade Manicotti is beyond delicious with an Italian sausage marinara and tender melt-in-your-mouth pasta.
Easy Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza
If you’re a pizza lover, this crazy-delicious, super-easy, deep-dish pepperoni pizza is the stuff dreams are made of. It never fails to bring rave reviews!
Easy Chocolate Budino with Candied Maple Walnuts
This impressive but easy Chocolate Budino is a creamy Italian-inspired dessert that takes pudding to a whole new level. You’ll fall in love with the first silky smooth bite!
Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake
A new one-bowl, no-mixer cake recipe with lots of “wow” factor, this easy Italian-inspired Lemon Ricotta Cake will be a favorite with family and friends of all ages!
Limoncello Syrup and Dessert Sauce
Delicious, unique and super-versatile, this Limoncello Syrup is fabulous drizzled on fresh fruit, yogurt, ice cream and fruit desserts.
Thought for the day:
The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For in him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 15-17
What we’re listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoy any of these recipes, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
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