Easy Valentine’s Day Dinner Ideas

Love is in the air ya’ll! And Valentine’s Day is around the corner bringing along with it all the expectations for romance and fancy dinners. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to cook a complicated three course meal, but I do still love to make my husband feel special. That is why I put together these Easy Valentine’s Day Dinner Ideas. So you can spend more time on the romance and less time in the kitchen.

Ahhh do you remember Valentine’s Day when you were still young and in love?

He would buy you flowers and jewelry and take you to a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. You would get all dressed up in a new dress, fix your hair and make up. Looking like a million bucks, you would be whisked away by your night in shining armor to enjoy a night of romance.

But now, if you are like me, you have kids and a life and romantic dinner dates are few and far between. That doesn’t mean you still can’t make Valentine’s Day Special with a delicious meal that is easy to put together!

How this list works

I have put together a list of the most delicious, romantic, and easy dinner items out there. This list is based on a traditional three course meal with appetizer, main course, and dessert. Each component should take you less than thirty minutes to make. If it takes longer, it didn’t make the list.

Not a chef, no problem! These dishes also have a difficulty rating with them! Stick to the Easy ones and your loved one will never know that you didn’t slave away all day making a complicated meal!

Let’s get started!

Appetizers

Now you can go the traditional route and have an appetizer, main course, and dessert or you can just make a bunch of appetizers!!

Having a meal that consists of appetizers is a great way to cut down on time in the kitchen, but also to make this meal stand out as different from your other weeknight meals.

Finger foods are also easy to feed to one another which gives you an extra boost in the romance department. Oo la la.

Top Appetizers for Valentine’s Day

Our top easy appetizer picks for Valentine’s Day will surely impress the love of your life!

Bruschetta

This appetizer sounds fancy, but it is so simple to make. We love this easy Two Tomato Bruschetta recipe from skinnytaste.com. It uses dried tomatoes as well as fresh to boost that bright tomato flavor in this dish. The beautiful pop of red is fitting with our Valentine’s Day theme. It is the perfect appetizer to share with the one you love.

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Easy

Romantic Charcuterie Board

It doesn’t get any easier to put together than a fancy named meet and cheese tray! Grab a sweet heart shaped board and fill it with grapes, cheese, meats, and crackers and you are set!

We love a good Charcuterie Board. You can check out all of our snack day ideas to get some more inspiration for you board!

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Super Easy

Shrimp Cocktail

Shrimp cocktail is one of the easiest appetizers. By buying already peeled fresh shrimp like the Blond Cook suggests, you save yourself lots of time! Don’t feel comfortable cooking shrimp? Buy precooked shrimp or ask you local butcher to steam fresh for you!

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Super Easy to Easy

Jalapeno Poppers

Want to spice up your Valentine’s Day? These poppers will do it!

Full of creamy cheesy filling and wrapped in bacon, these poppers are sure to add a little extra spice to your plates. You can tame them down by taking out the seeds if you like a milder version, or leave majority of the seeds for an extra kick!

Make sure when handling hot pepper seeds you wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly!

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Medium

Main Courses

All right y’all, it is time to talk about la pièce de résistance! If you decided a meal full of apps isn’t for you, choosing the right main course to compliment the start of the meal is super important.

We love all of these recipe ideas and know that your special someone will too!

Top Main Courses for Valentines Day

Filet with Baked Potatoes and Broccoli

Filet mignon is the best of the best when it comes to steaks. Soft, tender, and juicy, you will definitely impress with this cut of meat. The great thing is that it is super quick and easy to make!

Let’s talk about the three most important points to cooking the perfect steak every time.

1. Room temperature meat- If you start off with cold meat straight from the fridge, you will end up with a tough end product. When you put a cold steak in a hot pan it is like when someone puts cold hands on your warm skin. You tense up and want to punch them. That poor steak will feel the same way! So let it set at room temp for at least 30 minutes before cooking it.
2. A hot pan- I recommend a good cast iron skillet. Cast iron is versatile and conducts heat like no other. Get your pan nice and hot to get that great crusty sear on your meat that looks like a professional chef did it!
3. Let the meat rest- I know that sometimes you are running behind and in a rush to eat, but letting your meat rest is a critical part in the process to produce a juicy tender piece of meat. If you cut it open too soon all that deliciousness will run all over your plate making you meat dry and your sides soggy. So let the meat rest for around 15 minutes before serving up

While filet is the star of the dish, a great side or two is just as important. We recommend pairing our Ninja Foodi Baked Potatoes that are simple and quick (less than 30 minutes) and steamed broccoli to complete the meal.

Buy a nice loaf of bread from the bakery to serve along side and I promise you will be winning at Valentine’s Day Dinner.

From start to finish this entire meal should only take around 30 minutes to prepare (not including bringing the steak to room temp)

Wine to Serve with Filet

Any good red wine will be a great compliment to this dish. We recommend a nice Cabernet, light Pino Noir, or Malbec. However any favorite red wine will also be wonderful.

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Easy

Bourbon Salmon with Crashed Potatoes and Asparagus

Salmon is one of my favorite romantic dishes. We do not eat a lot of fish at the house, because we don’t grow it or raise it which makes it extra special when we do have it.

This Bourbon Salmon recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make and requires only a few simple ingredients, but will certainly wow your love!

This pairs deliciously with our Simple Crashed Potatoes and a lovely roasted asparagus

All in, you will spend about 45 minutes preparing this delicious and romantic meal!

Wine to serve with salmon

You can pair a nice white like Chardonnay or a delicious red like Pinot Noir with this delicious salmon recipe!

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Medium

Spaghetti

Spaghetti may not at first seem like a super romantic dinner option, but it has been at the center of some pretty amazing love stories. Think Lady and the Tramp ya’ll!

Spaghetti really made this list because it was the meal that my parents at on their very first date well over 40 years ago. Now every year for their anniversary, daddy makes momma that first date dinner all over again.

Pair this lovely spaghetti dish with some tasty garlic bread or breadsticks from your favorite bakery. You could also start this dinner out with a small side salad as well!

This dish comes together in about 45 minutes, start to finish.

Wine to serve with Spaghetti

An acidic red wine like Merlot of Zinfindel are the best pairings for a spaghetti dish like this one.

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Easy

Spicy Shrimp and Grits

Shrimp and Grits is at the heart of my marriage. It is one of our favorite dishes to share together and has been a date night staple. We love to spice it up with habaneros and jalapeños, but you can take the spice way down by omitting the spicy peppers and substituting in sweet pepper.

Don’t like peppers? Well just leave them out all together!

This dish comes together in again under 30 minutes!

Wine to serve with Shrimp and Grits

Much like spaghetti, the slightly acidic tomato sauce pairs well with a Merlot or Zinfandel.

Our Recipe Difficulty Rating: Easy to Medium

Desserts

What Valentine’s Day Dinner would be complete with out a sweet finish. We have some of the easiest and most delicious Valentine’s Day dessert recipes that will be sure to guide Cupid’s arrow right to the heart.

Top Desserts for Valentine’s Day

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Chocolate covered strawberries are the quintessential Valentine’s Day dessert, and they are so easy to make. With only a few simple ingredients, you can have a beautiful simple dessert that is sure to Wow your Valentine.

To make these extra special, use different types of good quality chocolate like white, milk, and dark!

Our Recipe Difficulty Level- Easy

No Bake Cookies

Valentines day is all about chocolate and desserts, but if you aren’t a baker no worries! These simple no baked cookies are the perfect marriage of peanut butter and chocolate in a deliciously fudgy cookie. With less than 10 minutes to make, these last minute throw together cookies are the perfect dessert for a last minute change of plans on Valentine’s Day.

Our Recipe Difficulty Level- Super Easy

Easy Mini Cheesecakes

Ya’ll know that cheesecake had to make the list. This creamy romantic dessert is a must have on Valentines Day. Top with some beautiful strawberries for an added Valentine’s feel.

This simple cheesecake recipe is made in cupcake tins to create these adorable bites of perfection. Use any crisp cookie or graham cracker in the crust that you would like to give it an extra personal feel. These mini cheesecakes will really make your Valentine feel extra special.

Our Recipe Difficulty Level- Easy

Chocolate Parfaits

Who says pudding cups can’t be romantic!

If you are really not a baker or even somewhat skilled in the kitchen, this no fail dessert is a breeze. Made with packaged pudding and cookies layered to make a beautiful presentation, these parfaits look harder to make than they actually are!

Our Recipe Difficulty Level- Super Easy

Happy Valentine’s Day!

We hope these Valentine menu options have inspired you to treat the one you love this Valentine’s Day!

You can find more easy every day recipes under our Farmhouse Kitchen tab or by following us on Pinterest!

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