Whether it's because of late nights at the office, your kids' after-school commitments or simply unexpected traffic on the drive home, quick, easy dinner recipes are essential for most families, and it's always a good idea to have a few timesaving favorites in your arsenal for go-to meals. The Kitchen's co-hosts showed off their simplest suppers on this week's all-new episode, as Marcela prepared her Pizza Dough Chicken Empanadas and Katie opted for her breakfast-for-dinner Fridge Frittata.

The keys to any easy meal are preparation and the taking of a few shortcuts where appropriate. Marcela's empanadas came together as quickly as they did thanks to prepared pizza dough. Since it can take time to perfect from-scratch pizza dough, there's no reason not to reach for a supermarket variety, especially on hectic weeknights. Also, the next time you scour the aisles, pick up some extras of your family's most-used ingredients; that way you'll always have these workhorse products stocked in your pantry. When it came to relying on ready-to-go ingredients, Katie followed suit, although she reached for leftovers — potatoes. Try repurposing remnants of earlier dishes instead of simply tossing them in an effort to not only make mealtimes easier, but to also save money.

When you're crunched for time on a hectic weeknight, what go-to recipes do you often prepare? Tell FN Dish by voting in the poll below (and if your meal isn't listed, feel free to tell us about it in the comments below), then check out some of Food Network's favorite easy-to-make eats, like Jeff's kid-friendly Pepperoni Pizza Pocket pictured above.

Quick Dinner Recipes