“Make Your Own” meal ideas

I feel like preparing dinner in our house has become an excercise in futility. It’s impossible to please everyone- I have 2 very picky eaters, and DH has numerous restrictions due to GI issues (e.g., no raw vegetables, no tomatoes or tomato products, no onions, spicy foods or dairy, etc).

We both work FT, so don’t have a lot of prep time. The meals that seem to work best are the ‘make your own’ type meals. So far, make-your-own tacos make everyone happy (I put out a bunch of fillings, everyone puts in what they want). I’ve also done a big pot of pasta, and everyone adds what they want, and has it the way they like (DD1- melted cheese, DD2- tomato sauce and parm, DH- pesto and chickpeas or tuna).

Besides taco bar and pasta bar, looking for other make-your-own ideas. We’re not baked potato people. I know there are probably lots more options, but for some reason I’m drawing a blank.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

ETA: Another complication is that we keep a somewhat kosher home, so no pork or shellfish, and no mixing of meat and dairy.

Fajita bar
Rice/veggies/meat
Pizza (home made or prepared crust and everyone adds their own toppings to a small pizza or quarter of a large pizza)
Omelet bar (or scrambled eggs and add in veggies, meat, cheese)
Pita pocket sandwiches (variety of veggies, meat, cheese, condiments)

I often cook stir fry type of meals but keep everything separate and everyone adds what they want (meat cooked with seasoning or sauce, rice or noodles, veggies)
Mashed potato bowls (or rice or noodles - can add meat, cheese, veggies, toppings)


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I'd think of proteins you all like/can eat and plan from there. Wraps, quesadillas, deconstructed salads, build your own panini or rice bowl are all popular in my house.

My kids love muffin tin dinner and it sounds like it might work for your crowd since you can all pick things that work for you but it still usually ends up being a balanced meal. I put cheese, nuts, shredded meat leftovers, crackers, veggies, fruit, etc. in muffin tins and they help themselves to an assortment of food.

I'd also brainstorm soup recipes that work for your whole family so you can have an easy freezer meal that contains some veggies. This could also work as a meal component for your husband when he can't eat a serving of whatever else your family is eating.

We do a lot of soups. I make several different homemade soups in big batches like chicken noodle (I boil pasta on day of eating), tortilla soup, potato soup, Italian wedding soup, beef & tomato soup, etc. I take out couple of smaller containers to defrost night before and we have soup station nights.

Salads work for us well. Especially in summer times as I take out different proteins we all can eat and like and add to our own fixings. Chili is another make your own thing as well. I keep my chili super basic though and cook beans out of my IP for DH and DS1. Ds2 and I eat without. We add cheese, sour cream, different toppings, etc.

I have fair amount of restrictions between myself & DS1 with no eggs, dairy, grains, nuts and peanuts. We eat a ton of seafood as that is one of few proteins we ALL like and can eat. Casseroles, etc never suit us as a family due to our restrictions and tastes. Shepard pie is one of few casserole type of dish we can eat and substitute with ground turkey often.

Stir fry is another dish I can do simple by stir frying different proteins and we add our own veggies and toppings. Perhaps see a nutritionist to get more ideas as far what type of recipes you can throw together as you have fairly extensive list of restrictions.


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Building on the soup idea, you could also do a Hot Pot