A collection of recipes that make the perfect Valentine’s Day Menu!! From main dishes to sides to desserts and drinks, we’ve got you covered for the perfect Valentine’s Dinner!
We know that Valentines is often associated with romantic love, but it can be celebrated with anyone special in your life. We’ve tried to make a special night for the family and usually have a fun and festive dinner with the whole family.
Over the years, we have made a variety of meals – from heart shaped pizza to steak, and today we wanted to share with some menu ideas for you to use in your own family.
From breakfast to sides to dessert, there are recipes that can help your loved ones feel special all day long. I searched out posts that use the fun colors of red and pink. Strawberries and chocolate are also famously tied to Valentines, and I looked for other “fancy” recipes and posts that I know your family will enjoy.
Other Ways to Celebrate with the Family
Before we share some of the recipes, we wanted to give a few more ideas of things you can do with the kids or FOR the kids to make the day (or night) even more special.
Heart attack the kids’ door with the hearts and notes with compliments or reasons why you love them.
Go to your local library and check out valentines books to read together.
Share “10 Things I LOVE About You” with one another.
Play your favorite games together.
Show love to others by serving them. Find a family service project in your area. One of my favorite websites to search on is JustServe.org
Here are a few more ideas of things that you can do with the dinner to make it a little more special:
Include fondue with the dinner. Whether it’s savory (cheese) or sweet (caramel or chocolate with fruit), the kids will love it!
Use plastic champagne glasses for sparkling cider or another yummy drink to make it more special.
Add some candles to your dinner to make it a little more special.
Use our printable Valentines placemats and add a box of crayons to the table for the kids to color before or during dinner.
Keep all the food pink or red to make it extra festive!
Sprinkle the table with conversation hearts or other Valentines candy. You can even add a small box of chocolates to each plate as a treat for after dinner.
Make sugar cookies for a treat and let the kids frost and decorate them after dinner.
Valentine's Day Breakfast
Want some cute ideas of what to make the morning of the 14th? Look no further!
Here are some great recipe ideas for you to check out that are delicious! Also – just a reminder, you can always do BRINNER (breakfast for dinner) so these ideas work for night too. 😉
Strawberry Pancake Recipe
Strawberries & Cream Pancakes - These strawberries and cream pancakes are perfect for celebrating spring! They're bursting with strawberry flavor and topped with an amazing homemade strawberry sauce. They'd be wonderful for a Mother's Day brunch, or a fun Saturday breakfast.
This Homemade Swedish Pancakes recipe makes the softest, most delicious pancakes. Fill and top them with cream, fruit or buttermilk syrup for a delicious breakfast!
The best way to figure out the menu you’d like to make for the night is to first figure out what you’d like to make for the main dish. Once you know that, you can plan the sides and the desserts.
I always suggest buying a few of the sides to keep them easy (like a bagged salad) or even the dessert so you aren’t making everything homemade. But having said that, pick the main dish and from there you can plan everything else to create an amazing Valentines Menu!
Here are some of our favorite dinner ideas:
Chicken Parmigiana Recipe
Flavorful and delicious Chicken Parmigiana - this delicious Italian dish is served over pasta, topped with cheese and coated in a homemade tomato sauce.
Everyone loves this Italian Sausage Pasta recipe! Not only is it easy, cheesy, and delicious, but it is a hit with the entire family and can be made mild or spicy depending on your preferences.
This is Our All-Time Favorite Steak marinade! It requires only four ingredients, and makes our steak taste SO amazing! Everyone always asks for this Easy Steak Marinade recipe because it's just that good!!
Our family's favorite lasagna recipe - not only because it's delicious but because it's so EASY! You don't even have to precook the lasagna noodles! With beef, pork, three cheeses, and tons of seasonings, you know this recipe is going to be a hit!
Now that you’ve picked what you want to make for the main dish, you should have a better idea of what you’d like for sides.
Below we have listed out some of our favorites to pair with the main dishes above.
Glazed Carrots Recipe
If you need a go-to side dish, these Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots are perfect for you! The tastiest candied carrots recipe!! Even better, it takes less than 10 minutes to make and only requires 4 ingredients!
A big holiday dinner wouldn't be complete without rich flavorful creamed corn! It's creamy, buttery, and cheesy. Everyone's favorite holiday side dish!
Baked Parmesan Sweet Potatoes- soft sweet potatoes coated with parmesan cheese and all kinds of spices!! It's a new favorite side dish that is quick and delicious.
Whether you serve it as a side or an appetizer, this restaurant style Fried Zucchini is a family favorite. Fried to perfection, this dish is simply addicting, especially dipped in ranch and marinara!
Creamy Pesto Dressing - this salad dressing is SO yummy and it only takes a handful of ingredients! Buttermilk, mayo, sour cream, pesto, and parmesan cheese!
Strawberry Harvest Salad - tastes just like the salad at Zupa's! It's topped with apples, strawberries, chicken, candied pecans, cheese and a homemade Strawberry Vinaigrette dressing.
There are so many treats you may want to make for your Valentines dinner, but we wanted to share some of our favorites.
If you’d like to see even more ideas, be sure to check our post ALL ABOUT Valentines desserts with even more options – all from chocolate to pink and red to fruity! But, here are some of our TOP CHOICES
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe
A perfectly moist chocolate cupcake made from scratch, topped with a homemade strawberry frosting and a strawberry covered with chocolate ganache! A perfect Valentine's day treat!
DELICIOUS Cherry Almond Cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting!! This dessert is DELICIOUS! These cupcakes are so soft with hints of almond, vanilla, and cherry!!
One of everyone's favorite cookies in bar form - these soft Sugar Cookie Bars are simple and are topped with a delicious buttercream frosting that makes this dessert irresistible.
A soft vanilla cake-like crust perfectly combines with a light layer of whipped cream cheese frosting. Top it off with fresh strawberries for delicious strawberry shortcake bars!
Is there anything better than a chocolate ooey gooey brownie fresh out of the oven? These classic homemade brownies are so simple to make and worth every single calorie.
Last, but not least, are the drinks!! It’s always fun to have a festive and delicious drink with your Valentines meal.
But, don’t worry – Don’t feel like making anything?! Sparkling apple cider is always great and kids love how fancy it is. You can also pick up some Cherry 7UP as another option that is pink, kid-friendly and delicious.
Here are some of the drink recipes you can make on the site that would be great for the 14th.
Pink Drink Recipe
All-time Favorite Party Drink - this Pink Drink recipe (aka Baby Shower Punch) takes a minute to make and is made with 3 ingredients including - pink lemonade dry mix, sprite, & pineapple juice!
My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative – from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!
