Valentines Dinner Ideas (2024)

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Make the perfect Valentine’s Day menu!! From main dishes to desserts, we’ve got all of the Valentines dinner ideas!

More Collections: Valentines Desserts, Italian Dinner Recipes, Italian Appetizers

We Love Love!

We know that Valentine’s Day is often associated with romantic love, but it can be celebrated with anyone special in your life.

Over the years, we have made a variety of meals to celebrate – from Heart Shaped Pizza to Steak, and today we wanted to share some menu ideas for you to use in your own family.

Heart day dishes to love:

Make it special. We’ve tried to make it a special night for the family and usually have a fun and festive dinner with the whole family.
Celebrate all day. From breakfast to desserts, some recipes can help your loved ones feel special all day long.
Variety. I searched for easy, yummy recipes as well as ones that use fun colors of red and pink.

Make it Special

Before we share some of the recipes, we wanted to give a few ideas of things you can do to make the Valentine’s Day dinner (or breakfast) even more special.

Heart attack the kids’ door with hearts and notes with compliments or reasons why you love them.
Make homemade valentines with the kids and Valentine’s boxes.
Go to your local library and check out Valentine 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.
Include fondue 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 for a more romantic touch.
Use our printable Valentine’s placemats.
Keep all the food pink or red to make it extra festive!
Use fresh fruit or herbs to garnish any of your dishes – from a lemon on a drink to berries, to herbs on your meat, it makes it look fancier.
Sprinkle the table with conversation hearts or other Valentine’s candy. Or 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.

Tips for Picking Your Menu

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.

The main dish will help you plan the sides and the desserts, but who are you making it for?

The whole family?
Just the two of you?

Pick the main dish and from there you can plan everything else to create an amazing Valentine’s menu!

Top Valentines Day Dinner Recipes

Here are some of our favorite dinner ideas for the whole family (our favorite is found below).

1 Heart Shaped Pizza

Main CourseHeart Shaped Pizza

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 28 votes

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2 Steak Marinade

Main CourseSteak Marinade

Total Time: 4 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.97 from 78 votes

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3 Best Pork Chop Recipe

Main CourseBest Pork Chop Recipe

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.99 from 591 votes

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4 Spaghetti Recipe

Main CourseSpaghetti Recipe

Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 355 votes

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5 Swiss Chicken Bake Recipe

Main CourseSwiss Chicken Bake Recipe

Total Time: 1 hour hour 7 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.94 from 443 votes

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6 Baked Salmon Recipe

Main CourseBaked Salmon Recipe

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 17 votes

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7 Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

Main CourseFettuccine Alfredo Recipe

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 374 votes

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8 Easy Lasagna Recipe

Main CourseEasy Lasagna Recipe

Total Time: 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.88 from 88 votes

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9 Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe

Main CourseChicken Cordon Bleu Recipe

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 6 votes

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10 Chicken Penne Pasta Recipe

Main CourseChicken Penne Pasta Recipe

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 18 votes

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Valentine’s Day Side Dishes

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 the sides.

Below we have listed out some of our favorites to pair with the main dishes above.

11 Honey Glazed Carrots Recipe

Side DishHoney Glazed Carrots Recipe

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 15 votes

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12 Crescent Rolls

BreadCrescent Rolls

Total Time: 2 hours hours 32 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 192 votes

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13 Roasted Red Potatoes Recipe

Side DishRoasted Red Potatoes Recipe

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 90 votes

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14 Olive Garden Breadsticks Recipe

BreadOlive Garden Breadsticks Recipe

Total Time: 2 hours hours 27 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.96 from 64 votes

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15 Asparagus Roll Ups

Appetizer, Side DishAsparagus Roll Ups

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.92 from 34 votes

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Valentine’s Day Dessert Ideas

Now, to the best part – DESSERT!

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 Valentine’s Desserts with even more options – all from chocolate to pink and red to fruity!

31 Valentine Cookies Recipe

DessertValentine Cookies Recipe

Total Time: 17 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 120 votes

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32 Valentine Sugar Cookies

DessertValentine Sugar Cookies

Valentine’s Day Drinks

Last, but not least, are the drinks!! It’s always fun to have a festive and delicious drink with your Valentine’s meal.

But, not to worry – don’t feel like making anything?! Sparkling apple cider is always great and kids love how fancy it is. Cherry 7UP is another tasty option – it’s pink, kid-friendly, and delicious.

51 Pineapple Pink Lemonade Soda Recipe

DrinksPineapple Pink Lemonade Soda Recipe

Total Time: 3 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.99 from 307 votes

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52 Shirley Temple Recipe

DrinksShirley Temple Recipe

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

5 from 12 votes

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53 Pudding Milkshake Recipe

DrinksPudding Milkshake Recipe

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

5 from 5 votes

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54 Red Velvet Milkshake Recipe

DrinksRed Velvet Milkshake Recipe

Total Time: 7 minutes minutes

5 from 9 votes

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55 Watermelon Juice Recipe

DrinksWatermelon Juice Recipe

Total Time: 8 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

4.94 from 32 votes

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56 Frozen Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

DrinksFrozen Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

4.63 from 8 votes

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57 Best Strawberry Lemonade

DrinksBest Strawberry Lemonade

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

5 from 5 votes

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58 Sonic Cherry Limeade Recipe

DrinksSonic Cherry Limeade Recipe

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 77 votes

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Our Go-To Family Valentines Dinner Recipe

For our delicious, go-to Valentine’s Dinner Recipe that our kids love, try this Heart Shaped Pizza. It’s a family favorite!

Here is the recipe:

5 from 6 votes

55+ Valentine’s Dinner Ideas – {Pizza, Spaghetti + More}

By: Lil’ Luna

Adorable homemade heart shaped pizza is deliciously simple. This tasty dish is ready to enjoy in only 30 minutes!

Servings: 2

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

▢ 1 ball pizza dough homemade or store-bought
▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
▢ 30 pepperoni
▢ ¼ cup pizza sauce
▢ 1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella
▢ 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
▢ 2 teaspoons chopped parsley or basil *optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a pizza pan with parchment paper, set aside.
Fold each pepperoni in half and cut into heart shapes using kitchen shears. Place on a paper towel lined plate and microwave for 15 seconds on high. Dab any excess grease off, set aside.
Lightly flour a surface, roll dough into a heart shape, about 16 inches in width. Fold edges over and press to create the crust.
Transfer pizza dough to prepared baking sheet. Brush with olive oil, then dock the crust with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming.
Place in the oven and bake for 6 minutes. Remove and spread sauce over top, then add cheeses and pepperoni.
Return to the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the pepperoni is crispy. Remove from the oven and top with fresh parsley or basil, if desired. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 2g, Calories: 1395kcal, Carbohydrates: 100g, Protein: 70g, Fat: 80g, Saturated Fat: 35g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 191mg, Sodium: 3549mg, Potassium: 344mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 1519IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 1153mg, Iron: 7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

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Make it Special

Whether you’re planning a romantic meal at home for just the two of you, or a festive family dinner, you’re sure to find the perfect Valentine’s Day recipes on this list.

More Collections: Easy Dinner Ideas, Sunday Dinner Ideas, Chicken Dinner Ideas

Categorized as: Extras, Food Roundup, Holiday Dinners, Holidays, Main Dishes, Recipes, Valentine's

About Kristyn

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!

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