30 Minute Dinners (25 Quick Recipes!)
Posted: 04/02/2020
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Looking for tasty dinner time ideas that can be made in a half hour or less? Check out this wide-ranging collection of twenty-five 30 minute dinners. Delicious, easy, quick, and filling: isn’t that just what you’re looking for?
“Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes!”
Wouldn’t you love to be able make that announcement when you and your family get home at 5:00 and everyone is starved and maybe even a little cranky? Thirty minutes. Same amount of time as the nightly news. Or a sitcom. Can you order a pizza and have it arrive in less than 30 minutes? Doesn’t happen in my neck of the woods.
Try going out for dinner in 30 minutes. By the time you get everyone in the car, drive somewhere (traffic!), get seated, look at menus, decide, order, and finally receive your dinners, you’re talking a lot more time than 30 minutes.
You can have dinner on your own table in less than thirty minutes with these easy and delicious recipes. Cooking is so much more economical, healthy, and satisfying than dining out.
Do I resort to Qdoba or pizza delivery occasionally? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. Sometimes, I just don’t have what it takes to cook dinner, whether it’s time, energy, or the right ingredients.
So many of you email me and share with me that it’s difficult to even think about cooking when you get home from a long day at work. You’re tired, hungry, and when you open the refrigerator, you just can’t think of what to make. The thought of spending an hour making dinner just depresses or frustrates you.
That’s why I love this collection of 30 minute dinners! Meals that can be prepared in just a half hour, some even less time than that. Meals that your family will love. Entire dinners, not just one part of a meal. You may add a salad or dessert, or not, whatever you feel like but you don’t have to.
About these 30 minute dinners
You’ll find 30 minute dinner recipes for seafood, chicken, sausage and ground meat, and vegetarian recipes, too. Many of the meals are made in only one pan f0r quick clean up. Pastas, stir-fry recipes, tacos, wraps, bowls, soups, and skillet meals — they’re all included. I’m sure you’ll find several that you can’t wait to try.
Sound too good to be true? Nope, it can be done and you can do it!
Hint: Before you go grocery shopping this week, take a few minutes to choose a few of the 30 minute dinners that you’d like to try. Make a list of the ingredients you need and make sure you pick them up at the store. When it’s time to cook, you’ll have everything you need on hand and you’ll be ready to go!
Make ahead/Meal Prep: Try some of my make ahead/meal prep ideas to expedite things even more. You can prepare food ahead and have these treasures in the fridge or freezer ready to use. I always have cooked shredded chicken on hand that I make in my Instant Pot or taco chicken I make in the slow cooker. Cooked quinoa is another staple in my freezer. When you make easy oven meatballs, make a double or triple batch and freeze them in serving size portions to use in soups, sandwiches, or pasta. Cut up a bunch of fresh veggies so they are ready to cook when you need them.
30 Minute Dinners
Looking for tasty dinner time ideas that can be made in a half hour or less? Check out this wide-ranging collection of twenty-five 30 minute dinners. Delicious, easy, quick, and filling: isn't that just what you're looking for?
A weeknight dinner dream come true! A complete meal in one pan. This one pan rigatoni is filling, comforting and full of flavor.
Filling and flavorful, this roasted vegetable wrap is perfect for Meatless Monday or any day! Prep the vegetables on the weekend to make it even easier.
These Greek Cucumber Noodle Bowls with Turkey Meatballs are a fun and filling healthy lunch. Healthy eating doesn't have to be boring!
These Shrimp Tacos are a refreshing taste of the tropics thanks the zesty avocado, mango and pineapple salsa. They're easy to make and are a hit for any party or taco night. The extra salsa is amazing on chips or sprinkled on a salad! Get the quick and easy taco recipe on RachelCooks.com!
This sweet chili chicken stir fry is a quick and easy healthy dinner that comes together in 30 minutes, is so full of flavor, and is flexible based on what vegetables you have on hand!
This pizza pasta is made in ONE pan, with SIX ingredients, in TWENTY minutes. I mean, really, does it get any better than that? And it's nutritious and filling!
Sheet pan fajitas are great for busy weeknights and also great for bigger crowds! You'll love this easy, hands-off approach to fajitas! This recipe is for chicken fajitas but you'll also find tips for steak, vegetarian, and shrimp fajitas!
An Easy Chicken Alfredo Recipe with Broccoli that's made in ONE PAN and has far less calories than a traditional Alfredo?
A complete pasta dinner, made in your Instant Pot! You'll love this Instant Pot Pasta with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes. You might have all the ingredients on hand already! It's healthy, satisfying, easy, and versatile, and you're going to keep making it again and again!
Flavorfully seasoned cod fillets enveloped in soft corn tortillas, topped with ruby red blood orange salsa, crispy green cabbage, and creamy guacamole, these easy fish tacos are unforgettably delicious!
This quick, healthy, easy meatball soup with whole wheat orzo and vegetables will warm you on the chilliest of days without leaving you with that heavy feeling.
Cozy and comforting, this skillet gnocchi with chicken and tomato sauce is on your table in under 30 minutes — perfect for busy nights!
This Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms recipe is a quick and easy meal for busy weeknights. You could even use rotisserie chicken!
An alfredo you can feel better about! This healthy shrimp alfredo offers lots of lean protein, and is low carb and flavorful thanks to carrot noodles!
A classic boxed meal, made healthier and heartier. And guess what? It’s not that much harder to make! Your whole family will love this healthy homemade hamburger helper.
Instant Pot Chicken Marsala has all the flavors of marsala that you know and love, but with the convenience of cooking in the Instant Pot.
This broccoli tabbouleh with lentils is the perfect lunch! You can make it ahead, it's super filling, and so good for you. It's a fun, gluten-free, and it has all the flavor of tabbouleh that you know and love. It will become an instant favorite!
Cozy, healthy, and easy to make - this sausage and bean skillet is everything you want in a meal on a cool day.
This vegetarian lasagna soup is creamy, comforting and packed full of vegetables. It’s all made in one pot and is the perfect soup for a cold day.
Spaghetti in one pot, made in about 30 minutes sort of seems like a dream come true, doesn't it? Once you try Instant Pot Spaghetti, you might never go back to the traditional stovetop method!
This one pan sausage dinner is the perfect 30 minute meal on a night when you want a nutritious meal but you really don't feel like cooking!
Instant Pot Chili is healthy, adaptable and easy to make. Read all my tips to make it your perfect chili recipe - spicy, mild, vegetarian, Whole30, Paleo, not Paleo, whatever you like, I tell you how to make it happen in this recipe! You can even make it in the slow cooker or on the stove!
In a rush? This 30 minute one pot taco pasta with ground turkey and black beans is here to save the day! It's creamy, satisfying, and the pasta cooks in the same pan as everything else!
This one pan lemon pasta has some bright spring flavors in a cozy, one pan pasta that's easy to make and even easier to eat. It's the best of both worlds!
A complete meal that's made in one pot and is ready in 30 minutes, healthy, and full of flavor -- this Instant Pot chicken is a weeknight lifesaver!
Steven Gurgevich says
Thank you, Rachel! These recipes all sound so delicious and easy to prepare. I don’t know which to prepare first.
Thank you again… well done!
Rachel Gurk says
I hope you love every single one you try! Let me know which one you go with!