Keep Our 30 Most Popular 30-Minute Dinner Recipes in Rotation for Busy Weeknight Meals (2024)

30 Make-Ahead Casserole Recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners

One-Pan Pasta

Our most popular 30-minute recipe of all time is this pasta dish. All of the ingredients—linguine, cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, and onions—cook together in one skillet.

Pan-Seared Steak

Follow this recipe to learn how to cook a rib-eye or New York strip steak in a skillet. Serve with a flavorful compound butter, such as garlic-herb or blue cheese, and a quick side dish.

Chicken Alfredo With Fettuccine

A combination of heavy cream and grated Parmesan cheese makes this 30-minute pasta recipe ultra-rich and creamy. A pound of chicken breast is sliced into thin strips and sautéed until they're cooked through. Then mix it all for the ultimate Italian comfort dish.

Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs

Make spaghetti and meatballs in just half an hour with this recipe. The meatballs are made from a combination of ground beef chuck, breadcrumbs, chopped fresh parsley, grated Parmesan, and garlic, then sautéed until golden brown.

Soy-Glazed Salmon

A sweet-savory glaze made from light brown sugar, olive oil, soy sauce, and fresh lemon juice pairs so well with salmon. The fillets only need 15 minutes to bake in the oven. Serve them alongside roasted vegetables, rice, or salad.

Chicken With Mushrooms

In 25 minutes, this quick chicken dinner recipe comes together. Chicken cutlets are sautéed with button mushrooms, fresh thyme leaves, dry white wine, and butter. Serve it with one of these quick vegetable side dishes that you also can make in 30 minutes or less.

Spaghetti Carbonara

This quick take on the classic pasta comes together in 30 minutes and requires just five ingredients: spaghetti, bacon, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and half-and-half. It's an all-around winner.

30-Minute Chili

Some chili recipes require hours of simmering on the stove, but we've adapted this one to work for any night of the week. It's packed with flavor from ingredients such as chopped canned chipotle in adobo, lager beer, and a dash of cinnamon.

Pasta With Fresh Tomato Sauce

Keep things simple and so delicious with this understated pasta recipe. Spaghetti is tossed with a homemade uncooked tomato sauce made from ripe tomatoes, fresh basil and parsley, and garlic. It's the perfect meal thanks to the balance of fresh and comforting flavors.

15-Minute Lentil Soup

Pre-cooked lentils help speed up the cooking process for this hearty soup recipe.

Sautéed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce

Two tablespoons of Dijon mustard give this 20-minute chicken breast recipe a sharp edge. It's a classic preparation that's super versatile. Serve alongside vegetables such as blanched asparagus.

Lemony Pasta With Goat Cheese and Spinach

Every ingredient in this recipe serves a delicious purpose—toasted walnuts bring crunch, parsley and cilantro add a vibrant green color, goat cheese adds creaminess and tang, and lemon brings the brightness.

Chicken-and-Broccoli Stir-Fry

Stir-fry recipes like this one are a great option for weeknight dinners. They're family-friendly, easy to make, totally delicious, and go from pantry to plate in a short period of time.

Pork Fried Rice

Use pre-cooked rice and ground pork to prepare this speedy weeknight meal—those swaps mean it takes just 15 minutes to cook. Frozen peas, scallions, fresh ginger, and garlic are added to the mixture for a pop of color and even more flavor.

Roasted Salmon With White-Wine Sauce

A lovely sauce enhances the salmon in this 30-minute dinner. Just whisk flour, white wine, and melted butter together in a skillet and cook just until the alcohol has evaporated and the sauce has fully thickened. Pour over roasted salmon fillets for a fancy yet fast dinner.

Mussels in White Wine and Garlic

This classic preparation of four pounds of mussels features an aromatic blend of white wine, shallots, garlic cloves, butter, and plenty of fresh herbs. Be sure to serve with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the delicious broth.

Chicken Marsala

Instant flour helps to create a silky, lump-free sauce for this 30-minute chicken dinner. It's one of our readers' all-time favorite fast dishes for good reason.

Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken With Avocado Salsa

We're a little biased but we think serving spicy chicken with deconstructed guacamole (chopped avocados, diced red onions, and fresh lime juice) is totally genius.

Panko-Breaded Fish Sticks

Skip the frozen version and make these breaded fish sticks from scratch using sole, a mild and delicate type of white fish that everyone will love. The crispy coating is made using panko breadcrumbs, which crisp up beautifully when pan-seared.

Mustard-Glazed Salmon

Looking for a 30-minute healthy recipe that will please your family? This super simple salmon dish should do the trick. The fillets are glazed with a combination of olive oil, mustard, and lemon juice and bake for just seven minutes.

Breaded Chicken Breasts

You can do so much with our basic breaded chicken breasts—serve them over salad, top them with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese for chicken parmigiana, or slice them thinly and toss them with pasta. This is one of those go-to recipes you always should have handy.

Pan-Seared Scallops With Lemon

Sea scallops contain less water than bay scallops, which means they'll get a lovely golden-brown sear when cooked in a skillet. We've kept things super simple by serving them with lemon wedges.

Vegetarian Black-Bean Chili

Enjoy this meat-free chili recipe in mere minutes. In place of the usual ground beef, this recipe gets its heft from two cans of black beans, crushed tomatoes, and frozen corn kernels. Simple, nutritious, and delicious.

Turmeric-Ginger Chicken Soup

Just one-quarter teaspoon of ground turmeric brings a vivid yellow hue and warm, slightly spiced flavor to this easy soup recipe. Best of all, it comes together in 20 minutes.

Linguine With Shrimp and White Wine

Think of this as an even speedier version of shrimp scampi with all the flavor from garlic, lemon juice, garlic, and butter. While the pasta cooks, the shrimp are sautéed in a skillet, which means you get double the work done at the same time.

Salmon Pasta

Kids will love the fun corkscrew-shaped pasta and adults will love the healthy benefits of salmon and spinach in this 30-minute dinner recipe—it's a win-win!

Chicken With Artichokes and Angel Hair

A light spring chicken dinner, this 30-minute meal gets touches of green from canned artichoke hearts and capers, which bring a tangy, slightly salty flavor.

Stir-Fried Chicken With Bok Choy

This 20-minute stir-fry dinner calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fresh ginger, bok choy, garlic, and jalapeño peppers.

Linguine With Lemon-Cream Sauce

Dress linguine with a decadent sauce made from heavy cream, shallots, lemon zest, and starchy pasta water in this 20-minute vegetarian recipe.