55+ Easy Dinner Recipes for Busy Weeknights
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Instant Pot Two-Minute Taco Soup
Dinner doesn’t get any easier than this tasty taco soup that the whole family will love.
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Simply Steamed Salmon and Corn With Dill Yogurt
Steaming is a gentle cooking method that preserves the natural flavors of all the components of this 15-minute meal.
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Spicy Zucchini Salad
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Skillet Fajita Pitas
Cooking over high heat without stirring gives the chicken and peppers a smoky, charred crust.
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Instant Pot Gumbo
Gumbo is traditionally a time- and labor-intensive dish, but our Instant Pot recipe delivers full-on flavor in just one hour.
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Simple Lemon, Shrimp, and Prosciutto Pasta
Salty, umami-packed prosciutto complements the sweet shrimp and tomatoes in this streamlined 20-minute main.
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Instant Pot Butter Chicken
If you say you don't like Indian food, you've probably never tried butter chicken. This easy dish is mild on spice (unless you don't want it to be) and big on flavor - perfect for a weeknight dinner.
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Classic Hoppin’ John
This Southern staple serves up a generous helping of comfort and tradition. We use thick-cut bacon to get the perfect amount of smokiness, as opposed to a ham hock. A ham hock can, at times, overpower the dish. Traditionally, Hoppin’ John is a one-pot recipe, but that often produces soupy results. Instead, cook the black-eyed peas with aromatics and broth until tender; then strain and reserve the liquid for later. Once the rice is done, gently stir it into the pea mixture with the liquid. This method does require washing an extra pan, but we think you’ll agree that it’s worth it. There are three things you do want to keep traditional about your hoppin’ John though: the pork, the peas, and the rice.
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Instant Pot Chicken Wings
Make homemade wings in minutes with some help from your Instant Pot. Everyone's favorite pressure cooker get your chicken wings cooked through quickly, while the broiler crisps them up. Serve with crunchy veggie sticks and the sauce of your choosing.
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Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Roasted Fennel and Tomatoes
One pan, a handful of ingredients, and 30 minutes are all you need to put this impressive pork chop skillet dinner on the table. This flavor-packed, single-skillet supper is an easy dinner for two that feels like something special. It’s also an ideal recipe for one, as the leftover chop and veggies reheat well for a next-day lunch worth looking forward to.
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Skillet Chicken Thighs with Spring Vegetables and Shallot Vinaigrette
This elegant single-skillet meal for two is deceptively easy to make. Ready in under an hour, this skillet chicken dinner includes your protein (perfectly golden-crisp chicken thighs), green veggies (peas and asparagus), a starch (baby Yukon gold potatoes), and a whole lot of vibrant flavor (hello, shallot vinaigrette). A great recipe for anyone cooking for one or two, this easy weeknight chicken dinner is one you’re sure to come back to again and again.
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Sheet Pan Carnitas Bao Buns
This genius recipe is the perfect solution for anyone who craves delightful, soft and fluffy steamed buns, but doesn’t own a steamer (i.e. most of us).
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Broiled Salmon and Asparagus with Crème Fraîche
This technique cooks salmon perfectly every time. The sauce is flavorful and rich, but not heavy--just right for a weeknight.
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Sheet Pan Chicken with Roasted Baby Potatoes
A very hot oven quickly roasts the potatoes and finishes the chicken without overcooking. You can substitute fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise, for the small Yukon gold potatoes.
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Chicken, Broccoli, and Brown Rice Casserole
This healthy whole-grain spin on a comfort food classic is indulgent, creamy, and a guaranteed family-pleaser. Cost for 4: $10.31
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Pan-Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Peppers
This dish comes together in just one pan, making for quick cleanup and tons of flavor as the elements build on each other. Each component contains just 5 ingredients or fewer (oil, salt, and black pepper are freebies). Anchovies add depth to the peppers, but you can omit them if you like.
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Thai Basil Chicken Stir-Fry
Red bell peppers are the star vegetable in this stir-fry, a crisp, sweet counterpoint to the serrano chile heat. Use any vegetables you like, but keep it simple; one or two vegetables, plus the basil and chicken, are all you need.
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Pork Medallions with Grainy Mustard Sauce
Supper doesn't get any simpler than one pan and five ingredients. To easily round out the plate for this elegant entrée, serve with a spinach salad and roasted potatoes or a bed of wild rice, and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.
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Weeknight Lemon Chicken Skillet Dinner
It doesn't get much easier, or more satisfying: a complete dinner in one pan in half an hour. Lemon brightens this hearty chicken and potatoes dinner.
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Grilled Chicken with Tomato-Avocado Salad
All the fresh flavors of summer come together in Grilled Chicken with Tomato-Avocado Salad. The homemade buttermilk dressing balances the heat of the chicken and completes the meal.
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Grilled Mango-Habanero Jerk Chicken
You probably have all the ingredients on hand to make this quick spice rub. Water or chicken stock can be substituted for rum in the mango sauce.
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Flattened Chicken with Almond and Paprika Vinaigrette
While pounding the chicken breast thin and searing is a French technique, the flavor profile here is decidedly Spanish.
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Garlicky Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
Removing a chicken's backbone—a technique called spatchcocking (or butterflying)—ensures juicy meat and golden crisp skin in less time than roasting a whole bird. Although it does require some simple knife skills, it's the best and fastest way to roast a chicken. Plus, you can save the backbone to make a great chicken stock. This is the kind of sheet pan dinner you'll want to make all fall and winter long.
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Five Spice Chicken Thighs with Apples and Sweet Potatoes
The seasoning blend called Chinese five-spice adds a warm note without pushing the apples into pie territory, and the apples are tart enough to balance the flavor too. Cooked fennel bulbs add a warm, aromatic note that makes this sheet pan dinner smell like a cozy, Autumn night. Roasting ingredients together on a sheet pan saves time and reduces cleanup. Make sure to head to your farmer's market between August and November for the freshest, ripest apples that will yield the most flavorful, sweet results.
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Two-Cheese Veggie Nachos
We love the double-cheese contrast here: Shredded cheese melts into a bubbly blanket over the tortillas, while crumbly queso fresco covers the veggies with a salty kick. It's an impressive dish for coffee table dining--it's fun to keep it all on the baking pan and serve as a shared platter.
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Fast Skillet Chicken Cacciatore
Lean chicken breasts cook quickly--in just 15 minutes compared to the hour-long braise in most cacciatore recipes. If you'd like more heat in the sauce, kick up the crushed red pepper to 1/2 teaspoon.
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Grilled Chicken Florentine Pasta
Add grilled chicken, spinach and a light cream sauce to linguine for an easy one-dish meal.
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One-Pot Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes
This pasta dinner is a game changer: You use just enough liquid to cook the pasta--no colander needed. Recipe adapted from our sister publication Southern Living. Cost for 4: $8.43
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One-Pot Pasta with Tomato-Basil Sauce
This 5-star pasta dish is a revelation. Throw all of your ingredients into one pot and, 25 minutes later, you'll have noodles perfectly cooked and coated in a luscious tomato-basil sauce.
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Honey-Soy-Glazed Salmon with Veggies and Oranges
Here's the delicious proof that you can serve a complete, no-mess fish dinner in less than 25 minutes.
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Skillet Rice with Shrimp and Chicken
Simple substitutions give these hearty dishes flavorful twists: Swap sausage for chicken, crabmeat for shrimp, or make a vegetarian option by subbing vegetable stock and omitting proteins.
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Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine
Shrimp and pasta combine with a creamy sauce for a quick and delicious dish. Round out the meal with a Caesar salad.
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Broiled Flat Iron Steak with Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes
This one-pan meal is a crowd-pleaser and testament to how 4 ingredients can come together to form a supremely satisfying dish, ready in a flash. We broil the steak over the veggies so the meat juices baste them as they cook.
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Shrimp and Bean Burrito Bowl
Sweet chili sauce is not too sweet, spicy, or salty--great for an instant glaze on the shrimp, in marinades, or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls or chicken kebabs. Find it in the international aisle of most supermarkets. If you can't find it, sub regular chili sauce (such as Heinz), or skip the sauce and squeeze a lime wedge over top. For a vegetarian main, use cubed tofu instead of shrimp, and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock in the bean mixture. Serve with Mango-Jalapeño Slaw.
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Carne Asada Bowls
Instead of a fried shell, crunchy tortilla chips mingle in a base of crisp, sturdy romaine. Try leftover mild, crumbly queso fresco in Mexican egg scrambles, burritos, or stuffed poblano peppers.
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Mushroom and Chicken Marsala Bowls
Before: Classic Chicken Marsala. Notice our recipe has mushroom before chicken in the title. The classic recipe has a meat to veggie ratio of about 3:1, while ours is quite the opposite. We skip the white pasta and spoon this saucy goodness over whole-grain quinoa.
Rich chicken thighs are supremely satisfying when paired with lots of buttery browned mushrooms.