Our Best 30-Minute Recipes to Make ASAP
Life is too short to be hangry. With a bit of menu planning before your next grocery run, it's easy to get dinner on the table — like, seriously delicious dinner — in less than a half hour all week long (without splurging on delivery). This roundup of 30-minute recipes covers all the bases, from comfort-food classics like homemade mac and cheese to elegant lobster risotto and warming chicken soup with rice. Pick out a few, make your shopping list, and you'll be saying "dinner's ready!" before your stomach has a chance to grumble.
Orzo and Chickpeas with Turmeric-Ginger Broth
Coconut milk and fresh lime juice are natural flavor partners to ginger and turmeric; here they come together to form a restorative tea-based broth that’s delicious studded with chickpeas and pasta.
Seared Gnocchi with Roasted Arugula
Chef Matt McCallister sautés boiled gnocchi to get them crisp and brown. We love them with roasted arugula, chile, and lemon.
Lobster Risotto
A small pinch of saffron goes a long way in imparting a vibrant golden hue and floral fragrance to this creamy, indulgent lobster risotto. Precooked lobster and bottled clam juice deliver robust layers of flavor with a minimum amount of effort, making this a perfect weeknight supper.
Thai Chicken with Basil
© Ben Dearnley
An abundance of whole basil leaves joins chicken and fiery red chiles for a quick, delicious, and decidedly spicy stir-fry. Holy basil is the most authentic choice, but any variety will do.
Steak au Poivre with Red Wine Pan Sauce
Cara Cormack
Red wine pan sauce is an amalgamation of fond (those browned bits left in the pan after searing meat), shallots, broth, good-quality red wine, and a few pats of butter to bind it all together and thicken it to a syrupy consistency. Trim the steak of large pieces of fat and tie it into a round for even cooking.
Lamb Chops Sizzled with Garlic
Las Pedroñeras, in the Castilla-La Mancha region, is considered the garlic capital of Spain. These juicy, meaty lamb chops sizzled in extra-virgin olive oil with plenty of garlic cloves are cookbook author Janet Mendel's homage to the village.
Life-Changing Udon with Soft-Boiled Egg, Hot Soy, and Black Pepper
Butter, egg yolk, and starch enrich the soy broth, dressing chewy udon noodles in a silky sauce inspired by cookbook author Hetty McKinnon's visit to Udon Shin, a restaurant in Tokyo's bustling Shinjuku ward. Sharp black pepper and scallions break up its deeply savory edge with light spice and fresh flavor.
Moules Frites
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Amelia Rampe
Moules frites, a Flemish dish consisting of steamed mussels served with French fries and Dijon mayonnaise, is so popular that it's considered the national dish of Belgium. The mussels here are steamed in white wine, butter, and shallots, but feel free to swap out the wine for beer, cider, or even Pernod. The recipe saves time by using store-bought French fries that cook in the oven; you can prepare the mussels in the time it takes for the fries to bake.
Florentine Butter Chicken
This recipe, inspired by Food & Wine editor in chief Hunter Lewis' trip to Trattoria Sostanza in Florence, features tangy cultured butter, which has a higher butterfat content. The butterfat gives cultured butter a slightly higher smoke point and — when combined with olive oil — provides enough cooking time to finish the chicken and sauce simultaneously.
Stovetop Mac and Cheese
We could wax poetic about mac and cheese forever. This version is especially easy, since it doesn’t require a roux or long stint in the oven. Oh, and it involves *four* cheeses: Gruyère, cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Fontina. Yes, please.
Pappardelle with Red Wine and Meat Ragù
This spectacular pasta dish combines pappardelle with a meaty ragù made from red wine, ground beef and turkey, and dried porcini mushrooms. It's table-ready in just 30 minutes.
Shrimp in Garlic Sauce
Diana Chistruga
Based on a popular Spanish tapa, this dish is delicious enough to serve as a main course. You just sauté the shrimp in garlicky, spicy olive oil and then toss them with sherry, lemon juice, and a handful of parsley. The shrimp are equally good hot or at room temperature.
Grilled Scallops with Miso-Corn Salad
"In summer, I cook [scallops] on the grill until just kissed by the flames and pile them on top of warmed veggies with a bright dressing," Gail Simmons writes. "This version, a favorite for quick and easy backyard dinners, incorporates miso, ginger, and toasted sesame, adding a savory dimension to the salad and a rich contrast to the corn and scallops' inherent sweetness."
Marinated Chickpea Salad with Radishes, Cucumber, and Queso de Freir
This quick chickpea salad from pastry chef Paola Velez is packed with vegetables and tossed with a simple, flavorful lemon-garlic and cumin dressing. Crispy, melty strips of fried queso de freir — a favorite cheese from Velez's childhood — take the dish over the top.
Quinoa Egg Bowl with Pecorino
Cookbook author Melissa Clark takes inspiration from Caesar salad in this quinoa bowl, which includes a soft runny egg and a lemony, cheese-spiked dressing. It’s one of the best grain bowls we’ve ever had.
Pan-Roasted Salmon with Tomato Vinaigrette
In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best. It comes from TV personality and Chopped host Ted Allen. To make it, he sautés sweet grape tomatoes with capers, shallot, and cumin, then spoons the bright, chunky sauce over crisp salmon fillets. It's easy, quick, and makes the quintessential weeknight dinner.
Blackened Fish Sandwiches with Horseradish Tartar Sauce
Fresh fillets of haddock are coated with smoky paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and thyme before they get a quick sear to develop a delicious crust. They are then sandwiched between toasted brioche buns smeared with a strong, tangy tartar sauce laced with refreshingly piquant horseradish.
Pork Fried Rice
Maxwell Cozzi
This Japanese-style pork fried rice from 2000 F&W Best New Chef Takashi Yagihashi was his favorite childhood after-school snack. It comes together in just 25 minutes, thanks to the inclusion of quick-cooking Chinese barbecued pork.
Cheddar and Onion Smashed Burgers
The secret to these burgers from Umami Burger founder Adam Fleischman is "umami dust" — a blend of bonito flakes, dried kombu, and shiitake mushrooms.
Open-Face Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches
For this smoky version of eggplant Parmesan, Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione looked for a beer that could stand up to the grilled eggplant without overwhelming it, finally opting for Guinness. If you'd prefer wine, it's also great with a Rioja.
Fried Tofu with Spicy Ginger-Sesame Sauce
© Anson Smart
Tofu is an unlikely partner for red wine, but a Cabernet Sauvignon pairs perfectly in this recipe with a soy-ginger glaze.
Bouillabaisse Sandwiches
In his reinterpretation of the classic Provençal seafood stew bouillabaisse, chef Aaron Whitcomb piles seared fish fillets, tangy tomato, and shaved fennel on bread slathered with saffron mayonnaise.
Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Mustard
© Greg DuPree
In matching spicy sausage with a creamy mustard sauce and fragrant basil, British cookbook author Nigel Slater created a quick pasta supper with warm, mildly spicy flavors. It's perfect for a cool fall or winter evening.
Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice
Avgolemono is a classic sauce of chicken broth, egg yolks, and lemon juice; the addition of a bit more chicken broth, rice, and shredded chicken turns it into a satisfying soup.
Tuna Scallopine with Parsley and Pomegranate Seeds
Chef Frank Stitt's cookbook Bottega Favorita focuses on his creative use of Italian and Southern ingredients, including this quick tuna dish.
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