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Food

16 Weeknight Dinners That'll Be On the Table in 30 Minutes

That's probably faster than your average delivery order anyway.
16 Weeknight Dinners That'll Be On the Table in 30 Minutes
Photo by Heami Lee. 

In our Quickies column, we do our best to bring you recipes from our favorite chefs and food world people that you can reasonably make, from start to finish, at home in 30 minutes or less. Why? Because we understand that one of the biggest barriers to entry when it comes to cooking for yourself is having the freaking time to do it. Sure, it’d be cool to have a fancy sous vide column where we did weird shit with a water bath and a circulator, but ain’t no home cooks got time for that. We want you to drag yourself through the door after a long day at work and not be wholly intimidated by the amount of effort it will take to feed yourself without caving and ordering take out. Looking for some inspiration on that front? Here’s all of the recipes we’ve collected that can be dinner tonight even if you only have half an hour.

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Welsh Rarebit Recipe

Like an open-faced grilled cheese, but so much more flavorful, a classic Welsh rarebit is the perfect late-night drunk snack or light meal. Pickles on the side a must.

So long as you give yourself time to let the clams soak for a bit to clean them properly, you’re about to have a hearty, slightly-spicy clam pasta in just 25 minutes.

Steaming clams takes just a few moments to get them perfectly cooked and perfectly flavored without making them too rubbery. Serve with pasta or a few slices of nice, crusty grilled bread.

Chicken Saltimbocca Recipe

This recipe, from the chefs at New York’s King restaurant, punches well above its weight for how simple it is. Perhaps it’s all that prosciutto. Ya, it’s definitely the prosciutto.

Easy Chicken Lo Mein Recipe

So long as you can remember to let your chicken marinate in the egg white and cornstarch mixture overnight, you’re well on your way to homemade chicken lo mein in just 20 minutes.

This is the kind of dish that you can riff on using whatever you have lying around, making it both efficient for your time and your efforts to not let food hanging out in the fridge go to waste.

Other pasta sauces take a long time to simmer on the stove to develop flavor, but pesto creates a kick to the taste buds in just minutes.

Simple Chicken Curry Recipe

If you’re REALLY good at timing your cooking correctly, you can even steam some basmati rice to serve this curry with. (Otherwise, if you’re like me, you’ll have to tack on an extra 15 minutes.)

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Flavor usually takes time to build, low-and-slow-like, but chilies, ginger, and pepper help give you maximum flavor in a minimal amount of time in this vegetarian curry.

Look, we know anything longer than the drive-through line at McDonald’s is probably too long of a time to wait before consuming a fried fish sandwich, but this one is so much better, trust us.

You know what doesn’t take any time to cook? Raw vegetables! Make a salad if you’re short on time.

Kathi Roll Recipe

This recipe calls for you making your own homemade parathas from scratch, and you’ll still be done in just 30 minutes.

Chef JJ Johnson is the master of creating ingenious, tasty recipes out of a collection of ingredients that someone with less skill and creativity would stare at blankly—i.e., the random contents of your fridge and pantry. Here, he does it all that in just 20 minutes.

Stir-Fried Duck with Basil Recipe

A quick stir fry with classic Thai flavors is only 25 minutes away, so you have no reason to order that take out that will surely take 45 minutes to reach your door anyway.

Kimchi-Miso Dip Recipe

If you’re in the mood for snacking, satisfy your cravings for crudité in under 10 minutes with this kimchi and miso dip.