Quick Meals
Egg Fried Rice
The test of any wok cook: separate grains, wisps of egg through every mouthful, and that faint smoky note from the…
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All 5555 recipes
Quick Meals recipes
Thirty minutes or less, start to plate, with nothing skipped. 271 recipes, in a suggested order.
Every recipe in this category takes 30 minutes or less of preparation and cooking, and the build refuses one that does not. Read the method through once and get everything chopped and measured before the pan goes on. At this pace, stopping to chop halfway through is what turns a 20-minute dish into a 40-minute one.
The 271 recipes come from 32 cuisines; the largest groups are American (82), Italian (49), Chinese (34), British (18) and Mexican (14). All 271 are ready in 30 minutes or less, start to finish; the quickest are Balsamic Vinaigrette (5 min), Cajun Seasoning (5 min) and French Dressing (5 min). By difficulty: 261 easy and 10 medium.
As written, 84 are vegetarian, 30 vegan, 61 gluten-free and 122 dairy-free. Another 9 meet a diet label only with a swap the recipe names, and the recipe says which.
Quick meals
Quick Meals
Skillet Grilled Cheese
Mayonnaise on the outside instead of butter, two cheeses for flavour and melt, and eight minutes over patient…
Quick Meals
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Four ingredients, twelve minutes, and one of the great late-night dishes of the world. The whole thing turns on how…
Quick Meals
Chicken Teriyaki
Real teriyaki is a technique, not a bottled sauce: chicken pan-fried until the skin crackles, then glazed in a…
Quick Meals
Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
The dish every Chinese household cooks and no restaurant bothers to: eggs scrambled soft, tomatoes cooked down to a…
Quick Meals
Pad Kra Pao (Thai Basil Chicken)
Thailand's most-eaten dish: minced pork fried hard with garlic and chillies, tossed with holy basil, and served over…
Quick Meals
Nasi Goreng
Indonesian fried rice built on kecap manis and terasi, topped with a fried egg and prawn crackers. Every household…
Quick Meals
Pasta Puttanesca
Tomatoes, anchovies, olives, capers and chilli — a sauce built entirely from the store cupboard in the time the…
Quick Meals
Chicken Lo Mein
Soft egg noodles tossed rather than fried, coated in a glossy soy and oyster sauce with chicken and crisp…
Quick Meals
Pesto alla Genovese
Genoese pesto made the traditional way, with basil bruised rather than blitzed, so the sauce stays emerald green…
Quick Meals
Cacio e Pepe
Two ingredients, one technique, endless opportunity to get it wrong. This cacio e pepe recipe uses a Pecorino slurry…
Quick Meals
Yakisoba
Wheat noodles fried on a griddle with cabbage, pork and a thick fruity brown sauce, finished with aonori, bonito…
Quick Meals
Oyakodon
Chicken and egg over rice — the name means "parent and child" — simmered together in a sweet-savoury dashi until the…
Quick Meals
Tteokbokki
Chewy rice cakes simmered in a sweet-hot gochujang sauce until it clings. Korea's favourite street snack, and it…
Quick Meals
Pad See Ew
Wide rice noodles charred in a screaming wok with dark soy, egg and Chinese broccoli. The dish is defined by wok…
Quick Meals
Penne all'Arrabbiata
Angry pasta, and rightly so: garlic bloomed slowly in olive oil, dried chilli, and tomatoes cooked hard enough to…
Quick Meals
Tuna Melt
Tuna mayonnaise under melted cheese on griddled bread, in the diner tradition. The tuna is dressed with celery and…
Quick Meals
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
Fried rice with pineapple, cashews and a curry-scented edge, served in the hollowed shell if you are feeling…
Quick Meals
Cheese Quesadillas
A properly made quesadilla is about the cheese pull and the crisp, blistered tortilla — nothing more. Ten minutes…
Quick Meals
Corn Dogs
Hot dogs on sticks dipped in a sweet cornmeal batter and deep fried until the coating is crisp and hollow-sounding…
Quick Meals
Pork Shogayaki
Thin pork loin fried fast and finished in a ginger, soy and mirin sauce that reduces to a glaze in under a minute…
Quick Meals
Pasta alla Gricia
The ancestor of both carbonara and amatriciana: guanciale, pecorino and black pepper, with no egg and no tomato…
Quick Meals
Completo Italiano
A hot dog buried under diced tomato, mashed avocado and a mountain of mayonnaise. Chile's national street food, and…
Quick Meals
Uitsmijter
Three fried eggs laid over ham and cheese on buttered bread — the Dutch lunch counter standard, named for the…
Quick Meals
Æggekage
A thick Danish egg cake cooked slowly in one pan and finished under the grill, topped with crisp bacon, tomatoes and…
Quick Meals
Ful Medames
Slow-cooked fava beans crushed with garlic, lemon, cumin and a great deal of olive oil — Egypt eats it for…
Quick Meals
Croque Madame
Ham and Gruyère between buttered bread, blanketed in béchamel, grilled until it bubbles, and crowned with a fried egg.
Quick Meals
Flammkuchen
Alsatian tarte flambée: a cracker-thin base with no yeast, spread with crème fraîche and covered with onion and…
Quick Meals
Zapiekanka
A halved baguette covered in fried mushrooms and cheese, grilled until melting, and finished with a stripe of…
Quick Meals
Honey Garlic Chicken
Chicken thighs seared hard and glazed in a four-ingredient sauce that reduces to a lacquer in the time it takes to…
Quick Meals
Chicken Quesadilla
A properly built quesadilla: cheese against the tortilla on both sides so it welds shut, filling in a thin layer…
Quick Meals
Shrimp Scampi
Prawns, garlic, white wine, lemon and a great deal of butter, over linguine, in twenty minutes. The prawns come out…
Quick Meals
Garlic Butter Shrimp
Eight minutes from the fridge to the table. Prawns seared in a screaming pan, then finished in garlic butter with…
Quick Meals
Tuna and Caper Pasta
Store-cupboard pasta that tastes like it took an hour: tuna in oil, capers, chilli and lemon, emulsified with pasta…
Quick Meals
Quick Chickpea Curry
A tin of chickpeas, a tin of tomatoes and a proper spice base, done in half an hour. The onions do not get twenty…
Quick Meals
Grilled Halloumi Wrap
Halloumi griddled until it squeaks and blisters, wrapped with a lemony slaw and a garlic yoghurt. Twenty minutes…
Quick Meals
Sardines on Toast
Tinned sardines mashed with lemon, chilli and parsley on charred sourdough. Fifteen minutes, about two pounds a…
Quick Meals
Black Pepper Beef
Velveted beef seared hard with peppers and onion in a sauce built on a great deal of coarsely cracked black pepper…
Quick Meals
Smashed Chickpea Sandwich
Chickpeas crushed with tahini, lemon and capers into something with the texture of a tuna mayo but none of the fish…
Quick Meals
Garlic Mushroom Toast
Mushrooms cooked hard in a dry pan until they squeak and brown before any fat goes in, then finished with garlic…
Quick Meals
Chilli Prawn Tacos
Prawns seared 90 seconds a side in a chilli and lime rub, with a crunchy cabbage slaw and a chipotle crema…
Quick Meals
Scallion Oil Noodles
Shanghai’s cong you ban mian: spring onions fried slowly in oil until they are dark and brittle, the oil they leave…
Quick Meals
Arayes
Pitta stuffed with raw spiced lamb and grilled until the bread crisps and the fat from the meat soaks into it…
Quick Meals
Kebda Eskandarani
Alexandrian liver: beef liver cut into strips and cooked in seconds with chilli, garlic and cumin. The whole dish…
Quick Meals
Ojja
Eggs broken into a fierce harissa and tomato sauce with merguez and left barely set. Fifteen minutes, one pan, and…
Quick Meals
Foie de Veau Lyonnaise
Calf liver with onions cooked slowly to sweetness and a splash of vinegar at the end. Lyon does it best and does not…
Quick Meals
Boudin Noir aux Pommes
Black pudding fried with apples cooked down in butter. Sweet against iron, and about as good as twenty minutes of…
Quick Meals
Omelette aux Fines Herbes
A French omelette: pale, rolled, and barely set inside. Two minutes of cooking and about a decade of getting it right.
176 more quick meals, A–Z
- 3 Ingredient Mac and Cheese
- 5 Ingredient Soup
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
- Air Fryer Corn Ribs
- Air Fryer Fish Fingers
- Air Fryer Quesadilla
- Air Fryer Salmon
- Air Fryer Sausages
- Air Fryer Shrimp
- Arizona Cheese Crisp
- Bagel Pizza
- Baked Bean Pasta
- Baked Salmon with Asparagus
- Bean and Rice Burrito
- Beans and Franks
- Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Beef Chow Mein
- Beef Lo Mein
- Beef Noodle Stir Fry
- Beef Taco Skillet
- Blackened Shrimp
- Bockwurst
- Brown Sugar Glazed Ham Steaks
- Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Cajun Salmon
- Cajun Shrimp
- Canned Salmon Cakes
- Cast Iron Steak
- Cheese and Broccoli Pasta
- Cheese on Toast with Chutney
- Cheese Tortellini with Pesto
- Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry
- Chicken Chop Suey
- Chicken Sausage Pasta
- Chicken Schnitzel
- Chicken Tacos
- Chili Dogs
- Chili Lime Shrimp
- Chinese Chicken and Broccoli
- Chopped Cheese Sandwich
- Cod in Garlic Butter
- Cod Tacos
- Cottage Cheese Toast
- Crab Linguine
- Creamy Pesto Gnocchi
- Creamy Tuscan Pasta
- Creamy Tuscan Shrimp
- Crispy Skin Barramundi
- Curry Udon
- Egg and Cabbage Stir-Fry
- Egg Fried Noodles
- Egg Noodle Stir Fry
- Egg White Fried Rice
- Eggs in Purgatory
- Fettuccine with Mushrooms
- Fischbrotchen
- Frankfurter Würstchen
- Fried Fish Sandwich
- Gammon Steak
- Garlic Butter Pasta
- Garlic Butter Salmon
- Gnocchi with Gorgonzola
- Grilled Hot Dogs
- Grilled Sausages
- Ground Beef and Cabbage Skillet
- Ground Beef Tacos
- Haluski
- Ham and Cheese Toastie
- Ham and Pea Pasta
- Ham Steaks with Pineapple
- Hamburger Helper Style Pasta
- Honey Garlic Glazed Salmon
- Honey Garlic Pork Chops
- Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry
- Honey Soy Chicken Stir-Fry
- Honey Soy Salmon
- Instant Noodle Upgrade
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
- Instant Pot Salmon
- Instant Pot Shrimp Scampi
- Khao Kai Jeow
- Kielbasa and Cabbage
- Kielbasa Potato Skillet
- Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps
- Kung Pao Shrimp
- Lap Cheong Fried Rice
- Lemon Butter Salmon
- Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
- Lemon Herb Cod
- Lemon Pasta
- Lemon Pepper Salmon
- Linguine al Limone
- Maple Glazed Salmon
- Marmite Pasta
- Maxwell Street Polish
- Mee Goreng
- Mie Goreng
- Mug Mac and Cheese
- Naan Pizza
- Napolitan Spaghetti
- One Pan Sausage Pasta
- One Pot Ramen
- One-Pot Pasta
- Pad Woon Sen
- Pan-Seared Salmon
- Pan-Seared Tilapia
- Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi
- Pasta al Limone
- Pasta Arrabbiata
- Pasta Burro e Salvia
- Pasta with Peas and Bacon
- Pasta with Tomato and Basil
- Pastina in Brodo
- Pea and Mint Soup
- Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich
- Peanut Butter Noodles
- Penne al Gorgonzola
- Pesto Pasta
- Pita Pizza
- Pizza Quesadilla
- Pork Fried Noodles
- Pork Larb
- Pork Lo Mein
- Prawn Linguine
- Prawn Pasta
- Prego no Pao
- Pytt i Panna
- Quesadillas de Flor de Calabaza
- Salmon Pasta
- Salmon Patties
- Salmon Tacos
- Salmon Teriyaki
- Sardine Pasta
- Sausage and Cheese Pasta
- Sausage Hash
- Scaloppine al Limone
- Seared Ahi Tuna
- Seared Scallops
- Shanghai Fried Noodles
- Sheet Pan Salmon and Broccoli
- Shrimp and Asparagus Skillet
- Shrimp Stir-Fry
- Skillet Gnocchi with Spinach
- Spaghetti al Tonno
- Spaghetti alla Bottarga
- Spaghetti Pomodoro
- Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs
- Spam Fritters
- Spinach and Ricotta Pasta
- Steak Fried Rice
- Stracciatella
- Strammer Max
- Sweet Chilli Prawns
- Taiwanese Oyster Omelette
- Telur Sambal
- Teriyaki Tofu
- Thai Basil Fried Egg
- Thai Peanut Noodles
- Tom Yum Soup
- Tomato and Egg Soup
- Tomato Sandwich
- Tortang Giniling
- Tortang Talong
- Tortellini Panna e Prosciutto
- Tortilla Pizza
- Trenette al Pesto
- Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta
- Tuna Fish Cakes
- Tuna Rice Bowl
- Tuna Steaks with Sesame
- Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps
- Udon Noodles
- Vegetable Stir-Fry
- Walking Tacos
- Weisswurst
- Zucchini Pasta
Breakfast dishes 1
Filed under Quick Meals but not a meal on its own: breakfast dish. Filter these.
- Kaya Toast 18 min
Starters and snacks 3
Filed under Quick Meals but not a meal on its own: starter or snack. Filter these.
- Burrata with Tomatoes 10 min
- Garlic Butter Chicken Bites 20 min
- Garlic Butter Steak Bites 20 min
Side dishes 19
Filed under Quick Meals but not a meal on its own: side dish. Filter these.
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges 25 min
- Aloo Palak 30 min
- Bok Choy with Garlic 10 min
- Cabbage Stir Fry with Garlic 13 min
- Chakalaka 28 min
- Chinese Steamed Eggs 17 min
- Cilantro Lime Rice 25 min
- Egg Noodles with Butter 10 min
- Fried Sweet Plantain 15 min
- Garlic Noodles 25 min
- Green Bean Stir Fry 13 min
- Haricots Verts Amandine 15 min
- Hot and Sour Potato Strips 20 min
- Instant Pot Rice 25 min
- Kimchi Fried Rice 25 min
- Sesame Peanut Noodles 22 min
- Sinangag 15 min
- Vegetable Fried Rice 20 min
- Zucchini Noodles with Pesto 15 min
Breads 2
Filed under Quick Meals but not a meal on its own: bread. Filter these.
- Malawach 27 min
- Mug Cornbread 7 min
Sauces and gravies 11
Filed under Quick Meals but not a meal on its own: sauce or gravy. Filter these.
- Alfredo Sauce 20 min
- BBQ Sauce 25 min
- Béarnaise Sauce 25 min
- Brown Gravy 20 min
- Classic Hollandaise 15 min
- Hoisin Sauce 15 min
- Peppercorn Sauce 20 min
- Piri Piri Sauce 20 min
- Special Burger Sauce 5 min
- Sweet Chilli Sauce 25 min
- White Sauce 17 min
Condiments, dressings, rubs and preserves 8
Filed under Quick Meals but not a meal on its own: condiment, dressing or rub. Filter these.
- Balsamic Vinaigrette 5 min
- Cajun Seasoning 5 min
- French Dressing 5 min
- Homemade Ketchup 25 min
- Honey Mustard Dressing 5 min
- Italian Dressing 5 min
- Italian Seasoning 5 min
- Ranch Seasoning 5 min
Kitchen basics: stocks, doughs, marinades and pastes 1
Filed under Quick Meals but not a meal on its own: kitchen basic. Filter these.
- Homemade Ghee 30 min
Not yet sorted 2
Whether these are a main course, a side or a starter depends on how they are served, and nobody has settled it yet. They are listed here rather than counted as complete meals.
- Dagwood Dog 30 min
- Sautéed Broccoli Rabe 20 min