When time is tight and bellies are rumbling, coming up with ideas for interesting meals can feel like an overwhelming task – and we’re all guilty of falling back on the same dishes over and over. Next time you find yourself in a cooking rut, our brilliant collection of speedy recipes (all ready in around 30 minutes) is here to help; from one-pots and stir-fries to new pasta ideas and fab veggie suppers, find your new repertoire of easy meals right here.
For a deliciously decadent dinner that can be on the table in under half an hour, a juicy steak is hard to beat (and easier to cook than you might think, especially if you follow our tips). For the perfect Friday night meal, this recipe for seared sirloin with homemade garlic butter and a crisp green salad is just the thing.
French-style savoury pancakes are a marvellous easy meal solution. In this recipe, lacy, golden crêpes are filled with soft, creamy goats’ cheese, tangy pickle and Comté (although any hard, strong-flavoured cheese will do), with fig jam adding a touch of sweetness to the mix. Try these, then play around with your own ingredient combinations.
There’s no need to buy a jar of pasta sauce when this rich, homemade tomato one is so quick to whip up. Combined with succulent prawns, crispy chorizo, a pinch of chilli flakes, fresh basil and your best olive oil, we predict this dish will be a hit with all the family.
The star of this simple recipe is the irresistible four-ingredient satay dressing. If you've never tried straight-to-wok noodles, do give them a go – they're a massive time-saver and they cut down on the washing up, too.
A classic char siu pork is a labour of love and takes time to prepare. Here's a cheat's version, made with tender pork fillet and lots of ginger and garlic in a soy-based sauce. Throw in the pak choy at the end or add some fresh spinach. Either way, this is really quick to make and great spooned over rice.
If you’ve got eggs in the store cupboard, you’re never far away from a tasty meal. Despite being almost effortless to prepare, this frittata tastes rather special; the caramelised red onions add a lovely sweetness, while the feta provides a creamy, salty tang. Serve with a tomato salad for a simple supper.
Get the recipe for sweet potato, feta and red onion frittata here
There’s barely any cooking and very little prep required in this super-speedy recipe, which sees protein-rich quinoa combined with hot-smoked salmon and finished with a creamy horseradish dressing. The result is wholesome, healthy and filling – what more could you ask for on a busy weeknight?
You can make this fragrant, light and bright Vietnamese-style steak salad in under 30 minutes. Hot, marinated beef is piled atop an onion, herb and tomato salad, then it's all tossed together at the table.
This Sichuan-inspired recipe packs a real flavour punch, thanks to liberal amounts of chilli. It's a great veggie dish, but you could always add some strips of cooked chicken or prawns at the end to make it more substantial.
Bring a taste of Rome into your kitchen with this gorgeous pasta dish. Tender pieces of al dente rigatoni are coated with a rich, tomato-based sauce flavoured with salty pancetta, garlic and crushed chillies. Finish the dish with a generous showering of flaked Parmesan or pecorino cheese.
If you're after an effortless pasta recipe, look no further than this traybake spaghetti. All the ingredients go into one dish (even the uncooked spaghetti), and then the heat of the oven works its magic, rewarding you with a seriously tasty, properly comforting meal. Plus, it generates very little washing up.
An entire meal in a bowl, this soup is made properly satisfying thanks to the cannellini beans, poached egg and a slice (or two) of toasted ciabatta. A hearty and nutritious meal, ready in half an hour – we think that's just the thing for a busy weeknight.
While the eggs, bacon and spaghetti in this recipe certainly offer a nod to carbonara, the addition of Thai-influenced ingredients like fish sauce and chilli give it an international slant, resulting in a tasty hybrid dish. Put simply, make this and we guarantee everyone will be coming back for seconds.
Ready in 30 minutes, this recipe features a warming, fragrant broth loaded with tender rice noodles and thinly sliced seared beef. A squeeze of lime to finish adds a sour tang, which helps cut through the richness of the dish.
Succulent beef kebabs are the main attraction in this simple supper. Pile them into warm flatbreads while still sizzling from the grill, or arrange on a bed of creamy hummus, then top with a zesty mix of sliced red onion, sumac and chopped parsley. Either way, you’ll have yourself a meal to remember.
When you want to get dinner on the table fast, good-quality store cupboard ingredients really come into their own. In this recipe, tinned sardines, jarred artichokes and marinated olives are the stars of the show, while crunchy chicory and a splash of sherry vinegar deliver important supporting roles. To add to the appeal, there’s no cooking required and the salad takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.
There's no denying that lasagne is one of the most comforting foods out there, but it also takes time and effort to make. Luckily, this vegetarian version, with spinach and courgettes, is a speedy affair that's cooked in one pan and takes just over 30 minutes from fridge to table.
This dish packs in a whole lot of flavour, fast. Cooked in under 30 minutes, the soy and oyster sauce work wonderfully with the curry powder, while bird’s eye chilli gives a kick of heat. The ingredients are brilliantly interchangeable; use seasonal greens instead of broccoli, or add prawns and/or barbecued pork to bulk out the dish. Finish it off the traditional way, by adding strips of omelette to the noodles.
Stir-fries are a clear winner for a quick and healthy midweek dinner thanks to the abundance of vegetables, tastes and textures you can pack into the dish, all with minimal fuss. This recipe uses both chicken and prawns for a good hit of protein, while the black bean sauce, zing of ginger and aromatic Chinese five-spice bring plenty of flavour to the table.
A combination of dried herbs and harissa – a Tunisian spice paste that’s rich and smoky – gives a fantastic depth of flavour to this quick pasta dish. This recipe suggests using a chickpea pasta to make it gluten-free, but it works perfectly well with regular spaghetti, too.
As this recipe shows, fish can be a brilliant quick meal option. Here salmon is swiftly seared in a pan, before being finished off in the oven and then added to a miso broth. Fresh ginger, chilli flakes and coriander bring verve and vitality to the comforting dish, while leafy greens give the ramen a nutritional boost.
When you’re craving an indulgent, satisfying meal that’s still quick to make, this is the answer. The sauce is the standout element in this dish; apples and leeks are cooked in the juices from the pork, while wholegrain mustard and crème fraîche bring all the sweet, sharp, rich flavours together beautifully.
This recipe ticks all the right boxes when it comes to speedy meals: it’s healthy, tasty, generates minimal washing up, and can be on the table in well under 30 minutes. Marinating the salmon and cooking it in its own paper parcel (en papillote) ensures the fish is juicy and bursting with flavour. Serve with mixed grain rice.
Taking a regular Caesar salad up a notch, while still maintaining those easy credentials, this recipe makes great use of pre-cooked chicken. Chunks of creamy avocado add further bulk to the dish, while the umami-rich dressing is simple to make but packs in masses of flavour (even if you’re not a fan, don’t omit the anchovies – they add a wonderful saltiness to the sauce).
Bulgogi is a popular Korean dish that refers to cooking thin slices of marinated meat, fast. This recipe flavours beef with another Korean favourite, gochujang (a spicy chilli paste), along with soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. The result is a deeply savoury dish with a good amount of heat. With that in mind, it's best served with cooling cucumber, shredded carrots, rice and a fried egg cooked just the way you like it.
Bursting with texture and flavour, this quick and easy supper is one of those recipe you’ll return to time and time again. When fried, gnocchi become pleasingly crisp and golden on the outside, while still retaining their pillowy interior. The blue cheese sauce, meanwhile, is seriously moreish. All that’s needed to serve is a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a twist of black pepper.
Get the recipe for gnocchi with chicken, porcini and blue cheese here
This dish is derived from a famous Taiwanese recipe that uses equal measures (a cup each) of rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. Our version still features those ingredients, but takes the liberty of making a few additions: fresh ginger brings things to life, chilli adds heat, and the Thai basil tossed through at the end provides a lovely aromatic finish.
Our simplified version of laksa, the hot and spicy noodle soup that’s adored all over Malaysia, uses a few clever tricks to help the dish on its way. Thai red curry paste deepens the flavours, so that you get those deep, spicy notes, fish sauce adds an underlying sourness, and creamy coconut milk tempers the heat, while gifting the soup a lovely richness.
There’s something about the combination of soy and honey that just works with salmon, as this dish demonstrates in delicious fashion. In this recipe, the fish is roasted on a bed of vibrant greens and finished with a ginger, lime and peanut dressing. Enjoy as is for a low-carb supper, or serve with rice or noodles.
Udon noodles have a pleasingly chewy bite to them, and work brilliantly when matched with chicken and crunchy onions as they are here. The salty, nutty satay sauce, meanwhile, ensures the end result is a big bowl of deliciousness.
This dish is the very definition of quick and tasty. The key to success here is using the pasta cooking water (which is full of starch) and generous amounts of Parmesan to create a silky sauce that, for all its simplicity, is full of incredible flavour.
Mushrooms are a great way to add umami (that deep, savoury flavour) to a dish, and shiitake mushrooms have this in spades. Fresh noodles not only cook really fast, but have an appealing chewy texture, making them the perfect base for this recipe. The dish doesn’t call for many extra additions, as you really want the mushrooms to shine, but including a smattering of vegetables such as green beans is a good idea.
Get the recipe for shiitake mushrooms and fresh noodles here
This dish isn't traditionally Italian, but we're not being purists here. The recipe calls for leftover gammon, but you can also just slice up some ham to add to the pan (crispy bacon wouldn't go amiss either). When you're ready to serve, sprinkle over a big handful of freshly grated Parmesan and you’ll have yourself a properly luxurious supper.
A speedy twist on an Italian classic, this one-pan wonder is the perfect combination of tender chicken, herby tomato sauce and melting mozzarella. Courgette 'spaghetti' prevents the whole thing from feeling too heavy, while the grilled Parmesan and breadcrumb topping makes it truly memorable.
Zippy, zingy and brimming with colour and texture, this Vietnamese-style chicken salad is just the thing when you’re craving something light and bright, but still satisfying. The full-flavoured dressing is also brilliant drizzled over roasted fish, so it’s well worth making double. With only 10 minutes cooking involved, this is a dish you can add to your weekly meal rotation and still never get bored.
Bring the heat of the tandoor into your kitchen the easy way, with these paneer skewers. This clever recipe sees you dipping pieces of paneer in a tangy yogurt marinade, before grilling them to tasty perfection. Served with a fresh salad and your favourite chutney, this is the kind of speedy dish that makes a weeknight meal memorable.
Take note: this is no ordinary burger recipe. First up, the juicy, tasty patties are made from a mix of minced lamb and slightly spicy, smoky chorizo. Once cooked, they’re piled into brioche buns and topped with a fresh and fruity apricot salsa. If you really want to treat yourself, serve with a generous drizzle of homemade smoked garlic mayonnaise.
Simple yet entirely satisfying, these salmon, courgette and lemon kebabs take mere minutes to prepare. Thanks to quick cooking over a high heat, the fish remains juicy, the courgette takes on a lovely char, and the citrus flavours from the lemon complement both. Served with a thick and creamy, herb-yogurt dressing, this is a standout speedy recipe.