30-Minute Meal Plan: A Week of Fast Weeknight Dinners
The short answer
Every dinner in this plan takes about 30 minutes or less from cutting board to table, including the rice. It mixes quick stir-fries, skillet dinners, a pantry curry and two meatless nights, and avoids anything that needs marinating or a long simmer — the week for when you walk in the door hungry.
- 7 dinners
- About 8 min of prep a night
- 50 items on one grocery list
- 4 meatless
Best for: Busy households with no time to cook ahead.
Puts these dinners on next week's calendar and builds the grocery list. Free account, no credit card.
The week
- Monday20-Minute Beef and Broccoli
Takeout-style beef and broccoli with a glossy garlic-ginger sauce, on the table faster than delivery.
22 min - TuesdayLemon Garlic Shrimp and Rice
Shrimp cooks in about four minutes, which makes this one of the fastest high-protein dinners there is.
20 min - WednesdayTurkey Taco Rice Bowls
Seasoned ground turkey over rice with all the taco toppings. A homemade spice blend keeps it gluten-free and less salty than packets.
30 min - ThursdayVegetable Egg Fried Rice
The best use for leftover rice: eggs, frozen vegetables and soy sauce turn it into a full vegetarian dinner in 15 minutes.
17 minVegetarian - FridayChickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry
A fragrant, mild coconut curry made almost entirely from the pantry. Vegetarian, gluten-free and ready in about 25 minutes.
30 minVegetarian - SaturdayPesto Pasta with White Beans and Tomatoes
Jarred pesto, white beans and cherry tomatoes make a filling vegetarian pasta in the time it takes to boil the water.
20 minVegetarian - SundayBlack Bean and Cheese Quesadillas
Crisp, melty quesadillas from pantry staples in 15 minutes — the dinner to keep in your back pocket for the busiest night of the week.
17 minVegetarian
Grocery list for the week
Every ingredient from all seven recipes, combined and sorted by store aisle. Check your pantry for oils, salt and spices before you shop.
Produce
- 1avocado
- 11 cupsbaby spinach
- 1 lbbroccoli florets
- 2 cupcherry tomatoes
- 2 tbspfresh ginger
- 2 tbspfresh parsley
- 2 cupfrozen peas and carrots
- 13 clovesgarlic
- 3green onions
- 2lemon
- 1lime
- 2 cupromaine lettuce
- 2yellow onion
Dairy & Eggs
- 1/4 cupbutter
- 4eggs
- 1/2 cupgrated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cupshredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cupshredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/2 cupsour cream
Meat & Poultry
- 1 1/4 lbflank steak
- 1 lbground turkey
Seafood
- 1 1/2 lblarge shrimp
Bakery
- 8flour tortillas
Grains & Pasta
- 1 1/2 cupbasmati rice
- 1 1/2 cupjasmine rice
- 4 1/2 cupslong-grain white rice
- 1 lbshort pasta
Canned Goods
- 2 cansblack beans
- 1 cancannellini beans
- 2 canschickpeas
- 1 cancoconut milk
- 1 candiced tomatoes
- 1/2 cuptomato sauce
Condiments & Sauces
- 1 jarbasil pesto
- about 3/4 cuplow-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tbspolive oil
- 1 tbspoyster sauce
- 1 cupsalsa
- 1 tsptoasted sesame oil
- 3/8 cupvegetable oil
Spices & Seasonings
- 1 tbspchili powder
- 2 tbspcurry powder
- 1/2 tspdried oregano
- 1/2 tspgarlic powder
- 2 tspground cumin
- 2 1/2 tspkosher salt
- 1/4 tspred pepper flakes
Baking
- 2 tbspbrown sugar
- 2 tbspcornstarch
Frozen
- 1 cupfrozen corn
Prep ahead
- Nothing is required, but cooking one big pot of rice on Monday covers Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
- Start the rice before anything else each night; everything else cooks while it simmers.
Questions
Does 30 minutes include cooking the rice?
Yes, as long as you start the rice first. White and jasmine rice take 15 to 18 minutes, which overlaps with the rest of the cooking.
What is the fastest dinner in the plan?
The black bean quesadillas and the lemon garlic shrimp each take about 20 minutes.