This is real food, really fast.
Scroll down a bit to peruse our complete collection of 30-Minute Recipes. Just because you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, doesn’t mean you can’t make some fantastic food. As such, this collection targets the recipes that come together quickly, in as little as half and hour.
Time tested. Literally.
So, everyone cooks and moves at different speeds, right? But these recipes have all been tested against the clock, and we can vouch for their efficiency and all-around speed of preparation and cook-time.
So, when it comes to saving time and whipping up great food fast, these quick-fix, 30-Minute Recipes have your back. Also, everything in this collection can be made, from start to finish, in about 30 minutes or less. Finally, here at My Kitchen Little, we’re adding new, super quick, 30-minute recipes to this collection every week.
Additionally, you might want to check out:
Check out my complete collection of 30-minute recipes
Quick-Fix Food You Can Count On
So, don’t get me wrong – I love a big, intensive cooking project with the best of them. But not every day. Not most days, truth be told. No, most days you will find me here, perusing my own collection of go-to, tested, tried, and true recipes that I know take very little time to put together.
And so, it’s comforting to know that you can walk in the kitchen and have your cooking done in the time it takes to watch an episode of Friends. This is good food, fast. In sum, this collection brings you recipes that really work, and we think they’re the reliable ones you’ll come back to again and again.
Tips and tricks for nailing great recipes in 30 minutes or less
30-Minute recipes are a cornerstone of the content that we work hard to create here on My Kitchen Little. So, as someone who cooks every single day, for both my job and for my (very hungry) family of four, I am genuinely always trying to figure out slick tricks to getting things done FAST. Fast, and well – that matters too.
Because let’s be honest – a recipe can come together faster than a speeding bullet, but no one’s going to eat it if it doesn’t taste good. So, what I focus on when I develop recipes to share with you here are a few simple but key things.
Kitchen Organization
It’s very difficult to knock out great food fast if your kitchen is a disheveled mess. This is just sort of a universal truth, I think. Now, everyone’s definition of “clean,” “tidy,” and/or organized varies from one home cook to the next. That’s cool. But I think a solid rule of thumb to follow when trying to be efficient in the kitchen is to take a little time to go through your things and get ORGANIZED.
I typically do this a few ways:
- I avoid purchasing too many gadgets, tools, and pieces of equipment. Something might sound very cool in an advertisement or when waxed poetically about by a friend, but I always like to err on the side of simplicity. Having a core collection of workhorse tools at the ready, that are easy to grab and access – is a really great place to start.
- Furthermore, I apply the same philosophy to my pantry and fridge items; my “larder,” if you will. I find that designating a little time every couple of weeks to go through what I have on hand and then either purge what I won’t use and/or plan around what I see, I can avoid amassing way too much food in my drawers and on my shelves.
Plan Ahead
Every single Monday morning, after my kids have headed off to school, I sit down at my computer with this old, raggedy looking journal thing (and coffee, of course) and I plan the meals that I’m going to cook for the week. So, from sides, salads, and soups to the main event and every single thing in between – I try really hard to just plan it all out. For instance, I make my shopping lists and try to see what items I can divide and conquer with.
Maximize the use of single ingredients
By that, I mean – I try to see how much use I can get out a single item. For example, let’s say that I want to get some Halloumi for my Honey Toasted Halloumi & Bacon Sandwiches with Marinated Vegetables. Halloumi is my favorite cheese ever, but it’s pricey, so I typically try to squeeze as much use out of one block as I can. So, I will also plan to make:
Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Halloumi and Pistachio Dust or maybe my Spiced Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad with Crushed Olives.
You get the point. Not only does this type of planning make mealtime easier and more efficient (because I have my head fully wrapped around what I’m doing), it also happens to be very budget-friendly. So, there’s that.
Read your recipes fully before you start to make them
In the name of planning ahead, it’s always very wise to make sure you know the whole game plan of a recipe in advance. I mean, we can’t always do this, I get that. But if you’ve taken a sec to plan out your meals/cooks for the week, while you’re doing that, also try to make notes that might account for anything you need to do in advance.
By this I mean things like:
- Taking ingredients out of the freezer in advance if they need to thaw. Like with my Spinach and Artichoke Gnocchi Soup with Crispy Prosciutto.
- Giving cold ingredients the chance to come up to room temperature before baking. Like with my Sweet Cream Cornmeal Pound Cake.
- Getting your prep done before you start cooking (mise en place).
Look for Ingredients that will help maximize flavor, while minimizing cook time
The store is full of these. I’m talking about those pinch-hitting, major league items that really just know how to know a recipe straight outta the park. Ahem. Anyway, I like to keep a handful of items around my kitchen that are there when I just need to shave some minutes off of the cook time.
For example
Firstly, Chicken Stock Concentrate: This stuff turbo charges the flavor in so many soups, braises and sauces. What you get is that deep, savory flavor without having to reduce or simmer actual stock itself. A little goes a long way.
Secondly, Frozen Spinach. I know, I know – fresh is best! But the amount of fresh spinach that you’d have to get, wash, and cook way down just to equal what you get in a 10-ounce box of the frozen stuff is MIND BOGGLING. This is something I always have in my freezer. same goes for pearl onions, and frozen peas.
Thirdly, Spice Blends. I’m talking decent ones here, y’all. Make sure not to hold on tour your spice jars for much more than a year or so – they do lose their potency over time. That said, I find a really good quality spice blend to be invaluable when I’m making quick-fix meals. Rather than reaching for 6 or 7 different herbs, I can simply reach for my handy jar of Italian seasoning and call it good. Here are some great blends I like to have around.
Italian Seasoning. Like in my Lemon Butter Chicken and Herbs.
Cajun Seasoning. Like in Best Ever Shrimp Creole.
Old Bay, or even better, Young Bae. Like in My Five-Ingredient Sheet Pan Shrimp and Sausage Bake.
Seasoned Salt
Blackening Spice. Like in my Blackened Garlic Butter Catfish with Summer Squash.
Steak Seasoning
Poultry Seasoning
Pumpkin Pie Spice