Genius 30-Minute Meals

August 27, 2019
For a quick dinner, try one of our genius 30-minute recipes loaded with fresh vegetables, lean protein and amazing flavor. Our healthy recipes feature stir-fries, soups, salads and more to help you get a nutritious, yet delicious dinner on the table fast.Download a FREE Quick Dinner Recipes Cookbook!Watch Video
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Thai Chicken Stir-Fry with Basil & Cashews

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This quick chicken stir-fry recipe is flavored with classic Thai ingredients: savory fish sauce balanced with tangy lime juice and plenty of fresh basil. Have all the ingredients prepared and ready to add to the wok before you turn on the heat. Serve with brown rice.

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Chicken Club Wraps

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Whole-wheat tortillas provide a tasty twist in this quick grilled chicken breast recipe that combines all the elements of a classic club sandwich into a wrap. Serve with extra napkins.

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Crispy Chicken Schnitzel with Herb-Brown Butter

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This healthy recipe for crispy chicken schnitzel involves coating the chicken breasts with fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs and oven “frying” using a mist of olive oil cooking spray instead of frying in lots of oil. Serve on a bed of mixed greens or with mashed potatoes.

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Smoked Trout, Potato & Arugula Salad

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In this healthy dinner salad recipe, tender new potatoes and baby arugula add a creamy texture and peppery flavor to the smokiness of the trout. You can hard-boil the eggs ahead of time, but if you cook them while you steam your potatoes, they'll still be a little warm when you serve the salad, which makes it extra special.

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Easy Fried Rice

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Mixed frozen vegetables make this healthy fried rice recipe quick, easy and economical. If you don't have leftover cooked rice on hand, be sure to thoroughly cool your rice before adding it to the wok--if it's too warm, it creates too much steam and sticks to the wok. To quickly cool warm rice, spread out on a large baking sheet and refrigerate while you prep the rest of your ingredients, about 15 minutes.

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Seared Chicken with Lemon-Herb Cream Sauce

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In this healthy chicken recipe, chicken breasts are quickly pan-seared and then topped with a lemon-herb cream sauce. The healthy cream sauce recipe uses yogurt and actually contains no cream at all. The cream sauce also pairs well with seasoned pan-seared cod or salmon. Serve the chicken and sauce with steamed broccoli or green beans for a healthy dinner.

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Quick Fettuccine Alfredo

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In this healthy fettuccine Alfredo recipe, the sauce for this classic pasta dish gets a makeover, using yogurt. Although we like to toss this creamy pasta sauce with fettuccine, any whole-wheat pasta can be used.

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Kale Salad with Bacon-Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

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Hot roasted potatoes in this healthy kale salad recipe wilt the kale just enough to make it tender. Bacon and blue cheese layer on smoky, salty flavors to stand up to the flavor of the kale. Go for a strong blue cheese--we enjoy the tanginess of Maytag. Serve this salad with steak or chicken.

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Apricot-Chile Glazed Salmon

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This healthy apricot-chile glazed salmon recipe marries fruit and chiles to make this easy grilled salmon mouthwateringly special. Use jam rather than preserves for a smoother, prettier glaze. Look for New Mexico chili powder in well-stocked supermarkets or online at Amazon.com, or substitute your favorite red chili powder.

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Chopped Ham & Apple Salad with Creamy Parmesan Dressing

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This healthy main-course chopped salad recipe pairs bitter escarole and radicchio with sweet apple, smoky ham and crunchy pecans. But the pairing possibilities are limitless--you can also use cooked chicken and tangerines instead of ham and apples or bell pepper in place of the radishes. Serve with pumpernickel bread toasted with extra-sharp Cheddar cheese.

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Chopped Chef's Salad

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We gave a classic chef's salad recipe a healthy makeover with our own homemade healthy Thousand Island dressing recipe and reduced-sodium cheese and turkey. Those swaps slashed 260 calories and nearly a day's worth of sodium (2,131 mg!) per serving compared with traditional recipes.

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Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese

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Fiber-rich sweet potato is used as the base for the cheese sauce in this healthy, homemade macaroni and cheese recipe. The bright orange color tricks your eyes into thinking this healthy macaroni and cheese recipe is loaded with cheese, but there's actually only about half as much cheese as compared to a traditional recipe.

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Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Mushroom Marsala Sauce

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This crispy prosciutto-wrapped chicken thigh recipe makes a tasty meal when served with steamed green beans and mashed potatoes to soak up the sauce.

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Broccoli & Feta Pasta Salad

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This vegetarian pasta salad recipe is perfect for your next potluck or as an easy side dish. The broccoli keeps it nice and crunchy and the chickpeas add protein. For the best flavor, combine the pasta salad with the dressing about 1 hour before serving.

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Pork Milanese with Mashed Sweet Potato

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In this Italian-inspired healthy pork Milanese recipe, you'll swear that these crispy pork medallions were deep-fried, when in fact they're cooked with a nonstick skillet and a mere 3 tablespoons of healthy extra-virgin olive oil. While the pork and sweet potatoes are cooking, steam broccolini or green beans and serve with a squeeze of lemon to round out the meal.

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General Tso's Chicken

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In this healthy version of a General Tso's Chicken recipe, we cut the fat and sodium in half from the original version by not frying the chicken and by using half as much soy sauce in this Chinese-takeout favorite. Serve with steamed baby bok choy or sautéed spinach and steamed brown rice.

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Tilapia Po'Boy

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Forget deep-fried fish--the tilapia in this healthy po'boy recipe, a classic Cajun sandwich recipe, is coated in cornmeal and cooked in just 2 tablespoons of oil. The result? A healthy, crispy fish sandwich without extra calories. Serve with coleslaw and sweet potato fries.

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Easy Miso-Chicken Ramen

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Warm up a chilly evening with this healthy chicken-and-vegetable ramen noodle bowl recipe. For a little spice, top with hot sauce, such as Sriracha. Look for dried curly Chinese-style noodles near other Asian ingredients in most well-stocked supermarkets. For a substitute, try whole-wheat angel hair pasta and cook for a few minutes longer.

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Chickpea & Chorizo Fideos

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This quick, one-pot version of fideos, a toasted pasta recipe served in Spain, gets a smoky flavor from delicious chorizo. If you can't find Spanish chorizo, pepperoni works well in its place. Serve with a green salad drizzled with sherry vinaigrette.

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Quick Risotto with Shrimp, Corn & Edamame

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In this healthy, quick risotto recipe, we use instant brown rice instead of arborio rice, and frozen corn and edamame to speed up the cooking time and add fiber. To get the creamy risotto texture without slow cooking, we stir in cream cheese and Parmesan just at the end of cooking.

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Baked Tilapia Curry

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This healthy fish-and-vegetable curry recipe is made with yellow curry paste, but any Thai curry paste--red or green--will work. Serve with sautéed green beans and brown basmati rice to soak up all the delicious sauce.

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Korean Turkey Burgers with Kimchi

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Korean chile paste (also known as gochujang) blended into the ground turkey makes this turkey burger recipe incredibly moist and flavorful. Top these healthy turkey burgers with kimchi--a fermented mixture of cabbage and other vegetables--which can be found near other refrigerated Asian ingredients or near sauerkraut or pickles in well-stocked supermarkets or natural-foods stores.

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Salmon Cakes with Olives, Lemon & Dill

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Studded with briny olives, bright lemon zest and a touch of dill, this healthy, easy salmon cake recipe is perfect for dinner and for freezing. Whether you serve the salmon cakes on a bun like a burger with lettuce and tomato or paired with a mixed green salad, try a dollop of reduced-fat mayo mixed with lemon juice on top.

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8-Layer Taco Salad

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This gorgeous and colorful 8-layer taco salad recipe is made healthier by using ground turkey in place of beef, adding Greek yogurt and bumping up the amount of vegetables. Serve this salad in a clear glass bowl and you'll have an eye-catching party-worthy dinner or potluck side in just 30 minutes.

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Tilapia with Grapefruit-Caper Sauce

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In this healthy, quick tilapia recipe, you'll combine grapefruit, shallot, capers, butter and a touch of honey for a rich, bittersweet sauce. Any grapefruit will work, but vibrant ruby-red grapefruit is the prettiest. Serve with whole-wheat couscous and broccolini.

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Tuna & Bok Choy Packets

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Steaming fish and vegetables together in a tin-foil packet is a great way to keep the tuna moist and have little to clean up. If baby bok choy is not available, use 8 cups chopped mature bok choy for this quick fish recipe.

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Spinach Ravioli with Zucchini Ribbons

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For this light vegetarian ravioli recipe, we combine gorgeous long ribbons of zucchini with spinach-and-cheese-stuffed ravioli and a light cream sauce for a satisfying vegetarian pasta dinner.

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Honey-Harissa Pork Tenderloin with Saffron Freekeh & Zucchini

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In this 30-minute healthy dinner recipe, whole-grain freekeh cooks unattended while you finish the rest of the meal. Using baby vegetables cuts down on prep time because they can be cooked whole. Look for them near prepared and/or specialty vegetables. If you can't find them, use 4 cups sliced small zucchini or summer squash instead (1/2-inch-thick slices).

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