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  6. 23 Family-Friendly Winter Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

23 Family-Friendly Winter Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

Leah Goggins headshot
Leah Goggins November 15, 2021
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Roasted Chicken Thighs, Potatoes & Scallions with Herb Vinaigrette

Get in and out of the kitchen in no time with these quick, family-friendly dinners. From creamy soup to sheet-pan roasts, these healthy dinners have something to offer everybody at the dinner table. Recipes like our Roasted Vegetable & Black Bean Tacos and Roasted Chicken Thighs, Potatoes & Scallions with Herb Vinaigrette pack in winter produce like winter squash, Brussels sprouts and avocados.

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Easy Italian Wedding Soup

Bowl of Easy Italian Wedding Soup on a gray cloth background
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Forget the marble-size meatballs you find in many versions of this soup. In this easy recipe, they're full-size, full-flavored and plenty filling.

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Roasted Vegetable & Black Bean Tacos

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These hearty vegan tacos are quick and easy to make, perfect for busy weeknights. They are so tasty no one will miss the meat or dairy.

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Roasted Chicken Thighs, Potatoes & Scallions with Herb Vinaigrette

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Roasting chicken thighs directly on top of the vegetables bastes the scallions and potatoes with delicious drippings in this healthy dinner recipe. Serve with steamed broccoli, sautéed spinach or a mixed green salad.

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Garlic, Sausage & Kale Naan Pizzas

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We love sausage, but it can be high in sodium. In this fast, healthy dinner, we make our own turkey sausage with crushed red pepper, garlic, fennel seeds, paprika and just a touch of salt.

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Chicken Tacos with Brussels Sprouts

Chicken Tacos with Brussels Sprouts
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To add a variety of textures to these chicken tacos, we poach the chicken to keep it super-tender and moist while broiling the Brussels for a crisp mix-in. The creamy sauce rounds out the combo.

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Chicken-&-Mushroom Marsala

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For the best flavor in this classic one-pan chicken dinner recipe use real Marsala wine, not the cooking-wine kind. Serve with mashed potatoes.

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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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Honey-Mustard Pork with Spinach & Smashed White Beans

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Drizzle the quick honey-mustard pan sauce over the pork and beans in this 30-minute dinner for a comforting, healthy weeknight meal.

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Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

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Sliced Brussels sprouts and mushrooms cook quickly and cling to the pasta in our fall version of pasta primavera. Look for presliced mushrooms to cut prep time. Serve with a tossed salad.

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Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl

Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl
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This black bean and quinoa bowl has many of the usual hallmarks of a taco salad, minus the fried bowl. We've loaded it up with pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and avocado plus an easy hummus dressing to drizzle on top.

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Creamy White Chili with Cream Cheese

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This rich, yet healthy, white chicken chili comes together in a flash thanks to quick-cooking chicken thighs and canned white beans. Mashing some of the beans acts as a fast thickener when your soups don't have a long time to simmer. Cream cheese adds the final bit of richness and a hint of sweet tang.

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American Goulash

American Goulash
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American goulash, also known as old-fashioned goulash, is the perfect economical family meal. The pasta cooks right in the sauce, so this satisfying dish can cook in just one pot.

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One-Pot Chicken Alfredo

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This better-for-you creamy, cheesy chicken fettuccine Alfredo isn't all that fancy, but it's incredibly comforting. You'll taste a nice pop of pepper and nutty notes from the whole-wheat pasta. Best part about this recipe? It's a one-pot meal, which means fewer dishes for you!

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Sheet-Pan Maple-Mustard Pork Chops & Carrots

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You need just one pan for this satisfying weeknight dinner. A sweet and savory maple-mustard glaze livens up baked pork chops, while the carrots are jazzed up with flavor-boosting and anti-inflammatory garlic, ginger and turmeric. Rainbow carrots add colorful pizazz, but regular orange carrots are a just-as-tasty substitute. Pork dries out easily--using an instant-read thermometer ensures meat is cooked safely, but still moist.

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Charred Shrimp, Pesto & Quinoa Bowls

Charred Shrimp, Pesto & Quinoa Bowls
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These shrimp, pesto and quinoa bowls are delicious, healthy, pretty and take less than 30 minutes to prep. In other words, they're basically the ultimate easy weeknight dinner. Feel free to add additional vegetables and swap the shrimp for chicken, steak, tofu or edamame.

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Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Kale

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You can make these three-ingredient tomato-simmered eggs with things you probably already have on hand in your freezer and pantry. To make these baked eggs more like eggs in purgatory, look for a spicy tomato sauce and don't forget some whole-wheat bread for dipping.

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Sloppy Joe Casserole

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Like sloppy Joes? Then you'll love this sloppy Joe casserole recipe. This kid-friendly dinner has the classic sloppy Joe flavors kids love, while parents will like all the veggies that are packed in to make it a healthy meal.

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Gnocchi with Bacon & Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

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Get into the fall spirit with this one-pan gnocchi with a creamy pumpkin sauce. Some pumpkin and other squash sauces can be cloyingly sweet, but not this one--it's savory all the way, thanks to the bacon, garlic and thyme. Instead of being boiled, a package of store-bought gnocchi--one of our favorite convenience products--is browned and crisped in a little bit of bacon fat. Then the sauce (made with canned pumpkin--another great convenience product) is prepared right in that same pan, so cleanup is minimal too. Serve with a simple green salad for an easy dinner that comes together in 30 minutes.

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Sheet-Pan Chili-Lime Salmon with Potatoes & Peppers

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Busy weeknights beg for something simple like this salmon sheet-pan dinner. Like the name suggests, it's all cooked on one pan. The potatoes get a head start, followed by sweet bell peppers and finally chili-coated salmon fillets. It's a complete meal with easy cleanup!

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California Turkey Burgers & Baked Sweet Potato Fries

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Inspired by an option at the West Coast chain In-N-Out Burger, this turkey burger recipe keeps the carbs in check with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun. The side of sweet potato fries bakes while you prep the burgers, so this entire healthy dinner is ready in under 30 minutes.

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Spaghetti Squash Peanut "Noodles" with Chicken

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Chinese five-spice powder, a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns, adds a hint of warmth and the suggestion of sweetness to this healthy chicken recipe. It's great on just about anything you grill or roast, so it's worth keeping in your spice cabinet.

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Creamy Mac & Cheese Soup

Creamy Mac & Cheese Soup
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A package of frozen pureed winter squash adds sweetness and good nutrition--namely vitamin A, potassium and fiber--to this soup version of a family favorite, mac and cheese. It also lends its orange color to the soup, making it seem cheesier without actually adding more cheese. Feel free to swap in your favorite shape of medium-size pasta for the elbow macaroni. Using convenience items like the frozen squash means that this healthy kid-friendly dinner takes just 30 minutes to prep.

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Garlic Shrimp with Cilantro Spaghetti Squash

Garlic Shrimp with Cilantro Spaghetti Squash
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Garlicky shrimp are served on top of buttery, cilantro-flecked spaghetti squash in this quick, healthy dinner recipe inspired by shrimp scampi. Pair with a side of sautéed greens, such as kale, collards or spinach.

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    1 of 23 Easy Italian Wedding Soup
    2 of 23 Roasted Vegetable & Black Bean Tacos
    3 of 23 Roasted Chicken Thighs, Potatoes & Scallions with Herb Vinaigrette
    4 of 23 Garlic, Sausage & Kale Naan Pizzas
    5 of 23 Chicken Tacos with Brussels Sprouts
    6 of 23 Chicken-&-Mushroom Marsala
    7 of 23 Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese
    8 of 23 Honey-Mustard Pork with Spinach & Smashed White Beans
    9 of 23 Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms
    10 of 23 Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl
    11 of 23 Creamy White Chili with Cream Cheese
    12 of 23 American Goulash
    13 of 23 One-Pot Chicken Alfredo
    14 of 23 Sheet-Pan Maple-Mustard Pork Chops & Carrots
    15 of 23 Charred Shrimp, Pesto & Quinoa Bowls
    16 of 23 Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Kale
    17 of 23 Sloppy Joe Casserole
    18 of 23 Gnocchi with Bacon & Creamy Pumpkin Sauce
    19 of 23 Sheet-Pan Chili-Lime Salmon with Potatoes & Peppers
    20 of 23 California Turkey Burgers & Baked Sweet Potato Fries
    21 of 23 Spaghetti Squash Peanut "Noodles" with Chicken
    22 of 23 Creamy Mac & Cheese Soup
    23 of 23 Garlic Shrimp with Cilantro Spaghetti Squash

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    23 Family-Friendly Winter Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less
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