Our 20 Most Popular Dinners of 2021
This mix of simple skillet dinners, creamy pastas and cozy soups garnered the most clicks in 2021. You're sure to find something for your nightly routine, whether it's a 30-minute pasta dish or a veggie-packed sheet-pan dinner. It's easy to see why recipes like our Chicken Cutlets with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce and Spinach & Mushroom Quiche had home cooks coming back for more.
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Chicken Cutlets with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Though a chicken cutlet may be a chicken breast cut in half, this recipe shows how to make chicken cutlets with double the deliciousness. A jar of sun-dried tomatoes does double duty for this healthy dinner recipe. The flavorful oil they're packed in is used to sauté the chicken, and the tomatoes go into the cream sauce.
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Spinach & Mushroom Quiche
This healthy vegetarian quiche recipe is as simple as it gets. It's a quiche without the fussy crust! It's filled with sweet wild mushrooms and savory Gruyère cheese. Enjoy it for breakfast or brunch, or serve it with a light salad for lunch.
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American Goulash
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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Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup with Rotisserie Chicken
This rich-tasting but better-for-you creamy chicken soup has a delicious chicken pot pie feel to it. We call for rotisserie chicken to streamline your prep time--look for a nice big one with lots of breast meat on it. Pair this comforting and easy soup recipe with a green salad, or, if you're really hungry, a grilled cheese sandwich.
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Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan
This one-pan pasta that combines lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal is garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. I call it "Mom's Skillet Pasta" and she called it "Devon's Favorite Pasta." Either way it's a quick and easy weeknight dinner we created together and scribbled on a little recipe card more than a decade ago, and it remains in my weekly dinner rotation to this day. It's a simple dinner the whole family will love.
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Slow-Cooker Chicken & Chickpea Soup
This set-it-and-forget-it slow-cooker recipe simmers away all day so you come home to a warm and healthy dinner the whole family will love. Using bone-in chicken is the key to making rich soup without adding broth.
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Easy Italian Wedding Soup
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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Sheet-Pan Salmon with Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli
The vibrant combo of cheese, cilantro, chili, and lime--inspired by Mexican street corn--makes this salmon sheet-pan dinner burst with flavor.
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Spicy Weight-Loss Cabbage Soup
Based on a popular weight-loss plan, this healthy cabbage soup recipe gets tons of flavor and a metabolism-boosting kick from spicy chiles.
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Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta
If you've ever wanted to make a meal out of warm spinach and artichoke dip, this creamy pasta is for you. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.
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Panko- & Parmesan-Crusted Baked Scallops
These easy baked scallops have a delightful balance of crunchy, golden-brown topping and tender, sweet scallops. They feel decadent like scallops should, thanks to the tasty lemon-butter sauce. Look for uniform scallops; if they're particularly large, you might need to bake them for more than 10 minutes.
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One-Pan Chicken & Asparagus Bake
In this chicken and asparagus recipe, we use one baking sheet to whip up dinner quickly, veggies included. Pounding the chicken thin helps it cook quickly alongside the carrots and potatoes, with asparagus rounding out the meal. This is one quick dinner recipe you'll be returning to again and again.
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Middle Eastern Chicken & Chickpea Stew
This quick, protein-rich chicken stew recipe gets great flavor from cumin, lemon juice and garlic. Make a double batch and freeze it for a quick healthy dinner. Serve the stew with couscous and steamed broccoli.
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Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
Make a double batch of this quick vegetarian chili, full of black beans and sweet potatoes, and eat it for lunch the next day or freeze the extras for another night. We love the smoky heat from the ground chipotle, but omit it if you prefer a mild chili. Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread and coleslaw.
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One-Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach
Shrimp, spinach and garlic brown and cook quickly for a simple one-pot weeknight dinner. A fast pan sauce gets life from zesty lemon juice, warm crushed red pepper and herby parsley. Serve with a slice of whole-wheat baguette to swipe up every last drop of sauce.
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Ground Beef & Pasta Skillet
Sneak extra vegetables into your child's day (and yours too!) with this easy one-skillet pasta recipe. Finely chop mushrooms to resemble the texture of ground beef and stir them into a classic meat sauce for an extra-healthy twist on a dinnertime favorite.
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Cauliflower Rice-Stuffed Peppers
Slash the calories and carbs of traditional stuffed peppers by swapping white rice for cauliflower "rice." The riced cauliflower is hearty and won't turn to mush during baking. Use an assortment of red, yellow, orange and green peppers to make an appealing presentation.
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Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs with Carrots & Broccoli
In this easy and healthy dinner recipe, sweet and savory baked honey-garlic chicken thighs come with a side of veggies that cook on the same sheet pan as the chicken. The honey-soy-garlic marinade for the chicken does double duty as an irresistible sauce to drizzle over everything. Lining your baking sheet with foil will protect your pan from the sticky honey-soy-garlic sauce, so cleanup will be a breeze too. If you can't find small carrots, cut medium carrots in half lengthwise.
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Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Mounding a classic Philly cheesesteak mixture in a colorful bell pepper and melting cheese on top is an easy way to skip the bread and cut the carbs.
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Chicken & Zucchini Casserole
This baked chicken and zucchini casserole is creamy, hearty and low-carb! The whole family will love this easy casserole, plus it's a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies (concealed in a delicious cheese sauce!).