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  4. Our 20 Most Popular Dinners of 2021

Our 20 Most Popular Dinners of 2021

Leah Goggins headshot
Leah Goggins December 03, 2021
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Chicken Cutlets with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce

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

Chicken Cutlets with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce
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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

Spinach & Mushroom Quiche
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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
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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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Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup with Rotisserie Chicken

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup with Rotisserie Chicken
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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

Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan
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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

Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Chicken & Chickpea Soup
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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

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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Sheet-Pan Salmon with Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli

Sheet-Pan Salmon with Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli
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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

Spicy Weight-Loss Cabbage Soup
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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

Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta
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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

Panko- & Parmesan-Crusted Baked Scallops
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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

One-Pan Chicken & Asparagus Bake
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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

Middle Eastern Chicken & Chickpea Stew
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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

sweet potato and black bean chili
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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

One-Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach
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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

Photo of the Ground Beef & Pasta Skillet recipe
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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

cauliflower rice peppers
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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

Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs with Carrots Broccoli
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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

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
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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

Chicken & Zucchini Casserole
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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!).

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    1 of 20 Chicken Cutlets with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
    2 of 20 Spinach & Mushroom Quiche
    3 of 20 American Goulash
    4 of 20 Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup with Rotisserie Chicken
    5 of 20 Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan
    6 of 20 Slow-Cooker Chicken & Chickpea Soup
    7 of 20 Easy Italian Wedding Soup
    8 of 20 Sheet-Pan Salmon with Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli
    9 of 20 Spicy Weight-Loss Cabbage Soup
    10 of 20 Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta
    11 of 20 Panko- & Parmesan-Crusted Baked Scallops
    12 of 20 One-Pan Chicken & Asparagus Bake
    13 of 20 Middle Eastern Chicken & Chickpea Stew
    14 of 20 Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
    15 of 20 One-Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach
    16 of 20 Ground Beef & Pasta Skillet
    17 of 20 Cauliflower Rice-Stuffed Peppers
    18 of 20 Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs with Carrots & Broccoli
    19 of 20 Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
    20 of 20 Chicken & Zucchini Casserole

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