These 15 minute recipes are a great way to make a hearty and delicious meal when you’re busy or worn out. Kids and adults alike will love all of these 15 minute recipes. From sandwiches to pasta, and more, we got something everyone will enjoy. These 15 minute recipes will surely become a family favorite!
Easy 15 Minute Dinners For Busy Nights
Week nights are busy. School, work, chores, errands, it adds up. So by the time dinner time comes around, sometimes it’s hard to find the energy to make dinner. But we have the solution! These 15 minute dinner recipes are not only quick, but tasty! Everyone’s belly is gonna be full and happy with these yummy 15 minute dinner recipes.
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Related: We have 21 quick recipes that only take 30 minutes to make!
15 Minute Recipes for Dinner this Week
1. 15 Minute Steak Sandwich Recipe
You gotta make these 15 Minute Steak Sandwiches. A family favorite! Grab your favorite sandwich rolls and ask the butcher to slice up your beef before you leave the grocery store.
2. 15 Minute Shrimp Taco Recipe
Ready for some 15 Minute Shrimp Tacos? Shrimp cook in 3 minutes… need I say more? These are quick, easy, and healthy! And they go so well in the spring or summer. Add some cabbage, pickled onions, and lime and you got yourself a great meal.
3. 15 Minute Chicken Burrito Recipe
I love these 15 Minute Chicken Burritos. Rotisserie chicken for the win! It makes a great shortcut for this kid-friendly dinner. It’s also a great way to to use up leftover chicken as well.
4. 15 Minute Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi Recipe
You’re gonna love this 15 Minute Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi. So many shortcuts to get this one on the table fast. And the sauce is SO DELICIOUS! Not only is it fast, but who doesn’t love gnocchi? It’s definitely a comfort food.
5. 15 Minute Beef and Broccoli Recipe
Wanna spice up dinner? Make this 15 Minute Beef and Broccoli! This is our takeout favorite – now we make it at home in 15 minutes! So that makes it fast, easy…and helps us save money in the long run.
Related: Pssst…check out these yummy quick easy dinner ideas.
Hacks to Making Dinner in 15 Minutes
Here are a few of the kitchen hacks that make these recipes work…
- Ask the butcher do the heavy lifting —-> Most grocery store butchers are beyond happy to do the slicing and cutting for you. Even if your protein is already wrapped up in the meat case. Just ask! Larger pieces of meat take longer to cook. So say no to the whole roast… but yes to thin-sliced roast for steak sandwiches or stir fry.
- Get familiar with ingredients that cook really fast —-> shrimp, gnocchi, chow mein noodles, filets of fish, thin or cubed chicken, thin-sliced pork, tortellini, lots of fresh veggies!
- Keep your pantry full of shortcuts —-> Deli rolls for sandwiches, rotisserie chicken (my best friend!), ready-made sauces, pre-cooked rice packets, cans of staples like diced tomatoes, black beans, refrained beans.
- Keep veggie shortcuts in the freezer —-> Check out the freezer section of your grocery store for starter packages of pre-chopped vegetables. You can find pre-diced onions, peppers, and combos like soup mixes and spaghetti vegetables that are already chopped and frozen. Another upside, frozen vegetables are cheaper than fresh most of the time.
- Make a meal plan designed for 15-minute meals —-> Don’t plan complicated dinners during the week. And don’t make meal planning complicated. Grab the 5 recipes below for your meal plan. Write them on the back of a napkin and stick it on your fridge. A low-stress meal plan takes the guesswork out of the grocery store and eliminates the question “what’s for dinner tonight?!”
My Experience With 15 Minute Recipes
Dinner in 15 minutes is possible with a few hacks and these recipes! Grab the tips that make it possible and snag 5 recipes for your meal plan this week!
I’ve always loved to cook. And for the longest time, I had a vision of what family dinner was supposed to look like.I was able to maintain that for a while… Then I had my 3rd child. I don’t know what happened but it was like someone opened all the cages at the zoo. Dinner suffered.By suffered, I mean I either OVER PLANNED meals and failed miserably. (The science experiments in my veggie drawer still make me cringe.) Or I UNDER PLANNED dinner — as in, “pizza or Chinese food?”
After my mom reminded me that this part of life, of motherhood, is a season. It is not forever… I had an aha! moment and decided to embrace this 15 minute season of motherhood. (As in I get 15 minutes to do anything before I get called to manage the next mini-crisis.) I buckled down and started creating 15 Minute Recipes for 15 Minute Nights. It is a cookbook of 15 recipes that go on the table so fast that they are actually do-able when everyone is cranky or over planned and needs more time interacting with me than staring at my back while I work at the stove. (Please tell me I am not the only mom with this problem!)
If it would help you too, you can buy this cookbook here —> BUY 15 MINUTE RECIPES.
No weird food blogger math. I needed it to go from prep to table in 15 minutes or we were going to be on a first-name basis with every pizza delivery place in my city.
Try These Other Great Recipes From Kids Activities Blog
- Have you tried this Frito chili pie recipe?
- You have to try this easy one pot pizza pasta recipe!
- These are our favorite yummy family dinner recipes.
- This easy sausage sheet pan dinner recipe is easy and fast.
- Try these easy 3-ingredient dinner recipes.
- I love these easy back to school dinner recipes.
- You’re gonna love these one pot pasta recipes.
Tell me what you make for dinner when you are short on time! Drop them in the comments (we need all the ideas we can get!)
