5 Easy Dinners You Can Cook in 30 Minutes | Allrecipes
Short on time but still want a satisfying, homemade dinner? In this video, Nicole shares five easy dinners you can cook in just 30 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights when you need something fast, comforting, and full of flavor. These recipes are designed to keep prep simple, cook times short, and cleanup minimal, without sacrificing that “real dinner” feeling.
Nicole starts with a creamy Chicken Pot Pasta that delivers all the cozy vibes of a pot pie in a quicker, weeknight-ready format. Next up is a Chicken Chip Bake, a Mexican-inspired dinner made with tortilla chips, pinto beans, and bold flavors that come together fast. For something crispy and craveable, she makes Air Fryer Bang Bang Salmon, finished with a sweet-spicy sauce that feels restaurant-worthy. Then it’s comfort food at its finest with Poor Man’s Steak, a budget-friendly classic made with tender pork chops. Nicole wraps things up with Cuban-Style Picadillo, a savory, slightly sweet ground-meat dish that’s packed with flavor and perfect for spooning over rice.
Whether you’re cooking for your family or just trying to get dinner on the table without stress, these quick and easy meals prove that great food doesn’t have to take all night.
Timestamps:
0:00 – 5 Easy 30-Minute Dinners
0:19 – Chicken Pot Pasta
3:56 – Chicken Chip Bake
7:00 – Air Fryer Bang Bang Salmon
9:22 – Poor Man’s Steak (with Pork Chops)
14:23 – Cuban-Style Picadillo
Get the recipes here:
Chicken Pot Pasta: https://www.allrecipes.com/chicken-pot-pasta-recipe-11887356
Chicken Chip Bake: https://www.allrecipes.com/chicken-chip-bake-recipe-11883909
Air Fryer Bang Bang Salmon: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8340433/air-fried-bang-bang-salmon/
Poor Man’s Steak (with Pork Chops): https://www.allrecipes.com/pork-chop-steaks-recipe-11887332
Cuban-Style Picadillo: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/220164/classic-cuban-style-picadillo/
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38 Comments
Made the salmon dish! Yum yum! This helped me to eat fish❤
How do I make salmon IN oven for this recipe
5 dinners and not 1 vegetarian option? 😞
The salmon looks so good. Wish I had an air fryer
For the picadillo; skip cilantro drop a fried egg on that hill, also add some teeny cubed fried potatoes in the meat mix & fried ripe plantains on the side. Why raisins? Well 700 years of Arab & north African influence in the food of Spain. Yum!!
Great tips. thank you.
Awesome! Thank you for all the tasty & novel twists to favorites – can't wait to try them all! 🙌
Just wanted to share…there are very few cooking shows that motivate me to leave my recliner and make something. This one does.
Love em all, on beer budget, walk away, love on side😅🫶⚘️
Looking great as always Nicole! Food looks good too.
I’m telling you, she’s the real deal! No fluff, no fake. Just good REAL recipes that anyone can do! I’ve sworn off The Food Network long ago. It’s in my taught me nothing but try to put a meal on the table in record time with secret ingredients pulled out of a basket! Who wants THAT after working all day and still needing a delicious meal for your family. Love, love this channel and the awesome comments! Thank you!
Always great and fun, thank you!
👍👍👍👍👍👍💯💯💯💯
That chicken chip bake and the poor man’s steak look like two amazing things I am actually going to make. I’m tempted to try the chicken pot pasta too like on a cold winter day. The salmon is a no for me. And the last one looked so interesting. ❤
I love this channel….her southern accent is calming
“Trying to be healthy” . you’re so cute. Thank you for being so honest.
Rice Cooker ! The little Black & Decker rice cooker does a great job, is easy to use and it cooks the rice beautifully while you prepare the protein. It's just as easy as the rice in a bag
I don't like frozen mixed veggies. I love each of the veggies alone. I can put each one veggie alone but in the bag together they are not the same.
I don't like fresh parsley on the top of dishes in a dish cooked is fine fresh not so much. I am not a cow.
Salt and pepper should be added at the table to individual taste
That salmon looks Banging! 🤩
Poor man steak. The best pork chops I’ve cooked is when I thought they were beef. I marinated them tossed them on the bbq they were great. Unfortunately I can’t eat pork anymore but they were good while I could cook them that way.
I can't wait to try the potato in the microwave 😀
Genius ❤
Love you,your cool,your husband is a lucky man. Real food with reality,thanks.🇨🇦.
You can also use peeled diced apples is a really good compliment to ground beef
I am going to make that chicken pot pie recipe with small pieces of cauliflower, just to cut out some carbs. I know it will be great. Thanks!
Cuban here. Skip the olives in the picadillo. They are nasty. Also, it doesn't need sugar or pickled onions.
Costco has pre-shredded rotisserie chicken in the deli section if you want to buy it in bulk.😊
Love this video — truly practical comfort food for busy weeknights. I really appreciate how you use smart shortcuts without sacrificing flavor or balance. One idea that could make this even more helpful is adding quick leftover tips (like which dishes freeze well or work for lunch the next day). Thank you for making dinner feel doable again. Wishing the channel continued success, and wishing everyone watching a calm, well-fed, and happy evening 🌸
it's like nail scratching a chalkboard when I see her use those metal utensils on those expensive non-stick pans 😨. I can't be the only one
Thank you, I had forgotten about picadilo, I used to be able to get spice packs to make it (kind of like the taco packets) at my local Safeway but they quit carrying it, I'm usually not big on green olives or raisins but they really work in this.
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How in the world can you cook with no apron and never destroy your clothes?😂😂
13:55 hard pass on any pink on pork chops, now an actual steak is fine, but not pork chops.
you know you can make normal rice in 10 minutes? Put kettle on.. add rice to a pot, turn stove on. Add butter and some nice seasonings.. add boiling water and cook. Instant rice is disgusting . That one in my opinion is a fail regarding the rice
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Does anyone know how canned drained veggies would do ? In the chicken pot pie.