30-minute recipes, and you’ll never have to wonder what’s for dinner—no matter how busy life gets!
How to Get Dinner on the Table Fast on Weeknights
If you’re looking for dinner ideas for busy weeknights, you’ve come to the right place. Beyond straightforward recipes the whole family will love, we’ve got tips to help you become a pro at making delicious dinners in record time.
- For dinners that come together in minutes, keep your pantry stocked with quick-cooking items that you can add to myriad types of meals. Items like Success® boil-in-bag white rice and Success® boil-in-bag pearl couscous can be added to skillet meals, casseroles, salads, and more, meaning that you’ll be ready to make almost anything that you’re craving.
- If you’re looking for quick meals, you’re probably equally interested in quick clean-up! One-pan dishes are great for busy weeknights as they let you develop deep flavors in one pot and won’t leave you with a pile of dishes to wash.
- Save yourself time by batch prepping ingredients on the weekend. Chop vegetables, make dressings, batch-cook grains, or cut proteins so that, when you’re ready, you can start cooking without any delay.
- To ensure that they cook quickly, rely on thinner, smaller proteins, such as ground meat, chicken cutlets, and stewing beef.
- No measure, no mess, Success® Rice allows for hands-off cooking and delivers reliable, delicious results every time. Focus on the rest of the meal, knowing that this ingredient is taking care of itself!
One-Pan & Skillet Dinners
The best recipes for busy weeknights are the ones that satisfy, without the stress. The fastest recipes we know, these one-pot dinners are brimming with comforting flavor and won’t leave a mess in the kitchen!
Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet
Thanks to this 15-minute recipe, you can transform the flavors of taco night into a crowd-pleasing skillet dinner! Loaded with seasoned beef, black beans, tomatoes, corn, and Success® boil-in-bag jasmine rice, all this dish needs are some fun garnishes—think avocado, herbs, hot sauce, and more—to feel like a true fiesta.
Shrimp Ginger & Turmeric Rice
Fast-cooking shrimp star in this family-friendly 15-minute dish. Spiced with ginger, garlic, and turmeric, they’re sautéed until pink and plump before being paired with savory Success® boil-in-bag basmati rice. Need more than 4 servings? This recipe is a cinch to double.
Pastalaya (Pasta Jambalaya)
Success® boil-in-bag pearl couscous meets jambalaya in this 25-minute riff on the classic. Bearing the hallmarks of the original—from the andouille sausage to the Cajun seasoning—it simply swaps rice for 5-minute couscous, for a dish that comes together while you set the table. For additional protein, without much additional effort, add peeled shrimp to the pot in Step 3.
Cozy Weeknight Soups
If you ask us, soup season just might be the best thing about cooler months! Warm up with these speedy recipes. Straightforward dishes that come together in one pot in 30 minutes or less; they take no more effort to make than our other crowd-pleasers.
Hearty Chicken, Lentil and Rice Soup
Craving easy recipes for busy weeknights? Look no further! The type of dish that cold nights demand, this soup requires minimal prep and just 25 minutes (of mostly hands-off time) to make. Arm yourself with a rotisserie chicken, a can of lentils, broth, veggies, herbs, and Success® boil-in-bag jasmine rice, and you’ll be calling the family to the table before the hanger sets in.
Thai Red Curry Sweet Potato Soup
In the mood for something new? Trade your tried-and-true soup recipe for this zesty Thai-style sweet potato soup. A 30-minute meal that sings with flavor, it’s made from a flavor-forward combination of store-bought pantry staples (including broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, and Thai red curry paste), plus aromatics, vegetables, and Success® boil-in-bag brown rice.
Takeout-at-Home, Faster
Instead of waiting for everyone to pick a dish, then placing an order and watching the clock until your food arrives, make a copycat recipe that’s faster—and more delicious! — than takeout could ever be. With these lightning-fast recipes, you’ll stay on budget, satisfy cravings, and wrap up dinner in no time.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Talk about curry in a hurry! With just 25 minutes to spare, you can whip up this restaurant-style dish that’s loaded with tender morsels of chicken in a creamy, delicately spiced sauce. For the full experience, pair it with aromatic Success® boil-in-bag basmati rice, steamed veggies, and warm naan.
Beef Thai Basil Fried Rice
A simple 15-minute marinade gives beef strips oodles of flavor in this Thai-style fried rice dish. Beyond that, all this dish requires is a little chopping, stirring, and sautéing to be on the table in 20 minutes. Though we love it with day-old Success® boil-in-bag jasmine rice, feel free to use any type of Success® Rice you have on hand.
Sticky Honey Gochujang Chicken & Sticky Rice
Turn to your pantry for (almost) everything you need to make this sweet, sticky, spicy dish. Coated in an irresistible blend of gochujang, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, garlic, and ginger, chicken morsels are the main attraction in this takeout-style dinner. Equally important? Sweet, soft Success® boil-in-bag sticky rice and a savory garnish of sesame seeds and green onions.
Big-Flavor Crowd-Pleasers
When time is of the essence, feed the whole family with bold dishes that deliver winning flavor—fast!
Jumpin’ Jambalaya
A wise way to turn tomatoes, andouille sausage, shrimp, and Success® boil-in-bag white rice into a family-friendly feast, this Cajun-spiced dish is always a welcome choice. Simple to put together and ready in 25 minutes, this recipe is a lifesaver, especially on hectic nights.
Mediterranean Lamb Meatballs & Pearl Couscous
Quick-cooking, weeknight-friendly, and popular with diners of all ages, meatballs are a frenzied cook’s best friend! For this 30-minute recipe, we layer them onto Success® boil-in-bag pearl couscous, along with zippy tzatziki, savory sautéed vegetables, and a flurry of fresh herbs. Don’t be surprised if this dish joins the weekly rotation.
Build Your Faster Weeknight Dinner Rotation
Speaking of dinner rotations, it’s important to populate yours with dishes that are approachable, realistic on busy nights, and, most importantly, so delicious that they’re always welcome on the table! With these 30-minute meals and a cupboard stocked with Success® Rice at your disposal, worrying about what to make for dinner will suddenly be a thing of the past.