These 30-Minute Dinners Make Back-To-School Season Easier Than Ever

This 4-in-1 mash-up is the perfect way to get all of your cravings handled at once. These gyros smash tacos feature crispy pan-fried tortillas stacked with gyro-spiced ground chicken, juicy diced tomatoes, crunchy red onion and cucumber, a hearty dollop of tzatziki, and a handful of crispy golden French fries.

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Tender chicken thighs are coated in a fragrant mix of ginger, garlic, and soy-based stir-fry sauce, perfectly charred alongside vibrant broccoli, crisp snow peas, and scallions. Toss in the springy ramen noodles, give it one last broil to crisp everything up, and you’ve got a golden, caramelized masterpiece.

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This isn’t just a quesadilla filled with mozz and pepperoni. It’s topped with the works and looks just like an actual pizza. Plus, it’s so easy to make at home.

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After perfecting the classic chicken Parmesan, we’ve experimented with countless variations. Our newest obsession? This chicken Parmesan meatball skillet. If you’re craving the classic but don’t feel like frying—this is the dinner for you. The best part? It’s ready in 30 minutes!

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To create this takeout dupe, pieces of chicken get breaded and deep-fried until golden brown and crispy, then tossed in a glazy, sticky sauce, and topped with a shower of toasted sesame seeds and sliced scallions. We love crispy fried chicken, so when we say that the easy sauce is the real star of the show here, we mean it.

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In this recipe, gnocchi gets the taco treatment for a simple weeknight meal. Alongside some ground beef, black beans, and plenty of cheddar cheese, it’s a fun twist on the potato-based pasta.

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Mac & cheese remains one of our favorite meals no matter how old we get. This chili mac changes things up a bit and makes this a heftier meal that’s very shareable. Make it all year round, in just 30 minutes.

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In this recipe, we’re skipping the potato bun for a bed of fresh romaine lettuce topped with everything you’d find on a classic American diner cheeseburger: tangy dill pickles, thinly sliced red onion, juicy tomatoes, smoky bacon, cheddar cheesy ground beef, a drizzle of burger sauce, and of course, a few golden crispy fries.

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This ultra-creamy, cheesy spaghetti is as simple and comforting as you can get; only a few basic ingredients and 20 minutes are needed for the ultimate weeknight pasta dinner. We’ve made this simple recipe even simpler by calling for a pre-shredded Italian cheese blend instead of going through the trouble of buying three separate cheeses and shredding them yourself.

Get the Creamy Three-Cheese Spaghetti recipe.

Looking for a cheap, easy dinner that takes under 30 minutes to cook? Sticky sesame chickpeas and broccoli are calling your name. Starring an absurdly delicious glaze made from staple condiments and a few humble cans from the pantry, this simple one-pan dinner will make even a Wednesday night feel special.

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You can practically throw any combination of protein, veggies, and sauce in a pan and call it good, but sometimes it’s helpful to have a basic formula to go off of. Enter: our chicken stir-fry recipe. Make it as is, or use it as a jumping-off point to create your own.

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While we have no shortage of creative salmon recipes, this classic and simple version is one of our favorite go-tos. It’s one of the most versatile mains we’ve ever developed, which is why it’s a weeknight dinner that we return to again and again. We particularly love it because of its simple prep and minimal cleanup, thanks to an easy extra step of lining the sheet pan.

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An ode to baked ziti, this baked pasta is amped up with chicken and spinach and features fun, twirly fusilli pasta rather than ziti. Not only does this recipe cut down on dishes, its hands-off approach adds a little breathing room to dinnertime. Win!

Get the No-Boil Baked Chicken Pasta recipe.

Loaded with meat, veggies, and plenty of cheese, taco salad is the hearty and versatile dinner salads that’s not only easy to create, but extra-satisfying. We went for a classic version in this recipe, but the best thing about a taco salad is how customizable it is.

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What if we told you that with a few simple ingredients, you can upgrade your basic box of mac & cheese into something incredible? In this Tex-Mex-inspired hack, we added taco seasoning to the boxed cheese packet, piled on even more cheese to the pasta, then sprinkled in fresh pico de gallo, but feel free to get creative.

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Broccoli haters—if your favorite steak stir-fry is always ruined by the inclusion of those little trees (sorry, beef and broccoli), then let us introduce you to your new favorite stir-fry: pepper steak.

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The goal of this recipe is for you to have less stress and 100% more chicken Parm, so we used store-bought breaded chicken breasts and tomato sauce so you don’t have to do any heavy lifting. Honestly, at the end of a long day, that’s all any of us is really looking for, right?

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We’re giving the classic handheld meal a plant-based twist by making tofu the star of the show. We’ve packed these burritos full of smoky, saucy tofu crumbles (that could charm even the most die-hard carnivore), fluffy cilantro-lime rice, and flavorful pinto beans, along with some classic burrito accoutrements like shredded lettuce, sour cream, salsa, and cheese.

Get the Tofu Burritos recipe.