It’s springtime again in East Tennessee. Along with the budding flowers and the birds trilling their morning serenade, it’s sports time again! You might be a soccer mom or a baseball mom, or maybe your child runs track or participates in the school play. I think we can all agree that springtime is busy, and if your family is anything like mine, dinner time is a hassle.
To help, I’ve put together a list of 30-minutes meals my family enjoys:
1. Spaghetti — The Classic
Keep this simple. Brown and drain the hamburger meat while the noodles are cooking. Use store bought pasta sauce. If you need a little more flavor, adding basil, oregano, and thyme to this pasta sauce helps. My family also really enjoys using Italian sausage in place of the ground beef. If you’d like a healthier version, use whole grain pasta or mix some zucchini noodles in. Add some carrots, and you have a complete meal.
2. Cajun Chicken Pasta
This recipe might look daunting, but it comes together fast. My six-year-old son requests this at least once a week. If you’d like a healthier version, replace the heavy cream with 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese blended together. My family doesn’t notice the difference, and we get the benefits of increased protein. Whole grain noodles are also a great option.
3. Lemon Butter Chicken and Instant Pot Rice
This recipe is also much easier than it first appears. Start with the rice (recipe below) and allow it to cook in the instant pot while you prepare the chicken. If you’d like a higher protein option, use Kodiak cakes in place of the flour, and once you flip the chicken, cover it with lemon slices to finish cooking, and skip preparing the sauce.
I can’t find a link for the seasoned rice online, so instead I’m sharing this fancy screenshot from my phone. It can also be made on the stove, but you’ll need to increase the water to 2 cups.
I make a lot of variations of this meal using the same rice recipe. We enjoy salmon, baked with some lemon juice and seasoning salt, alongside this rice.
4. Instant Pot Baked Potatoes with Pulled Pork
This recipe is by far the easiest way to make baked potatoes, and they’re done in less than half the time. My family generally has precooked pulled pork in our freezer. We buy pork shoulder when it’s on sale, smoke it, and freeze it in quart ziploc bags or meals such as this. Most grocery stores have some form of precooked pulled pork in the meat section that you could use as well.
We make this like a loaded baked potato, with pulled pork, cheese, a little barbecue sauce, and sour cream. My younger kids enjoy eating the pork separately, with a little butter and cheese on their potato.
5. Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
This recipe is also a family favorite. To make it quicker, buy precooked bacon. For a healthier option, add chopped spinach at the end. I’ve also used whole milk in place of the heavy cream, and it turned out great.
6. Parmesan Chicken Stromboli
This recipe is a very requested recipe at our house. Use rotisserie chicken to cut down on prep time. As a bonus, it’s also a macro friendly recipe that tastes like comfort food.
7. Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls
You’re going to have to trust me on this recipe. It looks a little sketchy, but is seriously delicious. I could eat this red pepper sauce on anything. It’s a great vegetarian dish, but you can also add rotisserie chicken or sliced lunch meat. I use my instant pot to cook the quinoa, and follow the recipe here.
8. Chicken Cesar Salad Wraps
This can be as simple or complicated as you would like to make it. In its easiest version, we buy rotisserie chicken and caesar salad mix. On a tortilla, layer the chicken and the salad. You may want extra caesar dressing. Wrap it and enjoy.
9. Blackened Chicken with Avocado Cream Sauce
This recipe is also a very quick, healthy recipe with a lot of flavor. My kids are starting to like some spice, so they enjoy this now. Previously, we’d season a piece of chicken differently for them and serve it with quinoa on the side.
I hope this list gives you some ideas. Remember that, if all else fails, there’s frozen pizza, which is always a win in my house.
