40+ Easy 30 minute meal ideas for busy families

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If you need help cobbling together meals in the coming weeks, check out this amazing list of 30 minute meal ideas! Full of quick and easy meals, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, these list of 30 minute recipes is perfect for busy families!

30 Minute meal ideas

With everything going on in a typical day, from long work hours to keeping up with your children’s activities, cooking dinner is the last thing on your mind! Things are even worse when kids are home 100% of their time, like during school breaks! If this is a scenario way too familiar, these 30 minute meals ideas are exactly what you need!

These easy 30 minute meals are perfect for when you need quick, easy dinner recipes that you can fix in minutes once back home! In this list you’ll find quick, easy dinner recipes that include all of your favorite dishes like chicken recipes, beef recipes, and vegetarian recipes, for breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts. Some of the lunches work great as dinners too and vice versa while some of the breakfast ideas make delicious desserts too!

These amazing 30 minute meal ideas will satisfy even the pickiest eaters and are easy to make ahead of time, any time of year!

 

30 Minute meals recipes

Cooking for your family shouldn’t have to be a big, stressful to-do! All you need is these easy-to-follow 30 minute meal ideas that won’t take hours to make, are full of flavor, unbelievably tasty, filling and satisfying!

Breakfast recipes

Sweet breakfasts

• Mini raspberry pies with cottage cheese – We are absolutely in love with these mini raspberry pies! They’re such a brilliant way to put together a quick breakfast or dessert that is not only easy to make but super yummy and cute too!

• Breakfast croissant with banana – Super quick to put together and bake this banana croissant idea is not only incredibly yummy but filling and nutritious too. A great way to start your day!

• Milk soup with pasta, walnuts and cinnamon – If you have kids and have never tried this recipe, don’t wait any longer, just give this milk soup a try! They’ll absolutely love it! It’s a very filling recipe and although is considered a “kids recipe”, adults will love it too.

• Simple cinnamon rolls – These adorable puff pastry cinnamon rolls are made with puff pastry sheets and take literally no time to make; especially if you decide to thaw the puff pastry in the fridge and mix the sugar and cinnamon the night before.

Egg breakfasts

• Breakfast pizza with eggs, ham and cheese – With this easy breakfast pizza, you can enjoy a tasty, warm, crunchy breakfast in just 20-30 minutes if you use my thin pizza crust recipe. You can prepare the dough in the evening and refrigerate overnight then just roll out and add your toppings.

• Indian omelette sandwich – If you want to break a boring breakfast routine, make this recipe; it’s anything but boring and it may soon become your new favorite breakfast!

• Omelette sandwich with sun dried tomatoes, cream cheese and goat cheese – Looking for a high protein, high energy, nutritious breakfast idea? This omelette sandwich, packed with awesome, tasty ingredients, will help you start your day in a bright mood.

• Indian spiced omelette – This spicy omelette recipe is not only full of Indian flavors, very nutritious and filling but it’s also pretty spicy so you’ll be fully awake in a couple of bites, no coffee needed!

Other breakfast ideas

• Cheese puff pastry folds – Filled with farmer’s cheese and covered in sugar, these amazing cheese cookies are shaped into folded cookies that are then baked to golden perfection!

• Spicy ham and cheese sandwich – This sandwich is a quick, delicious meal and tastes great with a few veggies thrown in, like cabbage and chopped lovage which is another favorite.

Lunch recipes

• Pea and chicken stew – This chicken and peas dish is simple but very tasty, coming straight from my beloved mom’s kitchen.

• Moroccan turkey stuffed bell peppers – Ever heard of microwave stuffed peppers? These turkey stuffed bell peppers are super quick to make in a microwave and are sweet and savory and very aromatic!

• Lemon fried chicken – Take your average chicken schnitzel to the next level with an easy and quick to make lemon fried chicken!

• Buttermilk fried chicken – When you’re looking for a Goldilocks-level of fried chicken goodness, here is the best buttermilk fried chicken recipe you will ever need.

• Yellow beans with garlic and dill – This quick recipe is perfect in summer time and what I love about it is that it can be served both warm or cold.

• Tuna onion spread sandwich – If you’re looking for a recipe that is filling, nutritious, full of flavors and is also quick to make, this tuna spread recipe is your best bet! With this tuna spread, you’re guaranteed to have a tasty meal ready in less than 10 minutes since it requires minimal chopping!

• Mushrooms in sour cream sauce – Are you a mushrooms lover? Then you’ll find this mushroom sauce with sour cream a little bit of a mushrooms heaven! It’s sooo easy to make and so versatile!

• Baked meatballs – Meatballs are always a hit in this household because well…who doesn’t love meatballs? They’re delicious, quick to make, can be used in a lot of recipes and are pretty filling.

• Egg fried rice – Simple, quick and easy egg fried rice recipe! Makes a wonderful side dish but tastes just as great as a meal on its own too!

Dinner recipes

Chicken recipes

• Chicken and olives in tomato sauce – Chicken is very popular in many families. If yours is one of those, try this super yummy chicken with olives in tomato sauce; your family will adore you and ask for seconds every time you make this recipe!

• Skillet chicken in mushroom sour cream sauce – This creamy skillet chicken is quick, easy, convenient and since it’s all cooked in one pan, cleaning up is just as easy as making the recipe.

• Baked balsamic chicken – There’s something incredibly delicious about this baked balsamic chicken! I mean, it’s tangy and acidic in the best possible way!

• Chicken stir fry – The best thing about this healthy chicken stir fry is that’s also really easy to make and really quick! You only need a handful of ingredients and some pantry staples to get it done.

Fish recipes

• Lemon herb salmon with couscous and vegetable – With this delicious baked salmon with lemon, enjoying healthy recipes doesn’t have to mean you’ll need to compromise on flavor!

• Baked fish in lemon garlic butter sauce – A nice mid-week meal, this lemon butter fish baked gets its special flavor from lemon juice, mint, garlic, fresh thyme and chopped parsley. This lemon butter fish is soooo tasty, even non fish fans will appreciate it!

Pasta recipes

• Chickpea pasta with tomatoes – This chickpea pasta recipe is not only ultra quick to make and full of flavors but scores high on the healthy factor too!

• Farfalle pasta with ground beef – This beef pasta recipe uses a meaty sauce that is so delicious and flavorful, even picky eaters like mine will be hooked.

Soup recipes

• Italian egg drop soup – If you’ve been looking for a healthy egg drop soup, this amazing Italian egg drop soup is exactly what you’re looking for and so much more! You will fall in love with this soup with the very first sip!

• Tortellini soup – This mouthwatering tortellini soup is hearty and filling, it’s made in only 30 minutes (or a bit less), I mean this is pretty much the perfect recipe! And not to mention it’s so flavorful!

• Chicken chili with sweet potatoes – About 30 minutes from start to finish! This chicken chili with sweet potatoes is also a great recipe idea for chicken leftovers as it uses cooked chicken.

Other recipes

• Sausage potato roast – Ever wanted a recipe that you could eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner? Well, your wish is my command! So I bring you a super duper recipe that you could enjoy any time of the day.

• Sweet and spicy turkey vegetable bake – Make the perfect dinner in just one pan with this sweet and spicy turkey recipe! With loads of healthy vegetables, this spiced brown sugar turkey bake is delicious and packed with flavors!

Dessert recipes

Pastry desserts

• Apple pie cups – If you’re craving a piece of apple pie but don’t want a slice of store-bought pie, you’re in luck! I have a simple recipe for individual apple pies, that takes around 30 minutes to make. And you only need a few simple ingredients to put these apple pie cups together!

• Filo pastry apple pie – With a golden filo pastry on the outside and a juicy, moist inner, this pie is pure bliss! Especially if your apples are extra juicy and flavorful!

• Nutella peanut butter puff pastry flowers – Made with a handful of simple ingredients, these stunning pastry flowers make an elegant dessert, perfect for holidays or celebrations!

• Blackberry jam pinwheels – I am so in love with puff pastry desserts! They’re not only super easy and quick to make but taste amazingly good!

Chocolate desserts

• Chocolate muffins – These easy chocolate muffins turned out so beautiful, fluffy and airy but also moist and packed full with yummy chocolate chips!

• Peanut butter Nutella pretzel bites – These little peanut butter Nutella pretzel bites are deliciously addictive and the perfect sweet and salty snack!

• Brownie in a cup – This microwave brownie recipe is as easy as it gets, so delicious and so satisfying! It really is no rocket science in tossing a couple of ingredients together and then microwave for a minute or so.

• 2 Ingredients fudge – This is probably the quickest recipe one could make and the results are simply spectacular! There is nothing like homemade fudge, especially when you get to top it with favorite nuts and a bit of coconut flakes for extra flavoring.

Other desserts

• 5  minute dairy free egg free ice cream – If you are a dairy free or egg free fan or simply cannot digest dairy or eggs, try this absolutely amazing alternative! A healthy and super quick dairy free fruit ice cream made with frozen fruit. It’s as simple as that!

• Banana coconut cookies – These banana coconut cookies are crunchy and tasty and the best part is, they’re gluten free too!

• Vanilla tiramisu cake – Put a twist on the classic Italian tiramisu with this easy but delicious vanilla tiramisu! This light tiramisu recipe is not only super easy to make as it uses ready made lady fingers and pudding powder mix but it also looks elegant and scrumptious

I hope you enjoyed reading this list of 30 minute meal ideas and found a few that are a good fit for you and your family! If you get to try any I would love to know your feedback so please leave a comment below.

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