Good Morning. How was your weekend?? What was your high?
Mine was rock climbing at Inner Peaks. We bought a groupon months ago and finally tried it out. It was so much fun, and I’m more of a monkey climber than I realized!
In case you were wondering, rock climbing definitely revs up your metabolism and makes you really hungry. Speaking of food (how’s that for a transition?), despite what people may think about dietitians, we don’t all meal plan every.single.week.
On the way home from work, I’m usually brainstorming dishes I can just mesh together in 20-30 minutes – starring a lean protein, complex carbohydrate, and healthy fats. To do this, I make sure to have some prime protein components on hand that I know I can always work with, and as long as I’ve picked up some vegetables at the grocery store recently, I know I can still get a healthy dinner on the table within 30 minutes after getting home from work.
[Tweet “You can eat healthy with these 8 dinner ideas in less than 30 minutes!”]
Excuse my less than stellar pictures here, but these are real life meals, people. Not staged for photography purposes because you only have 30 minutes, remember!?
I’ll let you in on my one big secret – I totally take advantage of and utilize frozen veggies to the max. Pop them in the microwave or if I’m sauteing something, I’ll sneak them on there and they are ready in minutes. And just as nutritious. I also use sweet potatoes alot. Alot alot. I’ll usually just make 6 at once so I gradually add them to any meal.
1. Whole wheat pasta with veggies and ground turkey. While the pasta is boiling, cook veggies and ground turkey together. Top with cheese, marinara sauce, alfredo sauce, olive oil, etc.
Or, a ground turkey stirfry. Stirfries are great because you can throw any veggie you have in there. Go crazy, just create a bed of deliciousness for your meat to blend with. I paired mine with leftover cauliflower rice, sweet potato, frozen broccoli, and topped with kale, arugula and cheese! It’s also pretty common for me to use brown rice, quinoa, lentils or barley.
2. Chicken sausage with veggies, sweet potato and avocado.
3. Shrimp with salad, veggies or rice (I buy frozen, and it takes 10 minutes to heat them up, season them, and throw them over veggies). While the shrimp is cooking, microwave your rice, or put together your salad. Feel free to dress it up however – here I added broccoli and cauliflower bits, a hard boiled egg (from the day before), thawed frozen mango, and chia seeds. I’ll spice that up with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic (This was leftovers for lunch the next day).
4. Eggs with kale, frozen veggies and sweet potato. One-pan meal win!
5. Frozen salmon (though you wouldn’t know it) with veggies. Let salmon thaw overnight with olive oil, soy sauce and desired spices (I like sea salt, pepper, garlic and thyme) and when ready to bake, bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Pair with spinach, veggies, avocado and a 6 minute microwaved sweet potato.
Or, throw it on top of a salad. And since fish has healthy omega 3 fats, you’ll absorb more of the vitamins from your salad and veggies.
6. Stuffed tortellini with veggies (peas, peppers, spinach + feta cheese). If I have a protein on hand, I’ll throw it in, or I’ll add some frozen edamame. When in doubt, always add frozen edamame because it packs a PUNCH of protein and fiber.
7. Black bean bowl with quinoa or brown rice, sweet potatoes, beets+ veggies
8. Turkey mushroom burgers. Thaw your ground turkey the night before. Mix it in a bowl with 1 cup sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, 1 egg and spices and then cook on pan, grill or in oven. Boom. Pair with veggies or any whole grain!
[Tweet “8 nutritious, protein-packed dinner ideas ready in 30 minutes or less”]
Linking up with the weekly wrap with Hoho Runs and Trish and a life of health, fitness and happiness with Jill!
What are your 30 minute meal go-to’s?
Great ideas! I love meals like this when I don’t want to follow a real recipe. I always like to keep some frozen veggies on hand for nights when I don’t have a meal planned out!
We all need backups for those nights that we know we can make a complete meal with!
Number 2 and 4 are the meals I probably have the most often. My common practice is just throwing eggs and avocado on whatever leftover veggie I have and a baked sweet potato. So easy and I never get sick of the combination. I can throw the potato in and egg on as I’m still getting undressed 🙂
Putting an egg on it is a hobby of mine – So easy and tasty!
Thanks for continuing to inspire me! I am having so much fun trying all these new, easy and healthy recipes! I am still trying to train my “NO CARBS” brain that sweet potatoes are good for me! What a delicious addition to my new eating journey! Keep blogging! Big healthy things happening in the Sayles house! ?
We need loads of carbohydrates, the healthy kind 🙂 I’m so glad you find these helpful. Thanks Christina – I love your enthusiasm!
Rock climbing is the BEST! I kid you not, I did rock climbing for my birthday party like 3 years in a row because I loved it so much 🙂
All of these meals look great!
I want to get a membership now – I am in love!
Indoor rock climbing is so much fun! I love the kale and eggs combo too
One of my favorite easy combos!
Great post! I do a lot of these, but new combinations are always welcome! Fried rice with tofu is a super easy week night dinner. I make roasted potatoes at least once a week. Before we got burnt out on it, I browned ground turkey with onions, ketchup, and mustard and it was like a quick meatloaf.
Yum – that sounds awesome. We’re all about ground turkey right now!
PERFECT post for a bachelor like me. Do you know any cooks for hire I can share this with?
I’m for hire!
30 minute or less meals are my jam! Thanks for the Monday morning food inspiration 🙂
Meals that are quick and nutritious are winners in my book!
I am huge on eggs or potatoes and some meat whether that be ground turkey, lean beef, or chicken breast
Those are our favorite “no think” meals
These look so good, especially the turkey mushroom burgers! My easy meals usually consist of chicken sausage with some frozen veggies, or eggs mixed with avocado and spinach. Or a one pot meal! I love anything that requires little clean up!
One pot meals are totally underrated!
Frozen veggies and sweet potatoes are always a favorite at our house! We are currently on a brussel sprout kick.
I love the crockpot for quick meals too!
YUM – brussel sprouts! And yes, I didn’t even use any crockpot recipes. We could make this list like 20+!
Your meals look a lot like mine during the week! I”m all about roasted sweet potatoes as a side and then some kind of meat/seafood as the source of protein. The last thing I want to do at the end of the day is make a complicated recipe so stuff like this is my favorite:)
Amen to that, Amanda!
I love the shrimp and mango combo! Great roundup!
Thank you! It was random and turned out to be really good!
I love frozen veggies and all these meal ideas!
I’ve never tried rock climbing. I’m afraid my upper body weakness would show itself. I love these recipes! I’m going to refer back to them. I’m all about quick meals and do very little (any) meal prep. Tonight I sauteed fresh shrimp with thinly sliced link sausage (just enough for flavor) in mango salsa. I served over quick 5 minute cheese grits with steamed broccoli and glazed canned carrots. Easy. It took longer to clean the kitchen. And, my big guys were satisfied. Thanks for linking with us Sarah.
Mango salsa is my favorite! And pairing it with quick grits, broccoli and veggies is what I’m all about. It definitely takes me longer to clean than cook!
Those turkey burgers look delish! love these quick and easy meals!
I love turkey burgers and they are so easy to make!
So many delicious meal ideas! All of my dinners tend to be made in 30 minutes or less because by the time dinnertime rolls around I’m usually either hungry and need food right that second – or I don’t have the energy to spend hours in the kitchen!
I completely agree!
I am all about 30 minutes or less meals! I am not a cook, but I love to eat and eat quick! I know they don’t always go together. I love salmon an a sweet potato and actually eat it about once a week. I love grilled vegs and we eat so much better when we’re camping because the grill is our main cooker!
I also invested in a steamer and boy that has made a great in my healthy eating. I love to steam broccoli and carrots in there and can pretty much eat it most nights with a meat that the family has.
Steamers are amazing – I should really use mine more because it holds in the flavor and nutrients better!
I’d be THRILLED with ANY OF THESE for dinner!! The freezer truly is my best friend, I can easily just stick my head in there, find something tasty to cook up and BAM – cooked in about 20-25 minutes!
YES! Freezer meals are the best and quickest option!