20 Healthy Meals You Can Make in 20 Minutes (2024)

Table of Contents

Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara Chhole (Chickpea Curry) Classic Sesame Noodles with Chicken Spinach & Feta Scrambled Egg Pitas One-Skillet Bourbon Chicken 3-Ingredient Refried Bean & Pico de Gallo Tostadas Scallop Scampi with Pasta White Bean & Sun-Dried Tomato Gnocchi 3-Ingredient Farro Bowl with Rotisserie Chicken 3-Ingredient Teriyaki Edamame Sauté Breakfast Naan Pizza Quick Gochujang Pork & Rice Bowls Crispy Fish Taco Bowls Mozzarella, Basil & Zucchini Frittata Salmon Tacos with Pineapple Salsa Quick Shrimp Puttanesca Ground Beef & Snap Pea Rice-Noodle Stir-Fry Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry One-Pot Spinach, Chicken Sausage & Feta Pasta Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

Think you don't have enough time to make a healthy dinner? Think again. These easy healthy meals are ready in just 20 minutes so you can get a flavorful dish on the table on even the busiest of days. From Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara to One-Skillet Bourbon Chicken, these recipes are satisfying and quick to make.

While these meals are satisfying on their own. You can add a premade bagged salad for convenience or prepare a simple salad that complements the flavors of the main dish. Our Leafy Green Salad or are versatile options that can accompany almost any meal. Plus, they're perfect as a base for tossing in your favorite dried fruits, nuts, seeds and more.

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Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara

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Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.

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Chhole (Chickpea Curry)

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This healthy Indian recipe is a flavorful chickpea curry that you can make in just 20 minutes. Also called chana masala, this dish is a comforting and delicious dinner.

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Classic Sesame Noodles with Chicken

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Sesame noodles become a satisfying meal with lean chicken and tons of veggies in this quick, healthy noodle recipe. Be sure to rinse the spaghetti until it's cold, then give it a good shake in the colander until it's well drained. Are you a spiralizing pro? Swap 5 cups of raw zucchini, carrot or other veggie "noodles" for the cooked pasta.

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Spinach & Feta Scrambled Egg Pitas

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This meatless dinner comes together in only 15 minutes, thanks to the convenience of frozen chopped spinach and crumbled feta. We've added a flavorful burst of sun-dried tomato tapenade to spread over the whole-wheat pita before nestling the scrambled eggs inside. If you can't find it, basil pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto also work well.

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One-Skillet Bourbon Chicken

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Bourbon chicken gets coated in a slightly sweet-spicy sauce for a flavorful dinner that comes together quickly, making it perfect for busy weeknights.

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3-Ingredient Refried Bean & Pico de Gallo Tostadas

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Making your own tostadas is easy. Use store-bought corn tortillas, brush them with olive oil and bake to crunchy perfection! Here, we topped the tostada with refried beans and fresh pico de gallo for an easy three-ingredient meal.

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Scallop Scampi with Pasta

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This scallop scampi with pasta is a delicious twist on the classic shrimp dish. Swap in whole-wheat angel hair pasta for a boost of fiber.

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White Bean & Sun-Dried Tomato Gnocchi

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Sun-dried tomatoes are the star of this recipe—providing texture and umami. Combined with the spinach, they make this dish a great source of vitamins C and K.

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3-Ingredient Farro Bowl with Rotisserie Chicken

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To make this hearty grain bowl, grab a salad kit from the grocery store. Then, top the kit with farro and chicken for a high-protein lunch or dinner that's ready in minutes.

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3-Ingredient Teriyaki Edamame Sauté

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Whip up this high-fiber, plant-based stir-fry for a quick and convenient dinner. Look for bottled teriyaki sauce labeled less sodium or reduced sodium to cut back on the salt without sacrificing flavor.

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Breakfast Naan Pizza

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Give your morning eggs a tasty spin by building an easy individual pizza on a prepared naan.

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Quick Gochujang Pork & Rice Bowls

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Deeply savory gochujang adds a mild heat to these quick-cooking grain bowls. Look for gochujang, a fermented red pepper paste, in Asian markets or in the Asian foods aisle of your local supermarket. Leftover brown rice can also be used in these grain bowls.

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Crispy Fish Taco Bowls

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The adobo sauce in a can of chipotles lends earthy heat to the crema that tops these bowls. Don't toss out the unused peppers! Freeze them in an airtight container and pull them out to add to sauces, marinades or chili.

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Mozzarella, Basil & Zucchini Frittata

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This vegetable-studded frittata recipe is one of the quickest meals you can make. Make it for breakfast or serve for lunch or dinner with a tossed salad and a slice of olive oil-drizzled crusty baguette.

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Salmon Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

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An easy-to-make slaw served on the side of these salmon tacos makes for a filling and fast weeknight dinner. If you prefer more heat in these fish tacos, simply add a pinch or two of chipotle chile powder or cayenne with the chili powder.

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Quick Shrimp Puttanesca

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Because refrigerated fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried pasta, this Italian-inspired pasta dish will be on the table lickety-split! Puttanesca, traditionally made with tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies and garlic, gets shrimp for extra protein and artichoke hearts to boost the vegetable servings (and the fiber!). If you can't find frozen artichoke hearts, sub in drained canned artichoke hearts.

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Ground Beef & Snap Pea Rice-Noodle Stir-Fry

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We've bulked up the serving size of this pad thai-inspired stir-fry by adding in lots of veggies like matchstick carrots, snap peas and scallions. Look for whole-grain brown-rice pad thai noodles to add an additional 3 grams fiber to each serving.

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Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry

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20 Healthy Meals You Can Make in 20 Minutes (18)

To make this 20-minute vegan curry even faster, buy precut veggies from the salad bar at the grocery store. To make it a full, satisfying dinner, serve over cooked brown rice. When shopping for simmer sauce, look for one with 400 milligrams of sodium or less and check the ingredient list for cream or fish sauce if you want to keep this vegan. If you like a spicy kick, add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce at the end.

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One-Pot Spinach, Chicken Sausage & Feta Pasta

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A little bit of Sunday meal prep goes a long way in this one-dish pasta recipe. The pasta is cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge to use for meals all week, but any leftover cooked pasta you have on hand will do. Chicken sausage with feta is especially good in this recipe.

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Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

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Two of our favorite comfort food sandwiches join forces in these family-friendly dinner sandwiches. We found that softer buns make this easier to eat, and it's all the better when wrapped takeout-style in a sheet of foil.