Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipes

Weeknight cooking does not need to be complicated. The recipes I find myself returning to again and again are the ones that require very little active time, use ingredients I almost always have on hand, and actually taste like something worth eating.

One-Pan Lemon Herb Chicken

Season chicken thighs generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried oregano. Heat oil in an oven-safe pan, sear skin-side down for five minutes until golden, then flip and add halved cherry tomatoes, olives, and a generous squeeze of lemon. Transfer the whole pan to a 200°C oven for 25 minutes. Done. Serve with crusty bread or over rice.

Chickpea and Tomato Pasta

This comes together in the time it takes to cook pasta. Sauté garlic and a pinch of chilli flakes in olive oil, add a tin of chickpeas and a tin of crushed tomatoes, season well, and simmer for ten minutes while the pasta cooks. Drain the pasta, toss it through the sauce, finish with a handful of fresh basil and parmesan if you have it. Genuinely satisfying.

Sheet Pan Salmon and Vegetables

Lay salmon fillets on one end of a lined baking sheet and your choice of vegetables on the other — broccoli, courgette, and peppers all work well. Drizzle everything with olive oil, season, and roast at 220°C for 15 to 18 minutes. Everything finishes at the same time. Minimal washing up.

The common thread in all of these: minimal prep, maximum flavour, one or two vessels to wash. That is the formula for weeknight cooking that you will actually stick to.