21 Healthy Dinners Ready in 20 Minutes or Less (2024)

Super Simple Salmon

This really is a super-simple recipe with healthy salmon fillets. If you like, replace the butter with olive oil, which as a monounsaturated fatty acid is a healthy dietary fat. Ready in 15 minutes.

Pesto Pizza

Use a pre-baked crust, healthy prepared pesto, and canned artichoke hearts, and you'll put this pizza on the table in just 20 minutes.

• 15 Quick and Easy Dinners Loaded With Pesto

Tuna Lime Tostadas

Here's another healthy dinner idea that's fresh and delicious. Canned tuna makes this super-quick and easy. Try it in a taco shell, too. Ready in about 10 minutes.

Chicken Honey Nut Stir Fry

A quick stir-fry with lots of healthy ingredients — carrots, cashews, a little ginger root, and strips of skinless, boneless chicken breasts, all sweetened with a touch of honey. Ready in 20 minutes.

Yummy Lemon Salmon Burgers

This recipe calls for canned salmon. Try these tasty burgers on a whole-wheat bun, which has more fiber than a white one. Or simply serve it over fresh greens. Ready in 20 minutes.

• 18 Easy Lunches You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less

Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

This recipe takes five minutes to prep and has more than 1,200 5-star ratings. Choose low-sodium broth and organic black beans to keep this soup's salt levels in check. Ready in 20 minutes.

Broiled Scallops

Serve this classic weeknight seafood pick over fresh greens with a super simple lemon vinaigrette (one part lemon juice to three parts olive oil). So healthy and delicious. Ready in 15 minutes.

Pesto Turkey Burgers

Prepared pesto and feta cheese take the turkey burger to new heights. Ready in about 20 minutes.

Quick Cantonese Sauce

Olive oil, onions, tomatoes, ginger root, and garlic help create a tasty sauce to pair with leftover chicken, cut into strips or cubes. You can cut back on the sugar a bit, too.

Szechuan Shrimp

You won't believe how fast this healthy dinner recipe is. Serve it over brown rice with a simple side of steamed broccoli. Ready in 20 minutes.

Easy Salmon Cakes

Here's another healthy fish recipe that calls for canned salmon. Of course, leftover grilled salmon would work, too. Ready in 20 minutes.

Quick and Easy Refried Beans

Give a tostada or taco shell a little schmear of beans, and top with all the fixings, including this 10-minute guacamole. Ready in 20 minutes.

Spicy Grilled Shrimp

"So fast and easy to prepare, these shrimp are destined to be the hit of any barbeque. And, weather not permitting, they work great under the broiler, too," writes SUBEAST. Prepare an easy side dish salad while the shrimp cook, and voila! Ready in about 20 minutes.

Lucky's Quickie Chickie

"This raises the bar on a simple to make chicken dinner. I followed the recipe exactly including fresh basil which was so terrific in this dish with the honey and balsamic. Five Stars for a simple and flavorful dish you can whip up in no time," Ellie says.

Thai Ground Chicken Basil

"This delicious recipe most closely resembles my favorite Thai restaurant's Ground Chicken Basil. I've searched for recipes, but none gave this authentic taste. It's quick and easy, too! Serve with steamed rice if you like," Valery K. says. Ready in 20 minutes.

Balsamic-Glazed Sea Scallops

"Pan-seared scallops may seem intimidating to some, but it's really a simple dish to prepare. Sea scallops are amazingly tender, succulent, and mildly flavored, but when you style them up with a flavorful balsamic glaze, they can be a showstopper. They're sophisticated enough for dinner guests but easy enough for a weeknight dinner," says recipe creator lutzflcat. Ready in 20 minutes.

• Quick and Easy Side Dish Recipes

Seared Monkfish with Balsamic and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

"Served with a balsamic, garlic, and sun-dried tomato topping, this recipe comes together in a snap," says France C. Ready in 20 minutes.

Broiled Paprika and Lemon-Pepper Chicken Breasts

"My family went for seconds. It's easy to make and tastes great. I will be making this often," June Rohrbaugh says. Ready in 20 minutes.

20-Minute Shrimp Fajitas Sheet Pan Dinner

This simple sheet pan dinner features shrimp, bell peppers, and red onions tossed with fajita seasonings and olive oil and baked for 10 minutes. Wrap the goodies up in flour tortillas and top with avocado slices, chopped cilantro, and other favorite fajita fixings. "The best 20-minute meal ever," says Jrrahurn.

Honey Mustard Salmon

"One great thing about salmon is, it's such a flavorful fish that you can bake it very simply. It goes very well with mustard and honey," Kate says. Ready in 20 minutes.

Sticky Peanut Zoodles

"Very good! I will definitely make it again. I followed the recipe as written except that I didn't have peanuts so I added a teaspoon of peanut butter to the green onion soy sauce brown sugar mixture," Sarah says. Ready in 20 minutes.

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