- 2 days ago
Need quick and easy dinner inspiration? In this delicious collection, we’re serving up a full hour of satisfying dinner recipes that come together in 30 minutes or less. From hearty skillet meals and crispy air fryer favorites to tacos, noodles, sandwiches, and one-pot dinners, these recipes are perfect for busy weeknights when you want something homemade without spending hours in the kitchen.
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00:00:00It's one of those like restaurant quality meals in under half an hour. Here's an hour of easy
00:00:04dinner recipes that are so fast they'll be on your table in 30 minutes or less. I'm starting
00:00:08with my favorite type of meal, a one-pan dinner, and I'm making chicken pot pasta because it just
00:00:13sounds cute. I'm starting off by melting a little butter in my skillet. One-pan dinners, we're going
00:00:18to build those layers of flavor, and for this one in particular, we don't have to dirty another pot
00:00:23to cook our pasta. It's all going to cook together. To the melted butter, I'm going in with that
00:00:26onion. Cook that till it's softened, and then I'm going to make the cream sauce. So this is a chicken
00:00:33pot pie where we don't have to use the cream of can. Now I'm going to go in with a
00:00:36little bit of
00:00:36garlic and just cook it for about a minute until it's fragrant. Now to make the cream of, a couple
00:00:41tablespoons of flour. Let that cook for about a minute, and then we'll go with our stock. I'm doing
00:00:45a combination of chicken stock and heavy cream because you get that chicken flavor, but you get
00:00:50that good creaminess. This mixture is also going to be a little loose because we're going to cook
00:00:54our pasta directly in the liquid. Make sure you stir it to get all of those clumps out. Make sure
00:00:59there are no little clumps of flour in there. Add in some seasonings, a little salt, linipop, and I'm
00:01:05going to go in with some fresh thyme. You could also use dried. If you want to use the dried
00:01:08instead of
00:01:09the fresh, just use a lot less. All right, I'm just going to bring this up to a simmer and
00:01:13add in our pasta.
00:01:15You're going to think this is not enough pasta, but trust me, it absorbs all this liquid. Bring this back
00:01:21to a simmer, and then you're going to reduce the heat slightly. You don't want it to be at a
00:01:24rolling
00:01:24boil. Then you're just going to cook it, stirring occasionally until the pasta is tender and it's
00:01:28gotten thick and creamy. Everybody's stoves work a little differently, so yours might evaporate out
00:01:33before it has absorbed, so you might need to add a little more liquid, but if you just keep your
00:01:37eye
00:01:38on it and don't let it get too hot, we'll be good to go. So far, this whole process has
00:01:42only taken
00:01:42about five to seven minutes. Now it only takes about 10 to 12 more minutes, and then we just finish
00:01:46it off.
00:01:47Who would have thought you could have a chicken pot pie experience in less than an hour?
00:01:51Not me. All right, as you can see, it has absorbed a lot of the liquid, but we're about to
00:01:56go in with
00:01:56some more ingredients, and the pasta is just about there because it's going to cook a little bit
00:02:01longer, so I like to go on with this next step just before it's done so that you don't get
00:02:05mushy
00:02:06pasta. Now I'm going in with a couple cups of cooked chicken. I'm just using rotisserie, but if you have
00:02:11meal prepped and you've cooked some chicken ahead of time, it's a good time to use it. And a 10
00:02:17-ounce bag
00:02:17of frozen mixed veggies, adding this in, and then I want it to come back up to temperature,
00:02:22so it just cooks for another, you know, five minutes, and it's just about done. Those veggies
00:02:27are going to give off a little moisture, so before you go, add more liquid to kind of see how
00:02:32this
00:02:32does, and if you want to add a touch more cream, this will be the time to do it. Okay,
00:02:36once those
00:02:36veggies are heated through, we're done. Almost. Finish it off, because it's pasta, some Parmesan
00:02:42cheese. I know this typically isn't in chicken pot pie, but it's always in pasta. Always check
00:02:48your seasonings. Make sure you don't need any more salt and pepper. Mmm. Delightful. Go with a little
00:02:56more salt and a little more pip. That was fast. Let's serve it up. This is the epitome of comfort
00:03:03food, and I love that you get all your meat, your veggies, your carbs in one bowl and in one
00:03:09pot.
00:03:09I'm going to finish it with a little more cheese and some chopped parsley and more pip. A new take
00:03:16on a classic chicken pot pasta. Yes, please. This is one that's family friendly, and you only have
00:03:23one dish to clean up. Hmm. It's kind of like a combo of chicken Alfredo meets chicken pot pie.
00:03:34Crowd pleaser. Easy. 30 minutes. Dinner's served. A plus. Plus plus. I got one for your taco Tuesday.
00:03:44A chicken chip bake. It's only going to take about five or so minutes to prep. 20 minutes in the
00:03:48oven.
00:03:49Under 30 minutes on the table. This is kind of a cross between like chilaquiles meets enchiladas
00:03:57meets nachos. It's so good. In order to keep this at a 30 minute or less meal, you got to
00:04:04go for your
00:04:04shortcuts here. I've got prepped pre-cooked chicken from a rotisserie that I've shredded. Costco, baby.
00:04:11$4.99. I've gone ahead and shredded some cheese also, and then shortcut with pre-made enchilada
00:04:18sauces. Take your chicken, dump it in, along with some green onions. I'm going to keep some out for
00:04:24the topping, and I'm going in with a little bit of the cheese. These canned enchilada sauces to me have
00:04:29like the perfect amount of seasoning. You never really have to add salt and pepper here. I'm going to add
00:04:33in
00:04:33a can of the green enchilada sauce here and mix that up. Now you want to lightly grease a 9x13
00:04:39dish.
00:04:39If you've got one that's a little deeper, perfect, but I'm also going to add in just a little bit
00:04:44of
00:04:44oil. Get you some tortilla chips. I really like the ones that are like a thick cut kind of home
00:04:49style
00:04:49chip. It tastes more authentic, but really you can use any chip you have. Then I'm going in with a
00:04:54can
00:04:54of pinto beans that I've drained and rinsed. You can leave the beans out if y'all are not bean
00:04:59people,
00:04:59but I think it adds that fiber that we all need, and then a cup of cheese here. That kind
00:05:05of gets
00:05:06in the nooks and crannies. All right, then you're going to pour in about a cup of the red enchilada
00:05:10sauce. Not quite the whole can. Now in goes our chicken mixture. This is a really hearty meal too.
00:05:17I would easily serve this to company. All right, then you're going to go in with the rest of the
00:05:22chips,
00:05:23or just whatever fits in your casserole douche. All right, then you pour over the rest of the enchilada
00:05:28sauce, which is the rest of this can and another can. Make sure it kind of fills in those little
00:05:32nooks and crannies there too. Then more cheese. We don't want it to dry out, so we're going to cover
00:05:37it. Some foil. Now this goes into the oven 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, then uncover it and
00:05:44go another five minutes or so. Oh, it smells so good. Look at that. A little bubbly around the edges.
00:05:51I like doing this kind of meal kind of like you would a taco bar, where you just put all
00:05:55your
00:05:56toppings on the side and let people kind of make it what they want because nobody's not going to love
00:06:02chicken chips and cheese at this point. The inside is going to be nice and creamy while the top has
00:06:08that little crunch to it. So cheesy. I like to go on with some pico because you've got all the
00:06:13rich
00:06:14indulgence. Now you want some pops of freshness in there, a little hot and cold. A little of the green
00:06:19onions we saved from before. You can add some avocado here. You could do some guacamole, jalapenos,
00:06:24whatever you want, but look at that. The chicken chip bake for the win.
00:06:35The chips are just kind of magical in there. You get a little kick from that enchilada sauce. Plus
00:06:39it has tang, so it kind of cuts through the richness. Perfectly cooked, perfectly tender.
00:06:43This right here should take the place of any of your favorite enchilada casseroles and thank me later.
00:06:48Next up is not a one pan situation, but rather an entree and two sides
00:06:53in less than 30 minutes. Air fryer bang bang salmon with rice and green beans. This is one of
00:07:00my greater creations over the years. Get your salmon already cut in portions. Makes things a little
00:07:06easier. And then you make your bang bang sauce. Go in with mayonnaise and then sweet chili sauce.
00:07:12This is very affordable on the international aisle at your grocery store. So you've got your sweet,
00:07:17your creamy, and now kick it up with some sriracha. And you have bang bang. Our main meal prep is
00:07:23done
00:07:24in, what, less than two minutes? All right, so we're going to spread about a tablespoon or so on each
00:07:28salmon filet and just pop it in the air fryer. Don't let your spoon go back in here because you
00:07:34can serve
00:07:34it with more bang bang sauce at the end, but not if it's been, you know, contaminated with our raw
00:07:39salmon.
00:07:39And then these just go into the air fryer 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. And while that's happening,
00:07:44you saute your green beans and you microwave your rice. Those aren't the most beautiful pieces of
00:07:50salmon. I don't know what is. Look at that. The sugar that is in the sweet chili sauce is what
00:07:57caramelizes on that. And I've gone all out and made some rice. You really have time to make rice
00:08:05from scratch if you want. I'm just trying to give you all the benefits of a 30-minute dinner.
00:08:10Clean out my inner Rachel Ray with these 30-minute meals. For the green beans, I just get the steam
00:08:16in
00:08:16bag. Just steam them in the microwave for about three minutes and then throw them in a skillet
00:08:20with a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place on that beautiful bang bang salmon. I mean,
00:08:25this is one of those like restaurant quality meals in under half an hour. Spoon on a little more of
00:08:31that
00:08:31sauce. Garnish if you please. Air fryer bang bang salmon with two sides in less than half an hour.
00:08:38Let's see how we did. It has the skin on the bottom. When you cook it like this,
00:08:43you can easily just flake it right off the skin. You could also just peel the whole filet off the
00:08:48skin. Or you can eat the skin. I'm glad I revived this recipe. I forgot how good it is. And
00:08:58it's
00:08:58another one of those recipes where you're like, why don't I make this every single week? My whole
00:09:02family would eat this one up. As a matter of fact, they will be for dinner tonight.
00:09:09If you don't make anything else from this episode, you better make that.
00:09:12I bring you another restaurant quality meal, entree, and two sides that's also very family friendly
00:09:18in half an hour. I call this poor man's steak because it's not quite steak. It's pork chops, but
00:09:26I'm going to make these pork chops taste just like steak. This has been my new thing in my house
00:09:31because have you seen the price of steaks these days? And especially when I've got to buy at least
00:09:36three or four of them. Did you know you can get four steaks for less than 15 bucks? And they're
00:09:41going
00:09:41to be good. I'll prove it. We are going to be having poor man's steak with baked potatoes
00:09:47and broccoli in under 30 minutes. How do you ask? Well, first of all, we're going to microwave the baked
00:09:53potatoes. Now, if you want this meal to take a little longer, but still be just as easy,
00:09:56you can pop these in the oven or the air fryer for a little more time. But microwave baked potatoes
00:10:03are just fine. So stab them, get them going about, I don't know, six, seven minutes in the microwave,
00:10:09baked potatoes are done while we cook the pork. And then towards the end, I'm going to prepare my
00:10:12broccoli the same way I did the green beans, kind of steam them in the bag and then just give
00:10:15them a
00:10:16quick saute. You could just leave them steamed, but they have more flavor when you do that second step. Now,
00:10:20when my dad used to make steaks, he used to always do like some sauteed mushrooms and put on top.
00:10:27So that's what we're doing here. So when it comes to seasoning, I just keep it really simple. Salt and
00:10:32pepper, a little garlic powder. You do want to be kind of generous here because we want to create
00:10:36that good kind of steak crust. I'm also using bone-in center-cut pork chops. That's what you want.
00:10:44This is the best way to cook pork chops if you want like a juicy pork chop and not a
00:10:49dried out one.
00:10:49I mean, I really did this kind of just by accident one day and it totally satisfied the steak craving
00:10:54that I'm like, I might only buy the real steaks on special occasions. This is how you can enjoy steak
00:11:00on a weeknight and on a beer budget. All right, I'll season the other side when we get in the
00:11:04pan.
00:11:04Everything else happens in the pan, so come on over. Get probably your largest skillet,
00:11:09get it hot and go in with a little oil. Just enough to cover the bottom. I'm going to place
00:11:13these in,
00:11:13season side down. And then season the other side and let it go. Walk away. Let them cook for about
00:11:20four minutes without touching them. Crust. Good. First layer of flavor. Kind of give them a little
00:11:28love on the sides. Putting those aside. Now look at all that meaty flavor right here. Time to lift
00:11:34it up. A little bit of butter. Flavor the butter with a little bit of garlic and down with the
00:11:41mushrooms.
00:11:42I'm not going to salt these until later. If you salt them now, it just kind of draws out the
00:11:46moisture
00:11:46and they don't really get brown. You want to get a little color on these mushrooms. So just kind of
00:11:52let them go for a second. A little olive oil to help it along. You can use just the white
00:11:57button
00:11:57mushrooms if you want. I'm using the baby portabellos or creminis. They kind of have a slightly more meaty
00:12:03flavor. Now Worcestershire is going to give it that steak flavor. This is also the way my dad used to
00:12:09make his sauteed mushrooms. And it also has the acid in here, which is going to lift off the flavor
00:12:13from
00:12:14the bottom. And I'm just going to kind of stretch it out by adding a little water. And then some
00:12:17fresh
00:12:18thyme. Use your spoon to scrape up that flavor. And I'm going to let this reduce by half. All right,
00:12:23you can see that flavor is kind of concentrated right there. Now I'm going to stir in a little
00:12:27more butter. And you know in the restaurants when they baste their steaks with butter,
00:12:32that's what we're about to do. So I'm going to kind of let that melt. Put my steaks back in,
00:12:38along with any juices that might be in the pan. You can add more butter if you want.
00:12:43Trying to be healthy. So just kind of take this mixture, spoon it over. We're not like basting to
00:12:50cook it like they do the steaks. We're just basting it to add more flavor. Just kind of let it
00:12:54all get
00:12:54acquainted with each other. Okay, so then you're just going to cook this for about two to three more
00:13:00minutes just to kind of heat those pork chops back through. Reminds you of steak. And if you could smell
00:13:04it, you would smell this. Smells just like steak. Potatoes are in the microwave. So is the broccoli.
00:13:09I'm going to saute that broccoli while these rest and serve it all up together. Serve it up.
00:13:15Hot baked potato straight from the microwave. That was about six and a half, seven minutes.
00:13:19A little butter. Let that melt. We always got to have something green with our dinners.
00:13:24And now our steak. You gotta admit it looks good, but it's all about the sauce.
00:13:29And I hope you were timing that because that's more of like a 20-minute meal.
00:13:33Finish my potato. There's no way that you would ever guess that we can get steak and potatoes
00:13:39in under 30 minutes. Let me show you how good this is. So tender. So juicy.
00:13:45I think a twinge of pink tinge. Twinge. Tinge. Tinge.
00:13:52Tinge. It's a tinge. Just a very faint tinge of pink in the middle.
00:14:01If you ate this blindfolded, I swear you would think it's steak. I swear. This is one of those
00:14:06things you're either going to have to take my word for it or test it out and see if I'm
00:14:10telling the
00:14:10truth or not. This next dish Cuban style picadillo is what you're going to make with your pack of
00:14:18ground beef that's sitting around. A little something different, but also familiar at the
00:14:23same time. This is a traditional kind of Latin American dish that combines ground beef with peppers,
00:14:30onions, garlic, a few other things. It's packed with flavor. It's similar and can be used for like tacos,
00:14:36but I'm just going to serve it over rice with some various toppings. I'm just starting with a little
00:14:42bit of bell pepper and onion. This can, like I said, be used for fillings for tacos, but also for
00:14:47empanadas.
00:14:48It's kind of like a multi-purpose situation here. And if you make a big batch and you have leftovers,
00:14:54you could easily turn this into a pot of chili. Those are the kind of things I do. When you
00:14:58see me
00:14:58cook from my freezer, it's things like this. This is the extent of the prep, which happens in less
00:15:03than five minutes. Everything else happens on the stove. Start with a little olive oil in my skillet
00:15:09and I'll cook the onion and bell pepper in that. While this might seem like a base for chili or
00:15:14tacos,
00:15:14when you see some other ingredients I'm adding, you'll see the difference. Give that a head start
00:15:19to soften before I add in the ground beef. Add some garlic and you want this to be really soft
00:15:24and
00:15:24cooked down. So it takes about five minutes or so. Once that's all softened in with your ground beef,
00:15:29I'm using a lean ground beef here and cook that till it's browned and crumbled. Now it's about to
00:15:33get interesting, but don't be scared. I would never steer you wrong. This is all looking delicious. Now we
00:15:38really kick it up with the flavors. There's going to be so much going on. It's just going to be
00:15:42like a
00:15:42party in your mouth. Going with an eight ounce can of tomato sauce, olives, half a cup of raisins. Listen,
00:15:49if I were you, I wouldn't tell anybody, but it's in there. They're not going to know. It's going to
00:15:54blend right in, but it's going to be the sweet to the salty. For more brininess, some capers, a little
00:16:01bit of cumin. Well, more than a little bit. Just a little bit of sugar for balance and then the
00:16:08sazon.
00:16:09Everybody loves this stuff. Man, oh man, I wish you could smell it. This is my first time making this
00:16:15recipe, but I chose it because it sounded so good. Now rinse out the can with a couple tablespoons of
00:16:20water. Doesn't need much salt. I'm just going to do a pinch. All right, and then we're just going to
00:16:28cover it and let it simmer for about five minutes. Fast, easy, and on the table in less than 30
00:16:34minutes.
00:16:37I'm really excited about this. I think if my kids were looking, they really wouldn't
00:16:41think too much about this. They would think it's black beans because sometimes when I make taco
00:16:45meat or something, I put some black beans in there. I'll try it on them tonight. Serve it up.
00:16:50All right, let me show you how we dish this up. Again, you could have just made rice from start
00:16:54to
00:16:54finish and it would be ready in, you know, 15 minutes. But at this point, I'm on my fifth recipe
00:17:01and I'm all about the shortcut. Feeling lazy. This is just one serving suggestion is over rice. I just did
00:17:09some quick pickled red onion because I think that sounds good with it. I'm going in with some cilantro
00:17:16picadillo in half an hour. In with the fork, out with the perfect bite.
00:17:24There's so much flavor going on here from like all ends of the spectrum. You can't make out what
00:17:28everything is. It doesn't just taste like I'm eating taco meat on top of rice. This really tastes like a
00:17:33whole
00:17:33new dinner experience. I purposely got a bite with multiple raisins in it
00:17:43and you cannot tell it's a raisin. You just get like a hint of sweetness. I could see how this
00:17:49could
00:17:50be really good inside of an empanada or layered in some sort of casserole. Either way, if you've never
00:17:54had picadillo before, this is a great recipe to start with and it won't be a waste of time because
00:17:58it only takes 30 minutes.
00:18:00Crispy pork and peanut noodles. Are you ready? Here we go. Go ahead and get your skillet heating and a
00:18:08pot of
00:18:08water on the stove to boil. I'm also going to go ahead and make my sauce for the dish. This
00:18:14is just
00:18:14a little bit of peanut butter, hence the peanut noodle. Soy sauce. A little bit of chili garlic sauce.
00:18:20It's not that spicy, but you can adjust the spice level according to your family's taste. A little bit
00:18:25of ground ginger just because it's faster than using fresh. And a tablespoon of brown sugar. So we've
00:18:31got it all going on. We've got a little sweet and salty, a little spicy, tangy. Got my skillet hot.
00:18:36Add in a little bit of oil just to help me get the crispies going. And then down with ground
00:18:41pork. I
00:18:42have loved using ground pork. It's super affordable and full of flavor. You want this to get good and
00:18:47crispy, hence the name crispy pork, but let it go. Meanwhile, we'll cook the noodles. Got my water boiling and
00:18:54I'm using the ever so popular ramen without the season packet. Just for the noodles.
00:19:00Noodles. However many packets you think your family wants. I'm going to go two or three. And these only
00:19:05take about three minutes to boil. You want them to get into small pieces and then when they cook
00:19:10in their own drippings, that's when they get good and crispy. And we are less than six minutes in.
00:19:15Now I'm going to go drain my pasta. These little ramen packets sure do come in handy,
00:19:19especially for fast dinners. Noodles are cooked. The meat is cooked and now we're waiting on it to get
00:19:25brown. And we have just over five minutes left on our timer. In goes some green onions. I'm also
00:19:31going to add in some garlic. The fastest way to chop garlic, the garlic press. You can hear it start
00:19:37to
00:19:37pop. That's what we want. Let it do its thing. Leave it alone. Now we're talking. All those little brown
00:19:43bits are pieces of crispy pork. Some of the crispy bits are sticking to the bottom, but they're about to
00:19:48lift up
00:19:48when we add the sauce. So I'm going to go ahead and add in the noodles. A little more water.
00:19:52A minute and a half left. Add the rest of the green onions. Turn off the heat. 17 seconds to
00:19:59spare, baby.
00:20:00These smell so good. This is that something different you've been looking for. Little crispy
00:20:05bits of pork just kind of confetti throughout the whole thing. The noodles just kind of suck up that
00:20:11sauce. All the flavor is in every bite. I'm going to finish with a little more green onion. Also some
00:20:16chopped peanuts just to highlight the peanutty goodness in here and squeeze of lime. Optional,
00:20:24but highly recommended. You can't tell me that's not faster and more delicious than delivery. And
00:20:29because that pork is in such little pieces, you get like the perfect amount in every bite
00:20:38right off the bat. You really only need to cook those ramen noodles for about two minutes because
00:20:43they're going to finish cooking the minute they hit this pan. The amount of flavor is unbelievable.
00:20:47This is literally a 15 out of 10. This next dinner is a quick and easy chicken enchilada skillet and
00:20:55it
00:20:55comes together thanks to some pantry staples. These make great shortcuts when you're trying to get
00:21:00dinner on the table in a hurry. We're going to use some canned beans, some canned corn, shortcut sauces.
00:21:05You can do tomatillo sauce or enchilada sauce. And another excellent shortcut when it comes to quick
00:21:10dinners, pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. Or if you're like me and you're cheap slash frugal, you would have
00:21:18meal prepped and gone ahead and chopped your own chicken. So this recipe and a lot of recipes call for
00:21:24cooked, chopped chicken. Go ahead and do that one day when you've got more time. Your future self thanks you
00:21:32for that. Oh and I need to start my timer. Here we go. I actually tested this one out last
00:21:37night on my
00:21:38family and I did it in 13 minutes. You also want to go ahead and turn your broiler on your
00:21:45oven. So I'm
00:21:45going to use an oven proof skillet because we're going to go straight from the stove to the oven for
00:21:50the
00:21:50last minute or two. Just going to get a little oil going in my pan. Add in my onion and
00:21:55then I'm just going
00:21:56to need to cook it for just like a minute or two just till it starts to soften. Everything's cooked
00:22:00when
00:22:00you're using canned beans, canned corn, cooked chicken. All of that is cooked. It's just a
00:22:05matter of heating it all the way through. Once everything's hot, onions starting to soften,
00:22:09in goes our corn and beans. Let those go for about a minute. And you want to keep your heat
00:22:15pretty high on this. That way everything cooks fast. We only got 15 minutes. This is the meal you make
00:22:21when
00:22:21you get home from work. You've only got 15 minutes to get dinner on the table before you have to
00:22:26take one
00:22:27kid to soccer and then go to the choir concert. Real life. So next I'm going in with some pico.
00:22:33You can also just do salsa here. This is just going to add another layer of flavor by only using
00:22:37one ingredient. Just like about a quarter cup is all you need for flavor. Get that heated. And now the
00:22:43chicken. Now we just want this to get real hot. There's salt and acidity in the corn, in the beans,
00:22:50and in the salsa. So you can check to see if you need any salt at this point. For the
00:22:55record,
00:22:55we have just under 10 minutes left. So even if you have not already shredded your chicken,
00:22:59you still got time to do it. All right, now to turn this into enchiladas. Instead of tortillas,
00:23:04we're using tortilla chips and we're using a store-bought enchilada sauce. Now that everything
00:23:09is heated through, here's what I do. I'm going to take some chips. I'm just leaving my stove on so
00:23:15that
00:23:15it keeps heating and cooking through. I'm just going to kind of break them up over the top. This adds
00:23:22your salt, too, to the dish. Then I'm going to pour over that enchilada sauce. A few more chips,
00:23:27just because that's what I want to do. That's what I like. Some are crunchy and then some are soft.
00:23:32And then, because we're saving time, pre-shredded cheese right on top. I mean,
00:23:37we still got seven minutes left and it's only on take two. Then we're just going to move it to
00:23:40the
00:23:40oven to broil. Only takes one to two minutes until that cheese melts. Cheesy, crunchy, creamy,
00:23:46a whole lot going on. This is your taco Tuesday. You know I'm passionate about that. And then
00:23:52dinner's done. You can serve it with whatever toppings you like. I like some sour cream for
00:23:55this. Also, a little avocado maybe. Some fresh cilantro. Looks good, huh? This one's probably the
00:24:02fastest of the day. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. This is a really filling and hearty meal also. We've been done.
00:24:11A little more of that pico. A little sour cream. This is going to be a lot better for you
00:24:16than
00:24:16what you might get out at a restaurant. Quick and easy chicken enchilada skillet. It's got it all the
00:24:22perfect bites going on. Mmm. We didn't even add a sprinkle of salt and there's so much flavor in here.
00:24:30This is the meal that just makes you feel good. The chicken is tender. Everything is warmed through.
00:24:34Then you've got those cool crunchy toppings. Perfect bite in a pan. And we did it in under
00:24:3915 minutes. This dinner is going to make all your people happy. We're only 15 minutes away
00:24:44from meatball subs. Meatball and all. Because I'm doing smashed meatball subs. If you've been
00:24:50around for the past year or so, you know that when we smash anything, A it's delicious and B it
00:24:55cooks
00:24:55in like two minutes. So we're going to take the meatball, which is typically round in shape and
00:25:00takes longer than 15 minutes to cook. And we're going to flatten it out and cook it in no time.
00:25:05This one's like magic. Maybe we call this magic meatball subs. So I'm going to make
00:25:09a meatball mixture the same way I would, for the most part, if I was making sundae sauce.
00:25:14Finely chop up a little bit of onion. Oh, I got to start my timer. Just a little bit of
00:25:19onion for
00:25:19flavor and moisture. And I'm going in with an egg. A little half and half. Some grated parm. Ain't
00:25:25nobody got time to grate their own when we're making 15 minute meals. And some breadcrumbs. I like to get
00:25:30everything acquainted before I add the meat. Then I add my meat in. To the meat, I like to add
00:25:35in the seasonings.
00:25:36So I go with a little salt, pepper, and then I go with fresh garlic or I'll just do garlic
00:25:40powder.
00:25:41Then we mix. Now, I must admit, this is the first time I'm doing this. We are doing this together,
00:25:47but I just have faith it's going to be delicious. All right, meatball mixture is made. Now for the fun
00:25:53part. Take your sub rolls because it's meatball subs. We're not even quite five minutes in. We've got our
00:25:59meatball mixture made. We're just going to spread our meatball mixture onto the bread. You want to keep it
00:26:04thin, but you also want it to be a hearty amount so that it's a filling sandwich. Normally, you'd have
00:26:09like, you know, four meatballs or something on your sub. It's going to cook through. Don't worry. I'm also
00:26:14going to serve this with a bag Caesar salad to really complete the meal, but also keep it within the
00:26:19time frame. Okay, so it's substantial. You can fill the amount of meat in there. This is going to be
00:26:25hearty.
00:26:26And also go ahead and have your broiler on because we are going to finish these in the oven. You
00:26:30want to get your
00:26:30skillet or your griddle pretty hot because we want to develop a little crust and it's such a thin layer
00:26:35of meatball that it's going to cook through pretty quickly. Also get some pre-shredded mozzarella
00:26:40and store-bought marinara here. There's a time and a place, you know. This is that. All right, I'm going
00:26:45to add some oil. So again, it kind of helps develop the crust. Do we think that's going to work?
00:26:51Lays it down. This is smashed meatball subs. So smash it like a smash burger.
00:26:58Let's see. We've still got time. So just let it do its thing.
00:27:01Cook. Walk away. Let it get brown. All right, while these cook, I'm going to mix the salad. You know,
00:27:06I love these little bag salad shortcuts, but you also know that I only buy them when they buy one,
00:27:11get one free. That's just how I roll. All right, and we've got about four minutes left. Let's take a
00:27:17little peek. Oh yeah. Perfect. Gorgeous. A little sauce. Shredded motts. These are looking better than
00:27:27I thought they were going to look. I feel like I'm on a cooking show. Under the broiler, we have
00:27:32two
00:27:33minutes. That will not take two minutes. Mm-hmm. Did you think I couldn't do it? Did you ever doubt
00:27:40me?
00:27:40No, Nicole, we would never doubt you. Close her up. Never made meatballs this best.
00:27:51That's a fun dinner, my friends. Hot, steamy. You see a layer of meatball, a good layer of cheese,
00:27:58saucy. The bread is like toasty on the outside, gooey and good on the inside. This is a dinner my
00:28:05son
00:28:05would love. Also kind of feel like it would be good if you put that Caesar salad directly
00:28:09onto the sandwich. Barely made it, but we did it. It can be done, but how do it taste?
00:28:20Y'all won't believe it, but it tastes like a meatball sub. And I actually think this is quite genius,
00:28:27because you know when you take a bite out of meatball subs, half the time the meatball
00:28:31rolls right on out. Not today. Did we just invent something? Fast, easy dinner and easiest way to eat a
00:28:38meatball sub. I think my job here is done. Now we're taking the humble canned bean and turning it
00:28:44into a complete dinner with marry me skillet beans. This is a meal that I crave because break out the
00:28:49crusty bread and the glass of white wine. Delicious. Oh, I keep forgetting to start the timer. You know me,
00:28:56pretty much every dinner I serve starts with some onion. It's just the best flavor base. What makes things
00:29:02marry me usually include the addition of sun-dried tomatoes and something really rich and creamy. So
00:29:08I'm also going to be adding in heavy cream and some Parmesan cheese. So you can marry me anything,
00:29:14really. I'm just going to take these sun-dried tomatoes and chop them up. They're also going to
00:29:18look like a little confetti of color in these skillet beans. This one is maybe your grown-up dinner,
00:29:24or you're definitely not picky eater dinner. My son would look at this and be like,
00:29:28is that all we're having? Just beans. So for him, I'd probably serve this as a side dish
00:29:33alongside some chicken or something. All right, we're going to start with extra virgin olive oil.
00:29:37That is also going to add flavor here. This isn't a high or a long cook dish, so you want
00:29:42that extra
00:29:43virgin olive oil for flavor. Get that hot. In goes our onion. Get the onion going for about a minute.
00:29:49Add in a little salt. I'm also going in with some garlic. This is just one of those rustic meals.
00:29:54Love it. All right, and then I'm also going in with the sun-dried tomatoes. Get them starting
00:29:58to soften up a little bit. Let that cook for about a minute until that garlic is good and fragrant.
00:30:03All right, now for the beans. I'm doing three cans because we actually love beans in my family,
00:30:07and I'm okay with leftovers here. A little crushed red pepper. Now we make it good and creamy. A little
00:30:14chicken stock. Just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet. And again, to make it marry me,
00:30:20heavy cream. I'm going to bring this to a simmer and let it thicken, and we still have plenty of
00:30:25time.
00:30:26A good eight minutes or so left. All right, after it's come to a simmer, I'm going to add in
00:30:31just
00:30:31like a tablespoon of tomato paste. This is going to add in a little bit of sweetness, cut through some
00:30:37of the richness, and it kind of makes that pretty pink color that we also know in a lot of
00:30:41marry me
00:30:42dishes. Final steps include stirring in some cheese. Check for the flavor.
00:30:49I'm telling you, you could add the rotisserie chicken here, but it doesn't need it. You don't
00:30:54miss the meat. Got the two meal essentials right here. Yum! Finishing with some fresh parsley and basil.
00:31:04You can do one or both. Doesn't this look like a warm hug in a pan? Yes, Nicole, it does.
00:31:10I also feel
00:31:11like I want to add a little hint of crushed red pepper. Marry me beans is what's for dinner. A
00:31:16little more herb, sprinkle of cheese. And my favorite part, get you a good old scoop. I mean,
00:31:23you may not even need a fork or spoon. There is so much flavor in this bowl. I know I
00:31:34say that all the
00:31:34time, but it just is. You can look at it and see. It is comforting, but those little bits of
00:31:38sun-dried
00:31:39tomato are just like almost like sweet and juicy in there with that creamy, rich bean. And because
00:31:45it's your own bowl, you can double dip with your bread, you know? Y'all might think I'm making up
00:31:50how good this bowl of beans is, but I'm not. I think I got carried away with talking that we
00:31:56only
00:31:56had five seconds left. But I do believe this one you could do in well under 15 minutes. For my
00:32:02final
00:32:02trick, we're cooking with fish because fish makes for the perfect 15-minute dinner. I'm doing quick and easy fish
00:32:08tacos. 15. I'm going to season the fish. I'm just going to use some pantry staples. This
00:32:14fish is pretty thick, so I'm going to start it on the stove and finish it in the oven. You
00:32:19usually
00:32:19want to figure about 10 minutes per inch thickness of fish. This is probably close to about an inch
00:32:25and a half, so we're going to be cutting it close to the 15 minutes, but we got it. A
00:32:29little onion and
00:32:30garlic powder and a little chili powder and cumin, kind of that southwestern layer. Okay, I'm just going to
00:32:35pat that in, and then we'll get it searing in the skillet. Into my hot pan. Don't touch it. Let
00:32:42it cook. I'm also going to toast my tortillas. If you've got a gas stove, I love doing it this
00:32:47way,
00:32:48just to get a little char on it. Just kind of adds good flavor and a little toastiness. I just
00:32:53kind of
00:32:53throw them right over the burner. Just some tongs. See they already start to get a little color,
00:32:59and then you can just keep them wrapped in a damp paper towel to keep them warm. I'd be able
00:33:03to
00:33:04multitask sometimes to get these 15-minute meals done, you know. Okay, that's fast. Fish is ready
00:33:09to flip. Releasing easily. That means it's ready. Beautiful. Now at this point, I'm going to finish
00:33:14it in the oven. If we were doing it all in the oven, it would take probably that complete 15
00:33:19or so minutes, but since we started on the stove, that kind of speeds it along. We have
00:33:25about 11 minutes left. We will hit the goal. All right, so I'm going to make a slaw for the
00:33:29topping,
00:33:30in case we haven't met. You know, I like different textures in the food, so this one's going to be
00:33:35like cool and creamy. So I'm using some Greek yogurt. You could also just use sour cream here
00:33:40to kind of build our dressing. Now, what I love on fish tacos, I've been doing this forever, is
00:33:45chipotle. Just kind of gives you that smoky with the creamy. For this, you actually only need the
00:33:51sauce that comes in the chipotle can, the adobo sauce. It's got the heat and the flavor, and these last
00:33:57for a long time in the fridge, so you can just wrap it up and throw it in your chili
00:34:00or something
00:34:01else you're making later in the week. A little red wine vinegar, some salt. Okay, and then just to cut
00:34:06some of the tang, I like to add in just a little bit of olive oil. I think I'm going
00:34:10to also grab
00:34:10some cilantro and throw that in. That way you don't have to have everything in separate bowls.
00:34:15This just makes it easier. Basically, the meal is complete, and we have six minutes left. Got this one in
00:34:23the bag.
00:34:27Beautiful. Good flaky white fish. Any kind of flaky white fish is what you want to use for fish tacos.
00:34:33And then I just kind of like to break it up into chunks, and it's ready to go. And we
00:34:36have
00:34:38a minute to spare. Just get a little sample.
00:34:47Joke's on you, timer. Grab you a couple tortillas and that beautiful fish.
00:34:51Some slaw. I mean, I'm just filling it up. A little bit of mango. You've got those warm spices
00:34:57in there when you hit that sweet, like, juicy fruit. And why not? A little squeeze of lime.
00:35:03Get the cold beer ready. This is a good, light, summery meal also. And it was ready in 15 minutes.
00:35:16Mmm. That's awesome. This is one of those meals that you think you can only get at
00:35:20restaurants or for special occasions, but I proved that it is fast enough to make on a busy weeknight.
00:35:25And so flavorful. Perfect for these warmer months. You got to try this one. If your kids love chicken
00:35:30nuggets, but you're tired of feeding them chicken nuggets, this is the dish for you. So I'm going to
00:35:34start with boneless, skinless chicken breast. You want about a pound and a half, and you're going to
00:35:38chop them up, kind of dice them up small. Only going to be about three chicken breasts. This is
00:35:42a great way to kind of stretch out your chicken breast too. It will feed your whole family. You're
00:35:46just going to add this to a bowl. I'm going in with a couple eggs. I'm also going to grate
00:35:50in
00:35:50some cheese and onion. And you just need a few tablespoons. If you grate it, then you won't get
00:35:55big old chunks in there. I'm also going in with some fresh parsley. This is something I just always
00:36:00keep on hand. It's just a really cheap and easy way to add a fresh kind of earthy flavor. A
00:36:05little ranch
00:36:06packet. I'm going to use half in here and half for a dipping sauce. So excited to make this at
00:36:12work
00:36:12because now my dinner's cooked for tonight. So I'm just going to stir that together and add in a little
00:36:18mayonnaise. I'm just going to season it up with a little salt and pepper. And then I'm going to stir
00:36:23in a little flour. You want to stir in just enough flour until it comes together. It's just going to
00:36:27help
00:36:27keep these patties together. Okay, so that's it. We're just going to form these into patties and drop them
00:36:32in a skillet. Spoon about a quarter cup of the mixture into the skillet. See that? Crispy,
00:36:39cheesy chicken patties. Each batch cooks in like less than five minutes because the chicken is cut
00:36:45so small. The patties are thin. It doesn't take that long to cook this chicken all the way through.
00:36:49Then you can just transfer them to a wire rack and keep them warm in the oven while you cook
00:36:54the rest.
00:36:55I'm just going to keep these warm in the oven while I mix up the salad and then we're ready
00:36:58for dinner.
00:36:59Salad. My kids love salad. They call it a ranch salad or a Caesar salad. I'll add in some cucumber.
00:37:05I'm going to add in some tomato too. I wish I had a stop clock. Dinner's ready. A couple chicken
00:37:13patties.
00:37:14We're going to serve these with a little dipping sauce. The rest of that ranch packet
00:37:18with a little mayonnaise. Then you're going to mix that together with a little lemon juice
00:37:23and a pinch of cayenne. A little sauce on the side. My kids will want that. This one is so
00:37:29good. Your
00:37:29family will inhale it. Mmm. Maybe one of the most flavorful ways to cook a bun with skinless chicken breast.
00:37:36Perfect dinner. Number two, Taco Tuesday with a whole new look. How about taco stuffed potatoes?
00:37:46Just grab your potatoes. Scrub them up. Just going to pierce them a couple times
00:37:53in the microwave. All right, we're going to get our filling going. I like onion in my taco meat. You're
00:37:58basically making that delicious dip that we love, the Rotel dip. It usually has sausage in it. I'm just
00:38:03doing ground beef. Now I just cook it all up in a skillet. Get my onion going for a couple
00:38:07minutes.
00:38:07You just need about a pound of ground meat. And then you're going to go in with some taco seasoning.
00:38:16Homemade or store-bought is just fine. Once that's all together, in with your can of Rotel.
00:38:23Okay, then in with the processed cheese. Sometimes everybody needs a little shortcut. Add it and then
00:38:31it'll slowly melt as you stir it all together. And this is going to be the perfect topping for our
00:38:35potatoes. Hot potato, hot potato. Okay, look, everything's ready. Hey, taco meat should always
00:38:42be made with Rotel. Okay, now we're about to make the most bomb potato you've ever had. When I do
00:38:48dinners like this, I just love to make it like a buffet. And then the kids can come in when
00:38:52they're
00:38:53ready, make their own taco. We're always in different schedules. So, you know, nobody's really eating at
00:38:59the same time. I don't really need butter since I have all this cheese. I really don't even need salt,
00:39:05I don't think. Just to really give it the full taco experience, you need a little crunch,
00:39:09especially with Rotel. Loaded baked potatoes in under 30 minutes. I'd like to be left alone with
00:39:18this. 100%, this is the next thing you need to make on your next Taco Tuesday or Wednesday, Thursday,
00:39:24Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I'm breaking out the air fryer for this next one. This is an old favorite,
00:39:29air fried bang bang salmon. This can really be probably a 15 minute meal because it is that fast.
00:39:37It starts with a simple bang bang sauce. It's just three ingredients. Mayonnaise and then sweet chili
00:39:43sauce. This adds a lot of flavor you can use in marinades or dressings or other sauces. Super cheap
00:39:48at the Asian market. It's a good thing to kind of keep on hand. And then you're going to add
00:39:52some sriracha.
00:39:53So the creaminess and the sweetness from that is going to balance this out. Perfect. This sauce is
00:40:00going to add enough flavor to the salmon. You can season it with a little salt to taste if you
00:40:04want.
00:40:04But I'm just going to spread about a tablespoon onto each filet and then just pop it in the air
00:40:09fryer.
00:40:10Lightly grease your air fryer where you can put a little piece of parchment down on the bottom.
00:40:14The air fryer is the perfect way to cook this fish. You're going to get a little crust on the
00:40:19outside,
00:40:19which is so good. I probably should have started my rice first because it's going to take longer to
00:40:23cook than that salmon. The salmon's only going to take about eight minutes. Okay, so I start by
00:40:28sauteing my rice in the butter. This will really keep it fluffy while it cooks. Two parts water to
00:40:34one part rice. You could use chicken stock here just for extra flavor. Definitely want to salt it.
00:40:39That's it. Bring it to a boil, cover it, and let it simmer until it's done. Salmon's going, rice is
00:40:44going.
00:40:45All that's left is my other side dish, which are going to be green beans. I'm going to steam them
00:40:49in the
00:40:49microwave and then hit them real quick in the sink. That's all it takes. See how good these look?
00:40:56The sauce kind of caramelizes in the heat. If your air fryer goes above 400, crank it up. 425,
00:41:01450 will be even better. These took about 10 minutes. They're kind of thick, so if your salmon
00:41:06fillets are a little flatter, it'll take closer to eight. Just plain butter rice is good for this because
00:41:11we have all that sauce and then a little green onion. It's perfection. This is a beautiful restaurant
00:41:18quality dinner that doesn't look like it came together in 30 minutes.
00:41:25The green onion is essential. It just kind of ties it all together. It's sweet. It's
00:41:31saucy. The salmon is cooked perfectly. It's so tender and moist. It's the perfect dinner.
00:41:38You're going to want to make this one too. This next one is so easy. I'm going to get my
00:41:41sides
00:41:42actually going first. I'm doing garlic butter chicken bites with smashed potatoes and roasted
00:41:47broccoli in half an hour. I'm going to start with my potatoes. I'm just going to get these going in
00:41:52water and then bring it to a boil and let them cook while I do everything else. For my veg,
00:41:56I'm
00:41:56going to do broccoli. My daughter just loves broccoli prepared this way versus boiling it. You want to get
00:42:02your oven going to 425 or 450. Drizzle on olive oil and then salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little
00:42:11parmesan. I'm going to toss this together and then I'll sprinkle on the parm. Now this goes into the oven.
00:42:15It's only going to take about 15 minutes so just judge your timing based on everything else that's
00:42:19going on. You just need bunless skinless chicken breast. I'm going with about a pound and a half
00:42:23and then to a shallow dish you're going to add in a little bit of flour. We're not generously coating
00:42:28them. Just giving them a really light coating of flavor so that it gets crispy. Cut your chicken into
00:42:33bite-sized pieces. Probably do this in a plastic bag now that I'm thinking about it. Just want a really
00:42:42light
00:42:42coating like that. So get your skillet hot while the skillet heats up. I'm going to cube up some butter.
00:42:49You want to use cold butter whenever you're making a butter sauce. You'll whisk it in at the end and
00:42:54it'll stay creamy instead of getting all oily and separated. Then you want to place your chicken in
00:42:59in a single layer and then don't touch it. They're almost fork tender. I'm going to go a little bit
00:43:09more so that way they're really soft so I could smash them easily. And the broccoli's looking good.
00:43:15All right, time to flip them over. Look at that color. See these little like crunchy ones.
00:43:30I'm going to transfer these to a plate and then you're going to wipe your skillet a little bit.
00:43:37Just adding a little more olive oil to help get the garlic going and I'm going in about six cloves
00:43:42of
00:43:43garlic and more if you wish. Now I'm going to add in some white wine. Right now this just reduces
00:43:50until
00:43:50it's almost evaporated and I'm going to go ahead and drain my potatoes. Drain them and then add back
00:43:56to the pot. I'm just going to set the pot right back over the stove just to let any other
00:44:00moisture
00:44:01evaporate out and I'll go ahead and add in the butter and let it be melting while we finish the
00:44:06sauce.
00:44:07Liquid is almost gone. Now it's time to whisk in the butter. You want to make sure your heat is
00:44:11not too high
00:44:12and then go in with a few pieces at a time. The sauce is good and creamy, so garlicky and
00:44:18buttery.
00:44:18And then in goes the chicken. You're going to toss it to coat. Okay, these are done. I'm just keeping
00:44:26them on warm. The butter's melted in here. I'm doing this with the baby gold potatoes because the skin is
00:44:32so thin. It's okay. It's not like overwhelming and mashed potatoes with the skin on with these.
00:44:40Smash and add a little milk, a little sour cream, and then season it up with salt and pepper.
00:44:53Dinner's ready. I just feel like I ran a marathon in 30 minutes. Garlicky, buttery goodness. Tender,
00:45:00flavorful, juicy chicken breast, creamy smashed potatoes, and roasted broccoli. This is again a
00:45:07perfect dinner. It's just so simple, yet so easy, kind of just a new way to serve up your chicken
00:45:15breast. Roasted broccoli, don't steam it. You know, just adding flavor to the basics by just
00:45:20incorporating like new ways to cook them. Another winner. We're about to take it all home. That final
00:45:25trick uses our favorite packs of ramen to make a one-pot beef ramen dish.
00:45:37And the only thing you really have to chop up, a bell pepper. I love meals like this because they
00:45:43have extra veggie and it just kind of stretches out the meat. Satisfying and so easy. This one
00:45:49really only takes like 20 minutes to cook, so this is the perfect weeknight dinner. I'm using the lean
00:45:55ground beef, but you could use ground chicken, ground pork, or ground turkey. Well, let's cook.
00:46:03Show. Going in to a nonstick skillet with my ground sirloin.
00:46:09You know when we do one-pot cooking, it's all about building the layers of flavor.
00:46:13So the first layer has been created with the beef. You can see it's kind of caramelized around the pan
00:46:18a little bit. That's going to be released in a little while. So now I'm going to go in with
00:46:22garlic,
00:46:23bell pepper, and our cabbage. This cooks down a ton, so it looks like a lot, but it's really not.
00:46:31Five is a lot. You know, it's easy when you're just making a 30-minute meal every night, but I'm
00:46:37making five dinners in one day. Green. Once everything has softened and that cabbage has
00:46:43started to turn translucent, you're ready to go in with your liquids. These are going to deglaze the pan,
00:46:49and then they're going to provide a flavorful broth to cook our noodles in. See, what do we say?
00:46:54Color equals flavor. We're going to bring this to a boil, and then we're going to use our ramen. We're
00:46:59not using the little seasoning packets that are inside though, and you want to kind of nestle
00:47:03the ramen into the broth. You want to make sure it's fully submerged in there. Then I'm going to cover
00:47:07it
00:47:07and cook it undisturbed for about five to six minutes. Six minutes. Voila. That looks delicious.
00:47:17All right, now we're just going to gently steam the carrots in the residual heat and then cover it
00:47:22and take it off the heat. Perfect. We got ramen at home and less time than it takes to get
00:47:30takeout.
00:47:31Sprinkle of green onions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. How does it taste? Well, let me tell you.
00:47:41The soy sauce gives you the saltiness. That hoisin sauce adds so much flavor. I did use a salted
00:47:46chicken stock, so that helps. Another one that every single person will love, and you can tweak it.
00:47:52You can add in other vegetables, use a different meat. Either way, you need to keep this one in your
00:47:57rotation. Pork tenderloin is pretty inexpensive, but what I find oftentimes is they are like buy one,
00:48:03get one free in the grocery store, so I always stock up. They're great to freeze. What you want to
00:48:08do
00:48:08when you get a pork tenderloin is it has this silver skin on it. That is just a little bit
00:48:14tough and hard to
00:48:15chew through. So you want to remove that by taking a knife and just going just below that one direction
00:48:24and then take your knife and go the other direction. That's really the only like tough part you need to
00:48:29get rid of and then we're going to cut it into medallions. Place a piece of plastic on then you
00:48:33can use a skillet or a mallet and then just kind of pound it thin. Look at the difference.
00:48:50I'm going to season those, but first I'm going to set up my breading station.
00:48:54I'm going to do flour, a good bit of salt and pepper,
00:48:58then I'll just add in a little garlic powder and onion powder.
00:49:04All right and then in the second dish goes your eggs. To that I'm adding in a little buttermilk
00:49:10and some hot sauce. So far for this really the only thing I had to buy was the pork.
00:49:16In the third dish I'm using breadcrumbs. I'm doing the panko breadcrumbs because they just get
00:49:20extra crunchy and crispy. Then I'm going to season this up with salt, pepper and a little paprika.
00:49:28All right then you just take your pork, go from flour to egg and then into the breadcrumbs.
00:49:37See how substantial that looks? That will fill you up.
00:49:42Y'all know that does not look like it came from one little pork tenderloin.
00:49:45I'm going to shallow fry these in a skillet on the stove because I don't have to mess up my
00:49:50home
00:49:50kitchen. I'm at work. But you can also air fry these. I know you're going to ask that. You could
00:49:55also
00:49:55bake them in the oven. They're going to be the crispiest in the skillet but they'll be just as
00:50:01delicious if you want to use one of the other ways. To me shallow frying is a lot less intimidating
00:50:05than
00:50:06deep frying. It's just a little oil on the bottom of a pan. And these are so thin they're not
00:50:10going
00:50:10to take long to cook at all. They'll probably only take about three or four minutes.
00:50:17Also unlike chicken, you don't have to cook this to death. So you don't have to be so stressed about
00:50:22cooking it long enough. You know, just wait until it's all browned on the outside
00:50:27and you should be good for that. I like to put it on a wire rack so it doesn't like
00:50:32sit in the grease
00:50:33and then it can just drain off while I cook the others. You can then just keep them warm in
00:50:39the
00:50:39oven if you need to or just serve them up right away. We're going to finish this and serve them
00:50:43up.
00:50:44So here's how I'm going to serve it up. I'm just going like classic fried chicken sandwich style.
00:50:48Like what you might get at a fast food but better. Look at that. See that hearty dinner from
00:50:54one little pork tenderloin. And then you can just serve it up with some freezer section
00:50:58specialty. You can feed your whole family this dinner for about the cost of one to two meals from
00:51:05the fast food place. You hear that? That is so tender. This is the perfect dinner. That's probably
00:51:19actually what my family's having tonight. Next up I'm using ground pork. I think people forget about
00:51:25ground pork because when you're looking to save money almost a pound and a half for $4.75. Your taco
00:51:34night just got a lot cheaper. You know what I mean? I'm just going in with a little avocado oil
00:51:39and down
00:51:40with my pork. All right the pork's cooked. I've developed some color along the edges. I'm going
00:51:51to lift that color up in just a minute. First I'm going to season it with just salt and pepper,
00:51:56a little bit of onion powder, chili powder, and cumin. Season it up and then we're going to deglaze
00:52:03with a can of Rotel. I love this one with the lime and cilantro for this. But it can be
00:52:10whatever.
00:52:11And the tomatoes are going to lift up that flavor from the side.
00:52:19And now I'm going to also add in some black beans just to bulk this up. And that's pretty much
00:52:25it.
00:52:26This is the base for our tacos. I'm going to let this stay warm while we make our salsa.
00:52:31Pineapple and pork is a classic combination so I thought a pineapple salsa would be really good
00:52:36with this. You just want to chop the rest up. It's already been cored. You could also just use canned
00:52:42pineapple. And then some jalapeno, of course. Take the seeds out or leave them in. This one's really
00:52:51big so I would say two smaller ones or one large one. I'm also adding in a red onion. I
00:52:58love the pungency
00:52:59of an onion and the tiger. Okay, and then a little cilantro. Another very affordable herb. I always keep
00:53:09some of this and parsley on hand in my kitchen. Just a little fresh lime juice. And we're good to
00:53:15go.
00:53:15Drizzle in a little olive oil, just a little bit.
00:53:22That is going to be so perfect. My family likes a flour tortilla.
00:53:27I'm going to toast these up a little bit on the burner. Add to that charred, smoky flavor.
00:53:34This is a step I really wouldn't skip. It only takes literal seconds and it adds so much flavor.
00:53:40All right, tortillas, salsa, and the star of the show. The pork. Doesn't have to be complicated, you know.
00:53:52A little of that.
00:53:58So good.
00:54:06That pork has that like really savory kind of smokiness from the chili powder and the cumin.
00:54:11But then when you get that little burst of pineapple and jalapeno, crunchy onion.
00:54:16I mean you don't need anything else.
00:54:20I'm using ground pork for the next one too. This is one of like the best things I've ever made
00:54:25on the
00:54:25show. It is lazy wonton soup because the thought of making wontons is so like just intimidating that
00:54:32no one really ever does that. At least no one I know. This is like all the flavors of a
00:54:39delicious
00:54:40wonton but in an easy soup package. But just over a pound of ground pork, less than five bucks,
00:54:48four dollars 68 cents. And we're going to start by making the flavorful broth. So you're going to take
00:54:53some green onions. I'll save those. Then I'm going to cut these into like one inch pieces. We're going
00:55:01to use the greens later but we're going to put the whites in our flavorful broth. I'm going to thinly
00:55:06slice
00:55:07some garlic and throw that in too. You're just going to create this very like aromatic, delicious,
00:55:13savory broth. And then ginger. Again, fresh ginger is just superior to the dried. This is so inexpensive
00:55:21to buy. And it lasts forever in your fridge so you can keep some of this on hand. So you
00:55:25just want to
00:55:25peel it and also thinly slice this. Put that in and then go in with your chicken broth or stock.
00:55:32Two quarts
00:55:33right in. All right, so I'm going to get this on the stove. Add in a couple more things. Some
00:55:38soy sauce.
00:55:40A few tablespoons of that. All right. And then a little rice vinegar. A little bit of brown sugar.
00:55:47And then a little bit of salt. Okay, give that a stir and we're going to bring this to a
00:55:52simmer.
00:55:52This is just a great way to jazz up a store-bought chicken stock also. Okay, instead of having to
00:55:57form
00:55:58the wontons, we're basically just going to form kind of small little meatballs. I'm going to add in
00:56:02the rest of the green onions. I'm going to save some for garnish but put the rest in here with
00:56:07the
00:56:07meat mixture. And then I'm going to use the rest of that ginger and grate it right in. All right,
00:56:13I'm going in with a little more soy sauce to flavor this up along with a little bit of sesame
00:56:17oil
00:56:18and then a couple teaspoons of cornstarch. This is going to like help bind it and hold it all together.
00:56:25And then a little bit of salt. Then just mix it all together. All right, so now I'm just going
00:56:31to form
00:56:31this into a bunch of little like one-inch balls. You want them really small because you want to think
00:56:37about what fits on a soup spoon. I kind of don't want them perfect actually. It's called lazy wonton
00:56:43soup for a reason. I'm just going to go ahead and prep my other ingredients so that we can just
00:56:47drop
00:56:47it all in. Bok choy. Now this is very inexpensive. It adds just great color, a little bit of crunch,
00:56:54and a lot of nutrition to the soup. It cooks up like spinach in the sense that it just really
00:57:00wilts very easily. Of course, these pieces are going to stay a little crunchier. The only other thing
00:57:06you're probably going to have to buy though are the wonton wrappers. So instead of sitting there
00:57:10and rolling each little wonton for the soup, we're just going to cut these into quarters and drop them
00:57:15right in. I wish you could smell it. It's so good. So this has come to a boil. Now I'm
00:57:20just going to
00:57:20drop in our little pork dumplings. Then after about five minutes, I'll add in the wontons and the bok choy.
00:57:28These do not take long to cook. Obviously, they're super tiny. All our little pork dumplings have started to
00:57:35float so you can pretty much assume they are all done. And I'm going to add in our final ingredients.
00:57:42I'm going to drop the dumplings in. I mean the wontons. These are just going to act like little
00:57:47noodles in here. I like to add in about half and then give it a stir so they don't all
00:57:52stick together.
00:57:53This whole thing came together in mostly one pot and it came together in about 30 minutes or less.
00:57:59So not only is it cheap and easy, but it's also quick. It's a triple threat. It's just the smell
00:58:05is worth it alone. It is so delicious. Okay, now here's how you can finish it off if you want
00:58:12to.
00:58:13Take a little chili crunch, drizzle it on, sprinkle our green onions, and that's your wonton soup that
00:58:21started with a five dollar pack of pork. Mmm. Gosh, that is good. This broth is so flavorful. I mean,
00:58:33y'all, y'all need to make this. What I've found is when I'm like craving like that big like
00:58:38kind of
00:58:39hunk of meat, but I don't want to pay for a steak, a pork chop is just a great alternative.
00:58:44You can get
00:58:45these thick bone in center cut pork chops. They're usually about three to four bucks a piece, but
00:58:51you want to get them where they're about an inch thick and again with the bone in, they're just
00:58:56going to be better. This could not be any easier and if I had to guess, the only thing you're
00:59:00going
00:59:00to have to buy for this dish are the pork chops. So I'm going to go eggs in one dish,
00:59:06breadcrumbs in the
00:59:07other. I'm going to whisk it together with a little milk or half and half. For the breadcrumbs, I'm using
00:59:12a
00:59:12mixture of panko and regular to give you that extra crunch. Mix the two together. I'm going to season
00:59:19the pork chops also with just salt and pepper before I dip it in the egg and then in the
00:59:23breadcrumbs
00:59:23and season the other side. A lot of times my grandmother just used the thin cut pork chops,
00:59:28but I find you have a little more control when you use the thick cut. The recipe calls for like
00:59:34a classic
00:59:35glass baking dish. My pork chops are a little too big, but the recipe calls to have melted butter in
00:59:41the
00:59:41bottom of the dish. So I'm going to place some butter on our baking dish and get that in the
00:59:46oven to melt and then I'm going to put the pork chops on the hot pan. That's going to keep
00:59:50it kind
00:59:50of crispy. All right, then I'm just going to place the pork chops directly down and we're going to cook
00:59:55it at a pretty high temperature, 425 degrees, and we're going to flip them about after like 10 minutes.
01:00:02See how easy. All right, 10 minutes. I'm going to flip. Now that the butter's on the top, this side
01:00:12will get nice and firm.
01:00:19These look so good. They're just a light golden brown and that's just what's going to happen
01:00:23in the oven versus, you know, if you deep fry them in the skillet, but they still look crispy fried
01:00:28and that's what we want. I should probably let this rest, but who's got that kind of time?
01:00:34Look at that. It's still juicy pork in there, buttery little crispiness on the outside. Get me a little bite.
01:00:45This is an example of a food that is simplicity at its finest. It's just seasoned breadcrumbs
01:00:52and it lets the pork flavor just kind of shine.
01:00:56Again, cheaper than steak, cheaper than chicken. This is like a meal your family will love. All right,
01:01:01we've made it Monday through Thursday with those first four meals. The final is for like fancy dinner
01:01:07Friday and we'll call it. These are pork medallions with balsamic and capers. So I'm just going to show
01:01:12you how you can make a fancy meal. Super affordable. I'm taking the pork tenderloin again, like we used
01:01:19earlier and cutting it into medallions. So you're just going to cut them into about one to one and a
01:01:24half inch
01:01:26thick pieces and we're going to cook this up in a skillet. This meal is really fast. It comes together
01:01:30in like 15 minutes. We're going to create a little dredge in a bag and this is going to help
01:01:34it get really
01:01:34like brown and crispy in the skillet. And then having a little flour on the outside is going to help
01:01:40like thicken our sauce at the end. Mix that up and add in a bit. All right, then we're just
01:01:49going to
01:01:49take this over to the skillet and brown it up. All right, so you're just going to get a skillet
01:01:53nice and hot. Add in some olive oil and then I'm going to add in the pork. You want to
01:01:57shake off
01:01:57any excess flour. We're just trying to achieve a light crust. I'm going to go about two to three
01:02:03minutes on each side. All right, once it's browned on both sides, I'm going in to deglaze the pan with
01:02:09the
01:02:09balsamic vinegar. That's kind of the star of the show here and some chicken stock and that's going
01:02:15to lift up that flavor we've created on the bottom. Use a spoon to loosen up all that flavor.
01:02:22This is creating a delicious sauce. The pork doesn't take long to cook 10 minutes tops. Transfer
01:02:29my pork to a platter and then I'm going to reduce the sauce until it's really thick.
01:02:34I'm going to go ahead and add in my capers and some lemon zest.
01:02:41As it reduces, it's going to thicken to like a little bit of a syrupy consistency.
01:02:46That's what I'm looking for. See, that's what you want.
01:02:51I'm going to top it with a little more lemon zest
01:02:55and a sprinkle of fresh parsley. That's like a restaurant quality meal on a budget right there,
01:03:01baby. Not only are these going to be so tender, but the flavor just with that concentrated balsamic and
01:03:07chicken stock. It's going to be your secret weapon recipe right here. The one nobody else would have
01:03:12thought of. Oh, you can cut that with a butter knife.
01:03:20Oh my gosh. I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't know it was going to be
01:03:23that good.
01:03:23It definitely needs to be in your rotation and I give it an easy 12 out of 10. You could
01:03:27drink that juice.
01:03:28be in your hand.
01:03:28like
01:03:29like
01:03:29like
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