30 Spring Sunday Dinners in 30 Minutes

Roasted Maple-Glazed Chicken & Carrots
Photo: Photographer / Jacob Fox, Food styling / Sue Mitchell, Food Styling / Kelsey Bulat

These meals may be quick, but they still have the feel of a decadent Sunday dinner. Simple pasta dishes, sheet-pan shortcuts and one-pot meals make it easy to have a healthy and delicious meal at the end of the weekend. Whether you prefer roasted pork, glazed salmon or a vegetarian main, this mix of recipes has something for you. You'll love the fresh spring flavors in recipes like our Spinach, Lima Bean & Crispy Pancetta Pasta and Roasted Maple-Glazed Chicken & Carrots.

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Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan

Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan

This one-pan pasta that combines lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal is garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. I call it "Mom's Skillet Pasta" and she called it "Devon's Favorite Pasta." Either way it's a quick and easy weeknight dinner we created together and scribbled on a little recipe card more than a decade ago, and it remains in my weekly dinner rotation to this day. It's a simple dinner the whole family will love.

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Rosemary Roasted Salmon with Asparagus & Potatoes

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Yukon Golds are great here because they get crispy on the outside but completely creamy on the inside. A brush stroke or two of balsamic glaze provides a rich color and a sweet finish to the roasted salmon.

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One-Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach

One-Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach

Shrimp, spinach and garlic brown and cook quickly for a simple one-pot weeknight dinner. A fast pan sauce gets life from zesty lemon juice, warm crushed red pepper and herby parsley. Serve with a slice of whole-wheat baguette to swipe up every last drop of sauce.

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Cauliflower Tikka Masala with Chickpeas

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In this vegetarian riff on a popular Indian dish, we swap in cauliflower and chickpeas for the chicken in tikka masala. The cauliflower's nooks and crannies are particularly good at soaking up all the intense flavors of the sauce. Serve over rice for an easy healthy dinner that's ready in just 20 minutes.

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Spinach, Lima Bean & Crispy Pancetta Pasta

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We opt for fresh spinach pasta here--it cooks quickly and adds a pop of color. Cooking lima beans in pancetta drippings infuses them with flavor.

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Roasted Maple-Glazed Chicken & Carrots

Roasted Maple-Glazed Chicken & Carrots
Photographer / Jacob Fox, Food styling / Sue Mitchell, Food Styling / Kelsey Bulat

Olive oil and maple syrup transform into a sticky-sweet sauce in the hot oven. Drizzling the chicken drippings over the carrots amps up their flavor even more.

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Seared Scallops with Green Goddess Slaw

Seared Scallops with Green Goddess Slaw
Photographer / Jacob Fox, Food styling / Sue Mitchell, Food Styling / Kelsey Bulat

Avocado, yogurt and buttermilk lend creaminess to the herbaceous dressing coating this salad.

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Creamy Spinach-Artichoke Salmon

Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Salmon
Photographer / Brie Passano Styling / Annie Probst / Holly Raibikis

For this quick and easy dinner for four, the vegetables and sauce come together in one skillet in a matter of minutes while the salmon broils. Plus, salmon is swimming in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and loaded with vitamins and nutrients like B vitamins and potassium.

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Smoky Collards & Shrimp with Cheesy Grits

Smoky Collards & Shrimp with Cheesy Grits
Jacob Fox

Be sure to slice the collards extra thin; it will help expedite the cooking process and produce the most tender greens.

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Gochujang-Glazed Salmon with Garlic Spinach

Gochujang-Glazed Salmon with Garlic Spinach
Jacob Fox

Gochujang, a Korean red chile paste, and honey give this salmon a little bit of sweetness and a whole lot of spice.

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Orange-Mint Freekeh Salad with Lima Beans

Orange-Mint Freekeh Salad with Lima Beans
Jacob Fox

This salad is loaded with colorful produce: fresh mint, snap peas, radishes and oranges. For pretty snap pea slices, cut them into long, thin strips.

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Teriyaki-Glazed Cod with Cauliflower Rice

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This healthy fish recipe comes together fast with just three ingredients you can always have on hand in your freezer and fridge. Store-bought teriyaki glaze makes a great marinade for cod that doubles as a sauce for the cauliflower rice.

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Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta

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If you've ever wanted to make a meal out of warm spinach and artichoke dip, this creamy pasta is for you. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.

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Hearty Chickpea & Spinach Stew

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This satisfying stew comes together in a snap. Mashed chickpeas add body to the broth, and tomato paste adds a savory note without piling on the sodium. To simplify the prep, look for chopped fresh onion and shredded carrot or a soup starter mix in the produce section.

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Sheet-Pan Shrimp & Asparagus

Sheet-Pan Shrimp & Asparagus
Photography / Fred Hardy, Styling / Ruth Blackburn

This sheet-pan shrimp and asparagus is a complete meal all on one pan! The shrimp and asparagus cook perfectly together. Crushed red pepper adds a dash of heat while lime juice brightens the dish.

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Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach

Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach

This simple, ultra-quick chicken dinner--packed with spinach and peppers--is delicious on its own or served over brown rice or your favorite pasta.

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Green Veggie Bowl with Chicken & Lemon-Tahini Dressing

a blue bowl full of chicken and vegetables and a smaller bowl with dressing

For this healthy 30-minute dinner, treat your veggies like pasta and cook until al dente, or just done. If you have a little extra time, double or triple the lemon-tahini dressing and use it to quickly dress a salad or as a sauce for steak or shrimp.

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Sheet-Pan Maple-Mustard Pork Chops & Carrots

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You need just one pan for this satisfying weeknight dinner. A sweet and savory maple-mustard glaze livens up baked pork chops, while the carrots are jazzed up with flavor-boosting and anti-inflammatory garlic, ginger and turmeric. Rainbow carrots add colorful pizazz, but regular orange carrots are a just-as-tasty substitute. Pork dries out easily--using an instant-read thermometer ensures meat is cooked safely, but still moist.

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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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Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto

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This fragrant, Italian-flavored soup takes advantage of quick-cooking ingredients--boneless, skinless chicken breast, bagged baby spinach and canned beans. It features a simple homemade basil pesto swirled in at the end to add a fresh herb flavor. If you are very pressed for time, you can substitute 3 to 4 tablespoons of a store-bought basil pesto. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Lemony Linguine with Spring Vegetables

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Instead of cooking pasta in a huge pot of water, here we use just 3 1/2 cups for this one-pot pasta recipe. When the pasta is al dente, most of the water has evaporated and the bit that's left is thickened with the starch that cooks off the pasta. With just a few add-ins like lemon and Parmesan cheese you have a delicious silky sauce. Want to use up your veggie stash in the freezer? Swap in 8 ounces frozen spinach for fresh.

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Salmon & Asparagus with Lemon-Garlic Butter Sauce

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Looking for a recipe to help you eat more heart-healthy fish and veggies? Add this salmon and asparagus dinner to your rotation. Not only is it healthy and delicious, this sheet-pan dinner is also easy to make and a breeze to clean up.

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One-Pot Chicken Pesto Pasta with Asparagus

one pot chicken pesto pasta

This healthy chicken pesto pasta recipe is easy to make thanks to convenience ingredients like rotisserie chicken and store-bought pesto. The addition of fresh asparagus brightens up the look and flavors of this easy one-pot dinner. Fresh basil, if you have it on hand, is a nice finishing touch.

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One-Pot Lemon-Broccoli Pasta with Parmesan

overhead shot of brown bowl filled with rotini pasta, broccoli, parmesan and lemon slices

This hearty pasta dish with bright, fresh flavor is ideal for busy weeknights. The Parmesan adds welcome saltiness and notes of umami and you get added texture from the slight crunch of broccoli and whole-wheat noodles. Add some shredded rotisserie chicken, grilled shrimp or crispy chickpeas to punch up the protein.

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Ginger Roasted Salmon & Broccoli

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This quick Asian salmon recipe uses the sauce for both glazing the salmon and tossing with the broccoli. Serve over rice noodles or brown rice tossed with sesame oil and scallions.

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Crispy Cod with Charred Snow Peas & Creamy Herb Sauce

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This crispy cod recipe shows you how to make golden fish that's not deep-fried, to put a healthy twist on a classic. Pat it dry and dredge it with a bit of flour before sautéing in a hot pan.

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Easy Shrimp Tacos

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These easy shrimp tacos are inspired by the seafood tacos in Baja California.

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Tuna Poke

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Poke (pronounced poke-ay), a Hawaiian word meaning "to chop" or "to cut," refers to a traditional Hawaiian salad of diced raw fish in a simple, soy-based sauce with punchy seasonings like toasted sesame and chopped scallion greens. These tuna poke bowls feature seasoned brown rice and fresh veggies for a healthy, satisfying meal packed with protein and fiber.

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Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

Instant Pot Chicken & Vegetable Soup with Noodles
Greg DuPree

This easy soup recipe cooks up quickly thanks to the use of an electric pressure cooker or multicooker, like the Instant Pot. It packs in tons of filling veggies without packing on the calories. Plus, it happens to be entirely plant-based. If you aren't eating vegan, top it with a little Parmesan cheese or pesto to add even more flavor.

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Creamy Spinach Pasta

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This might be one of the creamiest light pasta dishes you've ever had! The mascarpone cheese adds a richness to the spinach pasta that's unexpected--especially in a healthy pasta recipe.

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