As soon as I see "...preheat oven to...", I know it won't be "quick". When I'm in a rush, I stick to the stovetop and save the roasting and braises for the weekend.

I've become much better at reading a recipe and deciphering how long it will take me and my skills to prepare it. I now make it a point to read a recipe through multiple times before getting to the actual preparation of it. A quick perusal of the number of ingredients is a given along with the ingredients themselves in addition to what form they are added to a dish. Not just cooked grains or meat but also if something needs to be pureed, shredded or another step that can't easily be done with my chefs knife-do I need to pull out the food processor or blender for this step? Passive time is a good time for me to clean as I go and then spend some time playing with my daughter before sitting down to eat.

I just made escarole and white bean soup by sauteeing garlic and escarole in olive oil. Then I add chicken broth (homemade or canned, whatevs) and can of cannelini beans. I put in some whole wheat pasta to entice the kids. Guess what? Everyone loved it!
http://www.cookingwithjeanne.blogspot.com/

Definitely staple ingredients and number of steps.

I look at the ingredient list to make sure there aren't any obscure items that will require a trip to the grocery store. If it passes that test, I'll keep reading.

Almost always I can look at the title and/ or picture and tell you how long it will take to make.

For me, it has to do with how many dishes are involved. One pot meal = "quick" even if it needs 45min in the oven. Something that needs a sauce prepped separately from the rest of the dish (particularly if it needs to be reduced, strained or otherwise coddled) = "not so quick."

Or put another way, if it requires close attention to a recipe, not so quick and easy. I'd rather just toss some ingredients together based on experience and be done with it.

I never designate a recipe as "quick" until I've made it at least once. Too many a quick-sounding recipe has turned out not to be...

quick doesn't necessarily need to be in the title. The ingredients are important. NO chilis. Otherwise do I already have it on hand? I don't mind oven time. I'll prep and throw it in the oven and walk the dog. It's got to strike a nerve and not use a bunch of premade/boxed ingredients (can broth is ok).

I generally like to read recipes once, get the idea of everything, then go on without the recipe. It always feels very unnatural and counter-intuitive to keep going back to see if I need a teaspoon or tablespoon of something -- I like using "recipes" that are more just an "idea" that I can then work out myself with my own tastes. If I can see there are a lot of specific things I'll need to follow, I save it for my husband to cook - he needs exact directions so he's good with those sorts of recipes.

I save dishes that require me to follow a recipe for times when I feel like being in the kitchen and really cooking. A quick dish is one I've made before, is adaptable to modification based on what's in the pantry/frig, and does not have to be "watched" for any period of time. When in doubt, garlic in olive oil with sauteed vegetables and a little meat for flavoring (proscuitto, pancetta, ham) gets tossed with pasta and topped with a nice grating cheese whenever I need a quick meal--lately that's been sauteed cherry tomatoes, herbs, oil-cured olives that's ready to toss as soon as the pasta's cooked.

Quick recipes require minimal prep work (particularly chopping; particularly precise cuts like mince, dice, and julliane). They also create minimal dishes.

To me, something with "quick" in the title usually means a shortcut of some kind that involves something from a box or a can. No thanks. I'm with @jsl988 on this one - if it uses one pot or fewer, I'm in!

My quickest of quick meals? Reheated leftovers! Microwave, stovetop, or broiler, nothing beats a meal that's already made and just needs reheating.

Quick cooking means I made up the recipe on the spot. When in a hurry I don't have time to run through all my cookbooks and magazines, I just get creative.

I agree with alicelost - the number of ingredients that read "chopped," "diced," "minced," or "julienned," can be pretty important. Sometimes it's easy to underestimate the time involved with those. If they need to be cooked separately, things can get even more complex.

I definitely don't go by number of ingredients, as a ton of things I make have a bunch of spices that make the ingredient list look long, but take 2 seconds to add. Don't mind oven/passive cooking time, either, as I can do something around the house/work/clean up while that happens. In general anything that has a long cooking time with "stir occasionally" or "stir frequently" or anything that requires a whole process of cooking on the stovetop and then putting the dish in the oven too are "long" to me. Also, "quick" recipes are suspect for the reason vintagejenta mentions...

I agree with alicelost.

For me, a quick recipe is something that calls for simple and easy to obtain ingredients. better yet, if I have them in my fridge or pantry. If I have to go research a technique or item, it's usually not quick. Oh and using the oven is fine. For example roasted vegetables don't require much effort and can make a filling meal.

A quick recipe for me involves staple ingredients and very little prep time. Usually it's stovetop-only, but I have a couple oven recipes that I consider "quick." My favorite quick recipes are the kind where I make chicken taste good in the time it takes brown rice to cook. Generally, we're talking "chicken, rice, a dash of oil, sauce/spices" with a veggie on the side.

I agree with some other commenters here: the fewer dishes, the better. If I have to spend an hour washing up after dinner, it sort of defeats the "quick"ness of the recipe.

I made this vegetarian chili last week. Ideally, it should simmer for a hour, but prep was a breeze—just a few veggies to chop: http://jillharris.suite101.com/hearty-vegetarian-chili-a9920

For me, quick means 30 minutes from walking into the kitchen to putting it on the table. As others have said, it's not how many ingredients there are, but whether they're in my pantry. The main thing for me is how many steps. Can I prepare one thing while water boils, for example? Could I sub some frozen veggies and skip a cleaning/chopping step? Any way to work in my microwave? The mini-prep? One pot is good, but two pots that work together is ok too, as long as one can be ignored while I get the other going.

I've kind of given up on the whole 30-minute recipe thing. I'm a slow cook and there isn't much I can actually get finished in half an hour. Plus most of the 30-minute recipes I've seen use all kinds of overpriced prefab crap.

My boyfriend and I are on different schedules and rarely eat dinner together, so I tend to cook a bunch of stuff on the weekend and we eat it all week long. No rush, no stress, no snacking while I cook because I'm starving.

Quick for me would be something that takes less than 30 minutes from entering the kitchen to serving the dish. Sometimes I make all kinds of plans and they just don't work out, and then I need something good that can be made before everyone starves.

Something I've been calculating lately is how long it takes to assemble the dish before I put in in the oven, which has helped with time management, too. I used to forget that "bake for 40 minutes" did not mean food in 45.

I'm quite sluggish, and hate bustling around in the kitchen, so passive cooking is key - recipes where I can throw the ingredients into one pot, then let it cook in the oven whilst I get on with something else. Nigella Lawson's recipes often fit the bill.

Now that I have a toddler, my definition of "quick" has changed. I actually look for multi-step recipes that require little/no work at dinnertime. That way I can do prep work throughout the day, while she naps or when she's happily playing. And then at dinnertime, when she's most likely to be cranky, I have the least amount of work -- just 5 minutes to combine all the pre-prepped ingredients and heat on the stove or in the oven and then I can give her my full attention.

For me, many "30 minute" recipes are too stressful, because it means rushing through multiple steps at once, while trying to keep a child from screaming.