Track and Field Edition: 10 Recipes That Clear All the Weeknight Hurdles

It seems like the age-old question of what’s for dinner always prevails — especially on busy weeknights. You get home late, you’re exhausted, and on top of that, you’re starving. The solution has to be a meal that’s not only easy, but also ridiculously fast to make.

These 10 recipes clear that hurdle without even breaking a sweat. They take no more than 30 minutes to make and rely on a lot of ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Lean on any the next time you’re stuck on dinner and it’s sure to not only be a success, but also an Olympic win.

Fish is a great choice for a weeknight because it takes no time to cook. Mild and flaky tilapia is a blank slate for just about any flavor profile. Here, a quick Asian-inspired sauce is poured over the filets and baked while your side of rice or orzo cooks up.

In less time than it takes for you to call for delivery and wait patiently (or not so patiently) at your door for it to arrive, you can whip up this speedy stir-fry. Deeply flavored with soy sauce and dry sherry, the beef is combined with tender asparagus and mushrooms to make a one-bowl meal.

If you’ve never tried one-pot pasta, you’ve been missing out. Not only does it eliminate the hassle of cooking the pasta and sauce separately by cooking them together, but the whole meal also takes just 20 minutes to make. While the pasta boils, the sauce ingredients simmer in the same pot and the water evaporates to create a creamy, flavorful sauce for the linguine.

This is the kind of vegetarian dinner that can be made with the scrappiest of pantries. Pull out that dusty can of refried beans, that bag of almost-wilted baby spinach, and some cheese and you’ve got a comforting dinner in a matter of minutes.

This is a way to spice up your weekly chicken breast routine. Opting for skin-on, bone-in breasts means you get more roasted flavor from the meat, plus that addictively crispy skin. Cook them up fast in a skillet with broccoli, bread cubes, and plenty of garlic, and you’ve got one crowd-pleasing chicken dinner.

Sometimes all you need at the end of a long day is a big bowl of comfort food. But pasta tossed in a traditional Alfredo sauce can often feel too heavy after a few bites. This version still has heavy cream to keep it nice and rich, but bumps up the lemon factor to make it tangy and light.

A can of white beans increases the protein, while plenty of fresh veggies boost the wholesome factor of this easy shrimp dinner. All that’s needed is some crusty bread to round things out and soak up the flavorful juices.

This is the kind of fancy dinner that you might not have thought possible for a busy weeknight, but tossing both the meat and veggies on the same sheet pan and quickly broiling them makes it possible. While they cook, an easy feta and sour cream sauce comes together to put this dinner over the top.

Couscous is a weeknight champion, as it cooks in just about five minutes. Stuff it into ripe tomatoes and bake them until soft and juicy and you’ve got a simple dinner that needs no more than a green salad.

If you have leftover cooked rice in the refrigerator, this is the dinner to make. Leftover rice is a bit drier than freshly cooked rice, which means it gets extra crispy when fried. All it needs to boost it into meal territory is spicy kimchi, soft scrambled eggs, and plenty of wilted greens.