- 8 hours ago
Short on time but still want a satisfying, homemade dinner? In this video, Nicole shares five easy dinners you can cook in just 30 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights when you need something fast, comforting, and full of flavor. Nicole starts with a creamy Chicken Pot Pasta that delivers all the cozy vibes of a pot pie in a quicker, weeknight-ready format. Next up is a Chicken Chip Bake, a Mexican-inspired dinner made with tortilla chips, pinto beans, and bold flavors that come together fast. For something crispy and craveable, she makes Air Fryer Bang Bang Salmon, finished with a sweet-spicy sauce that feels restaurant-worthy. Then it’s comfort food at its finest with Poor Man’s Steak, a budget-friendly classic made with tender pork chops. Nicole wraps things up with Cuban-Style Picadillo, a savory, slightly sweet ground-meat dish that’s packed with flavor and perfect for spooning over rice.
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00:00Short on time and tired of cooking,
00:02I'm taking care of you today.
00:03I've got five dinners you can have on the table
00:05in half an hour.
00:05When you're talking about 30-minute meals,
00:07you can expect that there's gonna be minimal ingredients,
00:10therefore, also being budget-friendly.
00:13Also, a couple shortcuts like pre-cooked chicken
00:16are gonna come in clutch.
00:17I'm starting with my favorite type of meal,
00:19a one-pan dinner, and I'm making chicken pot pasta
00:22because it just sounds cute.
00:23I'm starting off by melting a little butter in my skillet.
00:26One-pan dinners, we're gonna build those layers of flavor,
00:28and for this one in particular,
00:30we don't have to dirty another pot to cook our pasta.
00:32It's all gonna cook together.
00:34To the melted butter, I'm going in with that onion.
00:36Cook that till it's softened,
00:38and then I'm gonna make the cream sauce.
00:40So this is a chicken pot pie
00:42where we don't have to use the cream of can.
00:44Now I'm gonna go in with a little bit of garlic
00:46and just cook it for about a minute until it's fragrant.
00:48Now to make the cream of, a couple tablespoons of flour.
00:51Let that cook for about a minute,
00:53and then we'll go with our stock.
00:54I'm doing a combination of chicken stock and heavy cream
00:57because you get that chicken flavor,
00:59but you get that good creaminess.
01:00This mixture is also gonna be a little loose
01:02because we're gonna cook our pasta directly in the liquid.
01:04Make sure you stir it to get all of those clumps out.
01:08Make sure there are no little clumps of flour in there.
01:10Add in some seasonings, a little salt, linipop.
01:13And I'm gonna go in with some fresh thyme.
01:15You could also use dried.
01:16If you wanna use the dried instead of the fresh,
01:18just use a lot less.
01:20All right, I'm just gonna bring this up to a simmer,
01:22and add in our pasta.
01:24You're gonna think this is not enough pasta,
01:26but trust me, it absorbs all this liquid.
01:29Bring this back to a simmer,
01:30and then you're gonna reduce the heat slightly.
01:32You don't want it to be at a rolling boil.
01:33Then you're just gonna cook it, stirring occasionally,
01:36until the pasta is tender and it's gotten thick and creamy.
01:39Everybody's stoves work a little differently,
01:40so yours might evaporate out before it has absorbed.
01:44So you might need to add a little more liquid,
01:45but if you just keep your eye on it
01:46and don't let it get too hot, we'll be good to go.
01:49So far, this whole process has only taken
01:51about five to seven minutes.
01:52Now, it only takes about 10 to 12 more minutes,
01:55and then we just finish it off.
01:56Who would have thought you could have
01:57a chicken pot pie experience in less than an hour?
02:00Not me.
02:01All right, as you can see, it has absorbed a lot of the liquid,
02:04but we're about to go in with some more ingredients,
02:06and the pasta is just about there
02:09because it's gonna cook a little bit longer.
02:10So I like to go on with this next step
02:12just before it's done so that you don't get mushy pasta.
02:15Now I'm going in with a couple cups of cooked chicken.
02:18I'm just using rotisserie, but if you have meal prepped
02:22and you've cooked some chicken ahead of time,
02:24it's a good time to use it.
02:25In a 10-ounce bag of frozen mixed veggies,
02:28adding this in, and then I want it to come back
02:30up to temperature, so it just cooks for another,
02:33you know, five minutes, and then it's just about done.
02:36Those veggies are gonna give off a little moisture,
02:38so before you go add more liquid,
02:40just kind of see how this does,
02:41and if you want to add a touch more cream,
02:43this will be the time to do it.
02:44Okay, once those veggies are heated through,
02:47we're done, almost.
02:48Finish it off, because it's pasta, some Parmesan cheese.
02:52I know this typically isn't in chicken pot pie,
02:54but it's always in pasta.
02:56Always check your seasonings.
02:57Make sure you don't need any more salt and pepper.
03:03Mm, delightful.
03:05Go with a little more salt and a little more pep.
03:07That was fast.
03:08Let's serve it up.
03:10This is the epitome of comfort food,
03:13and I love that you get all your meat, your veggies,
03:15your carbs in one bowl and in one pot.
03:18I'm gonna finish it with a little more cheese
03:22and some chopped parsley and more pep.
03:24A new take on a classic chicken pot pasta.
03:28Yes, please.
03:29This is one that's family-friendly,
03:31and you only have one dish to clean up.
03:33It's kind of like a combo of chicken Alfredo meets chicken pot pie.
03:43Crowd-pleaser, easy, 30 minutes, dinner served.
03:47A-plus, plus-plus.
03:51I got one for your Taco Tuesday, a chicken chip bake.
03:54It's only gonna take about five or so minutes to prep,
03:5620 minutes in the oven, under 30 minutes on the table.
04:00This is kind of a cross between like chilaquiles meets enchiladas meets nachos.
04:07It's so good.
04:08In order to keep this at a 30-minute or less meal,
04:12you gotta go for your shortcuts here.
04:13I've got prepped, pre-cooked chicken from a rotisserie that I've shredded.
04:17Costco, baby, $4.99.
04:21I've gone ahead and shredded some cheese also,
04:23and then shortcut with pre-made enchilada sauces.
04:27Take your chicken, dump it in, along with some green onions.
04:31I'm gonna keep some out for the topping,
04:33and I'm going in with a little bit of the cheese.
04:35These canned enchilada sauces to me have like the perfect amount of seasoning.
04:39You never really have to add salt and pepper here.
04:41I'm gonna add in a can of the green enchilada sauce here and mix that up.
04:45Now you want to lightly grease a 9x13 dish.
04:48If you've got one that's a little deeper, perfect.
04:50But I'm also gonna add in just a little bit of oil.
04:53Get you some tortilla chips.
04:54I really like the ones that are like a thick-cut kind of home-style chip.
04:58It's gonna taste more authentic, but really you can use any chip you have.
05:02Then I'm going in with a can of pinto beans that I've drained and rinsed.
05:06You can leave the beans out if y'all are not bean people,
05:08but I think it adds that fiber that we all need.
05:11And then a cup of cheese here.
05:14That kind of gets in the nooks and crannies.
05:16All right, then you're gonna pour in about a cup of the red enchilada sauce.
05:19Not quite the whole can.
05:21Now in goes our chicken mixture.
05:24This is a really hearty meal, too.
05:26I would easily serve this to company.
05:28All right, then you're gonna go in with the rest of the chips,
05:32or just whatever fits in your casserole douche.
05:34All right, then you pour over the rest of the enchilada sauce,
05:37which is the rest of this can and another can.
05:39Make sure it kind of fills in those little nooks and crannies there, too.
05:43Then more cheese.
05:44We don't want it to dry out, so we're gonna cover it with some foil.
05:49Now this goes into the oven 425 degrees for about 20 minutes,
05:52then uncover it and go another five minutes or so.
05:55Oh, it smells so good.
05:57Look at that.
05:58A little bubbly around the edges.
06:00I like doing this kind of meal kind of like you would a taco bar,
06:03where you just put all your toppings on the side and let people kind of make it what they want.
06:08Because nobody's not gonna love chicken, chips, and cheese at this point.
06:12The inside is gonna be nice and creamy while the top has that little crunch to it.
06:18So cheesy.
06:19I like to go on with some pico because you've got all the rich indulgence.
06:23Now you want some pops of freshness in there, a little hot and cold.
06:27A little of the green onions we saved from before.
06:29You can add some avocado here.
06:31You could do some guacamole, jalapenos, whatever you want.
06:34But look at that.
06:35The chicken chip bake for the win.
06:38The chips are just kind of magical in there.
06:45You get a little kick from that enchilada sauce.
06:47Plus it has tang, so it kind of cuts through the richness.
06:50Perfectly cooked, perfectly tender.
06:52This right here should take the place of any of your favorite enchilada casseroles.
06:55And thank you later.
06:57Next up is not a one pan situation, but rather an entree and two sides in less than 30 minutes.
07:03Air fryer, bang bang salmon with rice and green beans.
07:06This is one of my greater creations over the years.
07:11Get your salmon already cut in portions.
07:14Makes things a little easier.
07:16And then you make your bang bang sauce.
07:18Go in with mayonnaise and then sweet chili sauce.
07:21This is very affordable on the international aisle at your grocery store.
07:25So you've got your sweet, your creamy, and now kick it up with some sriracha.
07:29And you have bang bang.
07:31Our main meal prep is done in, what, less than two minutes?
07:34All right, so we're going to spread about a tablespoon or so on each salmon filet and just pop it in the air fryer.
07:40Don't let your spoon go back in here because you can serve it with more bang bang sauce at the end,
07:45but not if it's been, you know, contaminated with our raw salmon.
07:48And then these just go into the air fryer 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.
07:52And while that's happening, you saute your green beans and you might be making rice.
07:56Those aren't the most beautiful pieces of salmon.
08:00I don't know what is. Look at that.
08:02The sugar that is in the sweet chili sauce is what caramelizes on that.
08:08And I've gone all out and made some rice.
08:11You really have time to make rice from scratch if you want.
08:15I'm just trying to give you all the benefits of a 30-minute dinner.
08:19Clean out my inner Rachael Ray with these 30-minute meals.
08:22For the green beans, I just get the steam in bag.
08:25Just steam them in the microwave for about three minutes and then
08:28throw them in a skillet with a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
08:31Place on that beautiful bang bang salmon.
08:34I mean, this is one of those, like, restaurant-quality meals in under half an hour.
08:38Spoon on a little more of that sauce.
08:41Garnish, if you please.
08:43Air Fryer Bang Bang Salmon with two sides in less than half an hour.
08:47See how we did.
08:49It has the skin on the bottom.
08:51When you cook it like this, you can easily just flake it right off the skin.
08:54You could also just peel the whole filet off the skin.
08:57Or you can eat the skin.
09:03I'm glad I revived this recipe.
09:05I forgot how good it is.
09:06And it's another one of those recipes where you're like,
09:08why don't I make this every single week?
09:10My whole family would eat this one up.
09:11As a matter of fact, they will be for dinner tonight.
09:17If you don't make anything else from this episode, you better make that.
09:21I bring you another restaurant-quality meal.
09:23Entree and two sides that's also very family-friendly in half an hour.
09:28I call this poor man steak because it's not quite steak.
09:33It's pork chops, but I'm going to make these pork chops taste just like steak.
09:37This has been my new thing in my house because have you seen the price of steaks these days?
09:43And especially when I've got to buy at least three or four of them.
09:46Did you know you can get four steaks for less than 15 bucks?
09:50And they're going to be good.
09:51I'll prove it.
09:52We are going to be having poor man's steak with baked potatoes and broccoli in under 30 minutes.
09:58How do you ask?
09:59Well, first of all, we're going to microwave the baked potatoes.
10:02Now, if you want this meal to take a little longer but still be just as easy,
10:05you can pop these in the oven or the air fryer for a little more time.
10:09But microwave baked potatoes are just fine.
10:13So stab them, get them going about, I don't know, six, seven minutes in the microwave.
10:18Baked potatoes are done while we cook the pork.
10:19And then towards the end, I'm going to prepare my broccoli the same way I did the green beans,
10:22kind of steam them in the bag and then just give them a quick saute.
10:25You could just leave them steamed, but they have more flavor when you do that second step.
10:29Now, when my dad used to make steaks, he used to always do like some sauteed mushrooms
10:34and put on top.
10:35So that's what we're doing here.
10:37So when it comes to seasoning, I just keep it really simple.
10:40Salt and pepper, a little garlic powder.
10:42You do want to be kind of generous here because we want to create that good kind of steak crust.
10:47I'm also using bone-in center-cut pork chops.
10:52That's what you want.
10:53This is the best way to cook pork chops if you want like a juicy pork chop and not a dried out one.
10:58I mean, I really did this kind of just by accident one day,
11:01and it totally satisfied the steak craving that I'm like,
11:04I might only buy the real steaks on special occasions.
11:07This is how you can enjoy steak on a weeknight and on a beer budget.
11:11All right, I'll season the other side when we get in the pan.
11:13Everything else happens in the pan, so come on over.
11:15Get probably your largest skillet, get it hot, and go in with a little oil.
11:19Just enough to cover the bottom.
11:21I'm going to place these in, season side down.
11:24And then season the other side and let it go.
11:27Walk away.
11:28Let them cook for about four minutes without touching them.
11:33Crust.
11:33Good.
11:34First layer of flavor.
11:36Kind of give them a little love on the sides.
11:39Putting those aside.
11:40Now look at all that meaty flavor right here.
11:42Time to lift it up.
11:44A little bit of butter with that milk.
11:47Flavor the butter with a little bit of garlic.
11:49And down with the mushrooms.
11:50I'm not going to salt these until later.
11:53If you salt them now, it just kind of draws out the moisture
11:55and they don't really get brown.
11:56You want to get a little color on these mushrooms.
11:59So just kind of let them go for a second.
12:02A little olive oil to help it along.
12:04You can use just the white button mushrooms if you want.
12:07I'm using the baby portabellos or creminis.
12:10They kind of have a slightly more meaty flavor.
12:13Now Worcestershire is going to give it that steak flavor.
12:16This is also the way my dad used to make his sauteed mushrooms.
12:19And it also has the acid in here, which is going to lift off the flavor from the bottom.
12:23And I'm just going to kind of stretch it out by adding a little water.
12:26And then some fresh thyme.
12:28Use your spoon to scrape up that flavor.
12:30And I'm going to let this reduce by half.
12:32All right.
12:32You can see that flavor is kind of concentrated right there.
12:35Now I'm going to stir in a little more butter.
12:37Now you know in the restaurants when they baste their steaks with butter,
12:41that's what we're about to do.
12:42So I'm going to kind of let that melt.
12:44Put my steaks back in, along with any juices that might be in the pan.
12:50You can add more butter if you want.
12:52Trying to be healthy.
12:53So just kind of take this mixture, spoon it over.
12:57We're not like basting to cook it like they do the steaks.
13:00We're just basting it to add more flavor.
13:02Just kind of let it all get acquainted with each other.
13:05Okay.
13:05So then you're just going to cook this for about two to three more minutes.
13:09Just to kind of heat those pork chops back through.
13:11Remind you of steak.
13:12And if you could smell it, you would smell this.
13:14Smells just like steak.
13:16Potatoes are in the microwave.
13:17So is the broccoli.
13:18I'm going to saute that broccoli while these rest and serve it all up together.
13:22Serve it up.
13:24Hot baked potato straight from the microwave.
13:26That was about six and a half, seven minutes.
13:28A little butter.
13:29Let that melt.
13:30We always got to have something green with our dinners.
13:32And now our steak.
13:34You gotta admit, it looks good.
13:36But it's all about the sauce.
13:38And I hope you were timing that because that's more of like a 20-minute meal.
13:41Finish my potato.
13:43There's no way that you would ever guess
13:46that we can get steak and potatoes in under 30 minutes.
13:49Let me show you how good this is.
13:52So tender.
13:53So juicy.
13:55Like a twinge of pink tinge.
13:58Twinge.
13:59Tinge.
13:59I hate it.
14:01It's a tinge.
14:02Just a very faint tinge of pink in the middle.
14:09If you ate this blindfolded, I swear you would think it's steak.
14:13I swear.
14:14This is one of those things you're either going to have to take my word for it
14:17or test it out and see if I'm telling the truth or not.
14:19And this next dish, Cuban-style picadillo, is what you're going to make with your pack of ground
14:27beef that's sitting around.
14:28A little something different, but also familiar at the same time.
14:32This is a traditional kind of Latin American dish that combines ground beef with peppers,
14:38onions, garlic, a few other things.
14:40It's packed with flavor.
14:41It's similar and can be used for like tacos.
14:45But I'm just going to serve it over rice with some various toppings.
14:49I'm just starting with a little bit of bell pepper and onion.
14:52This can, like I said, be used for fillings for tacos, but also for empanadas.
14:57It's kind of like a multi-purpose situation here.
15:00And if you make a big batch and you have leftovers, you could easily turn this into a pot of chili.
15:05Those are the kind of things I do.
15:06When you see me cook from my freezer, it's things like this.
15:10This is the extent of the prep, which happens in less than five minutes.
15:13Everything else happens on the stove.
15:15Start with a little olive oil in my skillet.
15:18And I'll cook the onion and bell pepper in there.
15:19While this might seem like a base for chili or tacos,
15:23and you see some other ingredients I'm adding, you'll see the difference.
15:26Give that a head start to soften before I add in the ground beef.
15:30And some garlic.
15:31And you want this to be really soft and cooked down, so it takes about five minutes or so.
15:35Once that's all softened in with your ground beef, I'm using a lean ground beef here,
15:39and then cook that until it's browned and crumbled.
15:41Now it's about to get interesting, but don't be scared.
15:43I would never steer you wrong.
15:45This is all looking delicious.
15:46Now we really kick it up with the flavors.
15:49There's going to be so much going on.
15:50It's just going to be like a party in your mouth.
15:52Going with an eight ounce can of tomato sauce, olives, half a cup of raisins.
15:57Listen, if I were you, I wouldn't tell anybody, but it's in there.
16:01They're not going to know.
16:02It's going to blend right in, but it's going to be the sweet to the salty.
16:06For more brininess, some capers, a little bit of cumin.
16:11Well, more than a little bit.
16:12Just a little bit of sugar for balance, and then the sazon.
16:18Everybody loves this stuff.
16:19Man, oh man, I wish you could smell it.
16:22This is my first time making this recipe, but I chose it because it sounded so good.
16:26I'm going to rinse out the can with a couple tablespoons of water.
16:34Doesn't need much salt.
16:35I'm just going to do a pinch.
16:36All right, and then we're just going to cover it and let it simmer for about five minutes.
16:40Fast, easy, and on the table in less than 30 minutes.
16:46I'm really excited about this.
16:48I think if my kids were looking, they really wouldn't think too much about this.
16:51They would think it's black beans because sometimes when I make taco meat or something,
16:54I put some black beans in there.
16:56I'll try it on them tonight.
16:58Serve it up.
16:58All right, let me show you how we dish this up.
17:01Again, you could have just made rice from start to finish,
17:03and it would be ready in, you know, 15 minutes.
17:08But at this point, I'm on my fifth recipe, and I'm all about the shortcut.
17:12Feeling lazy.
17:14This is just one serving.
17:15Suggestion is over rice.
17:17I just did some quick pickled red onion because I think that sounds good with it.
17:21I'm going in with some cilantro picadillo in half an hour.
17:27In with the fork, out with the perfect bite.
17:29There's so much flavor going on here from like all ends of the spectrum.
17:36You can't make out what everything is.
17:38It doesn't just taste like I'm eating taco meat on top of rice.
17:41This really tastes like a whole new dinner experience.
17:47I purposely got a bite with multiple raisins in it,
17:52and you cannot tell it's a raisin.
17:53You just get like a hint of sweetness.
17:57I could see how this could be really good inside of an empanada,
18:00or layered in some sort of casserole.
18:02Either way, if you've never had picadillo before,
18:04this is a great recipe to start with.
18:05And it won't be a waste of time because it only takes 30 minutes.
18:10I've just completed one meal for every weeknight,
18:13and I didn't even break a sweat.
18:14To be able to make five complete dinners before lunchtime is an accomplishment.
18:18I feel like Superwoman.
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