30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (2024)

From luxurious crab pasta to simple sheet-pan chicken thighs, these dinners make it easy to enjoy a satisfying meal any night of the week. Each of these recipes boasts at least 15 grams of protein per serving, so you can get your fill of the muscle-building, digestion-supporting nutrient at the end of the day. Recipes like our One-Pot Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta and Creamy Mushroom & Spinach Pasta are tasty meals you can whip up in just half an hour.

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Chickpea Pasta with Mushrooms & Kale

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (1)

Loading up your pasta with vegetables like the kale and mushrooms here is not only delicious, it also makes the meal more satisfying.

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Cheesesteak Salad

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (2)

Inspired by the Philly cheesesteak, this salad features the flavors of the East Coast classic without the hoagie roll. Adding Worcestershire sauce and the steak drippings to the dressing gives it even more umami.

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Creamy Mushroom & Spinach Pasta

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Make this creamy mushroom and spinach pasta for an easy, healthy dinner. Be sure to save some of the pasta-cooking water as it helps the sauce emulsify.

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One-Pot Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (4)

Thanks to quick-cooking shrimp, this one-pot meal comes together in record time. Tomatoes add a burst of color and acidity, while chopped basil brings freshness. Serve over pasta or whole grains.

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Lemon Crab Pasta

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (5)

Earthy, savory miso complements the flavor of the sweet crab perfectly in this quick and easy lemon crab pasta dish. A punch of garlic adds depth, and lemon adds some sunshine, while parsley refreshes and brings a pop of color. While you could substitute whole-wheat pasta for added fiber, regular pasta allows the flavors of the crab and lemon to shine.

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Chicken-&-Rice-Stuffed Peppers with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (6)

Sometimes meals come in perfect packaging. This is one of those times. Here's a satisfying dinner packed into two bell pepper halves per serving. Chicken and rice are infused with umami from sun-dried tomatoes and the filling is bound by Parmesan and a bit of cream for cheesy goodness. Use shelf-stable precooked brown rice to make this meal super quick.

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Frittata with Asparagus, Leek & Ricotta

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (7)

Serve this spring-vegetable-loaded frittata with an arugula salad and a hunk of crusty bread. Tip: This recipe cooks quickly, so be sure to have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go.

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Seared Scallops with Green Goddess Slaw

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (8)

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

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Cheesy Mushroom, Leek & Prosciutto Toasts

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (9)

Salty Kalamata olives and prosciutto add a hit of flavor to the sautéed mushrooms and leeks that top these toasts. Gooey mozzarella holds it all together.

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Roasted Maple-Glazed Chicken & Carrots

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (10)

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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Creamy Chicken, Mushroom & Ricotta Pasta

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (11)

Ricotta cheese is the key to this creamy pasta dish made without the cream. It melts down along with Parmesan into a luscious cheesy sauce, thanks to a little pasta-cooking water. For the smoothest results, use freshly grated Parmesan—pre-grated cheese often contains cellulose that can prevent melting.

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Veggie Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (12)

Maya Feller, M.S., RD, CDN, of Brooklyn-based Maya Feller Nutrition, upgrades this popular budget-friendly combo. "Adding veggies to a classic sandwich—in this case, broccoli, zucchini and red bell pepper—boosts the nutrient-density of the meal," she says. This recipe was part of a feature story, "The Real Cost of Healthy Food."

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Sheet-Pan Poblano-&-Corn Chicken Fajitas

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (13)

These sheet-pan poblano-and-corn chicken fajitas are seasoned with mild ancho chile powder, paprika and cumin. The chicken and vegetables cook on a sheet pan under the broiler so you can forget working over a hot stove or grill to get dinner on the table fast. Plus, with only one pan, cleanup is a breeze!

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Black Bean Fajita Skillet

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (14)

You can often find presliced and ready-to-cook fresh vegetables in your grocer's produce section. Use these to your advantage to cut down on dinnertime prep. Here, presliced fajita vegetables are sautéed with canned black beans and Southwest seasoning for a quick and easy Tex Mex-inspired meal. Plus, this recipe requires just three ingredients, not including basics like salt, pepper and oil. You can easily take your bowl up a notch by adding some cheese, sour cream or another tasty topping.

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Sheet-Pan Shrimp & Asparagus

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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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3-Ingredient One-Pot Lemon Pasta with Rotisserie Chicken

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This satisfying one-pot pasta cooks with just the right amount of water so you're left with perfectly cooked noodles and enough starchy liquid to act as a sauce. Stir in lemon juice and zest at the end for a bright finish.

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Pesto Salmon

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Herby and bright pesto coats tender salmon fillets in this quick and healthy fish dish. Colorful cherry tomatoes burst and combine with shallots to complement the pesto in this fast and simple weeknight dinner.

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Chopped Salad with Chicken & Creamy Chipotle Dressing

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (18)

This chopped salad with chicken is smoky and zesty thanks to the creamy chipotle dressing. Cilantro adds a pop of freshness to each bite.

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30-Minute Mini Meatloaves with Whipped Cauliflower & Green Beans

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (19)

Comfort food but make it fast! This recipe incorporates a number of pantry ingredients and shortcuts like frozen cauliflower and steam-in-the-bag green beans to cut way down on prep time. Baking the meatloaf in a muffin tin reduces cook time by more than half and makes portion control easy.

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Chicken Caprese Sandwich

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (20)

This chicken caprese sandwich has all the classic flavors of a caprese salad with an added boost of protein from grilled chicken. Using store-bought grilled chicken makes assembly quick and easy. This sandwich for one is made in a skillet, but would work equally well in a panini press if you have one on hand.

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Creamy Chicken, Vegetable & Sun-Dried Tomato Soup

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (21)

This creamy soup is packed with vegetables, including zucchini and carrots. Precooked chicken saves time and energy, so you can make this cozy soup on a busy weeknight, or any day when it's cold out.

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One-Pot Chicken Pasta with Cajun Seasonings

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (22)

This one-pot chicken pasta dish with Cajun seasonings is a snap to whip up. Here we use the technique of stirring often to help the starches release for natural creaminess. We love the spicy flavor profile of Cajun seasoning, but you can substitute different spices depending on what you have on hand.

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Pork Schnitzel with Creamy Dill Sauce

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (23)

Pounding pork chops before breading and pan-frying is the signature method to getting crisp yet tender German schnitzel. Using an air fryer works well too and cuts back on calories.

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One-Pot Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Pasta

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (24)

This creamy chicken and mushroom pasta recipe makes for an easy weeknight dinner. Using store-bought rotisserie chicken saves time when cooking, and leftover chicken would work just as well.

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Cheesy Ground Beef & Cauliflower Casserole

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Ground beef and cauliflower combine to create a hearty weeknight casserole that both kids and adults will love. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

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One-Skillet Bourbon Chicken

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (26)

Coating the chicken in cornstarch might seem like an extra step, but the reward is twofold: it gives the chicken a crispy exterior and also thickens the sauce. Legend has it that bourbon chicken was originally named after Bourbon Street in New Orleans; it can often be found on menus at Chinese American restaurants.

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Easy Tuna Cakes with Greens & Lemon Dressing

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Dried herbs, white beans and canned tuna come together in these easy tuna cakes served over greens. A lemony dressing ties this quick dinner together.

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3-Ingredient Farro Bowl with Rotisserie Chicken

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (28)

To make this hearty grain bowl, grab a salad kit from the grocery store. Then, top the kit with farro and chicken for a high-protein lunch or dinner that's ready in minutes.

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Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta with Chicken

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If you love warm spinach and artichoke dip, then you'll love that we turned this classic dip into a creamy pasta dish with chicken. 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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Shrimp & Avocado Salad

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30 High-Protein Dinners You Can Make in 30 Minutes (30)

Peppery fresh radishes complement sweet shrimp and creamy avocado in this quick salad. Enjoy this healthy salad as a quick light dinner or for lunch.