15 Spring Dinner Recipes You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

Get a fresh seasonal meal on the table fast.

Inside-Out Pork Dumplings
Credit: Raymond Hom

It's time to put your slow cooker in storage. These quick spring dinner ideas will help you make the most of fast-cooking spring produce—like sugar-snap peas and asparagus—and help breathe new life into your weeknight dinner routine. Another reason we love quick spring recipes is that the influx of lighter, brighter things to eat not only matches the better weather but our sunnier dispositions, too.

Press fast-forward with these meal ideas that trade slow-and-low winter cooking for recipes that take just 30 minutes or less to prepare. Whether you're in the mood for a stir-fry or pasta, set your timer and have your dinner mates set the table—the food will be ready before you know it.

01 of 15

Cashew Shrimp

spicy cashew shrimp with rice
Credit: Justin Walker

Light, fresh, and fast, our take on a delivery favorite requires just 20 minutes to make—but our upscale touches, like roasted cashews and celery leaves, make this dish a weeknight feast.

02 of 15

Pea-Pesto Handkerchiefs

pea pesto handkerchiefs pasta in bowl with spoon
Credit: Chris Simpson

A super spring pasta dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes. Those lasagna noodles in your kitchen cupboard become pasta handkerchiefs in this recipe, and frozen peas are combined with pine nuts, basil, and Parmesan for a deliciously different pesto.

03 of 15

Lemon-Ginger Chicken and Green Beans

lemon-ginger-chicken-green-beans-103014912
Credit: Armando Rafael

Using just one or two flavor-packed ingredients can make a huge impact on a simple meal. Fresh ginger goes the extra mile in this easy weeknight dinner, infusing the poaching liquid for the chicken and being grated into a zippy dressing for the cucumber salad.

04 of 15

Salmon, Asparagus, and Leek in Parchment

salmon-pouch-0445-mld111000.jpg
Credit: Ryan Liebe

Cooking fresh salmon