Midweek Dinners in 30 Minutes Flat
Quick and Easy Midweek Dinners: Delicious Recipes to Keep Your Family Happy and Fed Without the Stress!
Midweek dinners for me are all about simplifying things and getting food on the table before the kids start kicking off. Around 5 p.m., the heat is on and the energy levels are low, and patience is running thin. That’s when having a few quick recipes up your sleeve and with some clever shortcuts, you can whip up meals that are fast, flavourful, and don’t involve a family meltdown. These three recipe are set to be your saviours- cut them out and stick them on the back of the kitchen press!
Garlic Butter Prawns with Spaghetti and Peas
A simple pasta supper to start- Garlic Butter Prawns with Spaghetti and Peas. I always keep a bag of frozen prawns on standby because they defrost fast. This spaghetti dish is a firm favourite with our two boys and honestly, anything involving garlic butter is an automatic win. The sweet pop of peas balances out the rich, garlicky prawns, and you can use whatever pasta is lurking in the cupboard, spaghetti, linguine, or that half-used bag of penne that’s been sitting there starting to look a little sad.
Spicy Air-Fried Chicken Tacos with Quick Slaw
Next, Spicy Air-Fried Chicken Tacos with Quick Slaw- Growing up, my mom had spaghetti Bolognese on the weekly menu—a no-fuss, reliable dinner she could make with her eyes closed. In our house, taco night holds that sacred place in the weekly routine. It’s the perfect “assembly job” dinner: quick to prepare, easy to customize, and guaranteed to get the kids actually excited about dinner mainly because they get to build their own. Lay everything out on the table, and suddenly dinner feels more like a fun DIY project. Torch the tortillas over an open flame and keep warm in a kitchen towel.
For a little spice, try these Thai Red Curry Noodles. If you don’t have a jar of Thai red curry paste in your cupboard, I highly recommend adding one to your weekly shop- it’s basically the first step for quick dinners. Packed with spice and aromatics, it transforms a handful of simple ingredients into something that tastes like you’ve put in way more effort than you actually have. These noodles come together in minutes: soak rice noodles in hot water (no boiling required), toss them with a quick coconut curry sauce, and load them up with whatever veggies need using up. And if you’ve got leftover curry paste, don’t let it gather dust, use it to jazz up a fish curry, spice up a soup, or even mix a little into mayo for a next-level sandwich spread.
Photography: Donal Skehan
Food Styling: Charlotte O’Connell
Thank you Donal 💚