What to Cook in April: 30 Easy Dinners

This easy dish is perfect for a casual get-together with friends. Inspired by arroz con pollo, it is hearty with satisfying complexity. Cumin, saffron, and oregano season rich chicken thighs and nutty farro as the dish simmers. If using saffron, deploy it sparingly; those tiny threads bring subtle flavor and a little color to the dish, but too much will yield a medicinal taste. Serve with a side salad to complete the meal.

This one-pan dinner is the perfect segue to spring. Winter veggies like sweet potato and cauliflower create the perfect plate when accentuated with fresh spring mint.

This sweet and slightly spicy pork sandwich would pair well with a crisp slaw on the side.

Fresh vegetables such as corn, zucchini, and okra become even more flavorful when they’re grilled. Serve them over tender greens and top with crumbled cheese for a one-dish meal.

Nothing beats Southern-style catfish for a hearty meal, but the traditional method of frying unfortunately adds back in a bunch of fat that the lean protein could do without. Enter the air fryer: You can get a crispy, delicious fillet as well as a side of blistered green beans without all the oil, and have it on the table in less than half an hour. Hard to beat!

This classic French stew is perfect cold-weather fare and is delicious over noodles or mashed potatoes. If you can't find shiitake mushrooms, Portobello mushrooms make a good substitute in a pinch.

Think of posole as chili’s brothier, lighter cousin, a Mexican version of chicken soup. Posole is also another name for the hominy, or rehydrated dried corn, that goes in the dish. Starchy, slightly chewy hominy will hold up during the long simmer while the onion and poblano pepper release their flavor into the stock and become tender. Rather than add the tomatillo at the beginning, we stir it in just before serving for a bright, bracing contrast to the stew. Tomatillos have a firm texture similar to unripe or green tomatoes that is also welcome here. If you can’t find tortilla strips, you can use lightly crushed corn tortilla chips.

This one-pan meal is super fast to pull together and delivers big on flavor! The combination of sweet potatoes and hearty Brussels sprouts play well with the juicy spice-rubbed salmon. Look for thicker, more center-cut pieces of salmon, as they’ll cook more evenly and have better flavor.

We speed up this cookout classic by using boneless thighs and a hot grill pan. A homemade barbecue sauce  comes together surprisingly quickly and is a great way to control sodium and added sugar.

Simple to make and full of flavor, salmon does very well cooking in the Instant Pot. And any leftovers can be chilled and used later in a salad. Avoid using thinner pieces, as the cooking times will be shorter and the fish could overcook by the time the potatoes are done. If that’s all you have, remove the salmon a little early and put the lid back on the instant pot for a few minutes to finish cooking the potatoes.

Filling but not heavy, air fryer quesadillas make a quick and satisfying weeknight supper. Black beans bring protein and fiber to the party; peppers and zucchini bring color, crunch, and up your daily veggie count. Shop for sprouted tortillas at well-stocked supermarkets; regular whole-wheat tortillas will work in a pinch.

Public Service Announcement: These quesadillas pair perfectly with ice-cold beer; limes optional.

This incredibly easy seafood dinner uses fresh pineapple and a teriyaki-style sauce for the classic sweet-and-tangy profile of Hawaiian shrimp. The pineapple also concentrates as it bakes and helps keep the rice mixture from becoming too dry. Rather than spreading the rice to the far edges of the sheet pan, keep it closer to the center and layer the vegetables and shrimp on top. This way their juices seep right into the rice, and the teriyaki drizzle coats every bite.

Meatballs are always a hit at any party, and this easy recipe is sure to impress. Serve these cheesy meatballs straight from the skillet so guests can easily scoop up the fresh tomato sauce. If you don’t have a skillet with a lid, make sure your nonstick skillet is OK to use in the oven—a cast-iron skillet is a safe bet.

Hearty and filling, this is vegetarian comfort food. Tossing the eggplant with salt draws out excess moisture from the vegetable, making it less bitter and more firm upon cooking. To make this recipe gluten free, sub rice or gluten-free pasta for the couscous. Garnish with additional chopped flat-leaf parsley or basil, if desired.

Not only is this slow cooker meatloaf seriously convenient, it’s also seriously delicious. Oven-baked meatloaf can turn dry, but the moisture-sealing magic of the slow cooker makes this one melt in your mouth. The jalapeño is optional here, but make sure to add it if you want a kick. Serve this meatloaf with a simple wedge salad topped with a homemade avocado ranch dressing.

Smoky sausage, tender cabbage, and sweet apples, along with mustard and cider vinegar, create a perfect balance of flavor in this hearty skillet dinner.

Combine the simplicity of a sheet pan dinner with the classic comfort of chicken Parmesan in this simple weeknight recipe. Clever use of aluminum to "wall" off certain ingredients helps you cook everything properly without dirtying multiple pots and pans.

This may be our easiest slow cooker recipe yet. There’s no browning in the skillet, no last-minute stovetop sauce—all the magic happens right in the slow cooker. Craving crunch? Serve it as a wrap in the cabbage of your choice.

The genius of this recipe is the skillet-seared crust, which gives you a pizzeria-quality pie in less than half the bake time. The potpie-style topper is a fun twist on a white pizza and a great way to pack extra veggies onto each slice.

Fresh shrimp stars in this fast take on paella; you could also use chicken thighs. We swap expensive saffron for turmeric to achieve the yellow color.

This low-calorie and low-carb shrimp scampi feels like a restaurant dish, but it is actually very easy to make. There is just enough buttery sauce to coat the shrimp. The trick is to not over-reduce the sauce when cooking it. It’s better to make it a little more saucy than dry. If you want to bulk up this entrée, you could add peas or thinly sliced carrots, or serve it over spaghetti squash

Lemon, fresh oregano, feta cheese, and Kalamata olives lend loads of Greek flair to this whole-grain rice skillet, brightening the flavor of earthy brown rice. Meaty chicken thighs brown on the stovetop then finish atop the rice mixture in the oven while all the flavors meld.

"The fragrant noodle soup we love to slurp on cool evenings is actually the breakfast of champions," says cookbook author Andrea Nguyen. "It's a fabulous wake-up call that energizes and satisfies. Toasting spices and searing ginger help extract flavor fast, while poaching the chicken in the stock adds savory depth," Nguyen says. This broth is a lower-sodium adaptation of Nguyen's recipe.

Don’t rush processing the cauliflower; it’s key to giving the puree the consistency of grits. You can also use purchased riced cauliflower. If it’s frozen, you can toss it right into the saucepan unthawed.

Adobo is a popular preparation for chicken or pork in Filipino cuisine. Adobo is typically a stewed dish, with the meat simmered in a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, and aromatics. For maximum flavor here, we save the marinade, add extra vinegar, and cook the mixture down into a syrup for basting the grilled pork and drizzling over the finished dish. A touch of brown sugar in the marinade thickens the finished sauce and helps the meat get gorgeously charred bits over the flames. 

Make your own version of this takeout classic in a flash, no special equipment required.

Fresh orange juice perks up this speedy stir-fry, becoming a sticky, glossy sauce for the colorful vegetables. A quick coat in cornstarch helps the tofu develop a supercrisp crust without needing to fry in lots of oil. It's a good idea to have every element at the ready by the stove before you start to cook, as the stir-fry will come together very quickly. You can use bell peppers or any vegetable you have on hand, such as broccoli florets, thinly sliced carrots, or sliced snap peas.

Adobo sauce, what surrounds the chipotle chiles in the can, is a fantastic single-ingredient wet rub for grilled chicken, smoky with just a touch of heat that won't be overwhelming for kids. Grilled sweet potatoes are also a great alternative to fries as they pick up tons of flavor with next to no fat. Give the spuds a jump start in the microwave so they can finish cooking on the grill in less than half the time. If you have leftovers, turn this main and side into a chopped chicken salad, adding your favorite greens and some diced ripe avocado.

We like brown rice pasta here for three reasons: It’s whole-grain, it’s a dead ringer (taste- and texture-wise) for traditional pasta, and it’s gluten- free. You could also use a wheat- or chickpea-based pasta.

Our simple technique yields classic risotto texture in a fraction of the time. Pre-cooked brown rice simmers with a flour-thickened mixture of milk and chicken stock, boosted with a touch of cream cheese for extra richness.