18 quick and easy dinner recipes for those nights you need something simply delicious in a hurry.
Another month down, another monthly theme on the blog in our rear-view mirror. After last month’s theme of Slow Cooker Recipes , for September, we tackled super simple recipes, things you can throw together in a pinch for a quick and easy dinner.
I shared three of my favorites this month:
Easy Teriyaki Chicken for Two
Quick Basil Chicken Pasta for Two
Quick and Easy Broiled Steak With Mustard Sauce
And for this month’s round up I asked some food blogger friends for some of their favorite quick and easy dinner recipes (along with some older Baking Mischief classics). If you need an easy dinner tonight, there’s something here for everyone!
Quick and Easy Dinner Recipes
20 Minute Healthier Orange Chicken from Nutmeg Nanny
Pan Fried Five Spice Pork and Peaches from The Flavor Bender
World’s Easiest Chicken Taco Soup
8-Minute Beet Juice Poached Salmon from A Side of Sweet
5-Minute Black Bean Taco Bowls From the Pantry + Freezer from Umami Girl
Bacon Pan Fried Noodles from Omnivore’s Cookbook
Seared Scallops Recipe With Orange Rum Sauce from Ciao Florentina
Quick Mac and Cheese for One
Chilli Pasta With A Fried Egg from Sprinkles and Sprouts
Shrimp Pesto Pasta from Dinner at the Zoo
Kielbasa, Cheddar & Rice from Hungry Enough to Eat Six
Clean Eating Hamburger Helper Skillet from A Mind “Full” Mom
Quick Rosemary Pork Chops
Chicken Francese from Salt & Lavender
Instant Ramen Cacio e Pepe from Hapa Nom Nom
This Top Sirloin Steak with Mustard Sauce recipe is my go-to dinner for busy weeknights when I’m craving red meat! It’s fast, healthy, and delicious.
Monday’s come around again. How was your weekend? Mine was lovely. As I mentioned in my Homemade Kettle Corn post last week, it’s fair time around here, so I got in a little fair visit and went to the movies to see Magnificent Seven . Not a bad weekend at all. 😉
We are nearly through the month of September, which means here on the blog, our month of Simple September Dinners is drawing to a close. But fear not, you know I love me some quick and easy recipes. There are plenty more of them in our future.
This month we made Easy Teriyaki Chicken using chicken thighs and Basil Chicken Pasta with chicken breasts. We are finishing out the month with something a bit more robust: Quick and Easy Broiled Steak With Mustard Sauce.
I almost never cook red meat during the work week, because I try to keep weekday meals light and easy, but if I do make steak between Monday and Thursday, it’s almost 100 percent sure to be this recipe. Broiling steak is the easiest , least fussy way to cook steak, and as long as you don’t grossly overcook your meat, your steak’s going to come out juicy, tender, and flavorful.
For this recipe, you just toss a little salt and pepper on some top sirloin and stick it under your broiler. During the short time that your steaks require to cook, you give some mushrooms, onions, and garlic a quick saute, steam some green beans , and throw together a quick mustard sauce, which is just beef broth, sour cream, and mustard.
The mustard sauce is a little tangy from the sour cream, creamy, but not too rich. I love the way it tastes poured over the top sirloin, but it’s also a killer topping for your green beans. I usually don’t feel like green beans need a ton of dressing up, but this sauce, I’ll allow. Also probably hog and not share.
I almost always serve this as is, with just the steak and green beans, but if you want to add some carbs to dinner, homemade mashed potatoes are my favorite. 🙂
The entire meal takes about 20 minutes from start to finish and if you’re in the mood for a healthy steak dinner, you won’t find better than this.
Steak With Mustard Sauce Recipe Tips For Success
- Top sirloin steak can vary a ton in size, so take the cooking times in this recipe with a grain of salt, particularly if you have a very thick piece/pieces of meat.
- Make sure to use a rimmed baking sheet * so you don’t wind up with boiling hot steak juice all over your oven or floor. And cover your tray with foil, because sometimes when you are broiling this small amount of meat, the juices in the pan are thin enough to burn under the broiler. Don’t be alarmed if this happens, but foil is important here because it will protect your pan. Also, never use wax or parchment paper under the broiler!!
- Let your meat rest after cooking so the juices have time to distribute themselves throughout the steak, and when it comes time to cut, slice across the grain for the most tender slices. Not sure how to find the grain? Read this post from Serious Eats on the subject.
- Finally, for the very best results, use an instant-read thermometer *! It’s the best, most accurate way of determining when to pull your meat from the oven. Temps are :
Rare 125° (with 3 minute rest) Medium rare 130°-135° Medium 135°-140° Medium well 145° (with 3 minute rest) Well done 160° (The steak in these photos was cooked to about 142°)
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Carne Asada
- Country-style Ribs
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Easy Roasted Chicken
As written, this recipe serves two but doubles easily. For doubling instructions, see recipe notes.
Ingredients
Steak
- ▢ 10 ounces top sirloin
- ▢ Freshly ground black pepper
- ▢ Salt
Mustard Sauce
- ▢ 1 cup sliced mushrooms*
- ▢ 1 green onion thinly sliced
- ▢ 1 clove garlic diced
- ▢ 1 cup beef broth
- ▢ 2 tablespoons sour cream
- ▢ 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Serve With
- ▢ Steamed green beans
Instructions
Steak
- Preheat your broiler on high and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly grease.
- Lightly score 4 shallow cuts on both sides of the steak, two in each direction (per piece of meat if your sirloin is in smaller pieces).
- Sprinkle both sides generously with freshly cracked pepper and salt.
- Place steak on the prepared baking sheet and broil for 4 to 6 minutes per side, until steak reaches your desired level of doneness. Remove from oven, tent with foil, and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing across the grain.
Sauce
- While your steak is cooking, heat a medium skillet over medium heat and lightly grease with cooking spray or a small drizzle of olive oil. Add mushrooms and sliced green onions. Saute until mushrooms are lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Transfer vegetables to a plate and return pan to heat.
- Add beef broth to your pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until reduced by half. Remove from heat and whisk in sour cream and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste (if you use full-sodium beef broth, you probably wont need salt). If not ready to serve, you can keep the mixture warm over very low heat–do not boil.
- Serve steak alongside steamed green beans, with mustard sauce spooned over both. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe Adapted From Moms Who Think
You can make these Small-batch Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats in just a few minutes for a simple, fun fall dessert.
Fall is officially here!! The leaves are starting to change, evenings are cooling down, and while it’s not sweater weather here yet, I’ve already spent waaaaay too many hours sweater shopping online (#1 on my wishlist? A perfect slouchy sweater with elbow patches–I NEED IT).
Anyway, fall is the season of pumpkin spice, and yes, I’ve already made a few pumpkin spice recipes this season, my Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (!!!) and Pumpkin Donuts With Maple Glaze (my fav forever and ever), but you’re about to get one more, Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats!
Why Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies? Because it’s fall, and as a food blogger, I am contractually obligated to add pumpkin spice to all things this time of year. And because rice krispies, while delicious just the way they are, always make me want to dress them up a bit.
And they do look so cute all dressed up with pumpkin, pumpkin spice, and white chocolate. Plus, this is just a recipe for small-batch pumpkin spice rice krispies, so they are quick to make and you won’t overindulge.
This recipe will make four servings, which I think is the perfect number of servings, two for you, two for someone you like (or two for the you of tomorrow). It also uses real pumpkin puree, but just a tablespoon, so it’s perfect if you are down to the bottom of a can of puree and need to get rid of the stuff!
As I’ve covered before, pumpkin puree has a ton of moisture in it, which can cause the rice krispies to become soggy. So I used the same technique that I used for my Pumpkin Shortbread Cookies , of squeezing out some of the puree’s moisture between two paper towels. It’s super easy and takes care of the sogginess problem!
I am completely in love these treats and they are just the sort of easy-to-throw-together dessert that can really pick up a boring evening. Give them a try!
More Pumpkin Desserts
- Mini Pumpkin Pie
- Small Pumpkin Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Donuts With Cream Cheese Glaze
This recipe only uses a tiny fraction of a can of pumpkin puree. Check out my post What to Do With Leftover Pumpkin Puree for some ideas on what to do with the all the leftovers.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 15 g) pumpkin puree
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 1 oz) butter
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ▢ Pinch of nutmeg
- ▢ Pinch of ground cloves
- ▢ Pinch of ginger
- ▢ 2 cups mini marshmallows or 20 regular-sized marshmallows, divided
- ▢ 1 1/2 cup Rice Krispies
White Chocolate Drizzle
- ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
- ▢ 3 tablespoons finely chopped white chocolate good-quality chips are fine
Instructions
Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies
- Lightly grease a small dish (I used a 6-inch round Pyrex dish) or sheet of parchment paper.
- Drop pumpkin puree onto a couple layers of paper towels. Fold the towel over and squeeze out the moisture. Scrape the the puree onto a dry part of the towel and repeat once or twice more, until most of the moisture has been removed and you can pick up the puree with your fingers.
- In a medium pan, combine prepared puree, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and ginger. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted and whisk until mostly combined. Add 1 1/2 cup of the marshmallows and use a heat-proof rubber spatula to stir until mostly melted and combined.
- Remove from heat and stir in Rice Krispies and remaining 1/2 cup of marshmallows. Stir just until everything is well-mixed (some of the marshmallows will not completely melt). Transfer to your greased dish or drop onto lightly greased parchment paper. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
White Chocolate Drizzle
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat milk for 10 to 20 seconds until steaming. Add chopped white chocolate and stir until melted. Drizzle over the rice krispies treats with a spoon or transfer to a disposable plastic bag and snip off one of the corners to “pipe” your chocolate. Allow another 10 minutes of cooling time before eating.
- Store in an air-tight container at room temperature.
Notes
Adapted From Life Sprinkled With Glitter
