32 Easy Skillet Recipes for a Delicious Dinner in a Flash

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Spicy, saucy, and far better than drive-through, these chicken burgers only require a single skillet. Have your favorite toppings prepped for when this easy chicken skillet recipe is ready, and everyone can create their own burger. With a buffalo-sauce coating and blue cheese topping, each sandwich features everything you love most about hot wings—no bones about it!

Steak and Potato Toasts

The classic pairing of meat and potatoes meets the 21st-century trend of fully loaded toast in this fast and filling easy skillet recipe. While the sirloin rests (to allow the juices to redistribute for the moistest meat ever), pan-fry slices of russet potatoes in the same skillet you used for the steak. When it's all done, layer everything on top of toasted rye bread with a spread of crème fraîche for a quick and satisfying dinner.

Upside-Down Pizza Casserole

This easy pizza skillet casserole recipe is made with lean ground beef, Italian turkey sausage, lots of cheese, and Italian bread cubes. (Translation: It tastes just like a supreme slice from your favorite pizza parlor.) Since you don't have to wait for any dough to cook, pizza becomes a rapid skillet recipe. Try it with your favorite pizza toppings!

Pork and Red Cabbage Skillet

Pound pork cutlets nice and thin, then stick with skillet cooking, and they can be ready to serve in less than 10 minutes. Take a bit more time to stir together the wilted cabbage and pickled onion side and dinner is done in less time than it takes to watch a sitcom. That makes this easy skillet recipe a tough one to beat.

Skillet Taco Pie

This delicious stovetop Mexican skillet recipe is what your next taco night needs. Use your choice of ground turkey or ground beef and sprinkle with broken taco shells, tomatoes, cheese, and store-bought or homemade salsa. Extra-hot, if you please!

Buy It: Aluminum 5qt. Ceramic Coating Jumbo Cooker with Lid ($32, Target)

Meatless Sausage and Bell Pepper Potato Hash

The plant-based meat trend is here to stay. In this speedy vegetarian dinner, we used meatless sausage for the protein, which has a whopping 21 grams per serving! The easy skillet meal is finished with some basil pesto. If you're feeling fancy, top with a sizzling egg, too.

Steak with Spicy Balsamic Glaze

Light on ingredients, fat, and cleanup (but not flavor!), this steak dinner is easy enough for a Tuesday family dinner and fancy enough for guests. Plus, since it calls for skillet cooking rather than grilling, you can serve this juicy steak dinner any day of the year. Serve your skillet-cooked steak with an easy balsamic glaze poured on top, and it'll look like it was plated at a restaurant.

Tortellini with Broccolini

Boil the pasta and broccolini in a deep skillet, drain, and sauté the al dente tortellini and veggies with tomatoes, basil, and a light balsamic dressing. This simple pasta skillet tastes like a caprese salad in entrée form.

Southwest Scrambled Egg Wrap

On busy nights, scramble up your routine and serve breakfast for dinner. With eggs, bacon, and veggies, this quick and easy skillet recipe is a healthy one-skillet meal that's as delicious served on a plate as it is wrapped up in a tortilla and devoured on the go. Once you've made the scrambled eggs and bacon for this skillet dinner, everyone can dress up their wrap with any extra toppings they want.

Soy-Glazed Flank Steak with Blistered Green Beans

Skillet cooking goes spicy! This steak stir-fry recipe is spiked with Asian chili paste. Here's how to cut down on cleanup: Sauté the beans in a wok or skillet; once they blister, reserve them on the side. Then sear the steak in the same pan for a super easy skillet dinner with hardly any dishes to clean.

Tomato-Basil Cavatelli Skillet

Why didn't we think of this years ago? To make a complete pasta dinner in one pan, cook dry noodles in a simple homemade tomato sauce, then top with cheese and allow the piping-hot pasta to melt the mozzarella. It's like a simpler twist on a skillet lasagna recipe (no layering involved).

Lemon-Thyme Roasted Chicken with Fingerlings

With just 255 calories per serving and zero gluten, this is one of the lightest meat-and-potatoes meals you can cook in one pan. To keep things simple, use the same seasoning elements (garlic, thyme, lemon) to flavor the potatoes and the chicken. You can't ask for much more from a chicken skillet dinner than quick, easy, and tasty!

Beef Sirloin Tips with Smoky Pepper Sauce

Beef seasoned with smoked paprika offers rich, savory flavors that are offset by roasted bell peppers and fresh parsley. The best news about this easy skillet recipe besides the tasty results? You only need six ingredients to get it on the table.

Buy It: Smoked Spanish Paprika Flatpack (from $9, The Spice House)

Spanish Rice with Chicken and Shrimp

Shrimp is a perfect choice for busy weeknight dinners because it requires mere minutes of cooking. Here, delicate shrimp partners with chicken, full-flavor Spanish rice, and diced tomatoes for a protein-packed quick and easy skillet recipe. Adding chicken to your skillet brings extra protein and flavor but not extra cooking time when it's cubed into smaller pieces.

Chicken Dijonnaise

A sophisticated sauce of whipping cream, white wine, and mustard tops golden breaded chicken in this recipe with fewer than 300 calories. A sprinkle of fresh thyme adds an elegant finish to this chicken skillet dinner. To satisfy heartier appetites, serve over rice, pasta, roasted potatoes, or mashed spuds.

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Apples

Take your chicken skillet dinners beyond just chicken breasts. This five-ingredient fix starts with chicken thighs for a moist and hearty (yet still healthy) protein option. The maple-thyme topping adds fall flavors to each bite.

Skillet Lasagna

We've reinvented your favorite comfort food dish for the weeknight by way of this skillet lasagna recipe. Cooked in a single pan and loaded with cheese, this Italian-seasoned supper is sure to be a family favorite. After cooking, freeze single servings to reheat and enjoy later when you don't have cooking time to spare.

Lemon Butter Chicken Breasts

You'll get simple flavor and perfect browning when you dredge chicken in flour, season with lemon pepper, and add to a skillet of hot butter. Bright citrus flavor from a squeeze of lemon perks up the pan sauce drizzled on top of this chicken dinner. While this easy chicken recipe cooks, toss together a simple salad to serve on the side.

Quick Skillet Steaks with Mushrooms

With just 30 minutes and one pan, you can have a restaurant-quality meal on the table! The secret to skillet cooking that tastes like dinner at a steakhouse? A rich and savory pan sauce of mushrooms, onions, red wine, and beef broth.

Curried Pork and Rice

This 30-minute meal features pork tenderloin and wild rice, and it has a surprise ingredient: apples. They're not a common curry ingredient, but they add a slight sweet-tartness to each bite (just think of how tasty apple-glazed pork chops are if you're unsure). After cooking the quick skillet recipe, sprinkle each bowl with fresh cilantro.

Herbed Chicken, Orzo, and Zucchini

Chicken breasts are simply seasoned with dried basil, pepper, and salt before being pan-fried to a golden brown. Served with a side of dill-spiked orzo and zucchini, this flavorful chicken skillet dinner is ready to eat in just 20 minutes. For extra zest and freshness, serve with a squirt of lemon juice and additional dill.

Rice and Bean Frittata

This frittata has tons of our favorite Mexican ingredients: veggies, rice, beans, and cheese, all suspended in a fluffy egg mixture. Top the Mexican skillet recipe with halved cherry tomatoes and fresh parsley, or some pico de gallo, for a beautiful presentation.

Skillet Vegetables on Cheese Toast

A tangy layer of goat cheese topped with mushrooms, garlic, onion, and crisp-tender carrots makes an unbeatable meatless sandwich. To make this a one-pan plan, crisp up the bread in the toaster rather than under the broiler, then spread with cheese. It's the perfect recipe to save for a meatless Monday meal!

Pineapple-Chicken Meatball Stir-Fry

Stir-fry recipes are among the speediest suppers around. Start with one pan, toss in the ingredients, and heat until warm. Begin with store-bought meatballs and leftover rice from last night, and you can have this easy, healthy skillet dinner on the table in 15 minutes!

Sweet Potato Hash

This colorful dish gets great south of the border flavor from a combination of corn, beans, peppers, and chipotle salsa. Top the finished Mexican skillet recipe with cooling avocado and sour cream for a light lunch or dinner. You could even turn this easy skillet recipe into a quick breakfast by adding an egg on top.

Barbecue Jackfruit Sandwiches

Blow the minds of barbecued pork fans with this look-alike (and taste-alike) skillet-cooked sandwich filling that starts with packaged jackfruit. After it's pulled into shreds and coated in barbecue sauce, the resemblance to meat is uncanny! Add any toppings you like, and watch both vegetarians and meat-lovers fall in love with this simple skillet dinner.

Easy Chicken Jambalaya

Cajun-spiced chicken and link sausage give this speedy, pepper-packed jambalaya spiciness and protein. Adjust this chicken stew's heat level by using either hot or mild sausage. Either way, this skillet supper can be ready in just 23 minutes.

Buy It: Oster DuraCeramic Electric Skillet ($50, Target)

Garlic Pork and Sweet Potato Hash

This filling pork hash balances sweet and salty flavors. Its complex flavors might trick you into thinking it's complicated, but really, you only need eight ingredients. Plus, this quick skillet dinner takes just 30 minutes to make from start to finish, which is ideal for when you're in a rush and want a home-cooked meal.

Spicy Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce

Also known as shakshuka, poached eggs in marinara is a quick and easy skillet recipe that can satisfy a big appetite. Allow for two or three eggs per person, and serve with pita or flatbread if desired.

Chicken with Apple-Vegetable Slaw Stir-Fry

We're bending the rules a bit with this one because you need a bowl to stir together the sauce. But otherwise this skillet dinner (loaded with chicken, vegetables, apples, and more) comes together in a single wok. To make a more complete meal, serve over white rice.

Buy It: Select by Calphalon Hard-Anodized Non-Stick Stir Fry Pan ($50, Target)

Creamy Tuna-Noodle Toss

This alternative to a tuna casserole is not only easier to make, but also practically guilt-free. Lemon juice, onion, and garlic give this creamy dish loads of flavor, while al dente green peas offer a pleasant amount of crunch. Regular tuna casserole just might get replaced by this one-skillet meal.

Ginger Shrimp and Rice

This shrimp dinner is infused with Asian influence courtesy of soy sauce, green onion, ginger, and mango chutney. All that makes for a well-rounded (and easy) skillet recipe. You can count on it being quick, too, since this speedy skillet dinner only takes 15 minutes.

Buy It: Mango Chutney ($8, Stonewall Kitchen)