Looking for some midweek meals inspiration? Get out of that weeknight rut with our creative and vibrant recipes. Liven up your plate with our fragrant curries, spicy stir-fries and creamy pasta dishes. Keep things simple with an easy one-pot or a hearty traybake. If you're going meat-free, try our vegetarian and vegan recipes.

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See our easy recipes below, all ready in under 30 minutes, or try our quick and healthy recipes for even more dishes including salads, stews and rice dishes.


Midweek meal recipes

Healthy prawn stir-fry

Stir fragrant spices with juicy king prawns and sweet peppers for a protein-packed Indian-style midweek meal ready in under half an hour.

A silver wok is filled with prawns, chopped peppers and green vegetables

Spicy peanut butter chicken breast

A new way to serve chicken breast, this speedy dinner sees roasted chicken paired with vegetable-spiked rice and a crunchy peanut butter and sriracha dressing.

Roast chicken breast with spicy peanut sauce

Grilled hake with chickpeas

Simply grilled hake, with a side of preserved lemon and paprika chickpeas plus leafy kale. Ready in 30 minutes, it's a low-calorie, gluten-free midweek winner.

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Grilled Hake with Smoky Chickpeas, Preserved Lemon and Kale

Thai-style broccoli fried rice

Packed with protein and low in calories, this speedy broccoli rice dish is full of exciting texture and flavour, with punchy chilli, zingy lime, crunchy veg and peanuts.

Thai style broccoli fried rice in a bowl

Cajun chicken wraps with zingy slaw

Shop-bought Cajun seasoning transforms chicken breasts in this fiery, high-protein wrap recipe. Add soured cream, coriander and red cabbage for colour and texture.

cajun chicken wraps

Vegetable risotto

Enjoy our vibrant green vegetable risotto with peas, baby spinach and asparagus. This easy veggie dinner is bursting with fresh flavours from chives, mint, lemon zest and pecorino.

Herby greens and pecorino risotto

Spicy Mexican rice

This vegan rice dish can be eaten on its own or, if you want to add some protein, it’s good with beans, crumbled feta, cooked chicken or prawns stirred through.

Spicy Mexican rice

Veggie fajitas

Make it a fajita night with this speedy veggie dinner, perfect for the whole family to enjoy. Use a little mild chilli powder to give these wraps a kick, and hot-smoked paprika for colour.

Veggie fajitas

One-pot creamy lemon and spinach ravioli

Ready in a flash, this creamy pasta one-pot uses shop-bought ravioli as a base for a nutritious vegetarian meal for two.

One-Pot Ravioli Recipe with Lemon and Spinach

Chargrilled courgette and smoked bacon pasta

Salty smoked bacon adds extra flavour to this simple courgette pasta, livened up with fried chilli flakes for a quick midweek meal.

Courgette Bacon Pasta Recipe

Baked cod and butter beans

Flaky, pearly white cod with a rosemary parmesan crust, served on a sweet cherry tomato and butter bean sauce. It's the perfect midweek meal.

Baked Cod Recipe With Butter Beans For Low Calorie Fish Recipe

Halloumi and Greek salad wraps

Salty halloumi makes a satisfying vegetarian wrap filling. Serve with a fresh and bright salad for a quick, nutritious midweek meal.

Halloumi Wraps With Greek Salad

Broad bean, mint and chilli pasta

Chopped mint pairs perfectly with broad beans – this pasta dish combines them both with lemon, chilli and cream for a quick and easy summer meal.

A bowl of pasta with broad beans and sliced chilli on a white linen tablecloth

Pork medallions

Add this pork recipe to your midweek repertoire – pork medallions are cooked in a glaze made of balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, chilli and garlic. Serve with potatoes and green veg.

A frying pan with pork medallions in a glossy, light sauce on a grey linen napkin

Tempeh curry

This speedy plant-based curry is perfect for a midweek meal, and it's great for using up any veg you have in the fridge.

Bowl of tempeh curry in focus at forefront of image with another out of focus in the background

Light paneer curry

Cook this veg-heavy curry for a healthy vegetarian meal. The peas add extra protein while ginger and plum tomatoes make a light, fragrant sauce.

two plates of paneer curry with rice

Vegan Thai red curry

Match shop-bought vegan curry paste with plenty of fresh ginger, mangetout, red pepper and Quorn to make a delicious meat-free Thai red curry.

Vegan Thai Red Curry Recipe

Gochujang swede noodles

For a simple midweek meal, enjoy egg noodles with roast cubes of swede in a sweet and salty gochujang dressing.

Two bowls of orange coloured noodles with chopsticks on the side

Garlic butter gnocchi with purple sprouting broccoli

This flavour-packed garlic gnocchi dish with cheesy sauce and crispy charred broccoli looks so impressive that no one will guess it only took 30 minutes to make.

Garlic butter gnocchi with crispy purple sprouting broccoli

One-pan sausage pasta

Rigatoni and sausage is a classic combo but any short pasta will work for this magic one-pot, ready in half an hour.

Creamy Sausage Bake

Baked orzo with harissa prawns

Flavour prawns with harissa, dill, garlic and lemon, then serve swirled through orzo pasta for a speedy but sophisticated midweek dinner.

Baked orzo with harissa prawns on a blue plate with a wedge of lemon and fork

Healthy salmon pasta

Make your next salmon pasta dish really creamy (but still healthy) with reduced-fat crème fraîche. Peas and dill add greenery, and there's lemon zest for freshness.

Creamy Salmon Pasta

Vegan lentil burgers

Check out this quick and easy vegan burger recipe with spicy lentils. Ready in just 30 minutes, these punchy patties make a simple summer recipe for four.

Vegan Lentil Burgers Recipe

Tofu piccata

Swap chicken for sautéed tofu in this clever vegan twist on a classic, served with a white wine sauce and long-stemmed broccoli.

A fried tofu and broccoli dish

Corned beef hash

This classic dish sees crispy potatoes and corned beef topped with a fried egg and finished with a dollop of brown sauce.

Two white plates of golden fried potatoes topped with fried egg on a white wooden surface with a knife and fork and pot of brown sauce

Cauliflower and banana curry

Banana, the surprise ingredient in this vegan curry, adds sweetness and thickens the sauce. It's a bit of a secret weapon, as it makes for a creamy, comforting dish.

Two bowls of cauliflower curry with rice, placed next to each other with a set of cutlery to the right

Cauliflower fried rice with crispy baked tofu

Serve golden tofu with cauliflower fried rice and plenty of sweet chilli sauce for a low-calorie, veg-heavy, meat-free midweek dinner.

A cauliflower rice dish with a red sauce on the side

Roast parsnip soup

Serve this comforting parsnip and paprika soup with sobrassada, a spreadable chorizo-like sausage from Spain.

A bowl of parsnip soup with a spoon and toast on the side

Fettuccine alfredo

A quick and easy midweek pasta treat for four. Butter and parmesan cheese are essential for fettuccine alfredo, so don't skimp on them!

Cottage cheese al fredo

Turmeric chicken

Make chicken breasts that little bit more exciting by chucking turmeric, smoked paprika, crispy chickpeas and baby spinach into the mix. Serve with lemony yogurt and toasted pittas.

Two plates of spiced chicken with lemon wedges on the side

Shrimp and saffron butter orecchiette

A sophisticated Italian-style dinner, this saffron-spiked pasta dish pairs orecchiette with buttery brown shrimps, red chilli and garlic.

Shrimp and saffron butter orecchiette

Salmon fajitas

Stuff warmed tortillas with a colourful combo of grilled salmon, roasted sweetcorn, blistered red peppers and spring onions, all flavoured with aromatic Cajun spices.

Salmon and sweetcorn fajitas

Creamy salmon pasta

You can't go wrong with salmon, pasta and a great big dollop of crème fraîche. Make our high-protein, low-salt midweek dinner in just 20 minutes.

Creamy Salmon Pasta

Prawn, basil and harissa pasta

Prawns, harissa and plenty of fresh basil is all you need to make a vibrant pasta dish.

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Prawn, basil and harissa pasta

Cold sesame noodles

Peanuts and sesame are big factors in Sichuan cooking, as is a love of cold savoury dishes to cool off on hot days. This is a great recipe to start with, if you want to get involved.

Cold sesame noodles

Authors

Janine Ratcliffe Portrait
Janine RatcliffeFood director

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