We all need a cache of easy, fuss-free weeknight dinner recipes. These are the kind of recipes that take 15 minutes or less of hands-on prep time, the kind of recipes so easy you can get your kids involved. When the calendar is filled and there is a hungry household to feed, there is little time to whip up a lavish, intricate dinner. When the schedule is busy and a hungry family needs feeding, there’s little time to prepare a fancy, elaborate dinner.
Good thing some of the most delicious dishes are also the simplest. That’s right, some of the most balanced, tasty, and nourishing meals are often fuss-free and straightforward because you shouldn’t have to compromise taste for convenience.
So when time is tight, we turn to tried-and-true recipes, tips, and tricks to get a delicious dinner on the table in a flash. We utilize our leftovers, turning day-old dishes into fresh dinners the whole family will love. We lean on store-bought components to masterfully pull off a “semi-homemade” dish. We rework our family’s favorite ingredients in a million different ways. In short, we utilize every tool in our tool belts to feed our families day in and day out.
At Allrecipes, we have thousands of reliable, quick and easy recipes home cooks around the world have relied on for generations. One of our latest is a weeknight wonder so good that reviewers are making double batches. It only takes a few minutes to put together, but results in a tasty and versatile dish that home cooks are “adding to the rotation.” So let me introduce you to your new favorite meal: the One-Pan Dumpling Dinner.
How To Make Our One-Pan Dumpling Dinner
This one-pan dumpling dinner uses frozen dumplings, baked atop a saucy coconut milk and curry sauce with bok choy. It has veg, protein, and starch all in one, making it an easy way to feed your family a balanced meal that will taste as good as takeout. Plus, it takes just a few minutes to put together, and bakes up in no time! You can get the full recipe in the link below, but here are the basics.
- Make the sauce: Mix together garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, curry paste, coconut milk, and water in the bottom of a casserole dish.
- Add the components: Toss in your frozen dumplings of choice and some chopped bok choy. Mix until well incorporated.
- Pop in the oven: Put the casserole dish in a preheated 375 degree F (190 degrees C) oven until the dumplings are heated through at the center and the bok choy has softened. This time will differ depending on the size of your dumplings, but start checking at 25 minutes.
- Serve: Portion your dumpling mixture, top with sliced green onion, sesame seeds, and optional chili crunch oil. Serve and enjoy!
Tips and Variations
- Heat it through: Several reviewers have stated that the 25-minute bake time is not enough, so book in an extra 10-15 minutes in case your dumplings take longer to heat through.
- Make it your own: Feel free to swap ingredients to tailor this recipe to your palate. Broccoli, spinach, kale, or sliced onion would work well if you don’t use bok choy. One reviewer used peanut butter instead of curry paste for a nutty variation. Spritz with some fresh lime at the end for added brightness.
- Keep an eye on spice level: Curry paste is sold in a variety of heat levels. Make sure you pay attention to your personal heat threshold when picking up a jar at the store. For the best possible results, slowly add curry paste to the sauce mixture, tasting after each spoonful until it’s at your preferred spice level.
Praise From the Allrecipes Community
- “This was tasty and simple to make,” said Allrecipes member Kimberly Cates Meraz. “It came out beautifully. This is now part of our rotation for sure.”
- “Instead of dishing this up, I had my family serve themselves,” shared one reviewer. “Each had the option to customize their bowl by adding any veggie toppings I served on the side: chopped scallion, chopped broccoli, shredded carrot, julienned cucumber, edamame beans, crunchy chili oil, and sunflower seeds.”
- “So easy and so delicious,” said one Allrecipes user. “Definitely putting this in rotation. Yumm!! And toddler-approved served over white rice.”
- “Excellent flavor,” raved a reviewer. “[The] entire family loved this dish. Different people have different tastes, but we’ve come to trust Nicole McLaughlin’s opinion on dishes. As she stated in her video, ‘this is going in our rotation’ for our routine dinner recipes!”