Quick and easy Whole30 meals that you can make in 30 minutes or less! Going sugar free doesn’t have to bland or boring, and these yummy recipes are a proof of that.
The Whole30 challenge is such a great way to reset your diet, turn to real food, and feel better overall. It’s personally also helped me find freedom is what I eat after recognizing what makes me feel great and what doesn’t.
While it’s just 30 days of reset, it can feel overwhelming and difficult (particularly in the first 2-3 weeks). This is especially true if it’s your first time, you don’t cook often, and/or you’ve been addicted to sugar.
30-Minute (or Less) Easy Whole30 Meals
To help guide you through the 30 days with a bit more ease, I put together fast and easy Whole30 meals that are flavorful, and simple enough that anyone can cook them!
Breakfast Ideas
Breakfast is one of those meals that can get boring quick. It’s easy to make the same thing over and over again, you are in a hurry to get the day started, and it can seem difficult to keep things interesting.
While these are some classic breakfast items that you may enjoy, remember that you don’t have to eat “breakfast food” in the morning. You can switch it up with leftovers from the night before, or a meal that you love in general. With that being said, here are some of the best Whole30 breakfast ideas that take 30 minutes or less:
Mexican Scrambled Eggs
This delicious and easy Whole30 breakfast takes classic scrambled eggs and puts a spicy and flavorful spin on it with Mexican spices and hot sauce. It’s also full of healthy veggies and fats to keep you satiated for a long time.
Kimchi & Bacon Breakfast Egg Muffins
Finding sugar free bacon and kimchi is important for these savory Whole30 breakfast muffins, which consists for sautéed kimchi wrapped in bacon with a runny yolk on top. It may be trickier to find compliant kimchi, but it’s really easy it make your own that’s sugar free (recipe in my cookbook, Korean Paleo)!
Chorizo Omelette
An easy and delicious Whole30 omelette that’s bursting with flavor. You can’t beat the flavors of spicy chorizo with the creamy eggs, with bites of crunchy bell peppers in between! Make sure to use sugar and nitrate free chorizo to keep it compliant.
Chorizo and Butternut Squash Baked Eggs
This is a great make-ahead breakfast that’s sturdy enough to eat on-the-go. It’s also versatile for substituting ingredients (like sweet potatoes instead of squash or ground beef instead of chorizo), and it’s one of the most popular Whole30 30 minute meals when I cook for a group!
Breakfast Pork Sausage
If you are looking for a delicious Whole30 breakfast without eggs, this pork sausage is so flavorful and perfectly juicy. You can even make a double batch and freeze them as emergency food! I like to heat these up in the morning and enjoy with a side of sautéed kale.
Breakfast Burrito Collard Wraps
If you’ve never used collard greens leaves to use in place of a wrap, you are a missing out! They are sturdy, crunchy, and won’t fall apart. In this Whole30 breakfast recipe, you can enjoy a classic breakfast burrito wrapped in collard greens, and it’s delicious.
Salads
Hearty and filling salads are my go-to during the Whole30. Not only are they delicious, they come together quickly and are a great way to add in a lot of vegetables fast. When it comes to quick and easy Whole30 meals, I always think of salads rich in protein, fat, and healthy carbs.
Here are some of my favorite Whole30 salad recipes that you can enjoy as a meal:
Cobb Salad
One of my favorite Whole30 salads that’s a complete meal on its own! It tastes exactly like a classic cobb salad with crunchy bacon, soft boiled eggs, tomato, chicken, and avocado. It’s tossed with a simple but tangy and flavorful dressing to pull it all together!
Egg Salad
You can enjoy this creamy and crunchy egg salad as a snack or a meal. With eggs, bacon, onion, mayo, and spices, it’s comes together super quickly and the result is always so delicious. I personally like to eat this over salad greens.
Buffalo Chicken Salad
If you love buffalo sauce, this is a fantastic Whole30 salad that’s crunchy, spicy, and so flavorful. It’s also a great make ahead meal that you enjoy for lunch, and it’s delicious in a lettuce wrap.
Kale Chicken Caesar Salad
A healthier twist on a classic caesar salad, this Whole30 salad recipe uses massaged kale instead of romaine, almonds instead of croutons, and a seriously delicious and flavorful Whole30 caesar dressing you’ll want to put on everything. The whole thing takes less than 30 minutes, but you can cut down on time even more if you buy fully cooked rotisserie chicken!
Mandarin Chicken Salad with Coconut Chips
Better-than-takeout Whole30 salad that you’ll want over and over again! This Mandarin chicken salad is made with chicken, sugar free mandarin oranges, and toasted coconut chips instead of crispy noodles, all over romaine lettuce. The umami sesame dressing really pulls this wonderful recipe together.
Asian Chicken “Noodle” Salad
With crunchy and refreshing “noodles” made with carrots and parsnips, this salad is chock full of delicious Asian flavors from cashews, coconut aminos, fish sauce, and sesame seeds. It’s such a flavorful way to get lots of veggies into your diet!
Hearty Chicken Salad
Another delicious and creamy salad that you can make ahead of time! In fact, the flavors get better the longer it sits with this Whole30 chicken salad. Filled with healthy veggies, and you can adjust the ingredients with what you have on hand. It’s also a great way to use up leftover chicken!
Seafood
Adding a healthy protein to your meal is one of the major ways to stay satiated and be successful throughout your Whole30. Seafood is a great option, and it can be budget-friendly if you are using the canned variety.
Although cooking seafood can be intimidating for some, most of them are quite easy and cook very fast, resulting in tasty 30 minute whole30 meals. Here are some of the most popular Whole30 seafood dishes:
Salmon Cakes with Zucchini
These moist and flavorful salmon cakes are made with canned salmon, and they also include hidden veggies! I had too many fish cakes that were dry, and these are the opposite of that. Zucchini adds amazing moisture and texture, and these are kid friendly as well.
Sheet Pan Shrimp and Broccoli with “Soy” Garlic Sauce
One of my favorite fast and easy Whole30 meals made on the sheet pan! This Asian-inspired shrimp dish is cooked with broccoli and cauliflower rice in one pan. The “soy” garlic sauce is amazingly flavorful, and the cleanup is a breeze as well!
Grilled Halibut Steaks with Basil Chimichurri Sauce
Halibut is one of my favorite fish that’s hardy enough to grill and hold together, and it’s also packed with flavor. This is a SUPER QUICK recipe, in which the halibut is grilled for 10 minutes, then drizzled with the most flavorful and bright basil chimichurri sauce. It’s so fast that you’ll have plenty of time to prepare some easy sides with the meal!
Mustard Dill Walnut Crusted Alaska Salmon
This baked salmon recipe is PACKED with flavor and is one of the most popular less-than-30 minute Whole30 meals on my blog. Salmon filets are topped with the most incredible topping chopped walnuts, dill, mustard, and spices, and the result is just fantastic!
Shrimp Pad Thai
Recreate the flavors of Thai takeout at home with this quick and easy stir-fry recipe! Instead of noodles, spiralized carrots are used and they are the perfect substitute. Shrimp and veggies are cooked in the most flavorful Pad Thai sauce that’s made with squeaky clean ingredients!
Pan Seared Scallops with Lemon Garlic Ghee
If you need an insanely quick protein to prepare on a busy week, I highly recommend these pan seared scallops. Not only is it a ridiculously easy recipe, the flavors are divine from pan frying in ghee, then coated in lemon and garlic. One of the most flavorful Whole30 30 minute meals!
Grilled Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Skewers
This incredibly flavorful meal comes together in just 15 minutes. Sausage slices and shrimp coated in cajun seasoning, then skewered together before grilled to juicy perfection. Make sure to use compliant sausage that’s free of sugar and nitrates!
Creamy Spinach Stuffed Salmon
In this easy Whole30 recipe, salmon filets are stuffed with creamy spinach, then pan fried to golden, flaky perfection. The creamy spinach is dairy free and made with cashew cream, and the whole dish comes out beautiful and delicious every time.
Simple and Easy Tuna Patties
If you are looking for a simple and easy recipe that takes less than 15 minutes to make, I recommend you make these tuna patties! This is a no-frill recipe of just mixing ingredients together, shaping into patties, then pan-frying for several minutes. It’s goes great over some greens, and drizzled with hot sauce or your favorite Whole30 dressing!
Grilled Salmon Skewers with Lemon Garlic Marinade
The lemon garlic marinade is what really makes these salmon skewers shine. The fresh savory tartness of lemon juice, dijon mustard, garlic, and herbs really brightens the dish and keeps the salmon moist throughout the grilling process. This is another super quick recipe that takes about 15 minutes, and it’s fantastic with some cauliflower rice and roasted veggies!
One Pot Dishes and Easy Dinners
If you are looking for Whole30 one pot meals and easy dinners, I’ve got a great list to please everyone in you family. These quick and easy Whole30 meals will help you stay on track, eat deliciously (for the whole family!), and save you time to get other things done in life. Hope you enjoy these easy Whole30 meal ideas::
Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken
I usually don’t like restaurant teriyaki dishes because they are too sweet, but this one is just perfect. Lightly sweetened with no-sugar-added pineapple chunks, this dish is super quick and flavorful. So perfect over some cauliflower rice!
Sheet Pan Philly “Cheese”steak
As an east coast girl, this Whole30 30 minute dinner is near and dear to my heart. I thought I couldn’t enjoy Philly cheesesteak ever again, but this dish proved me wrong. Instead of cheese, a cashew cheese sauce is used and the result is seriously fantastic. This is a crowd-favorite meal that even non-Whole30 peeps will love!
Easy Pork Chops with Grilled Peach Salsa
If you have a grill, this simple and easy meal bursts with flavor and it’s perfect when the weather is warm. Both the pork chops and peach slices are grilled to perfection, and while the pork rests, you can make a refreshing grilled peach salsa to go along with it. Takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish!
Creamy Skillet Chicken with Garlic & Basil
A one pot dish that’s so comforting and creamy, this skillet chicken is pan fried, then simmered in an amazing garlic basil sauce. It’s delicious with a side of mashed potatoes and a salad, and the leftovers reheat beautifully as well.
Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
These oven-baked meatballs are one of my favorite 30 minute Whole30 meals, and my husband requests them often. These can be made with ground beef or lamb, and they contain an amazing combination of Greek spices. Coat them with Whole30 tzatziki sauce to serve, and they are fantastic with some veggies and greens on the side.
Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Horseradish Pan Sauce
Unlike other pork tenderloin recipes that may take a bit of time to cook through, these sliced medallions take just 3 minutes of pan-frying on each side. They are coated with a creamy and flavorful horseradish pan sauce, and they make an amazing main dish that’s ready in no time!
Mongolian Beef
This quick and easy Whole30 meal takes 20 minutes from start to finish, and you’ll be amazed that you were able to recreate a takeout classic at home! It’s so much healthier than the restaurant version, with amazingly flavorful sauce that coats the beef slices. Enjoy with cauliflower rice and a side of steamed green beans!
Burrito Bowl
A burrito bowl is my go-to meal when I’m feeling lazy or tired, and want to throw something together quickly. You can use beef or chicken, and most of the cooking is sautéing the meat with taco seasoning. Once you have the meat and the cauliflower rice ready, just assemble the bowls with your favorite toppings like salsa, guacamole, olives, and cilantro.
Korean Sloppy Joes
This quick Whole30 meal is a delicious combination of a classic comfort food and the crowd-pleasing flavor of bulgogi. It can be made in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop, and it comes together real quick with either method! I love enjoying it over baked potato halves or alongside cauliflower rice with some kimchi.
Sesame Chicken
Another delicious takeout classic that’s made healthier, but doesn’t sacrifice on the flavor! You can make this in the air fryer or on the stovetop, and both methods result in a fast and easy meal. The chicken pieces are pan fried to yield a crispy outer layer, then coated in the most flavorful sesame sauce!
Cauliflower Pork Fried Rice
Using cubed pork chops, this cauliflower pork fried rice is packed with veggies, and just so delicious. With just 12 minutes of cook time, you’ll have dinner ready for your family in no time, and it’s so easy to make large batch of for leftovers!
Chicken Yakitori (Japanese Chicken Skewers)
I first had chicken yakitori when I visited Japan for the first time, and I instantly became obsessed with the tender chicken bites coated in a sweet and savory sticky sauce. This Whole30 version uses just 1 date to sweeten the sauce, but it’s enough to yield an amazingly flavorful chicken that you’ll want to make over and over again! If you don’t have a grill, you can just broil for the same amount of time.
Cauliflower Falafel
Yes – you can make Whole30 compliant falafel using cauliflower and it’s absolutely delicious and taste close to the real thing! These can be oven baked, air fried, or pan fried, and it’s a great snack or a plant-based meal. Dip them in Whole30 tzatziki sauce, and it’s perfection in a bite.
Mongolian Chicken with Shishito Peppers
This is a flavorful Whole30 Mongolian chicken recipe with a twist by adding shishito peppers. While shishito peppers are usually tough and hardy when they are raw, they turn wonderfully tender and slightly crunchy once pan-fried and cooked through. Chicken and peppers are coated in an amazing coconut aminos sauce, and it’s wonderful over cauliflower rice.
Moroccan Meatballs with Creamy Dipping Sauce
These Moroccan meatballs are packed with amazing spices like garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cinnamon, baked to perfection, and then served drizzled with the most addicting creamy dipping sauce. The dipping sauce is not necessary, but I highly recommend it!
Creamy Carrot Soup with Bacon
I love making this creamy carrot soup with bone broth for extra nutrients. The bacon gives an amazing crunchy texture alongside the creamy smoothness of the soup. I’ve even made a huge batch of this soup to enjoy for breakfast for a week because it’s filling and so delicious! The leftovers reheat beautifully too.
Thanks so much for all of these! Can’t wait to try them.
Of course! Hope you enjoy