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The Kitchn published a report featuring five chefs’ favorite dinners they say can be made in 30 minutes or less. All five recipes center on chicken thighs, prepared as skillet chicken, köfte, onion gravy or dakgalbi.
The Kitchn has published five chefs’ go-to dinners that they say can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, and all five use chicken thighs. The recipes range from skillet-seared chicken with lemon butter to Turkish-style köfte and Korean dakgalbi, offering busy home cooks several ways to build a quick meal around the same cut.
In the report, Assistant Editor Alexandra Foster says she asked five chefs for their reliable, fast dinner ideas. Their shared choice was chicken thighs, which the chefs described as flavorful and forgiving during high-heat cooking. The cooking times and methods in the article are the chefs’ recommendations; they are not presented as results from a comparative test.
Steve Ingber, executive chef and owner of Denver private chef company MileHighCook, pounds thighs to an even thickness, sears them in a cast-iron pan and makes a quick sauce with garlic, lemon, butter and herbs. He says the meal takes about 20 minutes. Laura Ascher, founder and recipe developer at Cast Iron Skillet Cooking, coats boneless, skinless thighs in melted butter and Cajun seasoning, then cooks them in a hot skillet. Her method takes about 20 minutes, followed by a short rest.
Melih Yilmaz, executive chef at Foursome in New York City, mixes ground chicken thighs with onion, garlic, parsley, spices, breadcrumbs and olive oil to make small köfte. He serves them with a salad of sumac, onion and parsley and a quick lemon-tahini sauce, and estimates the meal takes about 25 minutes. Virginia Willis, a French-trained Southern chef and cookbook author, recommends chicken cooked in onion gravy. Her described method sears the chicken, softens onions, adds spices and starch, then cooks the chicken in the gravy. The report says it can be ready in 30 minutes or less.
Mingoo Kang, co-founder of Jangin and chef-owner of Mingles, recommends dakgalbi, a South Korean stir-fry of chicken, spicy sauce, rice cakes and vegetables. The supplied report says the dish is cooked in one pot and can feed a crowd, but its description ends before giving Kang’s full recipe details or a specific cooking time.
The shared choice gives readers a practical starting point for weeknight planning: chicken thighs can be seared whole, shaped into patties or cooked in a sauce, depending on the time and ingredients available. The chefs’ suggestions also show how a short cooking window can still accommodate different flavor profiles, from lemon and herbs to Cajun spices, tahini and dakgalbi’s spicy sauce.
These are individual chef recommendations, rather than a ranking or a claim that every recipe will take the same amount of time in every kitchen. Prep work, pan size and the thickness of the chicken can affect timing. Readers can use the list as a set of ideas, while following safe cooking practices and checking doneness rather than relying on the clock alone.
How the Chefs Use Chicken Thighs
The report frames the recipes around a familiar weeknight question: what to make for dinner when time is limited. Foster notes that The Kitchn favors meals ready in 30 minutes or less, particularly one-pot dishes. The five responses give examples of that approach without suggesting that the recipes are interchangeable: some use boneless pieces, one uses ground thigh meat, and Willis describes a gravy-based preparation that can also be adapted to other chicken cuts.
Several chefs explain why they prefer thighs for these methods. Ingber says pounding the meat evenly helps it cook quickly, while Ascher and Yilmaz point to its ability to stay juicy during high-heat cooking. Those are the chefs’ reasons for choosing the cut. The article does not provide a standardized recipe comparison, full ingredient quantities for every dish or independent timing measurements.
““My go-to is chicken thighs pounded thin, seared hard in cast iron, and finished with a quick pan sauce of garlic, lemon, butter, and whatever herbs I have.””
— Steve Ingber, executive chef and owner of MileHighCook
Recipe Timings and Missing Details
The report gives chefs’ estimates, not a guarantee that each dinner will be ready within 30 minutes for every cook. It does not include a shared timing method or full quantities for all recipes. The provided text also cuts off during Kang’s comments about dakgalbi, so his complete instructions and his own stated cooking time are unavailable here.
Ingredient substitutions may affect cooking time and texture. Willis says her dish can use bone-in thighs and mentions boneless, skinless breasts or skin-on drumsticks as alternatives, but the supplied material does not give separate timing guidance for each. For food safety, cook poultry to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C), measured with a food thermometer at the thickest part; ground chicken should also reach 165°F. Refrigerate leftovers promptly.
Some suggested ingredients contain common allergens: the lemon-tahini sauce contains sesame, breadcrumbs may contain wheat, and butter contains milk. Cajun seasoning and prepared sauces can also vary by brand, so check ingredient labels when allergies are a concern.
Turning the Ideas Into Dinner
The immediate next step for readers is to choose a recipe style and consult its full recipe instructions for ingredient quantities and detailed steps. The supplied report summarizes the chefs’ methods but does not provide complete recipes for all five dishes. For the quickest options, Ingber and Ascher put their skillet recipes at about 20 minutes, while Yilmaz estimates roughly 25 minutes for köfte with its salad and sauce.
Anyone making the dishes should allow time to prepare sides, check that poultry reaches a safe internal temperature and account for the cut being used. No further publication, chef demonstration or recipe update is identified in the source material, so additional details about Kang’s dakgalbi and the exact publication date remain unavailable.
Key Questions
What did all five chefs choose for their quick dinners?
All five recipes use chicken thighs. They are prepared as skillet-seared chicken, blackened chicken, ground-chicken köfte, chicken in onion gravy and dakgalbi.
Which recipes have a stated cooking time?
Ingber and Ascher say their skillet dishes take about 20 minutes. Yilmaz estimates about 25 minutes for köfte. Willis’s onion-gravy dish is described as taking 30 minutes or less. The supplied report does not give Kang’s specific timing.
What is dakgalbi?
In the report, dakgalbi is described as a South Korean dish of chicken stir-fried in a spicy sauce with chewy rice cakes and vegetables.
What temperature should chicken reach?
Cook chicken, including ground chicken, to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). Check with a food thermometer at the thickest part.
Do the recipes include common allergens?
The described dishes include ingredients that may contain sesame in tahini sauce, wheat in breadcrumbs and milk in butter. Check labels and recipe instructions for specific ingredients.
Source: rss
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