These Easy 30-Minute Meals Make Frozen Ingredients The Star

Savvy contestants on Guy’s Grocery Games have been known to make a beeline to the freezer section, where all sorts of quick-to-cook ingredients are waiting to be discovered. With a well-stocked freezer, there are a multitude of meals available to you any night of the week in your own home kitchen. Buying a treasure trove of basic building blocks gives you the foundation to build a delicious and easy dinner using items often quick frozen at their optimum freshness. From vegetables such as edamame and spinach to ground proteins and carbs, frozen foods can be the secret to getting dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less.

Cook up one of these dinners while watching Guy’s Grocery Games on Wednesdays at 9PM ET/PT on Food Network Canada. Stream Live or On-Demand with STACKTV. Try it free today!

Sesame soba noodles with kale and edamame in a bowl

1/10

Frozen Edamame

Protein packed edamame are a delightful snack steamed and tossed with salt or furikake, but for a simple vegan dinner, they also pair well with leafy green kale and toothsome soba noodles. Add the hot sauce of your choice to taste.

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Potato Nests with Peas, Ham and Cream Cheese

2/10

Frozen Veggies and Hashbrowns

Any frozen vegetable will work here, so let your imagination run wild: peas, carrots and corn are standard fare, but butternut squash or broccoli also work here. You can also swap out the ham for bits of leftover roast or yesterday’s dinner. Frozen hash browns are repurposed for a crispy (and kid-friendly) crust that will hit the table in around 30 minutes.

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3/10

Frozen Cauliflower

This easy vegetarian fried rice can be customized to your tastes: more or less vegetables, eggs or sauces can take this rice to a whole new level. Bulking out the rice with roasted cauliflower is an easy way to reduce carbohydrates and increase your vegetable count.

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Food Network

4/10

Frozen Spinach

Frozen spinach isn’t just an ingredient for . Although this Instant Pot saag paneer recipe calls for baby spinach, you can skip a few steps by using easy to prepare frozen spinach instead for a quick and creamy hearty dish in under half an hour.

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Air fryer maple tahini salmon bites on a bed of rice

5/10

Frozen Salmon

Savoury tahini gets sweetened with a dash of maple syrup for an easy salmon dish that takes advantage of the air fryer’s speedy cooking time. If you can’t find liquid coconut aminos, try your favourite soy sauce instead for a slightly different take.

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6/10

Frozen Ground Beef

Frozen ground chuck doesn’t just have to be turned into burgers — these easy grilled kebabs make an easy and fun dinner (with a dipping sauce, to boot). This recipe takes some tricks from meatballs: adding ricotta for extra lushness and moisture and breadcrumbs for texture.

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A plate of gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce

7/10

Frozen Potato Gnocchi

Frozen gnocchi is a great, flexible, canvas for whatever sauce you want to use: pull a favourite prepared sauce or toss it with this simple sage, lemon and brown butter treatment for an under 30 minutes dinner.

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8/10

Frozen Pierogies

A bag of pierogis in the freezer is ready to be boiled, steamed or fried for a hearty dinner. This recipe takes mini pierogis and skips the boiling step for a pan-fried skilled version of a speedy supper.

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9/10

Frozen Shrimp

Frozen shrimp can be used straight from the freezer, with a quick running under cold water (or stint in the fridge, if you think of it the night before). Although the texture might be slightly different from perfectly fresh shrimp just pulled from the water, this version of a cozy shrimp étouffée comes together quickly and submerges shrimp in a vibrant sauce.

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10/10

Frozen Ground Turkey

This untraditional fusion recipe bolsters mild-tasting frozen ground turkey with flavourful fish sauce and Thai red curry, then adds peanut butter and coconut milk for creaminess. Served over rice or noodles, this curry will be a quick blast of flavour for mealtime.

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