11 Easy Weeknight Seafood Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less

With a little technique, a seared fish fillet or a pot of mussels makes for an easy dinner that still feels like a treat.

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Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a planner specializing in transportation, but has also been a photojournalist, writer, and editor for several online and print publications.
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The Serious Eats Team
The Serious Eats Team
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Updated September 06, 2024
Side view of broiled salmon

Serious Eats / Jordan Provost

Seafood isn't just nutritious and delicious—in most preparations, it also cooks up remarkably quickly. That makes it ideal for those harried nights when all you want is a filling and flavorful dose of protein, in need of only a simple vegetable side (and maybe a glass of wine or two, because, harried!) to make a meal. With a little technique, a seared fish fillet or a pot of mussels makes for an easy dinner that still feels like a treat. The seafood recipes we've gathered below, for dishes like salmon burgers, prosciutto-wrapped cod, and crab fried rice, are all ready in a mere 30 minutes or less.

April 2016

  • Spanish-Style Garlic Shrimp (Gambas al Ajillo)

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    J. Kenji López-Alt

    Gambas al ajillo, a Spanish tapa or main dish of shrimp cooked in hot, garlic-scented oil, is strongly reminiscent of shrimp scampi, only it's usually served with heaps of warm, crusty bread instead of pasta. To maximize flavor, we infuse the olive oil with the shells before using it to cook the shrimp, and incorporate garlic three ways: grated into the marinade, infused into the oil, and fried up in slices as garnish for the final dish.

  • Maple-Mustard Broiled Salmon

    Side view of broiled salmon

    Serious Eats / Jordan Provost

    All you need to complete this meal is a quick side or two. If you really want to keep the whole dinner prep to 15 minutes, while the fish is in the broiler, cook some couscous on the stovetop in broth (which takes about five minutes) and steam some vegetables such as broccoli or asparagus in the microwave, which takes about three minutes.

  • Thai-Style Cod à la Nage With Coconut Milk, Lime, and Lemongrass

    20160405-quick-seafood-recipes-roundup-05.jpg
    Vicky Wasik

    À la nage may sound like a terribly fancy term, but it's just a method of poaching in a flavorful broth and is neither difficult nor time-consuming. The fish is only partially submerged in the liquid, so the top half steams, making this a very gentle cooking technique. For this intensely flavored Thai-inspired version, we use a broth of coconut milk, lemongrass, ginger, lime juice, fish sauce, and fresh chilies.

  • Easy Salmon Burgers With Dill Honey-Mustard, Horseradish, and Avocado

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    J. Kenji López-Alt

    Salmon burgers ain't hamburgers, but that doesn't mean they have to be anything close to bland. Here, we make flavorful salmon patties with dill, onions, and horseradish and cook them very lightly to keep them juicy. Personally, I'd recommend making extra honey-Dijon mayonnaise—it's so good, you'll want to slather it on everything (especially bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll).

    Continue to 5 of 11 below

  • Easy One-Pot, No-Knife, Lighter Tuna Noodle Casserole

    20160405-quick-seafood-recipes-roundup-11.jpg
    J. Kenji López-Alt

    Maybe canned tuna isn't high on your list of elegant seafood options—and, okay, we might not go so far as to call this remake of the old suburban standby elegant, but it's the kind of dish that'll make you say, wow, I didn't really know this could be this good. We add tuna and frozen peas to egg noodles coated in a not-too-rich sauce, made with crème fraîche and lightened with a touch of lemon. It takes just 15 minutes, a single cooking vessel, and a couple of other basic kitchen tools, making it a great weeknight choice.

  • Moules Frites

    Mussles in a grey Staub Dutch oven and a side of fries.

    Serious Eats / Jen Causey

    Moules frites are extraordinarily simple to make, and much of the dish’s flavor comes from the shellfish itself. But there are a few ways we can enhance this simple meal, namely by sweating the aromatics, using a little wine, and utilizing the mussels’ juices in the sauce. 

  • Shrimp Scampi With Garlic, Red Pepper Flakes, and Herbs

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    Vicky Wasik

    The secret to getting this Italian-American classic right is using vermouth instead of white wine—wine takes too long to reduce, and its flavor becomes unpleasantly dominant in the finished dish. Peel the shrimp before tossing them in a baking soda brine, which ensures that they cook up plump and tender, with a healthy amount of snappy bite.

  • Thai-Style Crab Fried Rice

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    J. Kenji López-Alt

    Thai khao phat buu is a great showcase for fresh crabmeat, though you can use frozen if it's more convenient. We keep the seasonings light—just a little fish sauce, salt, and white pepper—to let the flavors of crab and jasmine rice carry the dish. Garlic, Thai bird chilies, cilantro, and scallions add little pops of pungent, hot, and herbal flavor throughout.

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  • Prosciutto-Wrapped Cod With Chorizo and Cannellini Beans

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    Yasmin Fahr

    For those worried about overcooking their flaky, delicate cod, this dish offers a very happy solution: Wrap it in prosciutto. The meat will insulate the fish and, incidentally, add a ton of meaty flavor. We serve the cod with a hearty mix of cannellini beans and chorizo, all cooked in the same skillet.

  • Air-Fryer Shrimp

    Overhead view of shrimp on a platter

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

    Again, shrimp is delicious no matter how you prepare it, but for meal-ready shrimp that’s ready in less than five minutes, go with a dry-brine and a quick toss in the air fryer.

  • Steamed Mussels With Thai-Style Coconut-Curry Broth

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    J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

    These mussels, steamed in a spicy broth flavored with curry paste, coconut milk, garlic, and shallots, are so quick to make, it's worth taking a little extra time to make the chili paste from scratch. But if that feels like a hassle, at least doctor up your store-bought green curry paste with a few special extras: garlic, cilantro stems, lime zest, dried Thai chilies, and coriander seed.

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