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30 Minutes or Less

One-Pot Mexican Soup

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overhead image of Mexican soup with avocado, cilantro, sour cream, and tortillas on top.

This hearty Mexican soup is full of fresh, delicious flavor! The perfect quick and easy dinner recipe to throw together on a busy weeknight. Requires only a handful of simple ingredients, cooked in one pot, in just 30 minutes!

overhead image of Mexican soup with avocado, cilantro, sour cream, and tortillas on top.

What You’ll Need to Make Mexican Soup

Chicken – This recipe calls for chicken breasts, but really any cut of chicken will work. My one recommendation when it comes to buying your chicken, is to make sure it’s boneless and skinless. This’ll make the cooking and dicing process much easier! Also, for a vegan/vegetarian Mexican soup, check out the “Adjust This Recipe to Your Dietary Needs” section below.

Chicken Broth – I used chicken bone broth in my Mexican soup for an extra boost of nutrients. However, any chicken broth, or even chicken bouillon dissolved in water will do the trick. And if you don’t have chicken broth, feel free to use vegetable broth instead.

Taco Seasoning – Two tablespoons of taco seasoning load this soup up with TONS of delicious flavor! This addition makes this recipe even easier to throw together. Though if you don’t have taco seasoning, feel free to use a combo of your favorite Mexican spices. I love smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano.

Jalapeño – While optional, I love throwing in a diced jalapeño for extra flavor and spice! However, for a mild soup, try just half a jalapeño. Or, feel free to leave it out altogether.

mexican chicken soup in a bowl with a spoon.

Tips and Tricks

  • I highly recommend doubling this recipe! Leftover Mexican soup tastes just as good, and is easy to reheat and enjoy all week long. Heck, you can even freeze it for up to three months!
  • For a heartier meal, add rice! I love adding in a cup or two of cooked rice to my soup. And to keep things super easy, I typically opt for a pre-cooked microwaveable rice.
  • You can also make this Mexican soup in the Instant Pot! To do that, use the sauté function to cook up with veggies. Then, add the remaining ingredients, seal the lid and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the chicken, dice it up, then add it back into your soup – that’s it!
close-up overhead image of Mexican soup with avocado, cilantro, sour cream, and tortillas on top.

Adjust This Recipe to Your Dietary Needs

Make it Vegan/Vegetarian: For a vegan or vegetarian Mexican soup, replace the chicken with two cans of your favorite beans – I love either black beans or navy beans! Also, replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Make it Gluten-Free: While mostly gluten-free, make sure the taco seasoning you use is 100% gluten-free as well!

One-Pot Mexican Soup
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One-Pot Mexican Soup

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Course: MainCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

5

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

25

minutes

This hearty Mexican soup is full of fresh, delicious flavor! The perfect quick and easy dinner recipe to throw together on a busy weeknight. Requires only a handful of simple ingredients, cooked in one pot, in just 30 minutes!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped

  • 1 celery stalk, chopped

  • 1 carrot, chopped

  • 3 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 quart chicken broth

  • 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

  • 1-2 pounds chicken breast

  • 2 tablespoons taco seasoning

  • salt, to taste

Directions

  • Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, Add in the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and jalapeño. Cooked 4-5 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
  • Add in chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, chicken, taco seasoning, and salt.
  • Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove chicken from pot, dice into ½-inch pieces, then transfer back into pot. Stir to combine then serve warm with fresh cilantro, lime juice, avocado, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

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30 Minutes or Less

Harvest Bowl (easy to meal prep!)

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overhead image of a meal prep harvest bowl with sliced almonds on the side.

This fully loaded harvest bowl is packed with seasonal ingredients, fresh flavor, and finished off with a dreamy maple dijon vinaigrette! Perfect to meal prep ahead of a busy week, or quickly throw together as an easy meal in under 30 minutes.

maple dijon dressing being poured over a harvest bowl

What You’ll Need to Make a Harvest Bowl

Sweet Potato – Peel and cube two sweet potatoes before roasting. Or, if you’d like, replace the sweet potato with your favorite squash. Peeled and cubed butternut squash, sliced acorn squash, or even sliced delicata squash would all taste great in this harvest bowl!

Chicken – Two boneless and skinless chicken breasts are lightly seasoned, then roasted to perfection! For a vegan option, see the “make it vegan” section below.

Quinoa – Any variety of quinoa is jam-packed with health benefits! It’s full of nutrients, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, fiber, and is a complete protein. Talk about a superfood, eh? Feel free to use whatever kind of quinoa you have handy – white, red, black, or rainbow – they all taste great. Or, if you don’t have quinoa, you can replace it with cooked brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat, farro, or barley.

Kale – Similar to the quinoa, any variety of kale will taste delicious in your harvest bowl. So, use whatever you can get your hands on – curly kale, dino (lacinato) kale, red kale, or even baby kale. Though if using baby kale, no need to massage it, just add straight to your bowl, then toss in dressing.

close-up image of sliced chicken over a meal prep harvest bowl.

Tips and Tricks

  • Don’t skip massaging the kale! This step is super important to achieve nice, and tender kale. Skipping this step will result in tough, and hard-to-chew kale, just all around unappetizing!
  • I highly, HIGHLY, recommend doubling up on the maple dijon salad dressing. It’s seriously the star of this harvest bowl, and you’ll regret not making more. Also, leftovers stay fresh in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three weeks!

Adjust This Recipe to Your Dietary Needs

Make it Vegan: For a healthy, high protein vegan meal, leave out the chicken. Then, either double up on the sweet potatoes, or replace the chicken with a can of drained then rinsed chickpeas!

Make it Paleo/Grain-Free: Simply leave off the quinoa and you’ve got yourself a totally paleo and grain-free harvest bowl.

two meal prep containers showcasing this harvest bowl recipe.

How to Meal Prep This Harvest Bowl

  1. Roast the sweet potatoes and chicken.
  2. Cook the quinoa.
  3. Make the maple dijon dressing.
  4. Massage the kale.
  5. Divide the massaged kale, cooked quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes and chicken, sliced apples, fried cranberries, and sliced almonds between four meal prep containers.
  6. Store remaining dressing separately.
  7. When ready to eat, remove one of your meal prep containers from the fridge and drizzle with some extra maple dijon dressing – enjoy!
Harvest Bowl (easy to meal prep!)
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Harvest Bowl (easy to meal prep!)

5 from 2 votes
Recipe by Samantha Course: Main, Lunch, DinnerDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

These fully loaded harvest bowls are packed with seasonal ingredients, fresh flavor, and finished off with a dreamy maple dijon vinaigrette! Perfect to meal prep ahead of a busy week, or quickly throw together as an easy meal in under 30 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

  • 1-2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken breast

  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil

  • salt and black pepper, to taste

  • 2 cups kale, finely chopped

  • 1 cup cooked quinoa

  • 1 apple, sliced

  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds or pumpkin seeds

  • For the maple dijon dressing:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil

  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

  • 1 garlic clove, minced

  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 425° Fahrenheit. Place sweet potatoes and chicken breast on a baking sheet, then drizzle with avocado oil, and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Toss potatoes to coat, then roast for 20 minutes, tossing potatoes halfway through.
  • While chicken and potatoes roast, make the dressing by adding all dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisking to combine.
  • Place kale in a bowl with half of the dressing, then toss and massage dressing into the kale with your hands.
  • Once potatoes are tender, remove from the oven and assemble bowls with all ingredients – roasted sweet potatoes, massaged kale, chicken, quinoa, apples, dried cranberries, and sliced almonds. Store with remaining dressing on the side, then top with dressing right before eating.

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30 Minutes or Less

Fresh Avocado Salad (ready in 5 minutes!)

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overhead image of avocado salad in a bowl with lemon on the side

This avocado salad is BURSTING with fresh herbs and vegetables! Perfectly ripe avocado, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and tangy red onion tossed in fresh lemon juice and olive oil. This super quick and easy salad recipe comes together in one bowl, and in under 5 minutes!

super close-up image of avocado salad

What You’ll Need To Make Avocado Salad

Avocados – Duh! The main ingredient, the stars of this show, are two perfectly ripe large avocados. How can you tell when an avocado is ripe? Give it a gentle squeeze, and if the skin feels firm but gives a little, then your avocado’s ripe and ready to use in this salad! However, if your avocado feels especially hard and doesn’t give at all when squeezed, then it’s not ripe and should be left at room temperature overnight to ripen.

Lemon Juice – A squeeze of fresh lemon juice gives this salad a nice touch of acidity and brightness! The lemon juice also helps to preserve the freshness of the vegetables in this dish. Though if you don’t have any lemon juice, a touch of apple cider vinegar will work too.

Fresh Herbs – Use any kind of fresh herb you’d like! I used fresh basil and OMG it was delicious. But I’ve also made this plant-based meal with fresh cilantro and fresh parsley, both of which were just as tasty.

Salt – I swear by lightly salting avocado, no matter what dish it’s in. A tiny pinch of salt brings out the rich, creamy, almost buttery taste in avocado. And if you don’t already have some, I highly recommend investing in some flaky sea salt. For this salad recipe, wait until the very end to add the salt. Salt, while enhancing flavor, will also turn the avocado brown. Therefore, to keep your avocado salad looking as bright and fresh as possible, salt the salad right before serving!

avocado salad in a bowl with serving utensils.

Tips and Tricks

  • If you’d like to prep this recipe ahead of time, then prep all ingredients except the avocado. Once avocado is removed from its skin and exposed to air, it’ll brown pretty quickly. This browning doesn’t mean the avocado’s gone bad, and won’t at all affect the taste, though it simply won’t look as pretty. Therefore, chop and prep all other herbs and veggies, then toss in the avocado and salt right before serving to keep it looking vibrant and fresh!
  • Enjoy this avocado salad as-is, or add in your favorite plant-based protein for a heartier meal. A can of drained beans, a cup of lentils, or some crispy cubed tofu would all go perfectly in this salad! Though if not vegan, feel free to serve this salad as a side dish to roast chicken, pan-seared salmon, or really any main course.
  • Store leftover avocado salad in an airtight container. Though before securing the lid, press a piece of plastic wrap over the veggies so that it comes into contact with the top of the salad. This’ll help prevent the avocado from turning brown, and lock in freshness for up to three days!
overhead image of avocado salad in a bowl with lemon on the side

This Avocado Salad Is…

Fresh Avocado Salad (ready in 5 minutes!)

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Course: SaladsDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

0

minutes
Total time

5

minutes

This avocado salad is BURSTING with fresh herbs and vegetables! Perfectly ripe avocado, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, and tangy red onion tossed in fresh lemon juice and olive oil. This super quick and easy salad recipe comes together in one bowl, and in under 5 minutes!

Ingredients

  • 2 large avocados, diced

  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

  • 1/2 English cucumber, sliced

  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped herbs, such as cilantro, parsley, and/or basil

  • big pinch of salt

  • fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions

  • Add all ingredients except salt and black pepper to a large bowl and toss to combine.
  • Just before serving, sprinkle in salt and black pepper, then eat immediately.

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30 Minutes or Less

Orzo Salad (V/GF-Option)

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Close-up image of orzo salad in a bowl with a lemon wedge on top.

This orzo salad is quick, simple, and loaded with flavor! This delicious, naturally vegan dish is easily made gluten-free with the use of your favorite gluten-free orzo or rice. The addition of fresh herbs and vegetables take this orzo salad above and beyond!

Overhead image of a bowl of orzo salad with basil and a fork on the side.

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to walk into the grocery store these days and see SUCH a variety of fresh spring produce! Like, give me allllllll the spring produce. Just toss it all in my cart, I’ll figure out something to do with it. And that’s pretty much how this orzo salad was created. I needed a way to jam as many fresh vegetables and herbs into a dish as possible, without it tasting too healthy. I mean we’re all about healthy around here, but too healthy ends up tasting like the earth, so we need to avoid that. In this salad – the orzo will keep you satisfied, the chickpeas will keep you full, and the veggies will keep you feeling your best! Now this orzo salad is a well-rounded dish, if I’ve ever heard of one.

Make it Gluten-Free

  • Use Gluten-Free Orzo: There are a handful of gluten-free orzos out there. I’ve personally tried the Jovial Grain Free Cassava Orzo and can couch for its tastiness. Though feel free to use whatever gluten-free orzo you love in this recipe.
  • Use Rice Instead of Orzo: Rice would make a delicious gluten-free substitute in this orzo salad! Simply cook 1 1/2 cups of brown or white rice in 3 cups of vegetable broth and use just as you would the orzo in this recipe.

What You Need To Make Orzo Salad

Chickpeas – Chickpeas give this otherwise light orzo salad a bit of heartiness. This starchy protein is mild in flavor, not at all taking away from the flavors of this dish. Feel free to use your favorite white bean in place of the chickpeas in this recipe, or even add some roasted chicken if you’d like!

Arugula – I love arugula for its peppery, almost spicy taste. Arugula is another layer of both health and flavor in this recipe. Though if you don’t like arugula, you can use fresh spinach instead.

White Wine Vinegar – White wine vinegar is slightly more mild and less acidic than most other vinegars. If you don’t have white wine vinegar, then I suggest picking up a bottle next time you’re at the store. It not only tastes great in this orzo salad recipe, but would make a great addition to most other salads. Though if you can’t find white wine vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar instead.

Orzo Salad
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Orzo Salad

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

7

minutes
Total time

17

minutes

This orzo salad is quick, simple, and loaded with flavor! This delicious, naturally vegan dish is easily made gluten-free with the use of your favorite gluten-free orzo or rice. The addition of fresh herbs and vegetables take this orzo salad above and beyond!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups orzo, see Notes

  • 4 cups vegetable broth, see Notes

  • 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion

  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

  • 1 cup chopped cucumber

  • 1 cup arugula

  • 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

  • For the dressing:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil

  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon honey, use maple syrup if vegan

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

  • Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a large pot, add in the orzo and cook for about 7 minutes or until al dente.Orzo Salad Process Photo 1
  • Drain orzo then set aside in a large bowl to cool.
  • While orzo cools, make the dressing by adding all dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisking to combine.Orzo Salad Process Photo 2
  • Add remaining ingredients to the orzo along with the dressing, then toss to combine.Orzo Salad Process Photo 3

Notes

  • Orzo: You can easily make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free orzo or rice instead. For more information, see the section above titled “Make it Gluten-Free.”
  • Vegetable Broth: Feel free to use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth in this recipe.

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