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The Kitchn published a roundup of five chefs’ go-to dinners that can be made in about 30 minutes or less. Each chef’s suggestion features chicken thighs, prepared as skillet chicken, köfte, onion gravy chicken or dakgalbi.
The Kitchn has published five chefs’ go-to dinners for busy nights, each described as ready in about 30 minutes or less. The chefs’ recipes share one ingredient: chicken thighs, cooked in styles that include lemon-butter skillet chicken, Turkish-style köfte, Southern onion gravy and South Korean dakgalbi.
The roundup, written by The Kitchn assistant editor Alexandra Foster, is based on interviews with five chefs. The publication presents the dishes as practical weeknight options, with several cooked in one pan or pot. The reported cooking times range from about 20 minutes to 30 minutes or less, though the source does not provide a standardized test of the recipes.
Steve Ingber, executive chef and owner of Denver private-chef company MileHighCook, recommends thinly pounded chicken thighs seared in a cast-iron pan, then finished with garlic, lemon, butter and available herbs. He says the dish takes about 20 minutes. Laura Ascher, founder and recipe developer at Cast Iron Skillet Cooking, seasons boneless, skinless thighs with melted butter and Cajun spices, then cooks them in a hot skillet. She also estimates about 20 minutes.
Melih Yilmaz, executive chef of New York City restaurant Foursome, mixes ground chicken thighs with grated onion, garlic, parsley, cumin, Aleppo pepper, breadcrumbs and seasonings to make köfte. He serves the patties with a sumac, onion and parsley salad and lemon-tahini sauce, and says the meal takes about 25 minutes. Virginia Willis, a French-trained Southern chef and cookbook author, recommends chicken cooked in onion gravy. Mingoo Kang, co-founder of Jangin and chef-owner of Mingles, points to dakgalbi, a spicy South Korean chicken stir-fry with rice cakes and vegetables. The supplied source excerpt ends before Kang’s full description of ingredients and method.
Why Thighs Suit Quick Dinners
The chefs’ shared choice offers a concrete idea for readers looking for a fast dinner: chicken thighs can work across several cooking styles, from searing and skillet sauces to patties and a one-pot stir-fry. In the interviews, chefs describe thighs as juicy and forgiving during high-heat cooking. That is their professional advice, rather than a comparative test showing that thighs always cook faster or perform better than other cuts.
The suggestions also vary in effort and ingredients. Ingber’s pan sauce uses a short list of staples, while Yilmaz’s köfte includes a salad and tahini sauce, and dakgalbi calls for rice cakes and vegetables. Readers can use the roundup to find a starting point, but the reported time estimates may depend on preparation, equipment and familiarity with each dish.
The Kitchn frames the report around the familiar weeknight question of what to make for dinner. It says its editors favor meals ready in 30 minutes or less, especially those made in one pot, then asks professional chefs for their own quick-cooking choices. The five recommendations are not variations on one recipe: they draw on American, Turkish and South Korean cooking traditions.
Chicken thighs are the unifying ingredient, but they appear in different forms. Ingber and Ascher use whole boneless thighs; Yilmaz uses ground thigh meat; Willis’s gravy recipe can use bone-in thighs, with breasts or drumsticks offered as alternatives; Kang’s dakgalbi combines chicken with vegetables and chewy rice cakes. The source describes the variety as the chefs’ personal go-to choices, not as a ranked list or a survey of chefs broadly.
“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 Details and Timing Limits
The source presents the cooking times as estimates from the chefs and does not report independent testing, serving sizes, or a consistent definition of whether preparation time is included. It is also unclear from the provided excerpt what quantities and full instructions apply to each dish. The excerpt ends partway through Kang’s description of dakgalbi, so its complete ingredient list and cooking guidance are unavailable here.
The article does not compare costs or nutritional values, and it does not establish that every version can be completed in 30 minutes in every home kitchen. Food-safety temperatures are not given in the supplied material; readers should use a food thermometer and follow current guidance for cooking poultry safely.
Use the Full Recipes
The next step for readers who want to cook one of the dishes is to consult The Kitchn’s full report and any linked recipes for ingredient quantities and complete instructions. The supplied material gives no indication of a follow-up test or further reporting. Until full methods are checked, the chefs’ time estimates are best treated as reported guidance rather than guaranteed preparation times.
Key Questions
What did the five chefs have in common?
All five recommended a dinner featuring chicken thighs. The cut appeared as whole thighs, ground thigh meat or part of a stew-style dish.
Which dishes were described as taking about 20 minutes?
Steve Ingber’s garlic-lemon-butter chicken thighs and Laura Ascher’s blackened chicken thighs were each described as taking about 20 minutes.
What is dakgalbi?
In the source report, dakgalbi is described as a South Korean dish made by stir-frying chicken in a spicy sauce with chewy rice cakes and vegetables.
Are the cooking times independently verified?
The supplied report gives the chefs’ estimates but does not describe an independent cooking-time test. Actual timing can vary with preparation and kitchen equipment.
Does the source include complete recipes?
The provided source material summarizes the dishes and some methods, but it does not include complete ingredient quantities and instructions for all five. Its dakgalbi excerpt is cut off partway through the description.
Source: rss
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