‘The Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond Cooks These Meals in Under 40 Minutes

The Pioneer Woman knows preparing a home-cooked meal can be time-consuming. Although it’s nice to have a homemade dinner, there are so many steps to getting a meal on the table. You have to prepare in advance by making a grocery list and purchasing your ingredients. And don’t forget the cleanup!

Ree Drummond has a few recipes that can be prepared in under 40 minutes. Here’s a rundown of The Pioneer Woman meals that will help you spend less time in the kitchen.

Chicken with pesto cream

Drummond describes her chicken with pesto cream as “The perfect food fix for a quick, working dinner.” She starts by making the pesto. Drummond puts basil leaves in a food processor along with a cup of parmesan cheese, pine nuts, salt, and pepper. Next, she slices four cloves of garlic. Two of the cloves go into the pesto and the other two go into the skillet.

Drummond pulses her food processor while she drizzles in some olive oil. During The Pioneer Woman show, she says making pesto is “never an exact science.” Drummond says you just have to “eyeball it and keep mixing until it looks absolutely perfect.” You can find the ingredients and directions on the Food Network website.

Cajun veggie pasta

Drummond says her Cajun veggie pasta is “Just the thing to cook for the kids in a time crunch.” She also describes it as “flavorful, fast, and a family favorite.” Drummond starts by preparing the vegetables. She then heats up a skillet with olive oil and butter.

Next, Drummond heats up the vegetables in a skillet (mushrooms, green bell peppers, and red bell peppers). She also adds two cloves of minced garlic and Cajun spice. Drummond prefers to use a Cajun spice mix from the supermarket.

For the next step, Drummond prepares the pasta. She says you can use any type of pasta you want. She prefers to use fettuccine. One thing she likes about this dish is that it takes less than 40 minutes to prepare. “It’s probably closer to 20 minutes,” she says during her show. You can find the ingredients and directions on the Food Network website.

Sheet pan shrimp puttanesca

Drummond says this is an “all-in-one sheet pan supper.” Drummond starts by cutting up small pieces of white bread that she uses as croutons. She says it’s a good idea to add small bread chunks to a sheet pan supper because they absorb the flavors of whatever you’re cooking.

Next, Drummond slices chunks of red onions, cherry tomatoes, and black olives. She arranges them next to the bread chunks. Then, Drummond sprinkles olive oil on the vegetables. For the next step, she sprinkles salt and pepper.

“I really think that sheet pans are the slow cooker of my generation,” says Drummond. “It is such an easy way to cook dinner. Basically, everything goes on the pan.” You can find the ingredients and directions on the Food Network website.

Another recipe Drummond likes to make that takes less than 40 minutes is skirt steak with bok choy. She says this is her idea of a “heavenly dinner in a dash.”

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