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I am looking for recommendations on a cookbook that is a true weeknight cookbook. Easy ingredients, easy cooking process, takes no longer than about 45 minutes from start to finish. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Tieghan Gerard's Half Baked Harvest books are great and the latest one is called Every Day so would seem to fit your needs. We have also just recently indexed all the recipes in the HBH blog - 2,544 recipes.

Another blogger who is very practical for weeknight cooking is Deb Perelman (Smitten Kitchen). She has two cookbooks, one of which is also called Every Day. The 1,317 recipes in her blog are also indexed.

This title I Dream of Dinner So You Don't Have To is right on point with your request.  (Release date 4/12/2022. I just received it and it is a keeper). You can take a look at our preview.

As Jane mentioned Deb Perelman's books are great - and she has a third title coming this autumn.

Other titles:

Food52 Big Little Recipes (preview available as well)

I also really love the original Food52 books. Volume 1 and Volume 2 (and of course the Food52 blog has over 5,500 recipes online.)

Cassy Joy Garcia's books are filled with healthy, quick and delicious recipes.

I probably can come up with more - but this is a start.

Thank you both! I've looked at the indexed recipes for Half Baked Harvest and that is on my list to buy. Also plan on getting I Dream of Dinner once it is officially out!

I will check out the others mentioned.

Thanks again!

I like Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach and Simple Suppers by American Test Kitchen.

Marian Burros's 20 Minute Menus and Keep it Simple are both terrific.  Mine have fallen apart from use and I need to replace them.

Zephy

I think you and I are in the same place in terms of time available for dinner prep. :) - The Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook is kind of a canon but I always feel like I find something in it when I need ideas. - A New Way to Dinner, by Food52 is also great if you are into a few hours of prep on the weekend. Menus are broken down by season, and you prep some ingredients on the weekend to make it much quicker during the week. I’ve enjoyed the process. - Melissa Clark’s Dinner: Changing the Game has become one of my absolute favorites. She has a sesame chicken with cashews and dates that my family requests often. - I second the Smitten Kitchen votes!

Thanks for reccs! I love to cook, but with a full time job and 2 young kids, I just don't have the time to make elaborate meals during the week! I always say - maybe I'll have time for things when I retire!

@Zephyrness
@breakthroughc

Checking those books out now. Thank you!

It's the prep time isn't it! All those TV cooks with 15 & 30 minute recipes have the prep all pre done by their slaves or hi-tech gadgetry...have you  maybe considered a "prep day" ,.. and something like  the cook once, eat all week category of books? There's 5 titles like that in the EYB library click here Happy cooking!

Yes! Prep is time consuming! I have thought about doing a prep day. One of my problems is that my husband is a late night eater, and he picks and eats through all of the leftovers, so there is nothing left for the next day. Annoying! I guess I could make extra of what I'm prepping and write notes to him not to eat it :) I have to do that sometimes with my lunch for work haha. I will check out the books you suggested, thank you!

Julia Turshen books are great. Her latest (Simply Julia) is probably my favorite of hers, with simple, yet smart and comforting recipes. I've cooked alot from that book and her recipes are always in our regular weekly rotation.

Of these I'm familiar with Cook Once, Eat All Week, and I like it a lot. I've added notes on several recipes, and so have other members.

I've got three cookbooks I turn to all the time for fairly quick weeknight meals: 

1) America's Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook (there's a newer edition but I haven't seen it) Variety of recipes nicely organized into chapters like "Eggs for dinner" or "Dinner off the grill" and in a very handy spiral binder. My 10-year old happily eats anything from this.

2) Vegetables Every Day: The Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Today's Produce  I use this at least once a week. This is a very practical vegetable A-Z cookbook that has recipes for both side dishes and main dishes for most common vegetables. Many are quite simple and quick - the arugula salads in here are some of my go-to super fast salads and I love his asparagus recipes.

3) The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Feeling Great Much better than it sounds from the title! A lot of the book is mix-and-match kinds of recipes - formulas like one pound of protein with a list of recommendations plus x amount of vegetables, mixed with a spice rub or sauce with a list of different flavors to choose from. Almost everything is pretty easy and there are a lot of good ideas for how to take some lean protein and mix it with vegetables and interesting seasonings to make a good, healthy meal. I especially like the crustless quiche ideas and the foil packets that can be baked or grilled.