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Want some healthy dinner recipes to lose weight? Go through this article for some of the best food recipes and combinations that will help you gain a healthier appetite.
Why Eat a Healthy Meal for Dinner?
How often have we heard to have a heavy breakfast and lunch but a light dinner?
Many people end up having a rushed brunch in today’s world, and the only meal we have time for is dinner, which should be a healthy meal with all nutritious 1ingredients.
In terms of digestion and sleep pattern, dinner recipes should be made and had by evening. This would lead to a regularized cycle of food and sleep, with better health.
Generally, several factors have to be kept in mind while preparing healthy dinner recipes to lose weight:
1) Having food items as part of your dinner recipes that ensure good liver health will provide a better sleep pattern. For example, adding bitter greens would be a good choice.
2) For people with comorbidities, a wholesome meal for dinner like broccoli, carrots, black rice, and stir-fried sprouts are good vegetarian choice. At the same time, fish for proteins is a good non – vegetarian choice.
3) Adding anti-inflammatory ingredients like turmeric, black pepper, and ginger to your dinner recipes can lead to lessening pain and lower inflammation during the night.
4) With ingredients like mushrooms, tofu, sesame seeds, buckwheat noodles, and sprouts, your mental health can be kept in check as well by reducing overall stress 2and anxiety levels.
5) With popular dinner choices like rice in many cultures, adding plenty of vegetables would ensure a nutritious meal.
Let us check out some healthy dinner recipes that can be your comfort food!
Healthy Dinner Recipes to Lose Weight
Here are some easy put-together healthy dinner recipes to lose weight, with light ingredients that can be whipped up as a hearty meal.
1. Baked sweet potatoes (Mediterranean style)
A sweet plus savoury comfort food, this warm and healthy meal with sweet potatoes can be served as lunch or dinner and definitely makes the list of healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
Ingredients
1) Sweet potatoes (4 medium-sized ones)
2) Chickpeas (1 can of 15 ounces – rinsed and drained)
3) Olive oil (1/2 tbsp)
4) Cumin, cinnamon, coriander, or smoked paprika (1/2 tsp each)
5) Optional: Lemon juice or sea salt (1 pinch)
6) Hummus (1/4 cup)
7) lime juice (1 tbsp)
8) Dried dill (1 tsp)
9) Minced Garlic cloves (3)
10) Water/unsweetened almond milk
11) Optional toppings: Cherry tomatoes or chopped parsley (1/4 cup), lime juice (2 tbsp), and chilli garlic sauce
Instructions
1) Preheat the oven to 400°F or 204°C, then line a baking sheet with foil.
2) Clean each sweet potato, then cut them in half lengthwise. You can also bake them as it is (the cut ones would take a shorter cooking time compared to the whole ones)
3) Toss the chickpeas with spices and olive oil, then place them on the baking sheet. Add oil to the sweet potatoes, then place them on the sheet.
4) Leave the sweet potato and chickpeas to roast. The water is to give it a liquid consistency. Now prepare your sauce with hummus, dried lime juice, garlic cloves, and dried dill in a mixing bowl, and whisk to combine well.
You can add on the seasonings as per your taste – like for more freshness, add garlic, while for a herb flavour, add dill.
5) Check if the sweet potato is cooked (once it’s tender), and if the chickpeas are golden brown, remove them from the oven.
Your delicious Mediterranean-styled sweet potatoes are ready to be served.
Tips
To serve, flip the potatoes and smash their insides a bit, then top it with chickpeas, tomato sauce, herb sauce, and any other optional topping.
You can prepare the tomato topping in advance by dipping parsley and tomato in lemon juice, letting it marinate.
Note
For substituting Hummus3, you can use Tahini (however, make sure the seasonings are adjusted according to your tastes).
This is a vegan and gluten-free recipe with nutritious benefits. One serving has 308 calories (low cal if you haven’t had a proper meal during the day) and no trans fat.
Health benefits
Per serving of this dish contains 308 calories and 10 gm of protein, with no trans fat, which makes it a good option for healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
2. Black bean Chicken with Brown rice
This personalized spicy recipe has just a few ingredients and is quick to make in healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
Ingredients
1) Chili powder (3 tsp)
2) Ground cumin (1 tsp)
3) Pepper (1 tsp)
4) Salt (1/4 tsp)
5) Chicken breast halves (4 – boneless and skinless)
6) Canola oil (2 tsp)
7) Black beans (1 can – rinsed and drained)
8) Frozen corn (1 cup)
9) Salsa (1 cup)
10) Hot cooked brown rice (2 cups)
Instructions
The cooking time for this recipe is 25 minutes, and it makes four servings.
1) Take a small bowl – mix all the seasonings, then sprinkle them onto the chicken.
2) Take a large skillet (nonstick), heat the oil over medium heat, and let the chicken brown on both sides.
3) Add the corn, salsa, and bean to the skillet. Cook covered for about 10 to 15 minutes (you can also check by inserting a thermometer into the chicken, which should read 165°)
4) Remove the chicken from the pan, then cut it into slices.
Serve warm with black beans mixture and brown rice.
Health benefits
Per serving of this dish (1 chicken breast, with 3/4 cup of bean mixture, and 1/2 cup of cooked rice) would have 7 gm fat and 32 gm protein. The nutritional benefits of this recipe are a good try-out option among the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
3. Peanut Noodles with low-sodium soy sauce
This recipe for stir fry peanut noodles is one of the tasty and healthy dinner recipes to lose weight, made with Asian ingredients and spaghetti noodles, within 15 minutes.
Ingredients
1) Whole wheat pasta (12 oz)
2) Sugar snap peas (2 cups)
3) Red bell pepper (1 red)
4) Sliced mushrooms (1 cup)
5) Green onions (4)
6) Chopped fresh cilantro (1/4 cup)
7) Rice vinegar (1/4 cup)
8) Peanut butter (3-4 tbsp)
9) low sodium soy sauce (3 tbsp)
10) Minced green onion (1)
11) Water (3-4 tbsp)
Instructions
This recipe will make around 2-3 servings.
1) Firstly, boil a pot of water and add the pasta and salt to it; let it fully boil.
You can 12 oz of pasta instead of 16, as this recipe will not use a full package.
2) Slice all the vegetables and rinse the sugar snap peas. Add them to a wok, on medium heat, with water. Cover it, and let it steam for some minutes.
3) For the sauce, add the rice vinegar, peanut butter, soy sauce, green onions, and 2 tbsp of water in a mason jar, close the lid and shake it thoroughly till it combines.
4) Check if the pasta is made, strain it, but don’t rinse it (as this will remove starch necessary to bind the noodles)
5) Add the pasta to the wok and then the peanut sauce. Mix everything well, remove from the heat, then add the fresh cilantro.
Your delicious pasta is ready to be served!
Health benefits
Per serving of this dish contains around 26 gm of protein, no cholesterol4, and 8g total fat, which definitely puts it on the list of healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
4. Pho Soup
This delicious Vietnamese noodle soup, made of tasty, aromatic spices and beef bones, would fit right in healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
Ingredients
1) Beef knuckles or leg bones (5-6 pounds)
2) Coldwater (6 quarts)
3) Onion (2 medium-sized ones, quartered)
4) Fresh ginger (4-inch pieces – halved lengthwise)
5) Cinnamon sticks (2)
6) Coriander seeds (1 tbsp)
7) Fennel seeds (1 tbsp)
8) Star Anise (6)
9) Whole cloves (6)
10) Black cardamom pod (1)
11) Fish sauce (1/4 cup)
12) Yellow rock sugar (1-inch piece)
13) Dried or fresh Banh pho noodles (1 pound)
14) Raw eye of round, tri-tip steak (1/2 pound)
15) Thinly sliced onions (1/4 cup)
16) Chopped cilantro leaves (1/4 cup)
Additions to the recipe: Fresh mint or Thai basil, bean sprouts, red chillies, lime wedges, and fish sauce.
Instructions
The total time to make this recipe is 4 hours and 4 minutes. Despite the longer prep and cooking time, it is worth it.
1) Take a large pot – add beef bones in it, then cover it with cold water. Place it on high heat, then bring to a boil (for around 3-5 minutes)
2) Once all the impurities and foam are removed, drain the bones and throw away the water.
Rinse the bones with warm water, then scrub the stockpot thoroughly to remove any residue left.
Put the bones in the stockpot again, and cover with cold water.
3) Keep the oven rack in a higher position, and turn it high from the broiler, then line a baking sheet with foil.
4) Place the onions and ginger on the baking sheet, and let it boil for around 15 minutes. Turn them on both sides occasionally, so they are charred.
5) Add all the spices to a dry frying pan on the low heat level, and then cook (keep stirring till they are fragrant – around 5 minutes).
Place the toasted spices into a cotton bag sachet or cloth, and tie them with butcher’s twine to seal.
6) Once the bones have been boiled, let them simmer, and add in the onions, ginger, and bag of toasted spices.
Add salt (1 and 1/2 tbsp), Fish sauce (1/4 cup), and sugar. Continue to simmer this mixture for 3 hours, uncovered. Remove the excess foam and scum from the surface.
7) With tongs, remove the bones, ginger, and onions from the broth, then strain it through a fine mesh.
How to assemble?
8) Let the broth simmer on medium heat.
9) If dried noodles are being used, cover them with hot water, and let them soak for around 20 minutes (till they are soft and opaque); if fresh noodles are used, add coriander and rinse in cold water.
10) Take a medium saucepan to fill it with water to boil so that the noodles are cooked (for about 10 seconds or till they collapse).
Once done, drain the noodles and divide them into bowls. Add raw meat, then the hot broth, and finish it with onion slices and fresh cilantro.
Your delicious noodle soup is ready to be served. You can use any of the garnishes provided in the above list.
Tips to make the Best Pho
To make good beef bones, choose leg and knucklebones that have marrow.
Charring the onion and ginger, and toasting the spices, is an important part of the process, as it gives the noodles a distinct taste and colour.
Fish sauce is an important ingredient of this recipe, don’t forget to use the glass bottle.
Health benefits
Per serving of this dish has almost 23 gm protein, 20 mg cholesterol, 3 gm dietary fibre, and 1 gm saturated fat, putting it under the list of healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
5. Healthy Mushroom Soup
Made with delicious herbs and spices – this creamy mushroom soup is perfect during the fall season and can be a source of comfort food as one of the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
Ingredients
1) Extra virgin olive oil (1 tbsp)
2) Onion (1/2 cup – diced into small pieces)
3) Garlic cloves (2 – diced into small pieces)
4) white mushrooms (8 0z – sliced)
5) For non-veg: Add beef or chicken stock. For veg: add mushroom stock (1.5 cups)
6) thyme (1/4 tsp)
7) Rosemary (1/4 tsp)
8) Black pepper (1/4 tsp)
9) Salt to taste (1)
10) Light Sour cream (1 cup)
11) All-purpose flour (2 tbsp)
12) Optional Garnish: Freshly chopped parsley (1 tbsp)
Instructions
This recipe can be made within 10 minutes, and it serves 3 cups.
1) Take a small dish, mix the sour cream and flour in it, then set it aside.
2) Take a soup pan, add onions and olive oil, and saute them on medium or high heat till the edges turn golden brown (around 2-3 minutes)
3) add garlic to the mixture, and saute for 20 seconds (make sure the garlic does not burn)
4) Add the stock or broth mushrooms, and sprinkle spices on top of the mix. Let it boil, and cook till the mushrooms are soft (around 4 minutes)
5) Keep the mix in a heat-safe bowl and let it cool down (around 3 minutes). Add more sour cream and flour mixture for a creamy layer.
Enjoy your warm and delicious soup.
How to store?
If stored in the refrigerator, the soup lasts for a maximum of 4 days. Make sure to keep it in an air-tight container.
You can also freeze the soup and store it for a month
Health benefits
Per serving of this dish has almost 17 gm carbohydrates, 6 gm protein, and 4 gm sugar.
6. 5-ingredient Chilli
This chilli recipe is perfect for all football nights and can be whipped up pretty easily as one of the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
Ingredients
1) Ground turkey or beef (1lb)
2) White onion (Diced – 1)
3) Diced tomatoes with green chiles (3 cans – 15 oz.)
4) Drained beans (black beans or any other option – 2 cans, 15 oz.)
5) Chili powder (2 tbsp)
6) Toppings: Shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped green onions, and cilantro.
Instructions
The total cooking time for the recipe is 25 minutes, and it makes 4-6 servings.
1) Take a large pot – cook the ground beef or turkey in it on medium to high heat till they are brown enough. Keep stirring frequently.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef or turkey to a separate plate, and keep it aside. Keep grease (1 tbsp) in the pot, and take out the rest.
2) Add onion to the pot, and saute for 5 minutes or till they turn soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, cooked turkey or beef, to the pot, and combine well.
3) Let it boil, and then reduce heat to low or medium, cover and leave it to simmer (around 10 minutes).
Serve your yummy chilli with the toppings of your choice. You can store the chilli in a sealed container for three days.
Tip
If you plan to use ground turkey, heat a tbsp of olive oil before cooking it so it’s browned properly.
Another optional piece of equipment to cook the meat is – a slow cooker, just brown the meat in your stive, drain it, and then put it in the slow cooker.
However, the slow cooker method would take a long time about 4-8 hours.
7. Grilled chicken (with spinach and pine nut pesto)
Filled with healthy calories and proteins, this grilled chicken recipe is one of the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight, served with delicious pesto.
Ingredients
1) Boneless chicken breasts (2)
2) Baby spinach leaves (2 cups)
3) Toasted Pine nuts (1/4 cup)
4) Fresh lemon juice (2 tbsp)
5) Grated lemon peel (1-2 tsp)
6) Olive oil (1/3 cup and 2 tsp)
7) Freshly ground black pepper and salt
8) Freshly grated parmesan (1/3 cup)
Instructions
This recipe can be cooked within 25 minutes, and it makes four servings.
1) Take a grill pan, apply oil lightly, and heat it to a high level.
2) Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and grill till it’s cooked thoroughly (around 5 minutes, on both sides)
3) Combine pine nuts, spinach, lemon peel, and juice in a processor. Pulse it lightly. Gradually add on oil (1/3 cup) and blend till the mixture is creamy. Add salt, and keep pulsing.
4) Transfer the spinach mixture to a medium bowl and stir with parmesan. You can also season pepper with salt and pepper.
Just spread the pesto on each piece of grilled chicken, and serve warm.
Tip
You can store half of the pesto in the freezer for future use. Just put them in ice cube trays.
Health benefits
Per serving of this dish contains 32 gm total fat, 1 gm dietary fibre, and sugar, making it one of the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
8. Creamy Pasta with Spinach
This recipe is perfect if you want to serve one of the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight with delicious pesto. It makes eight servings with creamy and fresh choices.
Ingredients
1) Penne pasta (3 cups – uncooked)
2) Oil (1 tbsp)
3) Garlic cloves (minced – 3)
4) Diced tomatoes (Drained – 1 can)
5) Philadelphia Cream Cheese (Cubed – 6 0z)
6) Lemon juice (1 tbsp)
7) Baby spinach leaves (1 pkg, 6 oz)
8) Grated Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup)
Instructions
This pasta can be made in 25 – 30 minutes.
1) Cook the pasta, as instructed in the package, omit slat it.
2) While the pasta is cooking – take a large skillet and heat oil in it on medium heat. Add garlic and tomatoes, cook and stir frequently for 3-5 minutes.
3) Add cream cheese and lemon juice, and stir for another 5 minutes or till the cheese is melted and mixed well.
4) Take a large bowl and place the spinach in it. Drain the pasta and reserve 1/3 cup water for cooking. Add both of them, the tomato mixture and parmesan (3 tbsp), to the spinach. Mix slightly.
Serve your delicious and warm pasta with more parmesan.
Health benefits
This dish contains no trans fat, 3 gm of sugar, 2 gm dietary fibre, and plenty of vitamins, making it a good choice for healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
More Healthy Dinner Recipes to Lose Weight
Couldn’t you find your tastes in the above recipes? Don’t worry, there are more options in the list of healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
1. Sesame Chicken Skillet
For your busy weeknights, this sesame chicken skillet recipe made with toasted sesame oil, low sodium soy sauce, and brown sugar is one of the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight, which is often served as an American main course.
You can serve this with your favourite vegetable and brown rice. Try it out yourself.
2. Warm Kale Quinoa Salad
This crunchy and flavorful salad, with nutritious vegetables and tasty vinaigrette dressing, is a must-try. You may just find your next go-to salad to try out among the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
3. Pork Chops with Sweet and Sour Glaze
Made in just 20 minutes and serving four plates, this easy dish is paired with a mouth-watering sweet and sour balsamic glaze.
Did you have a pork chop that contains choline – the nutrient that reduces the fat stored in the liver? This makes it one of the healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
4. Healthy Desserts
Who said you couldn’t indulge in a scoop of ice cream or a couple of cookies while making your healthy dinner recipes to lose weight? These homemade recipes might just help you in your weight loss journey.
5. Avocado Ice Cream
Using condensed and coconut milk, this avocado recipe is perfect for all ice cream and fruit lovers. Don’t worry, per serving of this treat has more fibre and protein than store-bought ice cream, fitting it perfectly, with many healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
6. Affogato
Looking for healthy desserts that can be whipped up in just a minute? Made with just two ingredients – Ice cream and coffee, this recipe falls under 150 calories and satisfies your tastes just like any other cake, pie, or pastry. Try it out to pair it with one of your healthy dinner recipes to lose weight.
Key Takeaways
We have given a list of 8 healthy dinner recipes to lose weight which one can follow in order to lose weight in a healthy manner. Additionally, we also have added 6 more weight loose recipes which will also help in reducing weight effectively. The recipes are backed by an ingredients list and nutritional benefits which will help the readers to make a smart choice after reading each recipe.
Want more dessert recommendations? Click here.
For more healthy dinner choices, women’s Health magazine picks out the ten best choices – check this out.
Don’t worry, if you don’t have time in your busy schedule to make longer recipes, Allrecipes food group has some great recommendations. Click here.
If you are on a vegetarian diet, check this article out for healthy keto recipes to try out.
Suggested reads: Spinach Smoothie Benefits
FAQs
1. Name some healthy and simple dinner items.
Ans. Some of the healthy and simple dinner items are as follows:
- Stuffed sweet potatoes
- Brown rice pasta
- Dinner Salad
- One-pot soup
- Grain Bowls
2. Can I skip dinner?
Ans. It is not at all recommended to skip dinner, as this meal too forms an important dietary routine for an individual, as it gives the body enough nutrients to function. Anyway, if you miss your dinner once or twice will not affect you at a considerable level, but missing dinner frequently is not at all advisable.
3. Which is the best time to have dinner?
Ans. The best time to have dinner is between 6 pm – 7 pm.
- Rashwan, Ahmed K., et al. “Jujube fruit: A potential nutritious fruit for the development of functional food products.” Journal of Functional Foods 75 (2020): 104205. ↩︎
- O’Connor, Daryl B., Julian F. Thayer, and Kavita Vedhara. “Stress and health: A review of psychobiological processes.” Annual review of psychology 72 (2021): 663-688. ↩︎
- Reister, Evan J., Lynn N. Belote, and Heather J. Leidy. “The benefits of including hummus and hummus ingredients into the american diet to promote diet quality and health: A comprehensive review.” Nutrients 12.12 (2020): 3678. ↩︎
- Luo, Jie, Hongyuan Yang, and Bao-Liang Song. “Mechanisms and regulation of cholesterol homeostasis.” Nature reviews Molecular cell biology 21.4 (2020): 225-245. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Suchi
Author
I want to lose weight and me and my mom were thinking of avoiding dinner but after looking at this list I feel like avoiding is not much needed. These dishes sound healthy and good for weight loss. Thank you for this, will try to make all these.