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Regardless of what “healthy” looks like for you, this collection of healthy dinner ideas has a variety of light, fresh, and nutritious recipes for you to feed your family!
More Collections: Easy Slow Cooker Recipes, Easy Dinner Ideas, Healthy Appetizers
Healthy Dinners to Love!
While eating healthy may look different to various people, there are a few things we can all agree on. Being healthy does not mean these dinners taste like cardboard, require tons of ingredients or “odd” ingredients, or it will take hours to prepare.
How we love to make them healthy:
- Cooking method. Baked is better than fried.
- Veggies. There is always room for more veggies.
- Ingredients. Fresh and “real food” ingredients are the way to go!
Here you will find a fabulous range of meals that will help you keep those healthy goals!
Healthy dinner ideas that are easy
Eating healthy doesn’t mean more work!
- Make ahead or freezer meals are easy and perfect for busy weeknights.
- The crock pot and instant pot both naturally make a meal easier.
- 30-minute meals. Find a few favorite recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less. Always keep the needed ingredients on hand that way you can serve a quick, healthy, hot homemade meal on even the busiest of days.
- Leftovers are great to reheat for a quick lunch or can be used to make an entirely different meal. I will often make extra Pot Roast to use the leftovers for Green Chile Burritos later in the week.
The Healthiest Ingredients
No matter your preferred diet, there are a few things that most would agree make food healthy:
- Herbs. Fresh herbs and spices can be added to healthy dishes to suit your tastes.
- Add spice with crushed red peppers, ginger, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, or curry.
- Fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil, and thyme add a nice touch.
- Add a punch of flavor with fresh lemon juice, orange juice, or fresh lime juice to your healthy dishes!
- Limit sugar. Many foods, notably fruits, naturally contain sugar, but I’m talking about limiting added sugars like granulated, powdered, and brown sugar. Try to use a natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup when adding sugar to healthy dishes.
- Balance your macros. The three main macros include protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The percentages you consume will differ depending on your eating plan and health goals. Note that many foods can fall into more than one category
- Protein: chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, shrimp, salmon, eggs, tofu, dairy, beans, and nuts
- Carbs: white or brown rice, potatoes, oats, beans, whole grains, and chickpeas
- Fats: avocados, almonds, olive oil, eggs, greek yogurt, sour cream, cheese, and peanut butter
- Homemade. Control what is and is not included and make substitutions that best fit your diet goals. Cooking from scratch means using original ingredients prepared and seasoned by you.
Start small
Sometimes it can be a big adjustment to eat healthier, but even making small choices can have good long-term effects.
Bake a dish or use an air fryer instead of frying it in oil. Use cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles in place of rice or pasta in your dishes.
Add color. The idea behind “add color” is that the more colors you provide the bigger variety of nutrients and vitamins you will be providing.
- Vegetables are great to serve with almost any main dish. They can be roasted on a sheet pan, sautéed in a skillet, steamed, or even served raw.
- Carrots, brussels sprouts, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, and sweet potatoes are family favorites and make healthy sides. If serving a salad include nutrient-rich greens like spinach and kale.
Best Healthy Dinner Ideas
The best way I have found to create a balanced meal is to determine what nutritional factors the main dish will cover. From there I can add side dishes that will fill in the other nutritional categories.
1 Healthy Chicken Parmesan Recipe
2 Baked Salmon Recipe
3 Zucchini Boats Recipe
4 Healthy Chicken Piccata Recipe
5 Baked Spaghetti Squash Recipe
6 Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner
7 Lemon Garlic Chicken Recipe
8 Cilantro Lime Chicken
9 Best Roast Chicken Recipe
10 Baked Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
Healthy Chicken Dinner Ideas
Adding protein is a pretty easy way to increase a dish’s nutritional value. I love adding grilled chicken breasts or chicken thighs, boiled eggs, bacon, or nuts to salads.
Adding meat such as chicken, turkey, or lean beef works great in soups, pasta dishes, and casseroles.
11 Crockpot Roast Chicken Recipe
12 Bruschetta Chicken Recipe
13 Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad Recipe
14 Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe
15 Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe
16 Chicken Stir Fry Recipe
17 BBQ Chicken Salad
18 Chicken Caesar Salad
19 Baked Chicken Wings Recipe
20 Chicken Caesar Wrap Recipe
21 Cobb Salad
22 Waldorf Salad Recipe
23 Chicken Souvlaki Recipe
24 Chicken Kabobs
25 Chicken Burrito Bowl Recipe
26 Chicken Alfredo Zucchini Roll Ups Recipe
27 Green Chili Chicken Recipe
28 Baked Chicken Nuggets Recipe
More Healthy Dinner Recipes
Soup, stir fry, salad, and casserole dishes are a few examples of recipes that cover a lot of different nutritional categories in one dish. You may not need very many side dishes.
Some dishes, like pasta recipes, are great at hitting one or two categories but need sides to balance out the meal.
29 Italian Pork Chops Recipe
30 Steak Kabobs
31 Steak Bites Recipe
32 Taco Bowl Recipe
33 Burrito Bowl Recipe
34 BBQ Pork Chops Recipe
35 Roast Turkey Recipe
36 Carnitas Recipe
37 Pepper Steak Recipe
38 Turkey Meatballs
39 Pasta Primavera Recipe
40 Sausage and Potatoes Recipe
41 Carne Asada Recipe
42 Tuna Salad Recipe
43 Healthy Flatbread Pizzas Recipe
A Healthy Favorite
One item we always like to have on hand to help with our healthy dinners is Baked Chicken.
This recipe comes with a marinade that makes the meat so juicy and flavorful. Not only is it great with pasta, but it’s perfect for salads too.
Here is the recipe:
40+ Healthy Dinner Ideas – Baked Chicken + MORE
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley chopped
- 2-3 pounds chicken breast
Instructions
- Make marinade by mixing together the oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, pepper, and parsley in a medium bowl.
- Add the chicken to large zipper bag or storage container. Pour the marinade over the chicken and toss gently to coat. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, or up to overnight.
- When ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Bake 35-40 minutes, or until cooked through. Alternatively, you could grill the chicken over medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Makes it Easy to Eat Healthy!
We’re sure these healthy dinner ideas are soon to become some of your go to meals for serving up tasty and nutritious dishes!
Be sure to check out all of our Main Dish Recipes!
More Collections: Quick Dinner Ideas, Chicken Dinner Ideas, Beef Dinner Ideas
This baked chicken was exactly what I was looking for. Easy and delicious! I saved this collection of recipes too, thank you.
I just saved these recipe ideas! We just tried the baked salmon and it turned out soooo good! I’m looking forward on making the chicken parmesan recipe next.
So many great ideas! I can’t wait to try some of these recipes!
Thanks for sharing the healthy dinner ideas. I am really happy after reading your blog. Thanks a lot.
Hey Kristyn, I usually check your website for recipes. U have great appetising ideas and delicious dishes in your kitchen.I loved all of them . I only visit two websites for healthy dinner ideas that my family love . You should too go check this website managed by the dietitian and nutritionist – Laura Ashley -https://www.dinnerin321.com