From dinner to dessert, these 50 healthy recipes are high in fiber and lower in calories, a combo that can help with weight loss if that is your goal. From yummy casseroles and crock pot meals to seafood and chicken dinners, these dishes are bound to please any appetite. Recipes like our Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Pesto & Shrimp and Lemon-Raspberry Muffins are nutritious and delicious.
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Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Pesto & Shrimp
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Cut some carbs and use spiralized zucchini in place of noodles in this zesty pesto pasta dish recipe. Top with Cajun-seasoned shrimp to complete this quick and easy dinner.
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Lemon-Raspberry Muffins
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The secret to the sparkling flavor of these delicately crumbed muffins is the strips of lemon zest finely ground into the sugar. Enjoy the muffins warm right from the oven.
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Loaded Sweet Potato Nacho Fries
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Bump up the vitamin A and fiber when you swap tortilla chips for sweet potatoes in this healthy recipe. Serve as an appetizer at your next party or turn it into dinner by adding chicken, tofu, shrimp or more beans for protein.
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Noodle Bowl with Rainbow Veggies & Peanut Sauce
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With tons of colorful vegetables, sesame rice noodles and a healthy peanut sauce, this noodle bowl is a hit with adults and kids alike. Assemble the bowls before serving or let everyone make their own. Serve with Sriracha hot sauce, if desired.
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Parsnip "Fries"
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Swap parsnips for potatoes in this oven-baked fries recipe and get 5 grams more fiber per serving. Dress these healthy fries up with a side of spicy or garlicky aioli: just mix mayo with Sriracha or roasted garlic (or both!).
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Spiralized Zucchini & Summer Squash Casserole
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If you don't have a spiralizer to make this healthy zucchini noodle casserole (aka zoodles), use a vegetable peeler to make long thin strips of the squash and zucchini, stopping when you reach the seedy center. Just a few minutes under the broiler gives these ricotta-and-basil-filled nests a light golden top.
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Fig & Ricotta Toast
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This easy Mediterranean-inspired toast makes a quick breakfast for any day of the week.
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Lemon-Parm Popcorn
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Perk up your popcorn with a bit of lemon pepper and Parmesan cheese.
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Whole-Grain Buttermilk Pancakes
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This healthy whole-grain buttermilk pancake recipe uses 100% whole-wheat flour, heart-healthy canola oil and just a tablespoon of sugar. Compared to most store-bought mixes or a classic recipe, this recipe saves about 30 calories, 3 grams saturated fat and 4 grams total sugar per serving, plus you'll dish up 2 extra grams of fiber. If you want to experiment with different types of whole grains, replace up to 1/2 cup of the whole-wheat flour with cornmeal, oats and/or buckwheat flour. Or add extra fiber and omega-3s by adding up to 3 tablespoons of ground flaxseed or chia seeds.
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Slow-Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip
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This healthy copycat recipe for classic Buffalo dip cooks in your slow cooker for an easy, hands-off appetizer you can keep warm for the whole game, party or any casual gathering. Serve with carrot sticks, celery sticks and tortilla chips for dipping.
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Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Tomatoes, Beans & Almond Pesto
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Looking at a tangle of spaghetti squash tricks your brain into thinking you're about to eat a serving of eggy noodles, when in fact, you get a nice calorie and carb savings in this healthy recipe. Giving tomatoes a stint in a hot oven makes them candy-sweet.
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Chipotle Chicken Quinoa Burrito Bowl
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This chipotle-flavored burrito bowl recipe is even better than takeout and just as fast. Loading it with vegetables and using quinoa in place of rice adds nutrition for a healthy dinner.
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Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto
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This fragrant, Italian-flavored soup takes advantage of quick-cooking ingredients--boneless, skinless chicken breast, bagged baby spinach and canned beans. It features a simple homemade basil pesto swirled in at the end to add a fresh herb flavor. If you are very pressed for time, you can substitute 3 to 4 tablespoons of a store-bought basil pesto. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.
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Roasted Beet Hummus
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This vibrant hummus recipe couldn't be easier--just toss a few ingredients in the food processor and whir away! Roasted beets make this healthy dip extra flavorful. Serve with veggie chips, pita chips or crudités.
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Curried Cauliflower Steaks with Red Rice & Tzatziki
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Gone are the days when your rice choices were limited to white and brown. In this healthy vegetarian dinner recipe, the aromatic flavor of red rice or brown basmati jibes deliciously with fragrant curry powder. Because you need 2 whole heads of cauliflower to get 4 cauliflower steaks, you'll have leftover cauliflower florets to use up. Roast the florets alongside the steaks, then toss them with some chickpeas and tzatziki sauce for a healthy lunch (see Tip, below).
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Vegan Smoothie Bowl
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Eat this thick and creamy smoothie bowl with a spoon! Banana and frozen berries whip together with a little nut milk for a toppable vegan breakfast. We use fruit, nuts and seeds for topping, but feel free to experiment with whatever you like.
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Balsamic & Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
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Roasting isn't usually the first cooking method you think of for cauliflower but the results are quite delicious. The florets are cut into thick slices and tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and herbs. Wherever the flat surfaces come into contact with the hot roasting pan, a deep browning occurs that results in a sweet, nutty flavor.
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Apple-Cinnamon Quinoa Bowl
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Move over, oatmeal! Get a satisfying serving of healthy whole grains in the morning with this breakfast quinoa bowl.
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Kale Turkey Wraps
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Using kale leaves instead of bread to wrap your filling makes this healthy turkey lunch recipe low-calorie. If you can't find lacinato, also known as Tuscan kale, try cabbage for your wrap.
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Spaghetti Squash Lasagna with Broccolini
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In this low-carb spaghetti squash lasagna recipe, garlicky broccolini, spaghetti squash and cheese are combined for a healthy take on a favorite casserole. This bakes right in the squash shells for a fun presentation. Serve with a big Caesar salad and some warm and crusty whole-grain bread.
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Chicken with Tomato-Balsamic Pan Sauce
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Fennel seeds give this tomato and balsamic sauce an extra kick, but if you don't have them on hand, try using cumin or coriander seeds, or 1 teaspoon of a ground herb or spice. Serve this easy chicken breast recipe with whole-wheat spaghetti or crusty bread to sop up the sauce. Save the unused chicken tenders in an airtight container in your freezer for up to 3 months. Once you have enough, thaw them out for another use.
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Butternut Squash Queso Fundido
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This cheesy dip recipe is lightened up by subbing mashed butternut squash for some of the melted cheese. We also loaded it with chili-spiced caramelized onions. Serve this healthy makeover with tortilla chips or sliced jicama for dipping.
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Cucumber & Pomegranate Salad (Salad-e Khiar-o Anar)
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A platter of herbs, scallions and feta is typically served alongside Persian meals in lieu of a Western-style green salad. They are meant to be folded into flatbread as an accompaniment to a meal (or sometimes as the meal itself). This salad is a riff on that, with pomegranate seeds and cucumbers mixed in.
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Ancho Chicken Breast with Black Beans, Bell Peppers & Scallions
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In this healthy chicken recipe, the meat is rubbed with ancho chile powder, a spice made from dried poblano peppers. It adds mild heat and subtle smokiness to the rub on the chicken, but you can use regular chili powder here instead. This recipe makes an extra 1/2 cup of the black bean mash--try it wrapped into a burrito for lunch or as a taco filling (see Tips, below).
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Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice Soup
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Got leftover cooked chicken or turkey? Cook up a pot of soup! This recipe is a healthier twist on a classic creamy turkey and wild rice soup that hails from Minnesota. Serve with a crisp romaine salad and whole-grain bread.
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Lemon-Herb Salmon with Caponata & Farro
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Dig into your farmers' market haul to cook this colorful and healthy Mediterranean diet dinner recipe that's packed with vegetables. Feel free to swap in any vegetables or cook up another whole grain, such as brown rice. Serve with a glass of your favorite red wine.
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Rainbow Grain Bowl with Cashew Tahini Sauce
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This vibrant bowl is packed with nutrients to keep you full for hours. Look for precooked lentils in the refrigerated section of the produce department.
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Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons & Parsley Brown Butter
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For this recipe, convenient store-bought potato gnocchi are tossed with delicate ribbons of zucchini, shallots and cherry tomatoes that have all been sautéed in nutty browned butter.
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Almond Butter-Quinoa Blondies
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People likely won't even notice that these delicately nutty, just a little chocolaty, blondies are gluten-free. They use quinoa flour, which you can find in well-stocked supermarkets and natural-foods stores, in place of all-purpose flour. To make your own quinoa flour, grind raw quinoa into a powder in a clean coffee grinder. (Adapted from Quinoa Revolution by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming.)
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Roasted Salmon with Smoky Chickpeas & Greens
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In this healthy salmon dinner, you'll get a dose of greens and green dressing! Chowing down on 6 or more servings of dark leafy greens a week can help keep your brain in top shape. This dish features the Test Kitchen's current go-to method for doctoring a can of chickpeas: spice them up and roast until crispy.
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Rainbow Veggie Wraps
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There's definitely a sushi vibe to these kid-friendly wraps, which are stuffed with vegetables, cheese and hummus and then rolled and sliced. Serve them with store-bought green goddess, a creamy herb-filled dressing, to take it up a notch with ease. They look impressive but they're easy enough for kids to assemble themselves for an easy lunch or dinner.
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Quinoa & Chia Oatmeal Mix
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Make your own hot cereal mix with this healthy recipe. Keep it on hand and just cook up the amount you need when you're ready for a hot breakfast. One serving of the warm cereal contains 6 grams of fiber--almost a quarter of your daily quota-which helps stave off hunger throughout the morning.
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Vegetable and Tofu Soup
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Tofu has a reputation for being bland, but when marinated in Italian seasoning for up to four hours, it's anything but in this veggie-packed soup.
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Peanut Butter & Chia Berry Jam English Muffin
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The addition of chia seeds in the quick "jam" topping adds heart-healthy omega-3s to this healthy breakfast recipe.
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Sriracha-Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
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This recipe for spicy Buffalo cauliflower bites is a great vegetarian alternative to Buffalo wings. Roasted cauliflower stands in for chicken and provides more fiber and fewer calories. Serve this easy appetizer with carrot sticks, celery and your favorite ranch or blue cheese dressing.
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Salmon-Stuffed Avocados
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Canned salmon is a valuable pantry staple and a practical way to include heart-healthy omega-3-rich fish in your diet. Here, we combine it with avocados in an easy no-cook meal.
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Mediterranean Chickpea Quinoa Bowl
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Quinoa and chickpeas pack this vegetarian grain bowl with plenty of plant-based protein. Whip up a batch of these Mediterranean meals and pack in containers with lids to stash in the fridge for easy, healthy grab & go lunches all week long.
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Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara
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Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.
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Baked Banana-Nut Oatmeal Cups
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Muffins meet oatmeal in these moist and tasty grab-and-go oatmeal cups. Feel free to swap out the pecans for any other nut--walnuts would be great--or omit them altogether. Make a batch on the weekend and keep them in your fridge or freezer for quick and easy breakfasts all week. Reheat in the microwave for about 40 seconds.
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Avocado Tuna Spinach Salad
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Avocado adds creaminess while sunflower seeds provide texture and crunch in this easy tuna-spinach salad.
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Summer Vegetable Gnocchi Salad
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This riff on pasta salad is best served warm while the gnocchi are nice and tender. Plus, the grilled veggies taste extra-good fresh off the fire in this easy gnocchi recipe.
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Mushroom French Dip
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Meaty portobello mushrooms have just the right amount of earthy, savory flavor and the perfect texture to replace beef in these vegetarian French dip sandwiches.
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Strawberry-Blueberry-Banana Smoothie
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A smoothie with strawberries, blueberries and banana is delicately sweet and entirely kid-friendly, even with a boost of protein from hemp seeds. Freeze the fruits ahead of time for an extra frosty texture once blended.
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Tuscan White Bean Soup
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A pound of dried beans is the inexpensive foundation for this simple, hearty meal. Serve it with slices of whole-wheat bread or a side salad for a complete and satisfying lunch or dinner.
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Skillet Chili Mac
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Poblanos add a kick of heat to this chili mac recipe. If that's not your thing, swap in green bell peppers to tone down the heat in this easy pasta dish, which mashes up mac and cheese and chili into a seriously satisfying skillet dinner.
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Berry-Almond Smoothie Bowl
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A little frozen banana gives creamy texture to this satisfying smoothie bowl.
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Falafel Salad with Lemon-Tahini Dressing
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Deep-fried falafel can be a total grease bomb. But these pan-seared falafel still get crispy in just a few tablespoons of oil with equally satisfying results. Be sure to use dried, instead of canned, chickpeas in this healthy recipe--canned chickpeas add too much moisture.
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Broccolini, Chicken Sausage & Orzo Skillet
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We love this quick skillet meal for busy evenings. The sausage and orzo simmer together in chicken broth, resulting in a creamy, risotto-like dish in under 30 minutes.
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Cilantro Bean Burgers with Creamy Avocado-Lime Slaw
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Lighten up your burger! Bean patties have less saturated fat and more fiber than beef patties. They're also cheaper and easier to cook indoors--and we promise they're just as satisfying, especially with the mouthwatering creamy slaw on top.
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Pineapple Green Smoothie
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Use ripe bananas for this creamy Greek yogurt, spinach and pineapple smoothie. Chia seeds add healthy omega-3 fats, fiber and a little protein for an extra nutritional boost.
