Healthy Bean Main Dish Recipes

For these meal-prep-friendly lettuce wraps, we swap the traditional warm filling for a cold plant-based bean salad filling loaded with fresh herbs and lemon. Topping each lettuce leaf with a little quinoa before adding the filling helps to keep the lettuce from getting soggy.

White beans mash seamlessly into a creamy protein-packed spread for a satisfying healthy sandwich that makes for an easy lunch or dinner. Mix it up by trying it with canned chickpeas or black beans. This vegetarian sandwich recipe is also a fiber superstar: avocado, beans, greens and whole-wheat bread team up to give it 15 grams of fiber, more than half of what most women should aim for in a day.

These hearty mushroom, black bean and quinoa veggie burgers are a healthy and satisfying homemade alternative to store-bought veggie burgers. And they take just 25 minutes of active time to prep, so while they're special enough for entertaining, they're quick enough for weeknight dinners.

This vegan burger recipe is one you'll want to make again and again. Savory chickpea and zucchini patties are topped with a creamy, herb-flecked tahini ranch sauce, juicy tomato slices and peppery arugula for a satisfying and healthy homemade veggie burger. Serve them on buns or stuff them in pitas. We recommend making extra sauce--it's a great dip for veggie sticks and, thinned with a little water, it makes a wonderful salad dressing.

The bright, fresh flavors of the Mediterranean come alive in these easy vegetarian pitas. Give yourself enough time to make the roasted vegetables called for in the recipe--or make them a day or two in advance for a healthy meal that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. These pitas would also work well with whatever leftover cooked veggies you have on hand. No need to warm the roasted veggies up; this recipe tastes great chilled or at room temperature.

This healthy fish recipe is made with triggerfish, a tasty, versatile and plentiful species. We call for easy-to-find frozen baby lima beans for the succotash (called butter beans in the South), but if you can find fresh summer field peas, try them in this dish. Look for lady peas, zipper cream, white acre, crowder or pink-eyed varieties at your farmers' market. Cook 2 cups of shelled peas in boiling water with a pinch of salt until tender, 20 to 45 minutes.

Grilling pizza mimics the rustic flavor of a wood-fired oven. It cooks fast, though, so make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go for speedy flipping and topping. For this grilled pizza recipe we've topped the pie with classic taco toppings, including beans and salsa. Once you've mastered the method, you can use it as a template for how to grill pizza--just swap out the taco ingredients for your favorite toppings.

These egg, bean and cheese burritos are designed to be made ahead and frozen. They are perfect for busy days and make a satisfying breakfast or lunch.

Masabacha is a thick stew that in this case serves as the backbone to a hearty and healthy breakfast bowl. But the real star here is the silky whipped tahini sauce, made by simply pureeing tahini and water with garlic and lemon juice until the mixture is transformed into a light, spreadable sauce. Serve with warm pita and some vegetables for dipping.

Add some flavor of the Caribbean to your weeknight dinners with this healthy and easy jerk chicken recipe. The chicken is cooked on a grill pan rather than an outdoor grill--make sure the pan is well-heated before adding the chicken to achieve the crisp char you would get from an outdoor grill. A simple side of coconut rice and peas completes this satisfying and nutritious meal.

The distinctive flavor of basil adds character to a low-fat cream sauce that coats the noodles in this easy pasta recipe. Adding a little prosciutto adds just the right amount of saltiness.

This 40-minute recipe pairs a vibrant black bean salad with baked flounder. The flounder is coated in a cayenne pepper and tortilla chip crust adding a bit of heat to this Mexican-inspired meal.

These vegetarian tamales are made with jackfruit, a tropical fruit with a meatlike, chewy texture. The spiced jackfruit, black beans and sweet potatoes are stuffed inside dense masa and wrapped in a corn husk to lock in moisture and flavor during steaming.

Jackfruit, a tropical fruit with a dense, chewy texture, is a blank canvas that takes on flavors well. In these vegan burrito bowls, the jackfruit is simmered in a warm and spicy chile sauce that's so good you'll never know you're eating a plant-based protein instead of pork or beef.

Need some new meatless dinner ideas? This vegan recipe for grilled cauliflower steaks with buttery (but butter-free!) butter beans and almond pesto comes together in just 25 minutes but is impressive enough to serve to guests. We're sorry to ask you to buy 2 heads of cauliflower to make this recipe when you only cut a couple of "steaks" from each, but it guarantees the best results. Just think of it this way: having leftovers gives you an excuse to try one of our many other healthy cauliflower recipes!

You could argue that fried rice is really all about the "add-ins," so why not skip the grain itself and save some calories with cauliflower while you're at it? If you want to make this recipe vegetarian, swap sliced mushrooms for the steak. Either way, you don't have to be on a low-carb diet to love this 30-minute dinner.

Pile vegetables and black beans onto crisp tostadas and top them off with lime crema for a vegetarian dinner the whole family will love. Charring the vegetables under the broiler infuses them with smoky flavor while cooking them quickly.

In this dinner, ricotta dumplings are pan-fried until browned and served with creamy peas, bacon (or pancetta) and shaved Parmesan. Part-skim ricotta makes light and fluffy dumplings and adds protein to this elegant dish. For an easy mess-free way to shape the dumplings, see our tip on how to make quenelles.

Flank steak, black beans, and cilantro bring a Southwestern flair to these individual pizzas.

Moussaka is a Middle Eastern baked main dish, typically made by layering slices of eggplant with a seasoned ground beef or lamb mixture. This protein-filled vegetarian version replaces the meat with white beans but will still delight any and all meat-eaters at your table.