Healthy Bean Main Dish Recipes

This vegetable curry comes together fast thanks to the help of a multicooker. Coconut milk makes it creamy, while keeping this easy dinner vegan, and the potatoes and chickpeas help bulk up the dish for a satisfying meal. Serve over Basmati rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice.

To make this 20-minute vegan curry even faster, buy pre-cut veggies from the salad bar at the grocery store. To make it a full, satisfying dinner, serve over cooked brown rice. When shopping for simmer sauce, look for one with 400 mg of sodium or less and check the ingredient list for cream or fish sauce if you want to keep this vegan. If you like a spicy kick, add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce at the end.

Yellow curry paste is generally spicier than green but not as spicy as red, making it just right for this easy stir-fried chicken thigh recipe. Sizzling the curry paste in oil before making the curry gives it a boost in complexity.

This delicious chicken stew is traditionally made with sour oranges, which are prolific in Iran--if you find them, use the juice of two in place of the citrus called for here. Serve with rice to pair with the flavorful spinach sauce.

These satisfying bowls are chock full of protein and fiber, thanks to chicken breast, black beans, sweet potatoes and bulgur--a versatile grain that has about 15 g fewer carbs (and more than twice the fiber) per cup than brown rice.

White beans are full of fiber and protein, both of which help slow digestion and curb blood sugar spikes. Canned beans are both easy to use and inexpensive--a win-win!

Quesadillas make a quick and easy sandwich alternative. Even though they are often served hot, quesadillas also taste good cold or at room temperature. That makes them an ideal addition to this flavor-packed bento box, a collection of foods that you can meal-prep on the weekend for easy lunches at work or school.

A sushi-like wrap of veggies and ranch dressing packaged in a tortilla makes an appealing lunch that kids will love. The choice of vegetables in the filling is flexible, depending on your child's preferences and what you have on hand.

Simmer eggs in a rich tomatoey cream sauce studded with chickpeas and silky spinach for a super-fast vegetarian dinner. Serve with a piece of crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Be sure to use heavy cream; a lower-fat option might curdle when mixed with acidic tomatoes.

Substituting riced cauliflower for rice trims calories and carbs in this veggie-packed dish. Use the vibrant flavors of traditional fried rice--ginger, scallions and tamari--to create a low-carb fried rice version of the classic takeout meal.

This gluten-free, vegan version of peanut noodles has a high protein content thanks to edamame and peanut butter. Spaghetti squash turns delicately sweet when roasted, which pairs wonderfully with the Thai-inspired peanut sauce.

Tuck these tasty chickpea patties into whole-wheat pitas and top with tahini sauce (see associated recipe, below). Be sure to soak the chickpeas overnight for the creamiest mixture. The quick-soak method won't work for these pan-fried falafel patties.

A delicious balance of sweet, sour and salty flavors complements rice noodles and chicken in this quick and easy pad thai. We trimmed calories and boosted flavor by cutting back on the sugar you'll find in many restaurant versions. As with any stir-fry, be sure to have all your ingredients prepped before you begin--the steps move quickly once the cooking starts.

This no-cook bean salad is a delicious way to use summer's best cherry or grape tomatoes and juicy cucumbers for a light dinner or lunch. Fresh basil elevates an easy vinaigrette recipe that dresses up this simple salad into something extraordinary.

This Asian-inspired dinner salad has terrific crunch, thanks to sugar snap peas and napa cabbage. Give the dressing a kick of heat by adding a bit of sambal oelek, an Indonesian hot sauce that you can find in most large supermarkets and Asian grocery stores.

Poke (pronounced poke-ay), a Hawaiian word meaning "to chop" or "to cut," refers to a traditional Hawaiian salad of diced raw fish in a simple, soy-based sauce with punchy seasonings like toasted sesame and chopped scallion greens. Serve with seasoned brown rice for a healthy, satisfying meal packed with veggies, protein and fiber.

This healthy, super-fast salad recipe swaps out romaine for kale, giving you more than 10 times the vitamin C. Easy flavor hacks like store-bought ranch and pickled jalapeños help make a creamy, tangy and spicy dressing you'll want to drizzle on everything from salad to sliced veggies and shredded poached chicken.

Steamed lobster is a luxurious swap for tuna in this otherwise-classic, veggie-loaded Niçoise salad. In a pinch--or if you don't want to deal with a giant pot of boiling water on a steamy summer day--many supermarkets have freshly picked lobster meat at their seafood counter or in the freezer case. Serve with a warm baguette for lunch or dinner.

Brown rice add fiber to this diabetic-friendly pork and beans side-dish recipe. Skip the salt when cooking the rice to keep the sodium low.

Brown rice and beans are the base of this tostada and a Tex-Mex salad is the topper. Serve as an appetizer, side dish or light meal.