Healthy Low-Calorie Recipes

Guacamole meets chickpeas for a Cali-Middle East mashup in this healthy avocado hummus recipe. Jalapeños can be hot or not so much--taste and adjust for your palate.

Need a new chicken dinner idea? Try this grilled chicken and vegetable dish from chef Rick Bayless. Grilling the chicken and summer vegetables is a no-brainer, but in colder months, you may wish to move indoors and roast the chicken, along with some root vegetables. Whatever the weather, it's worth seeking out piloncillo for the beer glaze. This unrefined sugar used in Mexican cooking is made from evaporated cane juice. Its complex caramelized flavor balances any bitterness in the beer. Look for it in Latin markets and online.

This crowd-pleasing and easy dinner recipe takes just 20 minutes to make, start to finish, so it's perfect for weeknights! When tomatoes are at their in-season best, just a quick chop and a few ingredients are all you need to make a spaghetti sauce in minutes. Store-bought chicken meatballs keep the low-effort theme going all the way to the table.

These grilled chicken wings get that wonderful mix of sweet and spicy flavors from honey and harissa. Most grills cook unevenly, so it's important to keep these wings moving around to ensure crispy skin without burning. Traditional chicken wing sides--carrots and celery--cook right alongside the chicken for a quick dinner on the grill.

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.

You don't need any fancy molecular gastronomy equipment to make the foam that tops berries in this light summer dessert. Sort of a cross between French mousse and the Italian custard zabaglione, tequila, lime and orange give the foam zing. Its airiness doesn't hold, so make it just before you're ready for dessert.

This grilled pork chop recipe is an elegant and healthy dinner that takes just 30 minutes to make, so it's great for weeknights. Toasting and grinding whole spices ensures you get the freshest, most robust flavors for the pork spice rub.

For this easy dinner recipe, we've taken inspiration from the popular Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, but lost the bun to make room for one of our favorite whole grains: black (aka forbidden) rice. To make these healthy grain bowls vegetarian, simply use additional tamari in place of the fish sauce.

Portobello mushrooms stand in for meat patties in this recipe for veggie burgers with all the fixings. Mushrooms are a source of glutamate, a naturally occurring compound that gives the fungi their umami flavor. But to really give these "patties" a savory boost, we brush them with steak sauce. Add a simple side salad or some grilled veggies for a satisfying and easy dinner on the grill.

This healthy riff on lasagna rolls uses strips of zucchini instead of lasagna noodles for a vegetable-packed dinner that's fun for the whole family. This is a great recipe for kids to help make--let them get their hands dirty rolling the zucchini ribbons with the cheesy filling. Use a vegetable peeler or mandoline to quickly slice the zucchini into uniform thin strips--this will ensure easy rolling and even cooking.

This easy grilled flank steak gets its flavor from two smoky ingredients--paprika and chipotle--rather than spending hours in a smoker. For a quick and healthy weeknight dinner, grill your favorite vegetables alongside the steak and voilà! Dinner's done.

Use your crock pot all year with this healthy slow-cooker chicken soup recipe with fresh spring ingredients. Adding the asparagus and peas to the slow cooker for the last 20 minutes of cooking and leaving the lid off ensures that the vegetables stay bright green and are perfectly done without getting mushy.

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.

Cucumbers, tomato, parsley and feta are the basics of an Israeli salad, which is as common at breakfast as at any other meal. Here, fluffy challah croutons make the dish a sort of mash-up of the Lebanese bread salad fattoush, made with pita, and a Tuscan panzanella. It's just the kind of cross-pollination modern Israeli food is known for. And for you, it's a healthy meal that's ready in 25 minutes!

Serve these vegetables and super-lemony hummus with warm pita bread and a sprinkle of fruity za'atar, and you'll be transported to the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv, Israel's iconic Mediterranean coastal city. This is the perfect healthy appetizer or element of a party board for any gathering.

Keep this super-simple, versatile glaze on hand and you will be able to elevate any type of grilled or roasted meat, poultry, seafood or vegetable to company fare. Wait until the food has 5 to 10 minutes left to cook before brushing with the glaze. Then turn often, brushing with glaze, to create a glossy crust.

Sweet potato fingerlings (or small wedges) blister and caramelize on the grill. All they need is a final toss with a little butter and a blend of orange zest and mint and you have a healthy side dish that's anything but ordinary.

If you can find torpedo onions, try them in this healthy grilled recipe. These long, cylindrical purple onions, similar in flavor and texture to leeks, soften and caramelize to a sweet finish on the grill. You can find them at farmers' markets in spring or fall. Any spring onion or even 1-inch-thick slices of sweet onion make a good substitute.

The multilayered fruitiness of fig-infused balsamic (look for it with other vinegars at the market) is a nice balance for the sweet and salty prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spears.

For this healthy grilled pork tenderloin recipe, we've paired the meat with a zesty sweet and sour rhubarb chutney for a classic flavor combo. Add a big green salad and grill-roasted potatoes for a quick and elegant dinner.