Healthy Meat Main Dish Recipes

A piping-hot cast-iron skillet turns pizza dough into a puffy, crisp-bottomed crust (similar to focaccia). If you have children, let them help make this easy pizza recipe: While you cook the sausage, have the kids tear up the kale--no knife required!

This easy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare, meaning that seared steak can be a weeknight meal. Cooking herbs in the pan with the steak releases their aroma, infusing it into the meat while creating a crispy garnish. After the steaks and herbs are pan-seared, the escarole is cooked in the same skillet, so this healthy dinner requires minimal cleanup too.

Get dinner on the table even faster by using precubed butternut squash in this creamy pasta recipe. Found in the produce section of large grocery stores, the cut butternut is a little bigger than you need here, so you will have to do some chopping--but the peeling and gutting has been done for you. That means this easy healthy dinner takes just 35 minutes to prep. Score!

Grape jelly, with its sweet, fruity flavor, matches with the smoke and heat of chipotle to season this oven-roasted pork tenderloin. In addition to the jelly, whole grapes are roasted along with the pork for a one-pan entree that's ready in just 35 minutes.

Loosely translated as "minced meat," the traditional texture of carne picada ranges from finely chopped to ground. Here we start with brisket, which becomes nice and tender in the slow cooker, then shred and chop the meat before serving. The seasoning is flavorful but not too spicy. Blistered jalapeños added at the end will satisfy the heat-lovers in the family. Pile the brisket into warmed corn tortillas, with lettuce, the jalapeños, cheese and avocado salsa for a healthy dinner that'll wake up your taco night routine.

For the best flavor in this easy roasted pork tenderloin dish, start marinating the pork the night before or get it going before you head off to work in the morning. Then, when you get home, all that's left to do is roast the pork and vegetables and prepare the quinoa for this easy healthy dinner. This recipe makes extra quinoa--use the leftovers as a base for easy meal-prep lunches, salads, stir-fries later in the week.

This veggie-packed beef enchilada casserole is mild, so put out hot sauce and chopped jalapeños if you're feeding heat-seekers. The quick and easy dinner recipe makes extra cheese sauce--save it to make One-Pot Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower & Brussels Sprouts later in the week (see Associated Recipes) or serve it with steamed vegetables, such as broccoli, for an easy side dish.

Celebrate grilling season with this robust steak salad recipe from James Beard Award-winning chef Steven Satterfield of Atlanta's Miller Union. The restaurant is known for showcasing seasonal produce from local farmers in simple preparations, such as this salad. To make it faster, prep the yogurt and dry rub ahead of time. Then prep the ingredients for the vinaigrette while the grill preheats.

Whip up a chef-quality stir-fry recipe at home. This beef and broccoli stir-fry packs in more vegetables and nearly halves the calories of what you would find in a restaurant. And this healthy dinner takes just 30 minutes to prep, so it's about as quick as takeout too. Ginger, which adds a lively kick to this stir-fry, has long been touted for its power to settle stomachs. But that's not its only superpower: preliminary research suggests it may improve blood sugar and inflammation too.

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.

You won't miss the regular rice in these hearty bowls, which feature sweet potato "rice" that's quickly made in your food processor. The simple swap means a welcome burst of color and flavor, plus way more vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium. This quick and easy recipe is sure to become a weeknight favorite. It takes about half an hour to prep, but you can make it even faster by swapping in store-bought sweet potato rice.

You'd never guess that this elegant meal comes together on just one baking sheet. While the pork rests, whip together an easy red pepper sauce to complete this impressive and healthy dinner. The sauce would also be delicious with chicken. We're willing to bet this easy sheet-pan dinner recipe will go into heavy rotation on your kitchen playlist.

Mushrooms, garlic and oats sneak some extra nutrients into this hearty and easy meatloaf. Serve with sweet potatoes and your favorite green vegetables for a super-satisfying comfort food dinner.

All of the ingredients for this easy beef stir-fry recipe are cooked in one wok (or skillet), so not only is the meal-prep fast for this healthy dinner, cleanup is quick too. Look for Lee Kum Kee Premium oyster-flavored sauce in the Asian-foods aisle of your grocery store. It has the most concentrated oyster flavor.

Ground beef cooked with tomatoes and briny olives can be found all over Latin America. This is a favorite Cuban variation served over plantains, starchy vegetables that look like giant bananas. You can also serve the picadillo over rice or potatoes, so this easy dinner recipe is versatile too.

These easy grilled beef & vegetable kebabs are not only delicious--they're economical too. Tri-tip is an inexpensive and flavorful cut of beef that takes beautifully to cooking over an open flame. Thread it onto skewers with colorful veggies and marinate for up to eight hours before cooking on the grill or over your campfire. Either way, it's a healthy and tasty summer meal.

Hanger steak is inherently tender and has great flavor. Here it's grilled and paired with a side of stuffed squash blossoms that are baked rather than getting the more typical battered-and-fried treatment.

This basic braised pork shoulder recipe is a great foundation for all sorts of meals. Try it in our creamy cavatelli pasta (see Associated Recipes), stuffed into a sandwich with provolone and peppers or on top of a pizza.

Mayonnaise adds great tang and texture to this easy pasta recipe--who knew? Black garlic, which is fermented, offers a sweeter, more mellow flavor than fresh. Find it at well-stocked supermarkets or substitute cloves of roasted garlic.

Corn, tomato and basil scream summer, but simplicity makes this easy dinner recipe perfect for the season. Serve the grilled skirt steak and relish with salad greens for a quick and healthy dinner you'll want to make over and over.