Quick & Healthy Weeknight Dinners in a Bowl

August 27, 2019
Make a healthy, hearty dinner with these weeknight dinners in a bowl that are ready in under 30 minutes.Download a FREE Dinner Plan for a Month of Quick Dinner Recipes for Busy Families!
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Rainbow Buddha 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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Ravioli & Vegetable Soup

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Fresh or frozen ravioli cook in minutes and turn this light vegetable soup into a main course. Look for whole-wheat or whole-grain ravioli in the refrigerated or frozen section of the supermarket. Tortellini can be used instead of ravioli as well. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Salmon Sushi Buddha Bowl

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Get all the delicious flavors of sushi without the time-consuming rolling with this quick grain bowl recipe. All you need is 15 minutes to get this healthy dinner on the table or to pack it up for lunch at work.

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Basic Beauty Bowl

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The ultimate beauty-food lunch combines protein, healthy fats and veggies for a perfectly balanced bowl. Feel free to mix up the vegetables based on what's in season, and make this your go-to weekday lunch.

(Recipe developed by Lily Kunin for Bobbi Brown's Beauty from the Inside Out, Chronicle Books, copyright 2017.)

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Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Bowl

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Olives, cucumber, roasted red peppers and spices come together magically in this healthy chicken quinoa bowl recipe. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and a glass of cold Italian white wine.

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Salmon & Avocado Poke Bowl

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Poke (pronounced poh-kay), the bite-size marinated fish salad famous in Hawaii, is so popular that it's sold by the pound in supermarkets. Now it has crossed the Pacific to become the meal-in-a-bowl du jour, served in eateries from Los Angeles to New York. But it's easy to make at home with this quick recipe. Sriracha and Chinese-style mustard add a touch of heat to the classic poke seasoning of soy sauce and sesame oil. Serving it over a brown rice salad makes it a meal.

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Quick Beef & Napa Cabbage Pho

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Classic Vietnamese noodle soup typically takes hours to make, but this healthy pho recipe gets tons of flavor from cooking the aromatics and spices before adding the broth. Serve with hoisin, Sriracha and lime wedges.

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Coconut Curry Cup of Noodles with Spiralized Butternut Squash Noodles

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This untraditional spin on Thai red curry features spiralized butternut squash noodles in a cup-of-noodles-style mason jar soup, but you could also use spiralized sweet potatoes or fresh egg noodles.

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Green Curry Vegetable Soup

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In this very easy Thai noodle soup recipe, just pour hot curry-flavored broth over pasta and veggies. The vegetables keep their crunch and you get a quick, satisfying soup. Feel free to add chicken, shrimp or tofu for an extra bit of protein, if desired.

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Easy Saag Paneer

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The paneer cheese in this fast and easy dinner doesn't melt when it cooks. It browns instead, giving a toothsome texture to this Indian classic packed with spinach and spices. Serve over brown basmati rice to round out this healthy meal.

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Greek Kale Salad with Quinoa & Chicken

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Toss the cooked chicken into this healthy 5-ingredient salad recipe while it's still warm to lightly wilt the kale, making it softer and easier to eat. Using store-bought salad dressing saves time, but you could also make your own Mediterranean vinaigrette.

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Quick Stovetop Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

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Precut butternut squash in your grocery store's produce section makes this healthy mac and cheese recipe come together in a flash. For extra flavor, try smoked Gouda cheese.

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Skillet Gnocchi with Chard & White Beans

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In this one-skillet supper, we toss dark leafy greens, diced tomatoes and white beans with gnocchi and top it all with gooey mozzarella. Serve with a mixed green salad with vinaigrette.

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Chopped Greek Salad with Chicken for Two

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Have a warm-weather supper on the table quickly with this Greek-inspired chicken salad. Feel free to substitute other chopped fresh vegetables, such as broccoli or bell peppers, for the tomatoes or cucumber. Use leftover chicken, store-roasted chicken or quickly poach a couple boneless, skinless chicken breasts while you prepare the rest of the salad. Serve with pita bread and hummus.

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Mediterranean Sauteed Shrimp & Fennel

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Serve this sautéed fennel and shrimp with a tomato-caper sauce in whatever way suits your fancy--with pasta, whole grains, such as bulgur or brown rice, or even mashed potatoes. Serve with: A mixed green salad.

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Hamburger Buddy

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Very finely chopping onion, mushrooms and carrots in the food processor is not only fast--it makes the vegetables hard to detect for picky eaters. They also form the base for the sauce of this ground beef skillet supper. Make it a meal: Serve with a green salad.

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Salmon & Asparagus Farro Bowl

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In this farro and salmon recipe, salmon is poached in a miso-infused broth with bites of tender asparagus and sautéed leeks. If you use farro that's labeled “pearled,” a faster-cooking farro, to make this recipe, start with a full cup of grains and reduce the cooking time to 15 minutes. To clean the leeks, trim off the green tops and white roots and split lengthwise. Place in a large bowl of water and swish around to release any sand or soil. Repeat until no grit remains.

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Seared Tuna Tataki Quinoa Bowl

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In this healthy tuna and quinoa recipe, tuna steaks are flash-cooked, sliced, then tossed in a quick, gingery marinade. The tuna, vegetables and seaweed get dressed with some of the flavor-packed tataki marinade and served over protein-rich quinoa.

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Quick Shepherd's Pie

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In this simple shepherd's pie recipe, we call for flavorful lean ground lamb, which isn't always easy to find. You can use lean ground beef or turkey instead. If you want to use lamb, ask your butcher to grind it for you or, to make your own ground lamb, start with a lean cut of lamb, such as leg or loin, trimmed of any excess fat and cut into 3/4-inch pieces. Pulse briefly in a food processor just until uniformly ground.

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Chicken & Snap Pea Stir-Fry over Angel Hair Pasta

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This chicken stir-fry recipe highlights golden-brown cubes of chicken breast with the sweet flavors of sliced fennel, crispy snap peas and tarragon. Use a cast-iron skillet or carbon-steel wok for stir-frying to guarantee a beautiful sear on the chicken and vegetables. Serve this over whole-grain angel hair pasta for an easy, healthy dinner.

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African Sweet Potato & Chicken Stew

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In this African peanut and chicken stew recipe, nutrient-rich sweet potatoes and no-salt-added tomatoes keep this creamy stew healthy. To complete the bowl, the flavorful chicken stew is served over whole-wheat couscous seasoned with lime juice and chopped fresh cilantro.

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Brothy Chinese Noodles

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This dish was inspired by Chinese Dan Dan noodles--ground pork and noodles in a spicy broth. We use ground turkey and omit the traditional Sichuan peppercorns for convenience, but add hot sesame oil. Use toasted sesame oil instead if you want mild noodles.

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Cod with Tomato Cream Sauce

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This silky tomato sauce with a touch of cream makes mild-flavored cod sing. Serve with: Farro or rice and a salad of mixed greens.

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Inside-Out Lasagna

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Here we take basic lasagna ingredients--ricotta cheese, pasta and tomatoes--and skip the layering and long baking time to make a super-quick and satisfying meal for the whole family. To cut down on prep time, look for presliced mushrooms. For meat lovers, brown some crumbled turkey sausage along with the onions and garlic. Serve with: Steamed broccoli and whole-grain baguette.

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Quick Pork & Chile Stew

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The potatoes in this quick, Tex-Mex-style pork stew are cooked until they are falling apart to add body to the stew. Poblano peppers vary in heat: if you want a stew without any heat, use 2 small green bell peppers in place of the poblanos. Serve with: Warm corn tortillas or cheese quesadillas.

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Tofu au Vin

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You don't have to be a vegetarian to love this meat-free twist on the classic French dish coq au vin (chicken and mushrooms simmered in a red-wine sauce). Serve with: Whole-wheat egg noodles and sautéed spinach.

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Italian Egg-Drop Soup

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Italian egg-drop soup, Stracciatella, is traditionally a light soup made with just chicken broth, eggs and herbs. We added pasta, chickpeas and arugula to turn it into a meal. Serve with: Garlic bread and Caesar salad.

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Peanut Noodles with Shredded Chicken & Vegetables

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If you can't find a bagged vegetable medley for this easy noodle bowl, choose 12 ounces of cut vegetables from your market's salad bar and create your own mix.

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Wok-Seared Chicken Tenders with Asparagus & Pistachios

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Here's an East-meets-West stir-fry that will soon become a family favorite. Serve it over rice or noodles, with a simple salad of arugula and orange sections dressed in a light vinaigrette.

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Creamy Hamburger Noodle Casserole

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The EatingWell Test Kitchen takes lean ground beef and combines it with whole-grain bulgur, egg noodles and a creamy tomato sauce in a baked casserole topped with Cheddar. With less fat and calories than the original skillet meal, this dish is sure to become a new family favorite.

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BBQ Baked Beans & Sausage

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Here we turn baked beans into an easy main dish by adding chicken sausage and collard greens. Serve with: Coleslaw and cornbread.

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Roast Chicken Dal

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A dal is traditionally a lentil side, often the accompaniment for curry. Here, combined with roast chicken (or rotisserie chicken), it moves from the side of the plate to its center for a quick lunch or an easy weeknight dinner.

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Japanese Chicken-Scallion Rice Bowl

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Here's the quintessence of Japanese home cooking: an aromatic, protein-rich broth served over rice. Admittedly, Japanese cooking leans heavily on sugar--for a less traditional taste, you could reduce or even omit the sugar.

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Gnocchi with Tomatoes, Pancetta & Wilted Watercress

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We use just a touch of pancetta--cured Italian-style bacon--to balance the sweet tomatoes and peppery watercress. Make it a meal: A salad tossed with a red-wine vinaigrette completes dinner.

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