19 Healthy Recipes Every Parmesan Cheese Lover Needs to Make

These easy baked scallops have a delightful balance of crunchy, golden-brown topping and tender, sweet scallops. They feel decadent like scallops should, thanks to the tasty lemon-butter sauce. Look for uniform scallops; if they're particularly large, you might need to bake them for more than 10 minutes.

This healthy recipe combines two bar food favorites—fried zucchini and curly fries—into one tempting package. Serve these baked zucchini fries with a simple dipping sauce made with ranch dressing and marinara sauce for a crowd-pleasing appetizer or a side dish for burgers, chicken or pizza. No matter what you serve them with, they're a fun way to eat more vegetables for kids and adults alike.

This lighter take on eggplant parmesan maintains all the flavors of the classic dish but is baked instead of fried. There are also 11 grams of filling protein in this hearty vegetarian side dish.

For a nutrient-packed twist, this healthy Caesar salad features spinach and kale in addition to romaine. But it's the Parmesan crisps that make this salad holiday-worthy. Serve it for Thanksgiving or any other special meal.

This filling, hearty stuffed spaghetti squash is a lower-carb version of your traditional chicken Parmesan with pasta. This chicken Parmesan recipe is still full of cheesy goodness, but has the added benefit of sweet winter squash. If you can't find two small squashes, use one (3-pound) squash and cut each half into two portions when ready to serve.

Sweet spiralized butternut squash is encased in a salty, extra-crunchy exterior for a serving of slightly sweet curly fries. You can pair these baked butternut squash shoestring fries with any protein of your choice, but we're partial to grilled fish or chicken. Look for pre-spiralized squash in the refrigerated produce section.

This healthy stuffed mushroom appetizer is a nice balance of soft mushrooms, creamy filling and crunchy topping. This combination tastes downright decadent, but it's actually good for you. Be sure to get all of the moisture out of the chopped mushrooms before moving on to the next step; if not, the filling will be soggy and make the mushroom caps watery.

If you can't find cutlets for this easy chicken Parmesan recipe at your supermarket, place a boneless, skinless breast flat on a cutting board, hold it steady with your palm and, using a sharp knife, slice the breast horizontally into two thin pieces.

You may not have considered onions as candidates for the spiralizer, but you should. They create beautiful ribbons that make this recipe reminiscent of fried shoestring onions. And because this onion ring-inspired recipe is baked rather than fried, they're really easy to make. Serve them as a side with burgers or as a crunchy healthy snack for game night.

This dish is sure to be a kid favorite that adults will crave, too. Broccoli and cheese is a classic pairing for a reason, and when served with rice and umami-rich mushrooms, the combo is even more comforting. Garnish with shaved Parmesan and additional kosher salt and black pepper, if desired.

Sweet balsamic vinegar and nutty Parmesan cheese complement roasted green beans and shallots in this easy and healthy side dish. Roasting the green beans gives them a sweet, caramelized flavor while they still retain some bite. Serve with chicken, fish, pork—you name it. These green beans are also a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving meal.

This riff on classic chicken Parmesan replaces the usual marinara with a luscious lemony cream sauce. We've lightened it up by using half-and-half instead of cream, with just-as-delicious results. Serve this lemony chicken dinner with whole-wheat pasta or brown rice.

Nothing goes to waste in this twist on eggplant Parmesan, as the scooped-out zucchini flesh gets mixed into the meat sauce. Use long, straight zucchini for this dish, which are easier to hollow out for stuffing.

The nutty saltiness of Parmesan cheese is an excellent match for the sweet, delicate licorice flavor of fennel in this quick and easy side dish recipe.

Zucchini and tomato slices are sprinkled with a tasty panko bread crumb mixture, and then broiled until crisp. This side dish is quick to make and pairs well with any protein.

This chicken Parmesan pasta uses the one-pot pasta method to cook your noodles, chicken and sauce all in one skillet for a fast and easy dinner with minimal cleanup. Finish the dish under the broiler to achieve a delicious melted cheese crust.

We skipped breading in this healthy one-dish chicken Parm recipe to save time. There's still plenty of gooey cheese, and the garlic, pepper flakes and oregano lend big flavor. Serve with pasta or in a hoagie roll with the sauce (there's lots of it) spooned on top. In sandwich form, it's easily wrapped in foil and eaten on the go.

This one-pan pasta that combines lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal is garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. I call it "Mom's Skillet Pasta" and she called it "Devon's Favorite Pasta." Either way it's a quick and easy weeknight dinner we created together and scribbled on a little recipe card more than a decade ago, and it remains in my weekly dinner rotation to this day. It's a simple dinner the whole family will love.

A rich and creamy sauce coats chicken breasts in this quick and comforting dinner. If you don't have chicken cutlets (thin-sliced boneless chicken breast) on hand, you can make your own by slicing two 8-ounce chicken breasts in half horizontally.