30-Day Heart-Healthy Dinner Plan

Updated December 30, 2019

 Looking to kick off the New Year on the right foot? This heart-healthy dinner plan delivers a month of delicious recipes to help you start your year on a good note. Filled with wholesome ingredients that are known to help boost heart health—like nutrient-packed veggies, fiber-rich whole grains, healthy fats, lean protein and plenty of plant-based protein options—these dinners make eating for a healthy heart simple. And with recipes like our Skillet Chicken Potpie and Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice Soup, the whole family will be on board, too!

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Skillet Chicken Potpie

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A store-bought pie crust, frozen veggies and precooked chicken simplify the prep for this easy potpie. This healthy dinner recipe is comfort food at its best.

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Seared Scallops with White Bean Ragu & Charred Lemon

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This recipe for seared scallops with white beans and spinach turns out a healthy dinner that looks impressive (and tastes great) in just 25 minutes. Giving lemons a quick sizzle in the skillet amps up the flavor of this piccata-inspired dish. The heat helps release even more citrus juice and sweetens it too. When shopping for scallops, look for ones labeled "dry." Some scallops are soaked in a solution that prevents them from searing properly and can give them a soapy flavor.

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Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice Soup

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Got leftover cooked chicken or turkey? Cook up a pot of soup! This recipe is a healthier twist on a classic creamy turkey and wild rice soup that hails from Minnesota. Serve with a crisp romaine salad and whole-grain bread.

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Skillet Lemon Chicken & Potatoes with Kale

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This easy one-pan skillet-roasted lemon chicken is perfect for weeknight dinners. Juicy chicken thighs are cooked in the same pan as baby potatoes and kale for a satisfying meal with the added bonus of minimal cleanup.

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Parchment Packet Baked Tuna Steak & Vegetables with Creamy Dijon-Turmeric Sauce

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How to bake fish perfectly? Wrapping the fish and vegetables in parchment packets creates steam that keeps the fish moist while it cooks. Plus, it's a fun presentation.

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Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

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Sliced Brussels sprouts and mushrooms cook quickly and cling to the pasta in our fall version of pasta primavera. Look for presliced mushrooms to cut prep time. Serve with a tossed salad.

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Sweet & Spicy Roasted Salmon with Wild Rice Pilaf

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Fresh jalapeños give this quick and easy roasted salmon dish its kick; honey and balsamic vinegar give it a sweet finish. A nutty-tasting wild rice pilaf completes this healthy dinner that comes together in just 30 minutes.

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Arepas with Spicy Black Beans

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In this healthy corned beef and cabbage recipe, we cut back the sodium but kept the classic flavor profile of this St. Patrick's Day staple. An Instant Pot (or other multicooker) tenderizes the beef quickly, making this easy to pull off even on a weeknight.

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Winter Kale & Quinoa Salad

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Precooked quinoa helps keep this healthy salad recipe quick and simple. Loaded with black beans, kale, and avocado, this recipe is as filling as it is nutritious. You can also make the sweet potatoes and dressing ahead.

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Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara

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Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.

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Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore with Polenta

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This rustic stew cooks all day in the slow cooker so you can come home to a comforting, hot dinner. Not a fan of polenta? Try this healthy chicken dinner over pasta instead.

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Charred Shrimp & Pesto Buddha Bowls

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These shrimp and pesto Buddha bowls are delicious, healthy, pretty and take less than 30 minutes to prep. In other words, they're basically the ultimate easy weeknight dinner. Feel free to add additional vegetables and swap the shrimp for chicken, steak, tofu or edamame.

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Slow-Cooker Vegan Chili

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Grab your crock pot for this hearty and easy vegan chili, which is chock-full of great-tasting and good-for-you ingredients, including pinto and black beans, red pepper, tomatoes and butternut squash. Once a little chopping is done, all you have to do is dump the ingredients in the slow cooker, making this colorful veggie chili the perfect weeknight dinner. A garnish of fresh avocado and chopped cilantro is a nice touch.

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Cauliflower Chicken Fried “Rice”

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Get an extra serving of vegetables and cut back on carbs by replacing rice with riced cauliflower in this healthy chicken fried rice recipe.

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Jambalaya Stuffed Peppers

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In this healthy stuffed peppers recipe, a delicious jambalaya filling of chicken and Cajun spices gets baked inside of bell peppers. Traditional jambalaya is made with green bell peppers, but you can use green, yellow, or orange peppers (or a mix) for this dish. Look for bell peppers with even bottoms, so that they stand upright on their own.

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Garlic Roasted Salmon & Brussels Sprouts

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Roasting salmon on top of Brussels sprouts and garlic, flavored with wine and fresh oregano, is simple enough for a weeknight meal yet sophisticated enough to serve to company. Serve with whole-wheat couscous.

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Instant Pot Goulash

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Your Instant Pot (or other multicooker) cuts hours off the cooking time of this Hungarian beef stew recipe. This Instant Pot goulash, a saucy dish flavored with caraway and smoked paprika, is served over whole-wheat egg noodles that cook while your multicooker works its magic. It's comfort food at its best!

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Mushroom & Tofu Stir-Fry

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This tofu veggie stir-fry is quick and easy, making it a great go-to weeknight meal. Baked tofu has a firm, toothsome texture that crisps well in a hot pan. You can find it in flavors like teriyaki and sesame, both of which are delicious here. Or opt for a smoked version, which has the same texture with a more robust flavor. Serve over brown rice.

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Kale & Roasted Sweet Potato Hash

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This one-pan hash makes an easy fall dinner or a simple dish for a healthy brunch. You can even poach the eggs ahead of time--slip them into steaming-hot water to rewarm them just before serving.

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Lemon-Garlic Pasta with Salmon

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Wondering what to do with leftover salmon? This is a delicious and easy way to turn it into another weeknight-friendly, quick dinner. Don't forget to reserve some pasta water--its starch thickens the lemon-garlic pasta sauce and makes it silky-smooth.

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Baked Halibut with Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa

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Fish plus two sides? It seems fancy but this healthy dinner comes together in just 30 minutes.

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Chicken Curry Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

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Use convenience ingredients, like cooked chicken (leftover or purchased) and store-bought curry sauce to whip up these easy loaded baked potatoes. We call for cauliflower in this recipe, but feel free to sub in whatever veggies you have on hand for a quick and easy dinner. You can also swap the sweet potatoes for russets.

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Homemade Chicken Tenders with Everything Bagel Seasoning over Salad

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Using everything bagel spice is a quick way to season and add extra crunch to breadcrumbs for chicken tenders. If you can't find any premixed, make your own by combining equal parts dried minced onion and garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, salt and ground pepper. This healthy chicken recipe tops a simple salad for an easy dinner that's ready in 25 minutes.

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Provençal Baked Fish with Roasted Potatoes & Mushrooms

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This easy healthy meal--which requires just 15 minutes of active time--is typical of southern France. You can use halibut, grouper or cod for this simple Mediterranean baked fish recipe, so just choose what looks best at your market. Look for herbes de Provence, an aromatic spice blend, at most grocery stores. 

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Chickpea & Potato Curry

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This fast Indian-style curry comes together with ingredients you most likely have on hand, like frozen peas and canned tomatoes and chickpeas. Plus, using these spices shows how simple it is to make a curry sauce for an easy vegetarian recipe. Serve with whole-wheat naan to sop it all up.

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Quinoa, Avocado & Chickpea Salad over Mixed Greens

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Protein-rich quinoa and chickpeas add staying power to this zesty and healthy salad recipe.

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Chilean Lentil Stew with Salsa Verde

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This healthy vegetarian recipe is hearty and satisfying. Don't skip the parsley relish (salsa verde)--it's easy to make and lends a tangy accent that balances the flavors of the lentil stew. We prefer French green lentils for this stew, as they don't fall apart while cooking; however, regular brown lentils (found in most supermarkets) will also work.

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Chinese Ginger Beef Stir-Fry with Baby Bok Choy

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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.

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Maple-Mustard Pork with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cauliflower

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The combination of sweet maple syrup and tangy mustard makes a flavorful marinade for quick-cooking pork loin chops in this healthy dinner recipe. Serve with roasted sweet potatoes and cauliflower for an easy, tasty meal that's ready in under a half an hour (if you marinate the pork ahead of time).

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Lemon-Tahini Couscous with Chicken & Vegetables

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When you want pasta in no time, couscous is your best friend! The tiny pasta balls cook up in minutes, and absorb all the water so you don't have to fuss with draining. Tossed with sautéed vegetables plus leftover chicken, it's a fast and tasty meal in a bowl that's perfect as an easy dinner recipe.

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