32 High-Protein Dinners for Weight Loss

October 29, 2020

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Make a filling and healthy meal with these high-protein dinner recipes. Each dinner has at least 15 grams of protein per serving, so you’ll feel satisfied. You’ll also feel full thanks to the high fiber in these recipes, which is an important nutrient if you’re looking to slim down. Recipes like Chicken Parmesan & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers and Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chili are delicious, low in calories and can help you meet your nutrition goals.

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Peppery Barbecue-Glazed Shrimp with Vegetables & Orzo

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In this healthy BBQ shrimp recipe, shrimp are seasoned with a peppery spice blend and served with zucchini, peppers and whole-grain orzo for a delicious and easy dinner that's ready in just 30 minutes. The shrimp and veggies are cooked in the same skillet, so cleanup is a snap too.

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Chicken Parmesan & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

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Chicken Parm gets a fun low-carb and gluten-free twist with these cheesy stuffed peppers with chicken and quinoa. Serve with a salad for a healthy dinner that's easy to prep too.

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Pizza-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

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Skip the dough and stuff all of your favorite pizza toppings into spaghetti squash boats for a fun and healthy dinner that'll please the whole family. We love the combination of mushrooms, bell peppers, pepperoni and mozzarella, but feel free to mix it up with your favorite pizza ingredients. You could throw in a bit of chopped cooked broccoli, for example, or add some olives or chopped artichoke hearts. And of course feel free to omit the pepperoni to make the dish vegetarian. Round out the meal with a simple salad.

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Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta

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If you've ever wanted to make a meal out of warm spinach and artichoke dip, this creamy pasta is for you. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.

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Chipotle Turkey Tostadas

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Try this creative, delicious way to use up your Thanksgiving leftovers. This recipe shows you how to make tostada shells from corn tortillas. Think of a tostada as an open-face taco: a crispy corn tortilla smothered in toppings.

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Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chili

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Sweet potatoes pair wonderfully with this simple chili recipe. Add one more chipotle pepper if you want to spice up this healthy sweet potato recipe.

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Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Root Vegetables & Barley

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Be sure to use bone-in chicken here--it enhances the flavor of the broth, and the bones are easy to remove after cooking. This healthy chicken soup can be made in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker.

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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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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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Buffalo Chicken Chili

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Calling all Buffalo chicken lovers! This Buffalo chicken chili recipe features everything you love about Buffalo chicken wings: the veggies, the tangy, spicy kick and a topping of creamy blue cheese. Enjoy it with a small group or double the recipe to enjoy at your next Super Bowl party.

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Sloppy Joe Casserole

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Like sloppy Joes? Then you'll love this sloppy Joe casserole recipe. This kid-friendly dinner has the classic sloppy Joe flavors kids love, while parents will like all the veggies that are packed in to make it a healthy meal.

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Cheesy Chipotle-Cauliflower Mac

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You'll barely notice the cauliflower in this comforting skillet pasta--it's pureed and mixed into the creamy cheese sauce.

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Chicken Hummus Bowls

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The spiced chicken atop these bowls is ready fast with the help of the broiler. Serve with warm whole-wheat pita for scooping up extra hummus at the bottom of the bowl.

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Curried Shrimp with Cauliflower and Chickpeas

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In this delicious main dish, cauliflower is slow-cooked with curry powder and aromatic vegetables, and shrimp and chickpeas are added in towards the end of the cooking time. Served over brown basmati rice and sprinkled with cilantro and peanuts, this dish will get a thumbs up from anyone eating it!

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Beef Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

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A gyro is a Greek sandwich made of thin slices of roasted meat, served on pita bread with a cucumber-yogurt sauce. In this recipe, lean ground beef is seasoned with oregano and marjoram, pressed into a loaf pan, baked and thinly sliced to fill the pita.

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California Turkey Burgers & Baked Sweet Potato Fries

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Inspired by an option at the West Coast chain In-N-Out Burger, this turkey burger recipe keeps the carbs in check with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun. The side of sweet potato fries bakes while you prep the burgers, so this entire healthy dinner is ready in under 30 minutes.

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Lasagna Soup

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This quick and healthy lasagna soup recipe has all the comforting flavors of classic lasagna with plenty of tomatoes, Italian turkey sausage and lasagna noodles broken into bite-size bits. A dollop of ricotta cheese mixed with mozzarella and Parmesan adds a creamy finishing touch. Serve the soup with a green salad and crusty bread to sop up what's left in the bowl for an easy healthy dinner that's ready in under 30 minutes.

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Lamb & Lentil Shepherd's Pie

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This twist on a traditional Shepard's Pie recipe uses lentils and is garnished with fresh mint.

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Crispy Oven-Fried Fish Tacos

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Fish tacos make a satisfying meal the entire family will love. Many restaurant versions are deep-fried, but our technique includes coating the fish in a seasoned whole-grain breading and spritzing it lightly with cooking spray before baking on a rack until golden brown. The result is a crispy exterior with moist and flaky fish inside.

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Forbidden Rice & White Kimchi Steak Salad

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This steak salad doesn't feature a typical dressing, but tangy kimchi, savory pan-fried shallots and lemon juice pack it with flavor. Forbidden rice helps add more color and nutrition to this tangy dish.

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Quick Shrimp Puttanesca

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Because refrigerated fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried pasta, this Italian pasta dish will be on the table lickety-split! Puttanesca, traditionally made with tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies and garlic, gets a makeover with shrimp for extra protein and artichoke hearts to boost the vegetable servings (and the fiber!). If you can't find frozen artichoke hearts, sub in drained canned artichoke hearts.

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Turkey Meatballs with Linguine & Fresh Tomato Sauce

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For this healthy turkey meatball recipe, lean ground turkey is mixed with fresh mushrooms, oats, garlic, spices and a little Parmesan cheese for a meatball that's moist, delicious and has more fiber and less saturated fat than a traditional beef and pork version. Serve these tasty meatballs over whole-grain pasta with fresh tomato sauce for a satisfying take on spaghetti and meatballs, and save the leftovers to stuff into sandwiches.

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Mediterranean Ravioli with Artichokes & Olives

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Store-bought spinach ravioli and a handful of basic pantry items are all you need to get a healthy dinner on the table in 15 minutes. Ingredients like oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, briny Kalamata olives and toasty pine nuts help to build big flavor fast. If you can't find frozen artichokes, swap in a 15-ounce can (just be sure to drain and rinse them well).

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Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajita Bowls

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Skip the tortillas in favor of this warm fajita salad, which features a nutritious medley of chicken with roasted kale, bell peppers and black beans. The chicken, beans and vegetables are all cooked on the same pan, so this healthy dinner is easy to make and the cleanup is easy too.

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Italian Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Vegetables & Quinoa

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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.

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Cilantro Bean Burgers with Creamy Avocado-Lime Slaw

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Lighten up your burger! Bean patties have less saturated fat and more fiber than beef patties. They're also cheaper and easier to cook indoors--and we promise they're just as satisfying, especially with the mouthwatering creamy slaw on top.

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Skillet Chili Mac

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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.

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Indian Curry Fish

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Baked tilapia fillets are served alongside curry-flavored lentils, pea pods, and cherry tomatoes in this colorful and healthy 25-minute dinner recipe. With a few substitutions you can turn this dish into a sandwich or a bowl (see recipe variations, below).

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Turkey Enchilada Poblano Peppers

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In this healthy take on a turkey enchilada recipe, we stuff everything into a roasted poblano pepper shell rather than tortillas to pack an extra serving of veggies into this meal. If you can't find poblano peppers, you can substitute green bell peppers instead.

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Curried Lentils and Vegetables

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This is a classic dal, perhaps the most commonly eaten dish in India. Dal is a creamy melange of lentils, garlic and, of course, spices. Serve it as a side dish with curry or roasted meats, or as a main dish with warm naan for scooping.

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Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole

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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.

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Tortilla Chip Flounder with Black Bean Salad

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This 40-minute recipe pairs a vibrant black bean salad with baked flounder. The flounder is coated in a cayenne pepper and tortilla chip crust adding a bit of heat to this Mexican-inspired meal.

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