24 Easy Winter Dinners to Help You Lose Weight

Make this cheesy ground chicken pasta recipe for a busy weeknight dinner. Serve with a simple side salad and a glass of red wine.

Canned pumpkin adds mellow background flavor and works to thicken up this turkey pumpkin chili. Smoked paprika adds flavor with a hint of spice. This chili is on the thicker side—if you want it thinner, add a bit more water.

Sun-dried tomatoes are the star of this recipe— providing texture and umami. Combined with the spinach, they make this dish a great source of vitamins C and K.

Apple-flavored chicken sausage adds flavor and protein in this quick dinner hash that uses a bag of shaved Brussels sprouts as its hearty, high-fiber base. Steaming the cubed sweet potatoes in the microwave cuts way down on total cook time.

Thinly sliced cauliflower florets mimic the signature shape of fajita meat in this dish. We cook it in a cast-iron skillet for that tableside sizzle you'd get at a restaurant.

Cooking the spicy chorizo on top of the vegetables helps season them—as they cook, the squash and onion absorb the flavorful sausage drippings. Finish these squash and chorizo tacos with hot sauce for even more heat.

Inspired by the flavors of fajitas, this healthy chicken pasta is packed with color and spice. We use a mix of chili powder, cumin and chipotle powder to add heat and flavor.

This easy chicken and kale soup will keep you warm on a cold and rainy day or any day that calls for a simple, hearty soup. For convenience, you can make this soup with frozen kale without the need to thaw it beforehand.

This Brussels sprouts pasta features roasted Brussels sprouts for a boost of flavor. The char of the sprouts is balanced by lemon juice for a bright, healthy pasta dish. If you can't find whole-wheat fusilli, regular fusilli is an easy substitution.

Transform a box of macaroni and cheese for an easy weeknight dinner. Use frozen broccoli, steamed in the microwave, to cut down on prep time. Opt for chickpea-based macaroni and cheese for a boost of protein and fiber.

Tender, smoky sweet potato is the star of these vegetarian tacos. A mashed black bean spread with onion holds everything in place. Serve with your favorite taco toppings.

Refried beans and tomatoes provide a thick base to this easy vegetarian chili. Frozen vegetables keep prep to a minimum. Enchilada sauce and chipotle peppers in adobo work as a "chili starter" with lots of flavor and spices built in. This recipe uses part of a can of refried beans—serve the rest alongside eggs for breakfast, use them in a taco for lunch or add them to a dip for chips anytime. This healthy chili also keeps well in the fridge or freezer.

This hearty vegetarian quinoa chili with sweet potatoes has mild spice from poblanos and green chiles. Chili powder, cumin and garlic provide classic chili flavor.

Melted Brie cheese coats pasta and roasted veggies in this rich vegetarian pasta dish. White balsamic vinegar adds tang and a hint of sweetness in this easy weeknight dinner.

Bagged salad and slaw blends are great shortcut ingredients for adding variety without needing to wash and chop lots of different vegetables. Toss a kale-and-broccoli slaw mix with canned white beans and yogurt-based green goddess dressing for a crunchy main-dish salad in minutes.

Maya Feller, M.S., RD, CDN, of Brooklyn-based Maya Feller Nutrition, upgrades this popular budget-friendly combo. "Adding veggies to a classic sandwich—in this case, broccoli, zucchini and red bell pepper—boosts the nutrient-density of the meal," she says. This recipe was part of a feature story, "The Real Cost of Healthy Food."

You can often find presliced and ready-to-cook fresh vegetables in your grocer's produce section. Use these to your advantage to cut down on dinnertime prep. Here, presliced fajita vegetables are sautéed with canned black beans and Southwest seasoning for a quick and easy Tex Mex-inspired meal. Plus, this recipe requires just three ingredients, not including basics like salt, pepper and oil. You can easily take your bowl up a notch by adding some cheese, sour cream or another tasty topping.

Bulk up boxed butternut squash soup with frozen cauliflower florets, then top off your bowl with crispy chickpea snacks for major crunch (look for them near the dried fruit and nuts at your grocery store). This impressively easy dinner comes together with just those three ingredients, not including salt, pepper and oil. Because prepared soups are typically higher in sodium, look for light or reduced-sodium versions of your favorites.

This quick soup recipe is done in only 15 minutes thanks to convenience products like frozen chopped onion and precooked kielbasa. You'll have a warming winter soup on the table in no time!

In this quick salmon dinner, salmon fillets are paired with creamy orzo, wilted spinach and earthy mushrooms. Cooking the salmon at a high temperature helps speed up the cooking in this healthy dinner recipe. Look for pre-sliced mushrooms to speed it up even more.

This seasonal twist on a traditional Cobb salad swaps in kale for lettuce and spiced butternut squash for chicken but keeps the essential avocado, blue cheese, bacon and egg.

Making your own roasted red peppers is so simple, plus it cuts down on the sodium compared to jarred peppers—giving you more room to add other flavorful ingredients, like mustard, without making the dish too salty.

This quick and easy vegan lasagna soup has all the classic flavors of lasagna, with plenty of tomatoes, veggies and lasagna noodles broken into bite-size bits. Plant-based meatless crumbles stand in for the sausage, and you won't miss the cheese with the fresh basil puree dolloped on top as a finishing touch.

The avocado and ranch help soften the spiciness of the roasted Buffalo cauliflower, which is perfectly tender and flavorful in these vegetarian tacos. The roasted corn adds some sweetness and the romaine some fresh, crisp, crunch.