Clean-Eating Budget Recipes

Steaming (but not for too long!) is a foolproof way to get perfect, crisp-tender green beans, every time. This easy recipe is a great starting point for other flavors or preparations, like adding cooked green beans to a salad.

Get all the flavor of an everything bagel married with the creaminess of avocado toast in one healthy breakfast. Just toast, top, sprinkle and go for this quick morning meal when you need to get out the door fast. Want to take it up a notch? Top with a poached or fried egg.

This healthy casserole is essentially a crustless quiche, brimming with fresh summer vegetables. Bake it up for an elegant summer brunch or a casual backyard barbecue.

This healthy basic beef chili recipe is well worth doubling so you can throw a batch in the freezer. Serve topped with diced red onion, sliced scallions, shredded cheese and your favorite hot sauce.

The lightened-up luscious sauce elevates this easy casserole recipe over standard broccoli and cheese side dishes.

These easy roasted vegetables will give your plate a pop of color. Give the cubes of butternut squash a head start for 10 minutes to soften in the oven before adding in the other veggies. The broccoli, peppers and onion are naturally more tender than the butternut squash and cook more quickly. That way everything ends up finishing at the same time.

Using the hasselback technique (cutting crosswise slits every half-inch along the chicken breast) cooks the chicken faster and ensures you get a burst of flavorful gooey filling with each bite. This quick one-pan high-protein and veggie-packed dinner is easy to make and the whole family will love it.

This vegetable-studded frittata recipe is one of the quickest meals you can make. Make it for breakfast, or serve for lunch or dinner with a tossed salad and a slice of olive oil-drizzled crusty baguette.

When you're feeling backed-up, this high-fiber chia concoction can help make your bathroom routine smoother. The chia seeds form a gel-like consistency to help move digestion along easily, and the kick of cayenne pepper acts as an intestinal stimulant.

Apples and peanut butter are a classic pair-try them blended together in this healthy smoothie recipe.

This is true healthy comfort food--a bowl of soft, creamy polenta topped with warm roasted vegetables infused with garlic and sage.

Canned beans and tomatoes make this quick vegetarian chili recipe ready to go in just 30 minutes. Serve over rice or couscous, or with tortilla chips for added crunch, and add extra toppings as you see fit--sliced scallions, chopped fresh cilantro, diced avocado and sliced jalapeños are all tasty choices.

In this recipe, the humble turnip is transformed into a rich turnip soup made creamy with just 1 tablespoon of butter. Serve it as a starter or side soup. The mini salad on top is optional, but we love the bit of texture from the greens and pop of flavor from the vinaigrette.

Sautéeing butternut squash in olive oil quickly yields perfectly cooked results and slighly caramelizes the squash for extra flavor. This recipe makes a delicious vegetable side dish to pair with roasted meats.

Instead of opening a jar of sauce, try this easy spaghetti with meat sauce on a weeknight. Serve with steamed broccoli and garlic bread. The recipe makes enough for 8 servings. If you're serving only four for dinner, cook 8 ounces of spaghetti and freeze the leftover sauce.

This classic hummus recipe couldn't be easier--just toss a few ingredients in the food processor and whir away! Aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) makes this healthy dip extra smooth and creamy. Serve with veggie chips, pita chips or crudités.

Ooey-gooey cheese, crispy breadcrumbs and plenty of sauce are the hallmarks of any good chicken Parmesan recipe, and this one-skillet version of chicken parm for two is no exception. We made this recipe easier by skipping the breading on the chicken and loading the top of the dish with cheese and breadcrumbs. Serve it with whole-wheat pasta to soak up the extra sauce.

In this low-carb spaghetti squash lasagna recipe, garlicky broccolini, spaghetti squash and cheese are combined for a healthy take on a favorite casserole. This bakes right in the squash shells for a fun presentation. Serve with a big Caesar salad and some warm and crusty whole-grain bread.

Deep-fried falafel can be a total grease bomb. But these pan-seared falafel still get crispy in just a few tablespoons of oil with equally satisfying results. Be sure to use dried, instead of canned, chickpeas in this healthy recipe--canned chickpeas add too much moisture.

This healthy red lentil curry recipe has a rich flavor and complexity that tastes like it takes hours to prepare. Butternut squash and coconut milk combine with the lentils to make a hearty vegetarian dish. Serve with brown rice or naan bread.

Mashed avocado and white beans make for a fiber-rich and creamy topping, the perfect partner for a crispy slice of toast. Try it for a quick breakfast or snack.

Skip the roasting in this butternut squash soup recipe and let your slow cooker do the work instead. Just load up all the ingredients into the crock pot, set it and forget it for an easy, healthy dinner or packable lunches.

This foolproof way to cook zucchini is also the easiest and fastest. Just steam it on the stovetop for a few minutes and you have a healthy vegetable side dish to add to dinner. Toss with a little pesto for extra flavor.

This healthy oven-dried apple recipe is perfect if you want to make dried apples at home and don't have a dehydrator. Great for lunchboxes or as a snack, homemade dried apples are easy to make in the oven and are high in fiber and nutrients. To retain the fiber from the peels and to save time, we skip the step of peeling the apples first. We also skip coring--the star-shaped core makes a pretty shape in the center of each dried apple. For crispy apple chips, bake the apples about 1 hour more.