Healthy Make Ahead Dinner Recipes

This vegetable-packed minestrone soup recipe is inspired by a popular Weight Watchers vegetable soup recipe. It makes a big pot of soup, so keep some in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and freeze the rest in single-serve portions. That way you always have an easy, delicious vegetable soup to start your meal or to eat for lunch. Think of this vegetable minestrone recipe as a starting point for other healthy soup variations, too: toss in leftover chopped cooked chicken or whole-wheat pasta or brown rice to make it more satisfying.

This quick, protein-rich chicken stew recipe draws flavor inspiration from shawarma with spices like cumin, paprika and pepper. Make a double batch and freeze it for a quick healthy dinner. Serve the stew with couscous and steamed broccoli.

Though traditional stuffed cabbage recipes are made with meat, here Savoy cabbage leaves are stuffed with a combination of rice, mushrooms, onions, garlic and herbs for a healthy vegetarian stuffed cabbage recipe. The stuffed cabbage leaves gently bake in a simple tomato sauce. This easy stuffed cabbage recipe can be made ahead of time and baked just before serving.

This easy sheet-pan recipe brings together many fall favorites into a hearty dinner.

These hearty vegan tacos are quick and easy to make, perfect for busy weeknights. They are so tasty no one will miss the meat or dairy.

The spice blend in this healthy beef stew recipe—cinnamon, allspice and cloves—may conjure images of apple pie, but the combo is a great fit in savory applications too. Serve over creamy polenta or buttered whole-wheat egg noodles.

This veggie burger recipe is one you'll want to make again and again. Savory chickpea and zucchini patties are topped with a creamy, herb-flecked tahini ranch sauce, juicy tomato slices and peppery arugula for a satisfying and healthy homemade veggie burger. Serve these vegan burgers on buns or stuff them in pitas. We recommend making extra sauce—it's a great dip for veggie sticks and, thinned with a little water, it makes a wonderful salad dressing.

This easy homemade spaghetti sauce recipe calls for fresh tomatoes, so it's perfect for summertime when you have a bumper crop of homegrown beauties or you went overboard at the farmers' market. Aside from the tomatoes and a sprig of fresh basil, you need just a handful of pantry ingredients and 15 minutes of active time to make this healthy pasta sauce. Serve it over spaghetti or your favorite pasta shape on its own or with the addition of cheese, herbs, meatballs or sausage. Or use it in recipes such as lasagna and eggplant Parmesan.

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.

This earthy bowl of lentils is topped with leftover roasted root veggies from a large batch for an easy weeknight dinner. Keep it vegan or add a drizzle of plain yogurt for extra richness.

Prepare this dish the night ahead of time so all you have to do is pop it in the oven for an easy and delicious dinner.

Enjoy this quinoa and black bean salad as a delicious and quick vegetarian main dish or as a side for grilled chicken or steak. And don't forget the leftovers! They make an easy lunch on the go.

There's no reason to only eat cucumbers raw—they are wonderful sautéed then pureed with avocado for a silky cucumber soup that's good warm or cold.

While meatloaf purists focus on the meat, we like to look at meatloaf as a way to pack extra veggies and whole grains into a meal, as we do in this healthy, classic meatloaf recipe.

This delicious 400-calorie salad is a helpful tool for weight loss because it provides a good balance of fiber, protein and healthy fats from loads of veggies and beans, all tossed in a tangy apple-cider vinaigrette. To meal-prep these for lunch throughout the week, pack the dressing and the salad separately and make sure your veggies are thoroughly dried before packing them together.

Slash the calories and carbs of traditional stuffed peppers by swapping white rice for cauliflower "rice." The riced cauliflower is hearty and won't turn to mush during baking. Use an assortment of red, yellow, orange and green peppers to make an appealing presentation.

The cheesy-seedy crust that tops this healthy cauliflower casserole recipe evokes everything bagels. Serve for the holidays or as a hearty side dish with roast chicken.

This comforting and flavorful vegetarian dish is packed with protein.

This healthy tomato soup recipe is perfect paired with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich. Make a double batch and freeze the extra for rainy day emergencies.

This simple Greek vinaigrette is so easy to make and so finger-licking good you'll never want to go back to bottled dressing again! Drizzle it over classic Greek salad, a green salad or even use it as a marinade for grilled vegetables or chicken.

Your favorite restaurant soup just got easier and healthier with this freezer-to-crock-pot recipe. If you keep a special bottle of olive oil on hand for stand-out dishes, this is the recipe to pull it out for. The headiness of the fruity olive oil truly elevates the flavors in this Italian meal-prep slow-cooker soup.

This retro dish will please kids and adults alike.

This scrumptious and healthy salad combines elements of Caesar salad, pasta salad and chicken salad for an easy weeknight dinner that comes together in less than 30 minutes (and most of the prep can be done ahead). Use your blender to whip together the tangy buttermilk-based dressing, which would also be great on a salmon or chickpea salad.

Classic chicken noodle soup gets a healthy upgrade with low-sodium chicken broth, whole-wheat egg noodles and tons of vegetables. To get a homemade stock flavor using store-bought broth, we simmer bone-in chicken breasts in the broth before adding the rest of the soup ingredients. But you're short on time, feel free to use pre-cooked chicken and start the recipe at step 2.