Healthy Meat Main Dish Recipes

Cutting the steak immediately after cooking breaks all the rules on meat cookery, but in this recipe we do it intentionally in order to capture the juices and incorporate them into the dressing. Serve this grilled flank steak recipe with crusty bread to soak up the deliciousness.

These barbecue grape-jelly meatballs are meatballs smothered in a sauce of sweet grape jelly, barbecue sauce, hot sauce and ketchup. They're sweet, salty and incredibly tender after their long cook time in the slow cooker. You can serve them right from the slow cooker or stack them on toothpicks for easy finger food.

Juicy grilled pork chops with a tiny bit of sweetness and a faint hint of spiciness make for an excellent simple dinner main that pairs with practically any side. A simple brine imparts flavor, but mostly keeps the pork chops from drying out; just don't marinate the meat for any longer than 4 hours or it'll soften the texture.

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.

Here's a burrito inspired by San Francisco's super burritos that come packed with meat, beans, rice, cheese, guacamole and salsa. We've kept this home-style version a bit simpler to make and a whole lot healthier with brown rice, whole-wheat tortillas and a more reasonable serving size. We recommend wrapping it in foil--the traditional way to serve it--so you can pick the burrito up and eat it without it falling apart, peeling back the foil as you go. Serve with a cold beer and vinegar-dressed slaw.

This breakfast skillet is reminiscent of the hashbrown bowl at Waffle House. It's filling and tastes decadent, but is still a pretty low-calorie breakfast. Be sure to use a large skillet because although it may seem too big for the amount of ingredients, you need the surface area to get your potatoes crispy (overcrowding your skillet will just steam them).

We've bulked up the serving size of beef pad thai by adding in lots of healthy veggies like matchstick carrots, snap peas and scallions. Look for whole-grain brown-rice pad thai noodles to add an additional 3 grams fiber to each serving.

A tomato-rich dressing boosts the flavor and lowers calories and fat in this tortellini salad (the dressing is also great on green salads or grilled fish). Roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes add a good dose of vitamins A, C and fiber.

Chock-full of shrimp, chicken, sausage, okra and tomatoes, this flavorful stew is a staple in Louisiana. Make it a meal and serve with Real Cornbread (see associated recipe).

For a steak that's deliciously tender, flavorful and not too fatty, we reach for strip (also known as New York strip or shell steak). It has less than half the saturated fat of a rib-eye but is more tender than leaner sirloin. Here, we cook green beans in the same pan used to sear the spiced steak. All those delicious drippings add richness to the beans—plus there's one less pan to wash!

Whip up a chef-quality stir-fry recipe at home. This beef and broccoli stir-fry packs in the vegetables and takes just 30 minutes to prep. Ginger, which adds a lively kick to this stir-fry, has long been touted for its power to settle stomachs. But that's not its only superpower: preliminary research suggests it may improve blood sugar and inflammation too.

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.

These air-fryer meatballs cook quickly and stay juicy in the air fryer. Seasoned simply with Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese and paired with your favorite marinara sauce, they make the perfect weeknight meal.

Let your muffin tin help you meal-prep a week's worth of protein-rich muffin-tin eggs with the classic combo of ham, Cheddar cheese and broccoli to stash in the fridge or freezer for those extra-busy mornings.

These whole-wheat panko breadcrumb-coated pork chops get just as crispy as fried chops, but they're healthier. Oven-frying saves you fat and calories while producing chops that are crispy on the outside, yet juicy inside. Serve with steamed broccoli and baked sweet potato for a satisfying weeknight dinner.

Casseroles can be for summer too! We packed this one with peak-season vegetables—corn, zucchini and tomatoes—then topped it with crispy tater tots and gooey melted cheese, making it a dinner winner.

Upgrade baked beans from classic side dish to a meaty main meal by adding lean ground beef. The final result, a superfast hearty casserole, is an easy and fast dinner option. Ground turkey or even sausage would work nicely in this dish. Just watch the sodium.

This easy to make, comforting dish will keep you warm on a cold day.

These easy baked meatballs cook quickly in the oven thanks to their small size, yet remain moist and tender. Jazzing up a can of reduced-sodium marinara with shallots and fresh herbs helps keep sodium in check while adding flavor to this family-friendly dish.

The EatingWell Test Kitchen takes lean ground beef and combines it with whole-grain bulgur, egg noodles and a creamy tomato sauce in a baked casserole topped with Cheddar. With less fat and calories than the original skillet meal, this dish is sure to become a new family favorite.

Without a smoker, you can use wood chips and your grill to infuse a brisket with loads of flavor.

These Mediterranean Pork Chops are seasoned with rosemary and ready in just 45-minutes.

Clam and corn chowder is a staple in New England during the summer months. Here we make it healthier—and faster—than the traditional cream-laden version, but just as luscious.

Our take on this popular Mexican dish certainly does not disappoint. Packed with protein and easy to make, this recipe is the perfect dinner solution.