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Aiming for weight loss doesn’t mean you’re confined to a diet of only egg whites and grilled chicken, even though they’re excellent choices. Surprisingly, there are plenty of delicious options that can be part of your weight reduction plan. A successful weight loss diet should not be about cutting out all your favorite treats but should be built around nutritious foods that help you move forward, incorporating the foods you enjoy. Moreover, how these foods are prepared should easily mesh with your everyday life.
Opting for simple meals can be a key factor in adhering to a dietary plan. Recipes that demand a lot of time, effort, and a long list of ingredients can be overwhelming and difficult to sustain over time. Fortunately, there are numerous tasty, straightforward, and healthy recipes that require no more than five ingredients. To aid your health and weight loss efforts, here’s a list of eight easy five-ingredient meals.
Turkey Burger & Salad
Nutrition (Per recipe):
Calories: 394
Fat: 25 g (Saturated fat: 6 g)
Sodium: 874 mg
Carbs: 9 g (Fiber: 5 g, Sugar: 3 g)
Protein: 27 g
Creating a turkey burger with just lean meat and some seasonings, or choosing a pre-made patty from the grocery store, provides a high-protein meal option. For a change, you could swap the turkey for a veggie burger or a lean beef burger, offering both variety and nutrition.
Ingredients:
How to make:
Toss your spinach with salad dressing and feta. Top with cooked turkey burger and sliced avocado.
Cottage Cheese Sweet Potato
Nutrition (Per recipe):
Calories: 331
Fat: 16 g (Saturated fat: 3 g)
Sodium: 430 mg
Carbs: 33 g (Fiber: 13 g, Sugar: 10 g)
Protein: 13g
This is a great vegetarian dish and comes together easily. If you are especially strapped for time, prepare your potatoes in bulk up to 4 days ahead of time, and reheat when you are ready to eat. The cottage cheese serves as a convenient and easy protein source, while the broccoli and avocado add volume and fiber to the meal. Top with a dash of hot sauce for extra flavor.
Ingredients:
How to make:
Bake your sweet potato until tender. Once fork tender, cut open length wise and top with cottage cheese, diced avocado, broccoli and seasoning.
Pesto Chicken Pasta
Nutrition (Per recipe):
Calories: 528
Fat: 23 g (Saturated fat: 4 g)
Sodium: 614 mg
Carbs: 46 g (Fiber: 8 g, Sugar: 7 g)
Protein: 33 g
Pasta is often thought of as off-limits in a weight loss diet, but noodles can be a good source of filling fiber. This dish is rich in fiber, protein, and healthy fats making for an especially satisfying meal. This makes for great leftovers, too, and can be enjoyed warm, or chilled like a pasta salad. If you want to save a few calories and grams of fat, swap the olive oil for some cooking spray.
Ingredients:
How to make:
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once heated, add chicken and heat. Remove chicken from heat and toss with 1 tablespoon of pesto. Next, combine the remaining tablespoon of pesto and halved tomatoes with your cooked pasta. Toss until well incorporated. Top with pesto chicken and serve warm.
Shrimp Stir Fry
Nutrition (Per recipe):
Calories: 373
Fat: 7 g (Saturated fat: 2 g)
Sodium: 395 mg
Carbs: 48 g (Fiber: 9 g, Sugar: 10 g)
Protein: 22 g
Shrimp is a lean source of protein and cooks up quickly. When paired with brown rice and veggies, you have a fiber-rich meal that comes together in no time. Prepare your rice in bulk a few days ahead to make for a quick dinner meal, or use microwave pouches for quick preparation the night of. Also consider swapping brown rice for quinoa for even more fiber in this meal.
Ingredients:
How to make:
Heat the sesame oil in a pan over medium heat. Add shrimp and heat until fully cooked. Add frozen vegetables and cook until warm and tender. Turn off the heat and toss in soy sauce. Serve over warm brown rice.
Tuna Lettuce Cups
Nutrition (Per recipe):
Calories: 386
Fat: 17 g (Saturated fat: 2 g)
Sodium: 358 mg
Carbs: 38 g (Fiber: 9 g, Sugar: 23 g)
Protein: 22 g
Tuna is rich in Omega-3 fats, an essential fat that provides heart health benefits. It also requires minimal preparation, making it great for easy meals. Swap the raisins in this dish for any dried fruit of choice. Just make sure to skip options that have added sugar. Use a double layer of lettuce for each cup to boost fiber for very few calories.
Ingredients:
How to make:
Combine the drained tuna with celery, avocado, and raisins. Thoroughly combine until you reach your desired consistency. Serve in lettuce cups.
Bento Box
Nutrition (Per meal):
Calories: 415
Fat: 21 g (Saturated fat: 8 g)
Sodium: 484 mg
Carbs: 31 g (Fiber: 5 g, Sugar: 18 g)
Protein: 20 g
A bento box meal can be put together with endless food combinations. This option has a high protein content, allowing it to be filling and satisfying. While 5 grams of fiber is adequate for a meal, you can boost this number without adding many calories by increasing your serving of carrots, or adding another raw veggie to your plate.
Ingredients:
How to make:
Enjoy components individually or in combined bites.
Egg Salad in Bell Pepper
Nutrition (Per recipe):
Calories: 340
Fat: 10 g (Saturated fat: 3 g)
Sodium: 359 mg
Carbs: 27 g (Fiber: 7 g, Sugar: 9 g)
Protein: 27 g
Eggs are a great source of protein, and can be convenient when you need something quickly. You can even boil your eggs in bulk to be used throughout a busy week. This meal is loaded with flavor and provides a large volume of food for relatively few calories. Add in seasoning and additional raw veggies for added flavor and crunch, or keep it simple with this 5-ingredient recipe.
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs, large, hard boiled (142 calories)
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat (59 calories)
- ¼ cup celery, chopped (3 calories)
- ½ cup chickpeas, cooked, drained (105 calories)
- 1 bell pepper, red, seeded, halved (31 calories)
How to make:
Combine boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, celery and chickpeas, and mix to desired texture. Serve in bell pepper halves.
Chicken quesadilla
Nutrition (Per recipe):
Calories: 437
Fat: 19 g (Saturated fat: 6 g)
Sodium: 494 mg
Carbs: 28 g (Fiber: 7 g, Sugar: 3 g)
Protein: 34 g
A quesadilla is another food that is not generally thought to be weight loss-friendly. However, when you make it correctly, it can be part of a healthy diet. Corn tortillas provide about half as many calories as flour tortillas, making them a good option. Lean chicken boosts protein, and healthy fats and fiber from the avocado make this a filling meal.
Ingredients:
How to make:
Heat a pan over medium heat. Lay one tortilla in the pan and layer with half the cheese and all of the chicken. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the chicken and top with a second tortilla. Heat on both sides until the cheese is melted and the chicken is heated throughout. Dip in mashed avocado. Separately, heat the zucchini in a pan until the desired doneness.
