Eating a dinner that is around 500 calories can help promote weight loss. We took it a step further and gathered up some low-calorie dinners that are ready in 20 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights. The Linguine with Creamy White Clam Sauce and Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry are balanced recipes that still have lots of flavor. These delicious dinner recipes are packed with nutritious vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats, and all clock in at 500 calories or less.
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Chickpea & Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
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Quinoa and chickpeas pack this vegetarian grain bowl with plenty of plant-based protein. Whip up a batch of these flavorful grain bowls and pack them in lidded containers to stash in the fridge for easy, healthy dinners all week long.
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Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry
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To make this 20-minute vegan curry even faster, buy precut veggies from the salad bar at the grocery store. To make it a full, satisfying dinner, serve over cooked brown rice. When shopping for simmer sauce, look for one with 400 milligrams of sodium or less and check the ingredient list for cream or fish sauce if you want to keep this vegan. If you like a spicy kick, add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce at the end.
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One-Pot Spinach, Chicken Sausage & Feta Pasta
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A little bit of Sunday meal prep goes a long way in this one-dish pasta recipe. The pasta is cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge to use for meals all week, but any leftover cooked pasta you have on hand will do. Chicken sausage with feta is especially good in this recipe.
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Loaded Chicken-Quinoa Salad
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Turn simple precooked ingredients into a delicious one-dish meal, high in fiber and with plenty of protein to keep you feeling satisfied.
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Garlic, Sausage & Kale Naan Pizzas
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We love sausage, but it can be high in sodium. In this fast, healthy dinner, we make our own turkey sausage with crushed red pepper, garlic, fennel seeds, paprika and just a touch of salt.
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Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl
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This black bean and quinoa bowl has many of the usual hallmarks of a taco salad, minus the fried bowl. We've loaded it up with pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and avocado plus an easy hummus dressing to drizzle on top.
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Spinach, Lima Bean & Crispy Pancetta Pasta
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We opt for fresh spinach pasta here—it cooks quickly and adds a pop of color. Cooking lima beans in pancetta drippings infuses them with flavor.
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Quinoa-Black Bean Salad
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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 weeknight dinner.
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Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Quinoa Salad
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This zesty quinoa salad is delicious all on its own, with inspiration from the Mediterranean. Make a double batch for lunches later in the week.
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Lemon-Garlic Pasta with Salmon
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Wondering what to do with leftover salmon? This is a delicious and easy way to turn it into another weeknight-friendly, quick dinner. Don't forget to reserve some pasta water—its starch thickens the lemon-garlic pasta sauce and makes it silky-smooth.
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Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta
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If you've ever wanted to make a meal out of warm spinach and artichoke dip, this creamy pasta is for you. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.
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Spinach Ravioli with Artichokes & Olives
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Store-bought spinach ravioli and a handful of basic pantry items are all you need to get a healthy dinner on the table in 15 minutes. Ingredients like oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, briny Kalamata olives and toasty pine nuts help to build big flavor fast. If you can't find frozen artichokes, swap in a 15-ounce can (just be sure to drain and rinse them well).
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Skillet Ravioli Lasagna
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This easy inside-out ravioli lasagna is the ultimate weeknight comfort food—no layering or mixing bowls required. Feel free to swap in ground turkey for the beef. Look for fresh mozzarella balls (also called "pearls") in the specialty cheese section of your grocery store.
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Spaghetti & Chicken Meatballs with No-Cook Tomato Sauce
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This crowd-pleasing and easy dinner recipe takes just 20 minutes to make, start to finish, so it's perfect for weeknights! When tomatoes are at their in-season best, just a quick chop and a few ingredients are all you need to make a spaghetti sauce in minutes. Store-bought chicken meatballs keep the low-effort theme going all the way to the table.
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Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara
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Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.
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Blackened Fish Tacos
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These blackened fish tacos pack a punch. The blackened fish gets plenty of flavor from herbs and spices, the salsa adds some zing and the cabbage provides a nice raw crunch.
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Salmon Couscous Salad
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This healthy and easy salad is designed to be made with precooked or leftover salmon. To quickly cook salmon, lightly brush with olive oil, then roast in a 450°F oven until the fish is opaque and firm, 8 to 12 minutes.
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Chickpea & Roasted Red Pepper Lettuce Wraps with Tahini Dressing
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A tangy, nutty tahini dressing brings together no-cook ingredients like canned chickpeas and roasted red peppers for these easy meal-prep lettuce wraps. Make these wraps ahead of time for a grab-and-go dinner. A few wedges of warm pita finish off the meal perfectly.
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Beef Pad Thai
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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.
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Chopped Cobb Salad
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This single-serving recipe for Cobb salad swaps chicken in for bacon, which makes it a great source of protein for dinner. If you prefer another salad dressing, feel free to use that instead of our honey-mustard vinaigrette.
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Grilled Steak Salad with Corn, Cucumbers & Sweet Onion Dressing
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Grilled onion does double duty in this quick, summery steak salad. Its sweet and smoky flavor is blended into the dressing, and the leftover wedges flavor the salad itself alongside grilled corn and sliced steak. Use a grill basket to grill the onions so they don't fall through the gaps between the grill grates.
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Lemon Chicken Pasta
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In this easy lemon chicken pasta recipe, we love the combination of lemon zest and toasted breadcrumbs. This healthy dinner is made with rotisserie chicken, quick-cooking spiralized zucchini and baby zucchini, so you get a complete meal in just 10 minutes.
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Egg Drop Soup with Instant Noodles, Spinach & Scallions
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Whisking a beaten egg into simmering broth is a quick and easy way to add creaminess and protein to noodle soup mix. Add freshness with a handful of baby spinach at the end. This recipe can easily be doubled to serve 2 and use the whole package of noodles. To cut back on sodium, look for noodle varieties with less than 600 mg sodium per serving or use less of the seasoning packet.
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Shrimp & Broccoli Stir-Fry
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The broccoli in this simple shrimp-and-broccoli stir-fry absorbs the flavors of the sauce, which also coats the shrimp perfectly. The ingredients can be prepped ahead of time and whipped together in about 15 minutes, making this meal ideal for busy weeknights.
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Pesto Ravioli with Spinach & Tomatoes
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This easy ravioli recipe calls for just five ingredients but is loaded with fresh flavors. By using grape tomatoes, prewashed spinach and prepared pesto, we eliminate all prep work, making this 15-minute caprese-inspired ravioli the ideal weeknight meal.
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BBQ Chicken Bowls
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These BBQ chicken bowls are perfect for weeknight dinners. They come together in just 15 minutes and are chock-full of the classic barbecue flavors you love, including saucy beans, coleslaw and potatoes.
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Linguine with Creamy White Clam Sauce
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Ripe tomato and fresh basil give this quick recipe tons of flavor. Serve this healthy pasta dinner with crusty garlic bread and steamed green beans.
