These healthy dinner ideas are all fun and packed with flavor. They just also happen to be pretty good for you … it’s the best of both worlds!
By now you probably know that we love a good indulgent meal as much as anyone. But there’s a time and a place for everything, and you might be surprised to learn just how healthy most of our meals are. It’s eating healthy meals that allows us to have indulgent meals as often as we do.
There’s a common misconception that healthy dinners are boring, or flavorless. That couldn’t be further from the truth! In reality, a lot of healthy dinners are just as full of flavor as their unhealthy counterparts. It’s all about finding the right recipes that will excite your taste buds, while still making your body feel good.
What Makes a Dinner Healthy?
There are so many different things that can make for a healthy dinner recipe. But there are three things that we try to incorporate when we come up with healthy dinner ideas.
- Vegetables. It’s cliche to say, but eating your vegetables is an important part of having a healthy diet. When we make healthy dinner recipes, we try to incorporate a few different veggies. You’ll notice that most of the recipes in this article have a large amount of vegetables.
- Lean proteins. Most dinners are built around protein, and our healthy dinner ideas usually use lean proteins. We’re big fans of chicken, turkey, and fish (especially salmon!). Eggs and legumes can also work as the base protein, and when we use something less lean, like beef or pork, we opt for small portions.
- Healthy fats. If you’re a fan of our recipes, then you know how we feel: fat is flavor! You need some fat to make a yummy dish. But some fats are healthier than others. For our healthy dinner ideas we try to use mostly healthier fats, like olive oil and fish.
Tips for Eating Healthier
Eating healthier meals isn’t always easy. Here are a few of our favorite tips for incorporating some healthier habits into your dinners.
- Make leftovers. One of the easiest ways to eat healthier is to make leftovers anytime you make a healthy or semi-healthy dinner. That way, when you’re feeling snackish, the food that you have readily available is healthy.
- Cook your greens. If you want to get extra mileage out of some healthy ingredients, cook your greens. If you wilt spinach, you can eat a whole bag in just a few bites, while still getting almost the exact same nutritional benefit.
- Keep healthy ingredients around. We like to make sure that our fridge and pantry are stocked with healthy ingredients, like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and legumes. That way when you’re looking for a fun, healthy dinner idea (like the recipes in this article!), you’re more likely to already have the ingredients you need to make it.
25 Healthy(ish) Dinner Ideas
These dinner recipes are fun and full of flavor. But they're also meals that will make you feel good when you eat them! Healthy eating doesn't have to be boring!
One of our all-time favorite dinners! So easy to make and our kids go crazy for it. The same flavors you love in a beef and broccoli dish, made easier by using lean ground beef. Drizzle some crunchy garlic oil on top for a finishing touch!
The most popular fish recipe on our site. This haddock recipe couldn't be easier to make, and it'll make you look like a rock start in the kitchen. A delicious, tangy parmesan crust tops this deliciously mild piece of fish.
The sweet and tangy sauce on this grilled teriyaki chicken is unbelievably addicting! If a grill isn't available, you can cook these chicken thighs in the oven too!
You've never had cabbage so good! This casserole is loaded with vegetables, lean ground beef and rice. You can swap out ground turkey and brown rice to make it even lighter. This casserole is enough to feed a crowd, or plenty to keep you going throughout the week.
Lean, marinated flank steak that's super tender tossed with charred veggies and stuffed into tortillas. There's not a better healthy-ish dinner out there if you ask me.
Can you turn a take out favorite like General Tso's Chicken into something sort of healthy? We did! Instead of tradtional frying, we air fried these chicken bites before tossing them into sauce and just wait until you try them!
These Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Shrimp are SO juicy when they're done - and they only take minutes to make! Serve for appetizers or toss with pasta, so versatile, so delicious!
One of our favorite staple marinades! We make chicken on the grill all summer long and this marinade it where it's at. Balsamic vinegar combined with fresh garlic and herbs, then grilled to juicy perfection!
This crispy, air fryer Chicken Katsu is a meal prep staple! Not only can you add a drizzle of sauce and serve over rice and vegetables, but you can serve it with salads and sandwiches too!
This is such a simple, fun and healthy recipe. It’s just salmon, rice, three types of green vegetables, and seasoning. It couldn’t get any easier, or any tastier.
This is really just a healthy chicken soup. It’s just as healing and comforting as any chicken noodle soup that you might find at the grocery store, but it will really make your body feel good.
If you’ve never tried pumpkin chili, let us be the first to tell you: you’ve got to try it! The earthy flavors go so well with beans and chili spices, and it works wonderfully with the ground turkey in this dish.
I’m not sure there’s a better food for when you’re sick than this wonton soup. Between the soothing broth, the rich wontons, the vegetables, and the strong garlic and ginger, this soup has everything.
If you ask us, grilled salmon is one of the best foods in the world. It’s also not one you should ever feel guilty about eating! This recipe is simply salmon, a few spices, and fresh lemon.
Put these salmon bites on top of a bowl of rice, and add a few veggies, and you have a complete meal … and one that you’ll want to eat over and over again. They’re sweet, sticky, spicy, and downright addictive.
A broccoli soup that's SO incredibly delicious, it doesn't need any cream. The same flavors of the soup my Grandma used to make, now we can enjoy it anytime we want!
It’s impossible to beat a good tomato and basil soup. This recipe is comforting and familiar, but also jam-packed with flavor. It’s sure to put a smile on your face, and make you feel good.
This recipe is a reminder that rich, juicy burgers, and healthy burgers are not mutually exclusive. These will satisfy any burger craving that you have, while also making your body feel great.
A lot of corn chowder recipes are super unhealthy, but not this one. It has the richness and creaminess of an unhealthy recipe, but it’s actually pretty healthy! It has just enough cream and bacon to bring out the rich flavors, without making the chowder too heavy or greasy.
The ginger, garlic, and turmeric in this recipe will single handedly have you feeling healthy. But the large amounts of spinach, carrots, and chicken breast don’t hurt, either!
The crock pot is one of our favorite appliances when trying out healthy dinner ideas. You can just get so much flavor into a lean meat if you cook it slowly in a crock pot. This chicken recipe is tender, moist, and packed with flavor, but still pretty good for you.
This is a tremendous fall meal, with chicken thighs, green and red apples (plus apple cider), and tons of herbs, spices, and seasonings. It’s so soothing and juicy, and full of both fruits and veggies.
Have you ever met anyone who didn’t like enchiladas? Yeah, I didn’t think so. This recipe uses long slices of zucchini in place of tortillas, which is not only a healthy alternative, but super delicious!
A 15 minute dinner that everyone will love! Lean ground chicken cooked in an Asian-flare sauce that you can enjoy as is or spoon over rice!
These meatballs have so much flavor, with chicken, broccoli, soy sauce, and garlic. They work great as a dinner, but you can also serve them as an appetizer or as a snack.
