5 HEALTHY DINNER IDEAS | Quick and Easy Recipes for Busy Weeknights

Do you struggle with getting healthy meals on the dinner table? Today I'll be showing you five of my favorite ever dinner recipes that come together so quickly and they are just packed with flavors that'll help you avoid takeout this year. Hey guys, welcome back to my channel. It's Taylor from The Girl on Bloor. I'm all about sharing easy meal prep strategies that you can save time, money, and stress. When it comes to eating healthy, it's often hard to find recipes that are equally as nutritious as they are delicious, and that's where I come in. These healthy dinner ideas that I'll be sharing with you today don't compromise on flavor and they come together super easily. We'll be making this amazing sausage, peppers, and onions dish, along with a French onion chicken skillet, cheap ham bruschetta chicken, a creamy one-pot Cajun chicken pasta, and a 30-minute Kung Pao shrimp stir fry. These meals are all perfect for meal prep because they can be made in advance and they reheat just like new, but you can also prep many of the ingredients ahead of time too and then pull them out the night that you go to cook so that dinner is ready in just about 15 or 20 minutes. Check out my food prep video if you want to learn more about ingredient prep because it's a real game changer during the work week. All right, let's jump in and get to cooking these amazing dinners. Up first is this low-carb turkey sausage skillet made with bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions tossed in a spicy pasta sauce. Start by prepping your ingredients. Grab a cutting board and a knife and chop up eight ounces of mushrooms into quarters. Then slice up two small or one large yellow onion along with three bell peppers. You can use any color, but I like using red, green, and yellow peppers in this recipe. Finally, mince four cloves of garlic. What's great about this recipe is if you're not a fan of mushrooms, peppers, or onions, you can easily swap them out and add in whatever you have in your veggie crisper. Broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, and green beans would also work. All right, moving on. Now heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Once the oil is heated, add in four turkey sausages and cook them for 10 minutes. When the sausages are finished cooking, remove them from the heat and slice them up once they've cooled down. Now, without wiping the pan clean, add your chopped mushrooms to the skillet and saute them until their juices start to release. This should take around five minutes. Now add the sliced onions and peppers to the skillet and let everything cook for another two minutes or so. Now it's time to add your sliced sausages back to the skillet along with the minced garlic, one teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and if you're okay with some heat, one teaspoon of red chili flakes. Finally, open up a jar of your favorite pasta sauce or even canned crushed tomatoes if you're in a pinch and add half a cup to the skillet. Let everything cook for another two to three minutes or until the sausages are fully cooked and the veggies are softened. Et voila, a delicious low-carb and healthy dinner that everyone will enjoy. You can divide the skillet among four meal prep bowls to eat throughout the week or enjoy right away for dinner. These leftovers will last up to five days in the fridge. And to reheat, simply sprinkle a little bit of water over top and microwave for two minutes. Okay, moving on to healthy dinner idea number two. We're going to make my cozy and comforting French onion chicken skillet that's covered in gooey, gooey cheese. It's a fun and tasty twist on the classic soup, only this recipe is packed with protein. It's one of the most loved recipes on my site, so let's dive right in. We'll start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. While this heats up, we can get our main ingredients prepped. First, you're going to slice two large chicken breasts in half lengthwise to make chicken cutlets. Set those aside, then you're going to slice four yellow onions, cut one head of broccoli into florets, and then mince two cloves of garlic. To help save time, we're also going to grate half a cup of Swiss cheese before we start cooking. Now that your prep is done, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Meanwhile, season your chicken with salt and pepper to taste, then add them to the skillet, sauteing for four to five minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside. Now wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and add one teaspoon of olive oil along with your sliced onions. Let them cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until they start to brown. Even though it's French onion chicken, you aren't going to fully caramelize the onions because that would take at least 45 minutes and we want this dinner to come together quickly, so I've created a handy little shortcut. While your onions are cooking, you're going to take a parchment-lined baking sheet and toss the broccoli florets with one teaspoon of olive oil, your two cloves of minced garlic, and a quarter teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Roast the broccoli for eight to 10 minutes or until the florets are tender. By now, your onions will be brown, so mix in two teaspoons of flour, tossing the onions to coat, followed by two tablespoons of red wine and half a cup of beef broth. Mix it all up well to combine. I recommend using a dry, full-bodied red wine like Merlot or Pinot Noir, but if you only have dry white on hand, no worries. You can totally use that instead. Now, add the chicken back to the skillet and cover it with the onion mixture, and for the best part, top with cheese. Put a lid on top of the skillet to let the cheese really melt, which should take around two minutes. If you don't have Swiss cheese at home, Gruyere, provolone, or Emmental will also work. You want a nice, melted cheese. If you're unsure if your chicken is cooked through, I recommend using a meat thermometer to be sure. The chicken is fully cooked when it registers at 165 degrees. By now, your broccoli should be done, so you can serve it alongside your chicken and get ready to enjoy. Feel free to add some crusty bread if you want the authentic French onion soup experience. If you're planning on eating this meal throughout the week, you can divide everything into glass meal prep bowls, and the leftovers will stay fresh for up to five days in the fridge. To reheat, you can microwave this meal for a few minutes or pop it into the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Also, unlike French onion soup, which loses its signature texture when frozen, this meal can be frozen-prepped to three months, making it perfect for meal prep dinners. All right, on to the next recipe. Now we're going to make a fuss-free sheet pan bruschetta chicken served with broccoli and zucchini. This recipe is quick and easy, and my current favorite sheet pan dinner. Get started by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. While it warms up, we can get our main ingredients prepped. On a cutting board, you can slice up one zucchini and chop up one head of broccoli. If you're not a fan of broccoli or zucchini, then cauliflower, bell peppers, or cherry tomatoes would also work. Once the veggies are ready, add four chicken breasts to a baking sheet and drizzle on half a tablespoon of olive oil, seasoning with half a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. By this point, your oven will be ready to go, so bake the chicken for 15 minutes. While the chicken bakes, you can get your bruschetta ready. Dice up five plum tomatoes, mince four cloves of garlic, and chop up a quarter cup of fresh basil. Once these ingredients are prepped, mix them together in a bowl with one tablespoon of olive oil and half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Now, remove the chicken from the oven and add the head of chopped broccoli and the sliced zucchini you prepared earlier, tossing with half a tablespoon of olive oil, half a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Bake everything for another 10 to 12 minutes. As always, if you're unsure if your chicken is cooked through, use a meat thermometer to ensure it's 165 degrees internally. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven, top with your freshly made bruschetta, and enjoy. You can store this recipe in glass meal prep bowls in the fridge for up to five days. To reheat, scrape off the bruschetta, sprinkle a tiny bit of water over top to avoid drying out the chicken, and microwave for one to two minutes. The bruschetta itself will also last in the fridge for up to five days, so you could even store it separately if you'd like. Okay, moving on to our second last recipe, and that is my creamy one-pot Cajun chicken pasta. This recipe is a healthy take on the popular Chili's dish without the crazy calories. Let's get started with our prep. Start by cutting two chicken breasts into one-inch pieces and set them aside. Then you'll dice up one yellow onion and mince four cloves of garlic. Finally, slice up one green pepper, one red pepper, and then chop a quarter cup of cilantro. Once your fresh ingredients are prepped, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the olive oil is nice and hot, add your diced chicken breasts and saute for two minutes until they are lightly browned. This will help bring out more flavor. Now, add one tablespoon of Cajun seasoning and a half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add in your diced onions and minced garlic. Saute all of that for two to three minutes and let the fragrant aroma of onions and garlic fill your kitchen. While this is cooking, open up a can of diced tomatoes and stir them in along with one pound of dry pasta. Any shape will work here. Finally, add three cups of chicken broth. Bring everything to a boil, then cover the pot with a lid and let the pasta cook for another 10 to 12 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and has absorbed most of the liquid. The pasta may not have absorbed all of the liquid entirely, and that's totally okay. As long as the pasta is mostly cooked through, it'll keep cooking and absorbing more liquid once you remove it from heat. When your pasta is mostly done, remove the lid and stir in your sliced bell peppers from earlier along with two tablespoons of heavy cream. If you really want to lighten up the sauce, you can substitute whole or 2% milk for the heavy cream, but honestly, we're only using two tablespoons with this recipe, so it's not a crazy amount. Just go with the dang cream, okay? All right, once your bell peppers and cream are added, you'll cook the pasta for another two minutes or until the peppers are tender. From here, you can remove the pot from the heat, stir in your chopped cilantro, then serve and enjoy. Just like most hearty pasta dishes, this Cajun chicken pasta can be a complete meal in and of itself, but a side salad is a nice addition to get some more leafy greens in and round out the dish. You can store the leftovers in the fridge for up to five days, but like many other pasta dishes, it can also be frozen and it reheats beautifully. Just freeze your leftovers in some small glass bowls and then reheat in the microwave for six to seven minutes stirring halfway through. Before reheating, just make sure to sprinkle a little bit of water over top to avoid drying out the pasta. All right, moving on to our final healthy dinner idea, which is my quick and easy 30-minute Kung Pao shrimp stir fry. For this recipe, we'll be using one pound of frozen raw shrimp, so get to work defrosting that in a large bowl with cold water for 10 minutes. I like to choose shrimp without the tails to save on time, but you will compromise a little bit on flavor here, so that's just something to keep in mind. Another good option to reduce the prep in this recipe is to let the shrimp defrost in the fridge overnight. From there, you'll get your rice going. Add one cup of jasmine rice, one and a quarter cups of water and one teaspoon of butter to a rice cooker and let the rice cook until all the liquid has absorbed, which usually takes around 12 to 15 minutes. Of course, you can always cook the rice on the stove if you don't have a rice cooker. I just prefer to use one as it's a bit more hands-off and all you have to do is add your ingredients, press a button, and let the cooker do the work for you. I also like to add in some butter to keep the rice from sticking, but it's not totally necessary. While the rice cooks, you'll get the rest of the ingredients prepped. First, chop up one medium-sized yellow onion, then dice one red pepper and one zucchini. After that, chop up half a cup of peanuts and slice four scallions into one-inch pieces. Finally, mince four cloves of garlic and a one-inch piece of ginger. These last two ingredients will be added to the kung pao sauce, which we will be prepping next. In a small bowl, add a quarter cup of low-sodium soy sauce or tamari if you want the recipe to be gluten-free, along with the minced garlic and ginger. Then, add one tablespoon of sesame oil and one tablespoon of peanut butter. Almond, cashew, or sunflower butter would also work, but the flavor will be slightly different, so just keep that in mind. Sunflower butter and leaving out the peanuts is a great way to keep this recipe nut-free. Finally, add one tablespoon of rice vinegar and two teaspoons of sriracha that mix everything together. Okay, you've got your sauce, you've got your veggies, now you're ready to start cooking. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Once the oil is smoking, add the chopped peppers, onions, and zucchini, sauteing for two to three minutes or until the veggies start to soften. Now, add in your kung pao sauce and your pound of shrimp and let everything cook for another three to four minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove the pan from heat, stir in chopped scallions and peanuts, then serve over top of your jasmine rice, which should be finished cooking at the same time as the stir fry. And there you have it, a healthy, delicious dinner for a single flavor and ready in 30 minutes. What's great about this kung pao shrimp stir fry is that you can refrigerate it up to four or five days for easy meal prep lunches or dinners. Simply divide everything among glass meal prep bowls and you can microwave for a couple minutes. Again, sprinkle some water over top to avoid it drying out. You can also reheat it in a skillet for a few minutes and it will taste just like new. All right, guys, now you've got five healthy dinner ideas in your back pocket for those super busy weeknights when you just don't feel like cooking and they are just as good leftovers. They can double as your weekly lunch meal prep. I hope that you'll try them all ASAP. In addition to the five easy recipes I just showed you, don't forget that there are even more healthy dinner options available on my blog. I've made a huge roundup of my all-time favorite quick and easy dinners that will totally save you at the last minute. You can find the link to that in my description. And remember, if you're loving these healthy dinner options, make sure to check out my free seven-day food prep meal plan that's also linked to in the description below. It'll help you prep ingredients ahead so that dinner comes together in just about 15 or 20 minutes. It's a real game changer. Okay, let me know which one of these dinners you're going to try first in the comments below. And if you know a fellow foodie who's trying to eat healthier this year, please send them to my YouTube channel. Every referral counts and helps me help you. All right, I've got a lot of eating to do. Thanks for hanging out in my kitchen today and I'll see you in the next video.