Three Healthy Dinner Recipes Under 300 Calories
Eating a healthy and low-calorie dinner is a strategy that everyone can use to maintain or reach a healthy weight. While some believe that not eating dinner “saves calories,” it’s best not to skip this meal. Do you want to learn how to prepare healthy dinner recipes?
Here are three options under 300 calories.
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Why is it important to eat dinner?
Contrary to what many people believe, skipping dinner is not a healthy way to lose weight. In fact, according to data from research published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, no evidence eating dinner leads to obesity.
Nevertheless, the study also confirms that consuming high-calorie foods before going to bed can lead to the accumulation of fat. Over time, this can result in excess weight and obesity. Therefore, it’s very important to learn to eat healthy, light dinners that aren’t high in calories.
When you eat a light dinner, your body receives the nutrition it needs to fulfill its duties at rest. Also, it helps you have better appetite control and avoid binge eating the next day.
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Low-calorie, healthy dinner recipes
To continue enjoying the benefits of a healthy dinner, here are three healthy dinner recipes under 300 calories. The combinations of flavorful ingredients allow you to enjoy very delicious meals without the fear of gaining weight!
1. Tuna Stuffed Peppers
The bell pepper is a vegetable that stands out thanks to a significant concentration of antioxidants.
For this recipe, you can stuff the pepper with tuna fish for a healthy meal that’s rich in protein and omega 3. Best of all, it only contains about 253 calories per serving.
Ingredients
- Red bell pepper (5 oz/149 g).
- Canned tuna in water (3 oz/85 g).
- Onion (35 oz/100 g).
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Light mozzarella cheese (0.5 oz/20 g).
Directions
- To start, wash the red pepper well and preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
- Once the oven is hot, put the bell pepper on a baking sheet and let it cook for about 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Start by chopping the onion into small pieces and mix it with the tuna. Then, and a little salt and pepper to taste.
- When the bell pepper is ready, let it cool slightly then remove the blackened skin.
- Now, open the pepper at the top, remove the seeds from inside, and fill it with the tuna and onion mixture.
- Finally, sprinkle a little mozzarella cheese on top and put it back in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes.
2. Vegetable Parmesan Pasta
Who says you can’t eat pasta at dinner time?
The most important thing is to combine it with low-calorie ingredients so you don’t exceed your recommended daily calorie count. If you love pasta, you’ll have to try this delicious recipe. Plus, each serving only has 281 calories.
Ingredients
- Pasta (5 oz/150 g).
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil (2 fl oz/60 ml).
- Salt (to taste).
- Asparagus (3.5 oz/100 g).
- Tomatoes (0.5 oz/20 g)
- One garlic clove.
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (1 fl oz/30 ml).
- Parmesan cheese (0.5 oz/20 g).
Directions
- First, cook the pasta in boiling water with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and salt.
- Once ready, drain it and set it aside.
- In a saucepan, heat the rest of the olive oil and cook the asparagus until tender.
- In the same pan, add the chopped tomato, a crushed garlic clove, and a little white wine vinegar.
- When everything is ready, mix in the pasta and sauté for two minutes.
- Finally, serve the dish with some grated Parmesan cheese on top.
3. Chicken and Vegetable Wrap: A Healthy Dinner Recipe
A chicken and vegetable wrap is one of the best healthy dinner recipes since they only contain approximately 243 calories each.
Also, this meal contains protein, vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients that promote well-being and overall health.
Ingredients
- Corn tortilla (1 oz/29 g).
- Chicken (1.75 oz/50 g)
- Onion (1.75 oz/50 g).
- Green bell pepper (3.5 oz/100 g).
- Red bell pepper (3.5 oz/100 g).
Directions
- First, julienne (cut into long strips) both the bell peppers and the onion.
- Next, heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry the vegetables. Sauté everything for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the chicken into strips and then add to the pan with the rest of the vegetables.
- Saute for 5 more minutes, or until everything is cooked how you like.
- Now, add salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
- Finally, heat the corn tortilla in a clean pan.
- When the tortilla is ready (about 1 or 2 minutes later), place the vegetables and chicken in the center.
- Roll up your wrap and enjoy!
Are you one to skip dinner for fear of getting fat? As you can see, with these low-calorie, healthy dinner recipes, you can enjoy this meal guilt-free.
Keep trying out these healthy dinner recipes at home!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Casazza K, Brown A, Astrup A, et al. Weighing the Evidence of Common Beliefs in Obesity Research. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2015;55(14):2014–2053. doi:10.1080/10408398.2014.922044
- Leech RM, Worsley A, Timperio A, McNaughton SA. Understanding meal patterns: definitions, methodology and impact on nutrient intake and diet quality. Nutr Res Rev. 2015;28(1):1–21. doi:10.1017/S0954422414000262
- Skerrett PJ, Willett WC. Essentials of healthy eating: a guide. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2010;55(6):492–501. doi:10.1016/j.jmwh.2010.06.019
