Looking to eat more healthily this year? These 20 easy dinners are all under 500 calories per portion, but are packed with flavour, family friendly (no more cooking separate meals) and won’t leave you hungry, either!
Being a food blogger and staying slim is a tough gig! I am constantly taste-testing and photographing new recipes and looking at pictures of food on social media! In fact, trying to ensure I didn’t end up the size of a house was a big reason why I decided to focus on (mainly healthy) weeknight dinners here on Easy Peasy Foodie.
I have to eat dinner anyway, right? So I do all my taste-testing and most of my photography at dinner time, then I can just eat the food I’ve made without piling on the pounds!
The other trick I’ve found helpful, in my quest to stay slim, is to keep my portion sizes sensible. The NHS recommends a woman should have about 2000 calories per day to maintain her weight, so I try to eat 500 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch and 500 calories for dinner – that keeps me from feeling hungry during the day and gives me a few calories leftover for healthy snacks and the occasional glass of wine!
To achieve this, my usual breakfast is a large bowl of muesli and milk. Lunch is generally leftovers from the previous evening’s healthy dinner or, if there are no leftovers, two slices of granary toast with marmite, a small piece of cheese and an apple. And dinner is either a new recipe I am testing or one of my existing Easy Midweek Meals.
To help you (and me!) to know which of my easy dinner recipes are under 500 calories per portion, I’ve compiled this list of 20 Easy Dinners Under 500 Calories…
(Pssst – need to go even lower? Check out my roundup of 20 Easy Dinners Under 400 Calories!)
20 Easy Dinners Under 500 Calories
1. Sticky Chicken Traybake
Get the recipe => Sticky Chicken Traybake
Takes => 35 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 328 kcal (without rice), 458 kcal (with 100g cooked white rice)
2. Chorizo, Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew
Get the recipe => Chorizo, Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 6 portions
Calories per portion => 346 kcal (without rice), 457 kcal (with 100g cooked brown rice)
3. Quorn Shepherd’s Pie (Vegetarian)
Get the recipe => Quorn Shepherd’s Pie
Takes => 40 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 471 kcal
4. Easy Salmon Fishcakes
Get the recipe => Easy Salmon Fishcakes
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions (3 fishcakes per portion)
Calories per portion => 329 kcal
5. Aubergine and Mozzarella Pasta (Vegetarian)
Get the recipe => Aubergine and Mozzarella Pasta
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 479 kcal
6. Easy Lamb Jalfrezi
Get the recipe => Easy Lamb Jalfrezi
Takes => 1h 45 mins (only 15 minutes prep!)
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 354 kcal (without rice), 484 kcal (with 100g cooked white rice)
7. Chicken Chilli Con Carne
Get the recipe => Chicken Chilli Con Carne
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 359 kcal (without rice), 460 kcal (with 100g cooked brown rice)
8. Easy One Pot Vegetable Paella (Vegan)
Get the recipe => Easy One Pot Vegetable Paella
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 434 kcal
9. Tomato, Pepper and Chorizo Pasta
Get the recipe => Tomato, Pepper and Chorizo Pasta
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 488 kcal (not including grated cheese)
10. Easy Vegetable Fajitas (Vegetarian)
Get the recipe => Easy Vegetable Fajitas
Takes => 20 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 399 kcal (not including sour cream)
11. Leftover Chicken, Kale, Quinoa and Pumpkin Salad
Get the recipe => Leftover Chicken, Kale, Quinoa and Pumpkin Salad
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 6 portions
Calories per portion => 431 kcal
12. Easy Prawn Korma
Get the recipe => Easy Prawn Korma
Takes => 20 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 304 kcal (without rice), 434 kcal (with 100g cooked white rice)
13. Easy Quorn Bolognese (Vegetarian)
Get the recipe => Easy Quorn Bolognese
Takes => 20 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 423 kcal (not including grated cheese)
14. Chicken Shish Kebabs
Get the recipe => Chicken Shish Kebabs
Takes => 20 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 275 kcal (not including pittas), 420 kcal (including 1 wholemeal pitta)
15. Jerk Salmon with Mango and Avocado Salsa
Get the recipe => Jerk Salmon with Mango and Avocado Salsa
Takes => 25 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 402 kcal (salmon and salsa only, not including rice)
16. Easy Chicken Rogan Josh
Get the recipe => Easy Chicken Rogan Josh
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 372 kcal (not including rice), 472 kcal (including 1 portion Pilau Cauliflower Rice)
17. Easy Lamb Hotpot
Get the recipe => Easy Lamb Hotpot
Takes => 1 hour 40 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 310 kcal
18. Easy Quorn Sausage Casserole
Get the recipe => Easy Quorn Sausage Casserole
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 274 kcal (without rice), 404kcal (with 100g cooked white rice)
19. Oven Baked Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Sauce
Get the recipe => Oven Baked Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Sauce
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 274 kcal (without pitta bread), 419kcal (with 1 wholemeal pitta bread)
20. Turkish Spicy Lamb Pizzas (Lahmacun)
Get the recipe => Turkish Spicy Lamb Pizzas (Lahmacun)
Takes => 30 mins
Makes => 8 portions
Calories per portion => 374 kcal
Did you find a new favourite?
I hope you enjoyed this roundup and have found lots of new favourites 😀 If you have tried and enjoyed any of these recipes I’d love to hear about it! Either let me know in the comments below, or snap a quick photo and share it on social media. Tag me @easypeasyfoodie and I’ll like and comment on as many as I see!
If you enjoyed this roundup…
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Disclaimer
* Nutrition advice is approximate and meant as a guideline only. I have done my very best to ensure nutrition information is as accurate as I can make it, however there will obviously be some variation depending on the exact ingredients you use.
I am a food blogger NOT a nutritional health professional, so while I do try to make (mostly) healthy recipes, none of this should be read as professional advice about weight loss!
Corina Blum says
We are definitely trying to eat healthily at the moment and there are some great ideas here Eb! I have to admit that I’m always surprised by how low in calories some recipes are if they are homemade. For examples recipes like homemade curries are always a really healthy choice compared to bought ones and lots of people think of them as unhealthy! x
Eb Gargano says
Yes – me too! A curry made with just meat/veg, spices and tomatoes can come in at a fraction of the calories of a shop bought curry! Homemade curries are definitely a healthy choice. Eb x
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
Ah, yes—I’m constantly running up against the “food blogger/fitness” conundrum. I just love this roundup because I’ll be able to eat restaurant-quality food QUICKLY, and WITHOUT GUILT. I’ll never get bored with this selection! And I’ll definitely be enjoying the odd glass of red wine, so the calorie “wiggle room” is much appreciated!
Eb Gargano says
Haha – thanks Michelle. It is a big problem for all us food bloggers. I have deliberately steered away from blogging about cake and dessert for this very reason!! So pleased you like my roundup… and the wiggle room for wine 😉 Eb x
Monika Dabrowski says
What a great collection, and all so healthy too! I love all your recipes but your curries are my favourite! Thank you for sharing with everyone at #CookBlogShare
Eb Gargano says
Thank you Monika! The curries are probably my favourite too – I love how healthy, yet filling a homemade curry can be! Eb x
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says
Such a handy selection of recipes to have handy post the period of festive indulgence. I really like that they are proper, delicious family dinners too and they definitely won’t leave you hungry. 🙂 x
Eb Gargano says
Exactly! Proper healthy family dinners – no miserable looking salads for one round here. This is the kind of food we eat every day. 😀 Eb x
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
So many tasty options for this time of year!
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Kat! Eb x