Want to cut down on your calories but still eat well? These 20 easy dinners are all under 600 calories per portion, but are packed with flavour, easy to make and family friendly too (so no more having to cook separate meals!)
One of the most popular posts on my blog is my 20 Easy Dinners Under 500 Calories post. You guys just can’t get enough of my those easy peasy, super tasty dinners, that just so happen to be under 500 calories!
But I also know that, for some of you under 500 calories is just too low / too restrictive and you’d rather have recipes that fall somewhere between the 500 – 600 calories range. If that’s you, this roundup is for you! In this post I’m sharing 20 Easy Dinners Under 600 Calories!
To make your life even easier, I’ve made sure for each recipe I’ve included:
- A link to the recipe
- Total time
- Number of portions the recipe makes
- Number of calories per portion
- Notes, including any adaptations you’ll need to make to keep it under 600 calories
The lovely thing about these recipes is that they are all family friendly – meaning you don’t have to cook a totally separate meal for the rest of your family!
20 Easy Dinners Under 600 Calories
1. Easy Chicken, Chorizo and Chickpea Stew
Get the recipe => Easy Chicken, Chorizo and Chickpea Stew
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 395kcal
Notes => Easily one of the tastiest recipes on Easy Peasy Foodie – and you can even have it on a diet! Serve with 200 calories worth of bread or rice to keep to keep it under 600 calories.
2. Easy Chicken, Red Lentil and Coconut Curry
Get the recipe => Easy Chicken, Red Lentil and Coconut Curry
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 383kcal
Notes => Packed full of goodness and flavour – you can even have curry on a diet! Serve with 200 calories worth of naan bread or rice to keep to keep it under 600 calories.
3. Easy Peasy Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pie
Get the recipe => Easy Peasy Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pie
Takes => 40 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 558kcal
Notes => Creamy chicken pie is totally possible on a diet – if you use filo pastry, that is! Serve with a green vegetable or two and you should still manage to stay under 600 calories.
4. Easy Peasy Chilli Con Carne
Get the recipe => Easy Peasy Chilli Con Carne
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 394kcal
Notes => Serve with 200 calories worth of rice and/or tortilla wraps to keep to keep it under 600 calories.
5. Diced Pork and Apple Stew
Get the recipe => Diced Pork and Apple Stew
Takes => 1 hour 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 491kcal
Notes => Serve with a plain jacket potato (93 calories) to keep it under 600 calories.
6. Peri Peri Chicken Traybake (Nandos Copycat)
Get the recipe => Peri Peri Chicken Traybake (Nandos Copycat)
Takes => 55 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 469kcal
Notes => Serve with 130 calories worth of rice or bread to keep it under 600 calories.
7. Easy Lamb Tikka Masala
Get the recipe => Easy Lamb Tikka Masala
Takes => 1 hour 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 426kcal
Notes => This delicious Lamb curry is just 426kcal, leaving you just enough calories left over for a mini naan bread!
8. Easy Chicken and Chorizo Risotto
Get the recipe => Easy Chicken and Chorizo Risotto
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 471kcal
Notes => I still find it utterly amazing that this super-delicious risotto is so low in calories. Have it just as it is, or serve with a green salad and 100 calories worth of dressing.
9. Slow Cooked Chicken Bhuna
Get the recipe => Slow Cooked Chicken Bhuna
Takes => 1 hour 40 minutes (longer if you use a slow cooker)
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 277 kcal
Notes => Another surprisingly low-calorie dinner. You have enough calories spare to have a small portion of rice AND a naan bread with this delicious chicken curry!
10. Easy Lentil Bolognese (Vegan)
Get the recipe => Easy Lentil Bolognese (Vegan)
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 310kcal
Notes => A really easy way to cut down on calories is to eat more vegetarian and vegan meals. This meat-free bolognese may be low in calories, but it’s packed full of flavour and goodness… and at only 310 calories, you can have it with a 70 gram serving of spaghetti or any other pasta shape!
11. Easy Yellow Split Pea and Spinach Dhal (Vegan)
Get the recipe => Easy Yellow Split Pea and Spinach Dhal (Vegan)
Takes => 1 hour
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 285kcal
Notes => Another delicious and flavourful vegan recipe. And plenty of calories left over to ‘spend’ on rice and/or naans. Alternatively, you could serve this with a portion of my Cumin Roasted Cauliflower and Butternut Squash (144kcal per portion).
12. Easy Swedish Meatballs (IKEA Copycat)
Get the recipe => Easy Swedish Meatballs (IKEA Copycat)
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 340kcal
Notes => Another delicious copycat recipe, which is surprisingly low in calories – serve with 260 calories worth of mashed potatoes! (Remember about the calories in butter, if you add butter to your mashed potatoes!)
13. Easy One Pot Sausage Casserole
Get the recipe => Easy One Pot Sausage Casserole
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 576kcal
Notes => A fab one pot that just squeaks under the 600 calories. Serve with a small portion of greens and you’ll still stay under your limit.
14. Pressure Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
Get the recipe => Pressure Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 361kcal
Notes => Serve with a small portion of spaghetti (50g) to stay under your limit. (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, just cook this easy bolognese sauce in a regular pan and simmer it for a little longer.)
15. Easy Spanish Chicken Stew
Get the recipe => Easy Spanish Chicken Stew
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 465kcal
Notes => Serve with a 100kcal worth of crusty French bread to stay under your limit.
16. Easy Lamb Paella
Get the recipe => Easy Lamb Paella
Takes => 40 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 543kcal
Notes => Amazingly this complete one pot meal comes in well under your 600 calorie limit!
17. Easy Homemade Meatballs with Tomato Sauce
Get the recipe => Easy Homemade Meatballs with Tomato Sauce
Takes => 35 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 421kcal
Notes => Spaghetti and meatballs on a diet? Totally possible! Serve with 45g spaghetti (dry weight – or other pasta shape) to stay under your 600 calorie limit!
18. Easy Chicken Stroganoff
Get the recipe => Easy Chicken Stroganoff
Takes => 20 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 331kcal
Notes => Making stroganoff with chicken means it’s lower in calories than the pork or beef versions. Serve with 250kcal worth of rice, pasta, mashed potatoes or crusty bread.
19. Easy Vegetable Biryani (Vegan)
Get the recipe => Easy Vegetable Biryani (Vegan)
Takes => 30 minutes
Makes => 4 portions
Calories per portion => 497kcal
Notes => This complete meal comes in well under 600 calories… If you don’t mind going a few calories over, you could even squeeze in a mini naan bread!
20. Easy Chicken Goulash
Get the recipe => Easy Chicken Goulash
Takes => 1 hour
Makes => 6 portions
Calories per portion => 449kcal
Notes => Making goulash with chicken means it’s lower in calories than the pork or beef versions. Serve with a jacket potato (93kcal) to keep it under 600 calories!
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!
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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!
Christine says
I do subscribe to your blog & have done for quite a while , but being that I don’t eat any meat although not vegan, not one of the 20 recipes contained fish/shellfish of any kind !
Why is that ?
Eb Gargano says
Hi Christine, I am sorry that I did not include any fish / shellfish recipes in this roundup. There are a couple of reasons… The first is that often fish / shellfish dishes are quite low in calories and I specifically wanted to hit the 500-600 calorie mark with this roundup. The second is I did not want too much overlap with my previous ‘under 500 calorie’ and ‘under 400 calorie’ posts and the third reason is that this website does very much reflect how I eat… and while I do usually eat fish 2-3 times a week, those meals tend to be really simple – just grilled fish with vegetables or salad… or tuna with a jacket potato, so not really a ‘recipe’ as such. Which is why I don’t have loads of fish and shellfish recipes on here… however, I still do have a few! You can find them all here >>> https://www.easypeasyfoodie.com/tag/fish/ Eb 🙂