12 Healthy Dinner Recipes That Will Help You In Weight Loss

‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.’

This quote aptly describes the simple formula for weight loss that many of us fail to follow. Though it is fine to eat 4-5 small meals in a day, eating an unhealthy and heavy meal at the end of the day can be bad for your health.

Your body fails to utilise the complete energy gained by heavy dinner because the digestive system takes the time to metabolise and digest the food. Due to lack of proper breakdown of food, excess energy gets stored in the form of fat in the body. Thus, you must eat healthy dinner to remain in shape.

Even after eating healthy dinner, it is necessary to maintain a gap of 2-3 hours between your meal and sleep so that your body is able to accomplish digestion properly. If you’re confused about the healthy meals that you can eat in the dinner, then FoodMate is here to help you out.

Let’s check out some healthy dinner recipes that’ll combat weight gain in the long run. 

1) Baked Chicken with Mushrooms and Sweet Potato

Baked chicken, mushrooms and sweet potatoes are wholesome food items that can be used to prepare a healthy dinner recipe. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the mixture of chicken, mushrooms, chives and olive oil for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, microwave sweet potatoes for 6-7 minutes. While serving, combine sweet potatoes with baked chicken and mushrooms on a plate. Serve hot. 

2) Green Salad 

Prepare wholesome salad from green veggies in less than 30 minutes. Mix spinach, lettuce, capsicum, onion, oranges and mushrooms in a large salad bowl. Whisk vinegar, sliced cucumber, olive oil, sugar, basil and parsley leaves in a small bowl. Spread the dressing ingredients over the veggies in a salad bowl. Mix well. Toss mayonnaise and lemon juice in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over veggies and mix well. Enjoy this nutritious dinner with soup of your choice.   

3) Broccoli Cheese Soup 

Prepare healthy dinner from broccoli and cheese. Melt butter on medium heat in a pot. Fry onions till they turn soft and golden. Add chopped broccoli and chicken broth. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add cheese cubes, milk and garlic powder. Simmer till cheese cubes melt completely in the soup. Meanwhile, dissolve cornstarch in water and pour into the soup. Stir continuously. Remove from flame when soup turns thick in texture. Serve hot with bread loaf. 

4) Healthy Pizza 

I know you must be surprised on seeing pizza in the list of healthy dinner recipes. This mouthwatering pizza is a healthy alternative to regular pizza that’ll satisfy your taste buds without guilt. Prepare homemade pizza base from whole wheat flour. Spread chopped tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, olives and veggies on the pizza base. Sprinkle oil on the toppings and bake for 20 minutes at 240 degrees C in the oven. Garnish with fresh parsley leaves. Enjoy! 

5) Roasted Vegetables 

Roasted veggies are a healthy meal that you can prepare for dinner on short notice. Chop potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Combine thyme, rosemary, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl. Then combine the mixture of chopped veggies and herbs in a large bowl. Toss the veggies and place them on a baking sheet. Roast for 40 minutes in the preheated oven. Serve hot. 

6) Veg Pasta

Prepare a delicious and healthy pasta dish from veggies of your choice. Boil water with salt and oil in a large pot. When water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook till it turns soft in texture. Drain and keep aside. Stir fry the carrot, green beans, capsicum, mushrooms and zucchini till they turn soft. Keep aside. Saute basil and chilli flakes in a pan. Add boiled pasta and cook for a minute. Garnish with tomato sauce. Enjoy!  

7) Spinach Quesadillas 

Spinach and cheese grilled in a wheat tortilla is a healthy dinner recipe that’ll win your heart. Cook baby spinach, green onions, tomato, lemon juice, cumin and garlic powder in a non-stick pan. Remove from heat when spinach leaves get cooked properly. Add cheese and mix well. Stuff wheat tortilla with spinach mixture and fold it. Cook quesadilla on medium heat for 1-2 minutes on both the sides. Cut in halves and serve hot with fresh cream. 

8) Ragi Idli

This nutritious idli variety is prepared from soft finger millet, black gram and idli rava. Blend black gram with a little water to a smooth paste. Combine black gram paste with soaked idli rava in a bowl. Add millet flour and mix well. Cover and keep the bowl in warm place for 8 hours. Crackle mustard seeds in a pan. Add curry leaves and green chillies. Saute for 2 minutes. Pour the tempering mixture to the fermented batter. Mix well. Add salt and baking soda in the batter. Boil water in the steamer. Grease idli mould with oil and add oodles of batter in each mould. Place idli moulds in the steamer. Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes. Gently demould the idlis and serve hot with coconut chutney. 

9) Chicken Roll 

If you’re a chicken lover, then try this easy dinner recipe prepared by stuffing marinated chicken in chapati wrap. Marinate chicken with tandoori masala, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and ginger-garlic paste. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Saute marinated chicken in a pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir continuously. Switch off the flame and add butter. Let marinated chicken pieces cool down to room temperature. Meanwhile, knead soft dough from refined flour, salt, oil and hot water. Roll out a chapati using a rolling pin and cook it on a tawa using oil. Switch off the flame and spread sliced onions on the roll. Sprinkle lime juice and place marinated chicken pieces on the roll. Garnish with coriander leaves and chaat masala. Fold roll properly like a cone. Enjoy! 

10) Curd Rice

Prepare healthy dinner from low-fat unsweetened curd and rice. You can replace the regular rice with brown rice in this recipe. Soak rice in water for 20-30 minutes. Boil the soaked rice with salt and water in the cooker. Switch off the flame and let the rice cool down completely. Add curd to cooled rice and mix well. Crackle cumin seeds and mustard seeds in a pan. When seeds begin to splutter, add urad dal and fry till dal turns golden in colour. Add chilli, curry leaves and asafoetida. Mix well and pour the tempering mix to curd rice. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, grated carrots and cucumbers.   

11) Broken Wheat and Green Moong Khichdi 

Let’s prepare khichdi with a gourmet twist for dinner. Saute mustard seeds in a pressure cooker. When seeds begin to splutter, add minced garlic, slit green chillies, curry leaves and ground cumin in cooker. Then add onion and fry for a few minutes. Add asafoetida, turmeric, green beans and carrots. Add broken wheat rava (dalia), green moong and water. Sprinkle salt and mix well. Pressure cook till 2 whistles. Garnish with chopped mint and coriander leaves. Serve hot with raita.  

12) Oats Dosa 

If you dislike the taste of regular oatmeal, then check out this delicious and healthy dinner recipe prepared from oats, semolina and rice flour. Blend oats to fine powder in a food processor. Combine oats, rice flour, semolina and yogurt in a bowl. Add water slowly to get desired consistency. Add chilli, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Leave the batter for 20-30 minutes. Drizzle oil on a preheated tawa. Spread little ghee and pour batter in a circular motion on the tawa. Flip and cook on both the sides. Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.