11 New High-Protein Dinners to Make This Week
Photographer: Stacy K. Allen, Props: Christina Brockman, Food Stylist: Lauren Odum
Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD
Enjoy one of these satisfying dinners this week. These are some of our newest high-protein recipes, packed with 15 grams of protein per serving from ingredients like chicken, seafood, dairy, legumes and whole grains. The protein in these dishes can help you feel full for longer, promote muscle recovery and support healthy digestion. So, take a hold of nutritious recipes like our new Shrimp Pad Thai and Honey-Garlic Chicken Casserole for delicious meals served in one pan. Or, make dishes like our Ham & Spinach Quiche and Crispy Popcorn Chicken with some easy, flavorful sides.
Shrimp Pad Thai
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Lauren McAnelly, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
This iconic Thai recipe features rice noodles stir-fried in a wok with a sauce that strikes the perfect balance of tangy, salty and sweet. Along with the noodles, pad thai typically includes a mix of ingredients such as shrimp, tofu, scrambled eggs, bean sprouts and a handful of aromatics like garlic, shallot and scallions. The sauce in this recipe features tamarind paste, which adds a decisively tangy flavor that’s balanced with palm sugar. Tamarind paste pairs beautifully with sweet ingredients. Mix any leftovers into cocktails, make a chutney, or drizzle it on fruit.
Cheesy Spinach & Chicken alla Vodka Sandwich
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
This cheesy spinach-and-chicken alla vodka sandwich is full of textures and flavors. Crispy chicken cutlets are smothered in creamy tomato sauce, wilted spinach and gooey mozzarella cheese. As an alternative to frying, you can coat both sides of the chicken cutlets with cooking spray and cook them in a preheated air fryer at 375°F for about 5 minutes on each side until they’re cooked through.
Honey-Garlic Chicken Casserole
Photographer: Stacy K. Allen, Props: Christina Brockman, Food Stylist: Lauren Odum
This honey-garlic chicken casserole is the perfect option for when you want a stir-fry with less mess to clean up. To keep prep to a minimum, we use precooked brown rice. Look for it in pouches at the store or whip up this one-pot meal when you have leftovers to spare.
Spiced Couscous-Stuffed Peppers
Courtesy Photo
While I enjoy a classic dish of peppers stuffed with hashweh, a spiced ground beef dish, there are plenty of other traditional options that don’t use meat at all. A roasted stuffed vegetable is so central to regional Mediterranean cooking, and there’s something deeply satisfying about making a delicious pilaf-style filling of couscous and lentils to tuck inside juicy bell peppers. To take things up a notch, I drizzle everything with a fresh cucumber yogurt sauce. These spiced stuffed peppers are flavorful, filling little packages that will make any plant or meat eater happy. Excerpted from THE FEEL GOOD FOODIE COOKBOOK by Yumna Jawad. Copyright © 2024 by Yumna Jawad. Used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Ham & Spinach Quiche
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
This ham and spinach quiche is ideal for any meal, from brunch to dinner and all the moments in between. This quiche skips the crust, making it incredibly easy to pull together even on short notice. Swap out the Cheddar cheese for Gruyère or use Swiss chard in place of the spinach for a slightly different spin.
Skillet Salmon with Orzo & Green Pea Pesto
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
This delightful one-pan dinner combines salmon fillets with fresh green pea pesto and orzo pasta. Green pea pesto adds a unique twist to the traditional pesto, bringing a hint of sweetness, body and a vibrant green color to your plate. If you like a more traditional pesto flavor, swap out the dill for chopped fresh basil, or use store-bought basil pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto in its place.
Crispy Popcorn Chicken
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
This quick popcorn chicken recipe delivers bite-size pieces of fried chicken that you can pop right in your mouth—like popcorn! Serve them with a dipping sauce like ketchup, mustard or ranch dressing or throw them on top of a salad or inside pita bread with veggies for a delicious sandwich.
Tajín Shrimp Tacos with Cabbage Slaw
Greg DuPree
Tajín, a Mexican chile-lime seasoning, adds a spicy and acidic punch to sweet and mild shrimp. Opt for a low-sodium chile-lime seasoning, or improvise by combining chili powder, a little lime zest and a healthy squeeze of lime juice. Look for pineapple that’s already been peeled and cored for speedier prep.
Baghali Pollow with Quinoa (Persian-Style Quinoa and Beans with Chicken)
Ali Redmond
This adaptation of baghali pollow, a traditional Persian layered rice dish, is made with quinoa instead of basmati rice. Plenty of fresh herbs and fragrant spices and a trifecta of protein—quinoa, chicken and beans—ensure the dish is both flavorful and satisfying.
Skillet Bruschetta Chicken
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
This flavorful skillet chicken bruschetta puts a tasty spin on a traditional dish. Drawing inspiration from the Italian appetizer, we replace the usual toasted bread with protein-packed chicken cutlets. The vibrant and juicy chopped tomato topping remains a constant, complemented by a drizzle of sweet and tangy balsamic glaze. For an added layer of flavor, serve topped with shaved Parmesan cheese or add some chopped olives to the tomato mixture for a briny kick.
Chicken Milanese with Arugula-Cherry Tomato Salad
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
Chicken Milanese, referring to the city of Milan, Italy, where the dish is believed to have originated, features breaded and pan-fried chicken cutlets usually served with a side salad and a generous squeeze of lemon. Here we stick (mostly) to tradition, but we skip the pan-frying in favor of cooking the chicken in the oven. Preheating the pan helps get a nice crispy crust on one side, so it’s important not to skip that step.
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