55 Clean-Eating Dinner Recipes (That Taste Dirty)
New year, new menu. With a little planning and a lot of determination, you can totally eat healthier this year…without resorting to plain old salad every single night, because honestly, that sounds miserable. These 55 recipes are here to help kick start your clean eating (think minimal processed foods) without feeling deprived as your best year yet begins. And did we mention a lot of them are big-batch? Hello, bonus leftovers!
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1. Gluten-Free Cauliflower Gnocchi Pomodoro
Your kitchen may not be clean after making this veg-packed gnocchi from scratch, but at least your dinner will be. This hearty dish is gluten-free and vegetarian, and because it serves six, you can host a gnocchi-loving group.
2. Vegan Slow-Cooker Detox Coconut Soup
Yep, you can be lazy and healthy. This slow-cooker soup takes minimal effort and offers tons of creaminess, plus bright veggies.
3. Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Marinara Sauce
This impressive Italian feast is easier to prepare than it looks, and it’s vegan if you skip the sprinkle of cheese on top. Double the sautéed mushrooms if you want leftovers to top off more dishes this week (you do).
4. Vegan Keto Coconut Curry
This luscious curry is bursting with flavor and plenty of add-ins. Enjoy it with cauliflower rice or a base of cooked ancient grains.
5. 30-Minute One-Pot Cheater’s Bouillabaisse
Hello, gorgeous. All you need is a small pot to make this French-style seafood stew.
6. Keto Sheet-Pan Chicken and Rainbow Veggies
So easy, so healthy and still so beautiful. Add some color to a drab January night with this clean-eating go-to.
7. Veggie Niçoise Salad with Red Curry Green Beans
Spice up the classic Niçoise salad with curry paste–covered green beans. Throw some tuna, salmon or tofu on top if you want extra protein.
8. Radicchio, Lentil and Apple Salad with Vegan Cashew Dressing
So decadent, you wouldn’t think it counts as a salad, but it totally does. Memorize this cashew dressing recipe, because you’ll want to slather it on everything.
9. Spicy Whole Roasted Cauliflower
It’s cauliflower steak night! Serve a nice hunk of this roasted cauli on top of salad, cooked greens or whole grains to round out your dinner.
10. Pesto Zoodles
These delightful zoodles are the answer to your carb cravings (especially when you load them with sauce and cheese).
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11. Shrimp with Cauliflower ‘Grits’ and Arugula
Cauliflower keeps this classic Southern dish clean and low-carb, and it’s perhaps even more delicious than the original version.
12. The Best Damn Tomato Soup
Roasting fresh tomatoes with garlic and onion adds so many layers of flavor to this super simple soup.
13. Cauliflower Fried Rice
Prepare to be deceived by veggies. Seriously.
14. Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken
There may be no dinner as elegant as an impeccably roasted chicken. And once you eat it, you’ll have plenty of leftovers to add to salads and use for sandwiches.
15. Zucchini Noodle Pad See Ew
Thinly slicing a whole zucchini with a vegetable peeler creates a long, ribbon-like noodle that rivals the real thing. Your favorite Thai restaurant is going to miss seeing you after you master this recipe.
16. Baked Sesame Ginger Salmon in Parchment
So much flavor in one little paper packet. (Plus, no dirty dishes.)
17. Low-Carb Beef And Broccoli Stir-Fry
This keto-friendly stir-fry is super quick to prep, and you can easily make it with freezer and pantry ingredients.
18. Easy One-Pan Ratatouille
So photogenic, so tasty, so healthy. Queue up Ratatouille on Disney+ to watch while you eat, naturally.
19. Spiralized Winter Vegetable Gratin
Butternut squash, parsnips and sweet potatoes, plus plenty of cheese, make for a comforting and clean casserole.
20. Eggplant Pizza
Low-carb, gluten-free and totally delicious, eggplant is truly the ideal sub for traditional pizza crust.
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21. Rainbow Collard Wraps with Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce
Eat the rainbow during the heart of dreary January.
22. Alison Roman’s Swordfish with Crushed Olives and Oregano
It’s kind of ridiculous that this restaurant-worthy recipe only takes half an hour to prepare and cook. Invite someone you want to impress over for dinner.
23. Roasted Squash and Tofu with Soy, Honey, Chili and Ginger
Yep, it’s just a basic sheet pan meal, but with complex flavors and healthy ingredients.
24. Chicken with Feta Cheese, Dill, Lemon and Harissa Yogurt
This easy and elegant chicken dinner just screams “sweater weather.”
25. Pan-Seared Scallops with Citrusy Corn Succotash
This bright recipe will remind you of sunny summer beach days, and all the ingredients are easily available throughout the winter. (We won’t judge if you change into shorts for dinnertime.)
26. Zucchini Carbonara with Parsnip ‘Pancetta’
One of the most indulgent pasta recipes known to carb lovers, but lightened up and vegetarian.
27. Spicy Lemon-Ginger Chicken Soup
Clear up a winter runny nose with this zingy chicken soup that has just the right amount of spice.
28. Low-Carb Zucchini Enchiladas
Zucchini subs in for tortillas in this enchilada recipe, and the filling is customizable, so everyone at the table will love it.
29. Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Barley Risotto
Cooked barley has a naturally creamy consistency, making it an ideal whole grain for risotto. Amp it up by stuffing your homemade risotto into roasted mushroom caps.
30. Turmeric White Fish with Peanuts and Chili-Lime Cucumber
You can use hake, cod or monkfish in this easy but sophisticated recipe inspired by Vietnamese flavors.
31. Vegan Kentucky Fried Chick’n
OK, it’s clean enough. You deserve a little treat to keep you going.
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32. Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad Stuffed Peppers
This one goes out to the mayo haters. With Greek yogurt, rice vinegar and plenty of mustard, it’s just as creamy and tangy as the original.
33. Black Bean Plantain Enchilada Bake
Here’s proof that healthy dishes don’t have to be complicated: This riff on enchiladas needs only ten ingredients to come together. It’s also totally vegan and gluten-free.
34. Creamy Vegan Lentil and Roasted Vegetable Bake
Thanks to tahini, miso and a rich cashew cream, you’d never guess that this hearty casserole contains absolutely no dairy. If you want to make it gluten-free, just skip the breadcrumb topping (but don’t forget the pine nuts).
35. Quiche with Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Crust
What’s better than brinner (aka breakfast for dinner)? When it doesn’t leave you feeling weighed down with maple syrup-soaked carbs. (Not that we don’t love that from time to time.)
36. Spinach and White Bean Soup
White beans and orzo meet soft, melt-in-your-mouth spinach in this hearty recipe. Best of all, it’s ready in about 30 minutes.
37. Turkey and Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
We kind of have a thing for stuffed bell peppers—can you blame us? They’re crunchy, pre-portioned and give us an excuse to say we ate the bowl.
38. Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
What did we do to deserve soup? It’s filling without being heavy, can feed a giant crowd and is basically the O.G. one-pot meal. This one’s packed with veggies, beans and, of course, Parm.
39. Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
Takeout, shmakeout. Your trusty pressure cooker will give you an Indian-inspired dish that’s just as tasty and takes way less time. (33 minutes, to be exact.)
40. Healthy Turkey Chili
Chili is the ultimate choice for feeding a crowd and it freezes beautifully, too. This one has plenty of corn, beans and spices to keep things interesting. (Thanks, Coterie member Monique Volz.)
41. Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing
The best thing about this salad is that while you can certainly stick to the recipe, you can also add any toppings you have on hand. But whatever you do, don’t skimp on the garlicy tahini dressing.
42. Spicy Black Bean and Quinoa Burritos
These aren’t just any burritos…they’re freezer burritos. Make a bunch of filling, assemble and stash away for busy nights (or whenever you’re feeling lazy).
43. Red Curry Sheet-Pan Chicken With Sweet Potatoes and Crispy Kale
The sheet-pan meal is our knight in shining armor. Throw as many ingredients as you can fit onto one tray, and in less than an hour, you’re eating a maple-y, curry chicken dinner—minimal cleanup required.
44. Quick Gochujang Lettuce Wraps
Introducing gochujang, the Korean chili paste that will steal your heart. It adds just the right amount of sweet-spicy-funk to these effortless steak lettuce wraps. Don’t like steak? Just swap in your favorite protein.
45. Easy Southwest Black Bean Polenta Casserole
We know casseroles have a reputation for being filled with naughty things, but this one is refreshingly wholesome. Beans (for protein) and plenty of vegetables blanketed in polenta—what more could you want?
46. Easy Greek Sheet-Pam Chicken Souvlaki and Potatoes
Once you take a bite, you won’t believe how simple this one-pan recipe actually is. All that garlic, dill and balsamic vinegar is deliciously, flavorfully deceiving.
47. Baked Zucchini 'Ziti' Spirals with Mozzarella
Just when you thought a baked pasta couldn’t be good for you, the glorious zucchini swoops in to save the day. Here it’s used in place of noodles for a hearty-yet-healthy take on one of our all-time favorites.
48. Spiced Lamb Meatball and Escarole Soup
What’s more feel-good than a steaming pot of soup? This one tastes like a million bucks (but takes less than an hour to make).
49. Crispy Tofu Steaks with Broccoli Rabe and Romesco
Tofu comes in all different styles and textures, but our favorite way to eat it is crispy. And if you’ve never tried it yourself, this recipe for crispy tofu steaks with broccoli rabe and romesco is a good place to start. The crispy tofu was enough to reel us in, but what really impressed us was the ingenious shortcut for the sauce.
50. Instant-Pot Harissa Bean Stew
This harissa bean stew starts with dried beans but takes only about an hour to make (and that includes the homemade harissa).
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51. Sheet Pan Curried Butternut Squash Soup
You’ve heard of sheet pan chicken, but soup? Believe it.
52. Roasted Vegetable and Lentil Salad with Pine Nut Cream
No one will guess this is good for you, thanks to the luscious (and vegan!) pine nut cream.
53. Antoni Porowski’s Salmon and Spinach Rice Bowl with Green Tea Broth
Simple, nutritious and delicious is our new M.O.
54. Salmon with Pesto and Blistered Tomatoes
Winter isn’t known for its bounty of produce, but luckily, cherry tomatoes are always tasty and easy to find.
55. Miso-Tahini-Glazed Roasted Eggplant with Farro
Once you try eggplant like this, you might fall in love. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
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