This post is a round up of some of my favorite healthy recipes that are the opposite of boring! Because, I also believe that healthy eating shouldn’t be boring! These recipes are full of flavor, texture, and are all simple to make!
Happy New Year! It’s been a little quiet around here lately – I took some time off to enjoy the holidays and to take a break from work. I’m back now and ready to get into some delicious winter recipes with you! I’ll be posting a mix of healthy main dishes and desserts – because I don’t believe in super restrictive diets, even if it’s the season for it. So, whether you’re looking for warm desserts to bake up this winter or healthy main dishes to make meal prepping easy, I’ll have a little of each for you!
Now that I’ve just finished saying all that – let’s get to the main attraction!
Main Dishes:
Winter Salad with Pears and Pomegranates – Have 5 minutes? Then you have time to make this salad! It’s packed with all the wonderful flavors + textures of winter!
One Pan Chicken with Garlic Butter Tomato Sauce – Easy, fresh, flavorful! It comes together quickly in one pan. Serve on it’s own or with couscous, quinoa, or your favorite grain! 
Instant Pot Beef Stew – Easy, saucy, delicious goodness. It’s comfort food meats health food, which is a combination I’m always a fan of! (Recipe includes oven directions too.)
One Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken with Asparagus – One Pan dinners are the best! No need to turn on the stove, and no need to dirty lots of dishes! This dinner is made with fresh, crisp, garlicky asparagus, and lemon garlic chicken with fresh herbs. Summer dinner perfection!
Asian Chicken Bowls with Sesame Dressing – Quick, flavorful, and easy to throw together! Made with a mix of red and green cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, edamame, chicken, and sesame dressing.
Instant Pot Pulled Pork – So versatile and flavorful! We love using it in taco-style salads or as the base for regular tacos!
Instant Pot Salsa Chicken – The most popular recipe on my site to date! Got 15 minutes, a jar of salsa, and some chicken? You’re in business. Use this for tacos, rice bowls, salads, or serve with roasted veggies.
Healthy Chicken Wild Rice Casserole – Almost caramelized butternut squash, parmesan cheese, wild rice, and chicken make up this health-food-meets-comfort-food dinner.
Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles – Baked turkey parmesan meatballs, zoodles mixed with regular pasta in a garlicky-butter sauce with fresh spinach and herbs – YUM! Freeze half the meatballs for later, or make the whole batch for meal prep now!
Peach Nectarine Salad with Bacon, Corn, Feta, and Creamy Avocado Dressing – The best summer meal I know how to make! This salad is bursting with fresh flavor – juicy peaches and nectarines, cherry tomatoes, summer corn, arugula and romaine lettuce, crisp smoky bacon, feta cheese, and creamy avocado dressing
One Pan Garlic Butter Salmon with Asparagus and Potatoes – Made with real-food ingredients – salmon, asparagus, and potatoes. It comes together so fast, and is made extra tasty with a garlic butter sauce – YUM!
Healthy Taco Skillet – Great for breakfast or lunch/dinner! A super fast and veggie-packed meal made with ground turkey, cherry tomatoes, spinach, spices, and soft eggs! Clean-eating done right!
One Pan Chicken and Veggie Dinner – Chicken, bell peppers, barbecue sauce, and pineapple make up this dinner favorite! Easily made Whole30 compliant.
Fall Harvest Salad with Maple Tahini Dressing – I know it’s not fall anymore but this salad is perfect for fall AND winter meals! Apples, kale, chicken, roasted squash, bacon, feta cheese – and that maple dressing! So good. Prep all the components and keep them on hand for the easiest meal prep!
Best Ever Stuffed Acorn Squash – Made with oven-roasted acorn squash – they get all caramelized around the edges and it’s perfection – and filled wild rice, sweet honeycrisp apples, chopped celery, sausage or lamb, and dried cranberries.
Chicken Gyro Bowls with Homemade Tzatziki Sauce – Marinated lemon + herb chicken, fresh greens, feta cheese, red onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and couscous! So much goodness in one bowl! Serve with homemade tzatziki sauce and naan bread!
Grilled Lamb Kebabs – The meat is tender and super flavorful thanks to a 5-ingredient marinade. Load up your kebabs with marinated veggies – peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Even grill beginners can handle this recipe!
One Pan Chicken Fajitas – This one requires only a few ingredients – spices, onion, peppers, and chicken. It’s made in one pan in under 30 minutes! Packed with flavor and whole30 compliant!
Honey Garlic Chicken Bowls – Crispy baked chicken bites coated in a honey garlic sauce, with crisp roasted broccoli + rice. Need I say more? This recipe can easily be made gluten free by using the gluten-free variety of panko and it’s dairy-free as is.
Traditional Vietnamese Spring Rolls – A traditional recipe for spring rolls, made with marinated beef, shrimp, rice noodles, and veggies. So delicious and so fun to make with friends!
Loaded Sheet Pan Nachos – So fun to make and you can tweak this to be Whole30 compliant! Made with homemade potato or sweet potato chips with all your favorite toppings.
Blueberry Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing – For when you’re missing summer and need a easy, flavorful lunch!
Mixed Vegetable Galette – A big pile of roasted veggies and cheese nestled inside a flaky pie crust – because, balance.
Quick Breakfast Tacos – Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Easily made Whole30 compliant, and full of flavor!
Breakfast:
Caramelized Pear Oatmeal Bowls – Hearty bowls of piping hot oatmeal flavored with cinnamon and brown sugar, topped with 5-minute caramelized pears and walnuts. Can breakfast get any better – or more flavorful? I think not.
Fall Glow Smoothie Bowl – Great in the fall – and in the winter! Frozen sweet potatoes are the star here – they give the smoothie it’s thick, creamy base and a little natural sweetness!
Homemade Maple Granola – Easy, vegan, low in sugar, and versatile! I love mixing it into yogurt with some fruit for a breakfast-that-feels-like-a-dessert situation.
Peach Crisp Yogurt Bowls – Tastes like a dessert, but is actually pretty nutritious and a little lower in sugar. This is definitely a summery recipe, and if you can’t get fresh peaches in your area try this with sautéed cinnamon apples instead!
5 Minute Breakfast Parfaits with Honey, Granola, and Fruit – Make a batch of the homemade maple granola (above) and you can throw one of these together any morning in no time!
Super Healthy + Easy Smoothies 4 Ways – Options for vegan smoothies included! An easy way to start the day with some protein, fruits, and veggies.
Side Dishes:
Parmesan Roasted Asparagus – Ridiculously easy to throw together and totally addicting! Those crunchy parmesan bits – YUM.
Bacon Green Beans – A delicious side dish that happens to be gluten-free and dairy-free! It’s easy to make and comes together quickly.
Quick Roasted Cauliflower – Vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free – this pretty much fits any diet you might be following! Quick to make and so good – it’s like vegetable candy.
Easy Roasted Butternut Squash – All you need to make this side dish is 40 minutes and a handful of simple ingredients like olive oil, spices, and of course – the squash!
Perfectly Cooked Spaghetti Squash – Perfect for using as “pasta”, in casseroles, or for filling to make spaghetti squash boats!
Snacks:
Healthy Banana Chocolate Oat Muffins – Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or a treat! Naturally gluten-free, and refined sugar free! Use any non-dairy milk to make them dairy-free as well.
Homemade Nut Butter – This recipe is written for peanut butter but you can use the same technique with almonds for a Whole30 approved snack! Making your own nut butter is incredibly easy and helps you control the amount of sugar in it! I like to sweeten mine with honey.
Simple + Amazing Homemade Applesauce – Comes together in a flash using an Instant Pot! (If you don’t have one, never fear – the stovetop is just as easy!) I love having a batch of this on hand to have with breakfast or as a healthier snack during the day.
Sweets:
Gluten Free Apple Crisp – A luscious, caramely apple crisp! It’s so easy to make and it’s gluten-free and refined-sugar free.
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups – Store a batch in the fridge or freezer so you’re prepared when the sweet tooth strikes! Satisfying and low in sugar!
Fudgy Gluten-Free Brownies – You’d never know these were gluten-free! Utterly decadent. Swap coconut oil for butter to make them dairy-free.
Cherry Cobbler for Two – Low in sugar and a small-serving size! (Even lower in sugar without the ice cream, heh.)
Well, that’s it for now! I’ll be back with some new recipes starting next week! Happy New Year and thank you for being here – you make what I do possible and worthwhile!
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arabellabb says
Hey dear, Thanks a lot for sharing such great stuff on delicious healthy recipes. I become a fan of your blog. I love this one very much, “Healthy Chicken Wild Rice Casserole – Almost caramelized butternut squash, parmesan cheese, wild rice, and chicken makes up this health-food-meets-comfort-food dinner”. I had tried some of these dishes in our Arabic Restaurant at KL. Some are left. I will test those very soon. You are invited to our restaurant if you come to visit in Malaysia at any time.
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much for your kind words! So glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes ?
Haley says
I’m obsessed with those little red potatoes.