After you’ve been dieting all day, you might be feeling ravenous once dinner time rolls around. It’s super easy and convenient to grab some fast food, order a pizza or do something else that will completely ruin your diet and pack extra calories into your day. You have lots of options for making a healthy, low-calorie dinner that takes very little work to create. If you can boil water and turn on your oven, you can make a delicious dinner for under 300 calories a portion.
Tilapia with Brussels Sprouts
You barely have to be in the kitchen to make a nice, white fish dinner. Get a pan and add a little lemon juice and about two teaspoons of olive oil to the bottom. Place tilapia filets on top of the oil. Sprinkle with lemon cracked pepper and your favorite seasonings, and a little more lemon juice. Bake at 325. Meanwhile, you can easily boil some water to steam Brussels sprouts, which taste great with just a bit of salt and pepper. This is a very low-calorie, protein-rich meal. If you want to take the flavor of your sprouts up a level, throw them in a pan in the oven after they’ve been steamed for a few minutes with some cloves of garlic and chopped red onion.
Chicken with Artichoke Hearts
Place chicken breasts in an oven pan with two teaspoons of olive oil and a liberal sprinkling of rosemary. Mix artichoke hearts in a bowl with white wine, another teaspoon of olive oil, garlic cloves and herbs and spices as desired. Spread the artichoke hearts around the chicken breasts and roast them together in an oven pan at 375 until the chicken is fully cooked. Depending on breast size, this will take approximately 20 to 30 minutes and give you a low-calorie dinner.
Broccoli Sweet Potato
You may not always have time to make dinner, but you’ve got time to put a sweet potato in the oven. Wash your sweet potato(s), poke them with a fork for air to escape while cooking, then wrap them with aluminum foil and place them directly on the oven rack for about an hour. Meanwhile, mix 1 cup of steamed broccoli with a half-cup of condensed cheese soup. Condensed soup is a lifesaver when it comes to shortcut cooking. Top your sweet potato with your broccoli to enjoy a totally delicious and vegetarian-friendly dinner that’s under 300 calories.
Quick Shrimp Gumbo
Boil a half cup of brown rice and drain well. Sauté about 5 shrimp with a teaspoon of olive oil and the seasonings you like. Mix the shrimp and rice together with a half cup of condensed mushroom soup. This entire meal is just a little over 200 calories. This is not a traditional gumbo because it’s not made with sausage stew, but this is a low-calorie option that’s very filling and tasty.
Low-Calorie Dinner
It’s easy to grab fast food, but opt for an easy, low-calorie dinner instead. It doesn’t take much time or effort to boil water or roast something in the oven, and you’ll end up being much better off than going the delivery pizza route.