High-Protein Dinner Recipes Ideas For Your Weeknight

As an adult, it can be hard to stay healthy, especially if you have to make all your meals. The home delivery menus look way too good when you get home from a long day and have to think about cooking from scratch. But the good information is that you don’t have to slave away for hours over a hot stove to make a healthy and tasty dinner.

The most important part of most diets is getting more protein. Protein is important for health, but getting a lot of protein in a normal diet is not always easy. If you try adding more protein to your diet daily, it can help you feel full and give you more energy. It helps to heal damaged tissue, keep bones strong, and burn more fat.

But even though it’s so great, most of us don’t get enough protein every day because it’s harder to cook them every day. To fix this, we’ve put together three very quick recipes that will make you feel like a master chef and make you eat like a king or queen this week.

Lemon-Garlic Chicken and Green Beans

This meal is simple and classy and looks as healthy as it is.

Ingredients:

• 500-gram chicken breast cutlets
• 1 tsp salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper, split
• 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, broken up
• 500 gms trimmed green beans
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme, plus leaves to decorate
• 30 mL chicken broth (unsalted)
• 30 ml of dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 30 grams of toasted nuts

Method:

• Salt and pepper the chicken with half a teaspoon of each. In a large pan, warm 1 tbsp of oil over medium-high heat.
• Add the green beans and the last tablespoon of oil to the pan.
• Sprinkle with the remaining 12 teaspoons of salt and 14 teaspoons of pepper, and cook, stirring every so often, for about 2 minutes, until tender-crisp.
• Stir in the garlic, lemon zest, and thyme, and cook while stirring for about a minute or until the smell is nice.
• Add the broth, wine, and lemon juice, and then put the chicken back in the pan with any collected juices. Cook, stirring every so often, for about 1 minute more or until half of the liquid is gone.
• You can serve it with pine nuts, more thyme, and lemon wedges on top.

Garlic Shrimp Quinoa Bowl

Low in fat but high in protein. This dinner has everything.

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound of raw shrimp with tails on, 26 to 30 pieces, peeled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/3 cup of finely chopped yellow onion, or about half of a small onion
• 100 grams of halved cherry tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic, cut up (about 1 tbsp)
• 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth with less salt
• 1 large lemon
• 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, plus more to serve

Method:

• Heat 2 tsp of olive oil on medium-high in a large pan that doesn’t stick and has a tight-fitting lid.
• Include the shrimp, then spread with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp chili.
• About 3 minutes is all it takes to cook the shrimp all the way through and turn them pink.
• Heat the last 2 tsp of olive oil in the same pan and add the onion.
• Let it cook for about 5 minutes or until the onion starts softly. Include the garlic and boil until it smells fine. Add the tomatoes at this point and let them get soft.
• Add the quinoa, cayenne, 12 teaspoons of the remaining salt, and 14 teaspoons of chili powder. Stir the quinoa in the oil to coat it, then let it brown for 2 minutes.
• Pour in the chicken stock, turn up the heat to high and carry the broth to a boil.
• Once it starts to boil, cover it and turn the heat down to a simmer. Let the quinoa cook for 12 to 15 minutes until it is soft. Uncover and use a fork to fluff.
• Put the lemon zest right into the pan, squeeze the lemon and add the juice and parsley.
• Mix well, then top with the shrimp you saved. Add more fresh parsley to the top. Warm weather is best.

Spinach Feta Pancakes

Want to eat breakfast for dinner? These savory pancakes are easy to make, have many flavors, and are good for your ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 250 ml milk
• 125 grams of whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 500 gm spinach
• feta cheese (120 grams)
• Salt to taste

Method:

For the filling made of spinach

• Get a pan, drizzle some olive oil in it, and sauté the spinach with a pinch of sea salt until it wilts.

Regarding the pancakes

• Mix the flour, omelets, and milk until there are no more lumps.
• Olive oil goes in a pan, and then the pancake mix goes in.
• Fry each side for 3–4 minutes.

Assembling

• Put the cheesecake on a plate when it’s done.
• When the spinach is hot enough, pour it over half of a pancake.
• On top, crumble some feta and bend the pancake. Enjoy!