What are your most filling but low calorie recipes? (<500cal)

KCMarie22 wrote: »

I have a simple recipe, I use .5 white rice, .5 cup of marinara sauce, 5 oz of ground turkey. Its like eating spaghetti without using pasta noodles. I make this for a quick and simple meal when I meal prep throughout the week.

How do you cook it (in a crock pot, on the stove, etc.)? And is the rice you use already cooked, or dry?

My two favorite things right now...

Apple, ham, and cheese panini
2 slices Trader Joe's sprouted wheat bread
Half a Fuji apple (or any apple you like) sliced thin
4 slices ham (I use Hormel natural choice smoked ham)
2 slices cheddar cheese (i use Sam's choice smoked cheddar
1/2 tbsp butter (optional)

Put a slice of cheese on each piece of bread and apples and ham in the middle. Butter outside of bread. Cook on panini grill.

This comes in at about 380 calories.



Creamy spaghetti with spinach

2 wedges laughing cow cheese any flavor (i like the garlic and herb)
4 cups baby spinach
1 Tbsp bacon bits (i use Oscar Meyer natural selects)
1/4 c milk or leftover water from boiling spaghtti
Serving of whole wheat pasta (56g) or any pasta you'd like (i use barilla whole grain )

Cook pasta until done and drain reserving about 1/4 cup water if you are not using milk. Add spinach 2 cups at a time and cook until it's reduced. Then add cheese and bacon. Let simmer until cheese is smooth and any lumps are gone.

Without milk it comes to about 295 calories and is very filling. I had it for lunch today with a side of fresh blueberries.

Egg white omelette (1 cup liquid egg whites) in a tiny bit of oil with ham and low fat cheese topped with salsa. I feel very satisfied for under 400 cal!

I made "unstuffed" cabbage rolls a couple weeks ago and it was very filling and low cal (someone else mentioned this type of thing earlier, but figured I'd add my recipe)

1 whole head cabbage (med)
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 lb lean ground beef -- you could substitute ground turkey to make it even healthier
1 pack knorr spanish rice "fiesta sides" (dry/ unprepared)
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 regular can campbell's tomato soup
1/2 - 1 can water

Chop up raw cabbage and spread in bottom of 13×9 pan. Brown ground beef and then add chopped pepper and onion to the pan and saute for 5 min. Add half the beef mixture to the cabbage (I just did this because my pan was getting too full). Add dry rice mix to skillet with remaining beef mixture. Saute for a few minutes and then add to the 13x9. Top with tomato sauce, soup and water. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 90 min, stirring halfway. I also turned up heat to 375 at halfway. Times may need to be adjusted -- I just checked it every so often to make sure the cabbage was tender.

So delicious! And at 6 servings, it is only 370 cal/serving.

To save calories, fat, and cholesterol, I use my non fat, non dairy coffee creamer in my mashed potatoes, meat loafs (ground turkey and chicken), soups!!

This has a lot of the same flavors as higher-calorie foods like lasagna. The measurements are approximations - you can vary them depending on what you like. (Obviously that will affect the calorie count.)

Zucchini bake

1.5 pounds of zucchini
18 ounces of a fairly thick tomato sauce (I use Pomi, which is 100% tomato)
1 pound of lean ground meat (beef, turkey, pork, or chicken)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp (more or less, to taste) Parmesan cheese
.25 cup or more of shredded mozzarella or other hard cheese (lowfat is fine but don't use fat-free)
Italian herbs (fresh or dried)
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper
cooking spray
optional: olive oil, sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms

Slice the zucchini into bite-sized shapes. I usually cut larger zucchini into chunks. I cut smaller ones on the bias to make ovals. Lightly salt the zucchini then bake on a baking sheet in a medium-low oven (about 325 F) for at least 45 minutes. Don't skip this step or the dish will be watery and mushy.

While the zucchini is baking, cook the ground meat in a skillet, adding the Italian herbs, garlic, salt, and pepper. Break the meat apart into chunks. You can add some olive oil to the meat while it's cooking. After cooking, set it aside and let it cool. (Or if you have lean sausage, you can use that and and skip this step.)

Spray an oven-proof casserole dish with cooking spray, then layer the zucchini and ground meat in it. After you make one layer, cover it with tomtao sauce and sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Make another layer and repeat, sprinkling with parmesan cheese. You can add other vegetables like sauteed mushrooms or onions as well. When you've used up all the zucchini and meat, top with a layer of shredded cheese. Bake in a medium oven (about 350 to 375) for about 30-45 minutes (check to avoid over-browning the cheese topping).

Makes 6 servings at around 225 calories each. This makes a good main dish for lunch or dinner and reheats well.

I wouldn't call this a "recipe" but answers the original question... I buy cartons of egg whites. 250 calories for an enormous pile of scrambled egg whites and another 20-30 calories to top it with an enormous helping of pico de gallo.

Fish and veggie couscous

Lately I'm stuck on Joseph's pita bread that is 60 calories each. I lightly very lightly toast or microwave it for a few seconds-heating it slightly makes all the difference. Add 1 weighed portion lean meat like deli ham, turkey, even some salamis, etc, which are 50 to 70 calories per serving, then load up with shredded lettuce or a little broccoli slaw - something very low calorie that bulks it up. I use yellow mustard o the pita and sometimes also salt, pepper and a little splash balsamic or rice wine vinegar on the veggies. Lay it all on there fold like a taco and chow down.

Each comes to around 130-140ish depending on meat you use. Sometimes I get the ultra thin cheese and melt just 1 piece on the pita also which adds another 45ish calories. I can have a couple of these in one meal and get really full. You could add tomato, onions, pickles etc just be mindful of how many calories for the volume. It's just as satisfying as having a sub especially by adding the splash of vinegar

I know it doesn't sound like much but shred cabbage thinly cook in fry pan on the stove with a pat or 2 of butter salt and pepper For some reason the sauteing changes the flavor of the cabbage and it makes it almost sweet - low calorie try before you say no