Dinners for 500 calories or less

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  • Aerona85
    Aerona85 Posts: 159 Member
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    Most of my dinners are 600-750 cals. My calorie goal for the day is 1590 plus I usually get 100-150 exercise calories. This split generally works for me, though some days are totally different (like when the local Mexican place caters at work..900 cal lunch right there, but I budget for it). 300-400 breakfast, 200 snack (depends on day/activity/what's going on), 400-500 lunch.

    My favorite dinners right now are Cajun pasta, homemade meatball sub with spinach salad, Italian roasted chicken and vegetables, shepherds pie. As long as I plan ahead, I more or less eat whatever I want.
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
    edited July 2017
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    sweet potato with cinnamon or brown rice 220 calories, 7 oz (raw) chicken breast 200ish, 8 oz green veggie like broccoli 80... that is over a pound of food
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    Meat and a ton of veggies.
  • LynnJ9
    LynnJ9 Posts: 414 Member
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Meat and a ton of veggies.

    I agree. 5 to 7 ounces of meat, depending on the fat content, one small starch such as a piece of bread, small potato, or a serving of rice, and lots of veggies.
    Some of my dinners are:
    Chicken (6 oz) shis kabobs with green and red peppers, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and small potatoes
    Chicken lettuce wraps made with ground turkey and slice of bread
    Spicy shrimp (7 oz) with tomatoes, green peppers over a serving of fettucini
    Pork tenderloin (6 oz) with asparagus, mushrooms and a serving of rice
    Grilled steak (5 oz) with zuccini, salad and small baked potato
    Orange roughy (7 oz) with spinach and tomatoes over rice
    Chicken breast (6 oz) with red peppers and broccoli over a serving of angel hair pasta and low calorie marinara sauce
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,172 Member
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    My favorite this week was 4 oz. grilled rib eye steak (315 calories) and a cup of Greek salad - cucumber, tomato, red onion, feta cheese with olive oil/vinegar dressing (150). Total: 465. Added in 1/2 cup of roasted red potatoes on the side at 54 calories for a grand total of 519 calories. Yum!
  • kimlight2
    kimlight2 Posts: 483 Member
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    My go to dinner is:
    2 Fit and Active Whole Grain Waffles with Apple butter (200 Cal)
    3 Egg Whites and 1 egg (150 Cal)
    2 Slices Fit and Active Turkey Bacon (50 Cal)

    I have 100 calories left for Fruit.
  • rahlpn
    rahlpn Posts: 551 Member
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    I like breakfast for dinner. 2 eggs, 1/4 cup red onions, sliced ham, cherry tomatoes, slice of cheese omelet. 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 3 strawberries sliced. 460 Cals.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    An omelette and a salad. No cheese or anything like that, I put veggies and mushrooms in the omelette, low cal dressing.
  • Sp1tfire
    Sp1tfire Posts: 1,120 Member
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    2 kashi blueberry waffles with around 8 blueberries on them, 2 tablespoons of real maple syrup, 2 or 3 scrambled eggs. total: 415 cals with 2 eggs and 485 with 3 eggs. and BREAKFAST FOR DINNER!
  • sophie9492015
    sophie9492015 Posts: 204 Member
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    Right!? Who the hell said breakfast food can only be for breakfast!!
  • Fallfrenzy
    Fallfrenzy Posts: 118 Member
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    I have breakfast for dinner sometimes. :) Other options that I've had include a nice big salad with a boiled egg, other protein (seitan or tofu), a dollop of hummus and a little siracha barbecue sauce as my dressing. Recently I've had zoodles (sweet potato, zucchini and squash) with ground turkey and pasta sauce. Each of these is under 500 calories and kept me nice and full.
  • laurenebargar
    laurenebargar Posts: 3,081 Member
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    On Sunday we made a pesto bake. The pesto is made with kale, spinach, pine nuts, basil and lemon, over whole wheat pasta and then a little cheese and cherry tomatoes ontop. We doubled the recipe for lunch this week, it came out to 349 calories per serving, with a piece of bread it was under 500 calories. And then I always save room for Yasso for dessert
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I stir fry 350 grams of vegetables, add 4-6 ounces of some animal protein, and include 78 grams of legumes. That'll be under 500 calories pretty much without regard to the species of animal or the variety of vegetables.
  • lexington88
    lexington88 Posts: 29 Member
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    Have you tried the BBC good food 'Healthy Recipes' section? They actually have a recipe collection dedicated to dinner's under 400 calories:

    https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/low-calorie-dinner

    Unless I plan in advance, I find sticking under 500 calories so hard. The other day I bought some stir-fry ingredients to go with skinless chicken breasts, thinking that would be a low-cal dinner. It still ended up being over 600 calories. For the most part I don't mind though. I do well enough during the work day that I can occasionally splurge for dinner.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    edited July 2017
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    I aim for 300-400 per meal and have three big meals a day and one snack sometimes. But I don't eat back my exercise calories on the days I exercise.

    Last night for dinner I had broiled flounder w/panko and Louisiana hot spices on it with roasted red potatoes. The night before I had soup. The night before that I had roasted chicken with rice.
  • High_Five_
    High_Five_ Posts: 14 Member
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    This week my dinners have been:

    Meat-less Reuben sandwich, side of raw broccoli and hummus
    Quinoa bowl with raw swiss chard, fried tofu, black garlic kimchi, nuoc cham sauce
    Poke bowl with jasmine rice, kale and sesame marinated raw tuna
    A fried egg, rye toast w/butter, and a big bowl of peaches
  • timtam163
    timtam163 Posts: 500 Member
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    I've eaten savory oatmeal for dinner, chicken and veggies with a small serving of pasta, spinach and eggs, quesadilla (cooked in a nonstick pan to avoid needing butter), a veggie burger... all of these were under 500! :)
  • mmnv79
    mmnv79 Posts: 538 Member
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    I don't log my calories, but I often follow recipes to have a briefly idea of how much I am eating. I took most of my recipes from a vegetarian website and a recipe book. I am not vegetarian but I love the recipes they have, so I don't have to make repetitive and bored salads.

    I had feta and rice stuffed peppers last night. I used cooking spray oil, reduced-fat feta, red peppers, brown rice, garlic, onion, parsley and just a wee bit of currants and pine-nuts. It came to 246 calories. I added a salad, rocket lettuce, tomatoes, sweetcorn, olives, onion and white asparagus.

    Tonight I am having roasted tomato, feta and couscous salad. I am using lemon juice and basil instead of supermarket salad dressing, and it comes to 300 calories.

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