5 nights of healthy dinner ideas for this week

Thea Everett

Deputy editor (audiences) Thea loves to be in the kitchen and has a particular interest in cooking on a budget and deep frying. She thinks Sri Lankan and Indian food is the food of the gods. Discover her recipes and tune in to our Instagram feed, which she runs on a daily basis.

Find more

If you’re trying to follow a more balanced diet, weekdays don’t afford you much time to meal prep. So, if you want to avoid thinking about meal-planning altogether, we’ve done the hard work and picked 5 of our best healthy recipes for weeknights, with ideas on how to use up the leftovers too.

We’ve got a comforting curry, a salmon traybake, sticky sriracha chicken and vegetarian tacos for Friday night. Mix up your weekly rotation with these healthy dinner ideas and you’ll be cutting down on calories but won’t feel like you’re missing out on flavour. Find more of our 5 nights a week guides here.

5 nights of healthy dinner ideas for this week

Monday: roasted cauliflower dhal

This roasted cauliflower dhal serves 4, and brings loads of goodness in the form of legumes, fresh ginger and cauliflower which brings vitamin C. It’s low in fat but still very tasty.

Find the recipe here

Tuesday: low calorie salmon and broccoli traybake

In this easy dinner for four, salmon and broccoli is roasted with spring onion and chilli and dressed in a soy, garlic and rice vinegar sauce. If broccoli isn’t for you, try other veggies – such as green beans, kale or asparagus.

Find the recipe here

Wednesday: chickpea, orzo and tomato stew

Our easy, comforting orzo stew is exactly the kind of low-maintenance dinner that hump day demands. Better still it’s topped with feta and fresh dill for even more flavour.

Find the recipe here

Thursday: sriracha chicken rice

30 minute dinners don’t get much better than this sticky sriracha chicken rice. Top the rice with charred veg, chicken and a honey, chilli and ginger sauce, then sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. It’s something different to a stir-fry, but is still super simple to make.

Find the recipe here

Friday: tacos with refried beans

Celebrate the week’s end with the zingy brightness of these crispy tacos with charred veg and refried beans. The recipes feeds four people for just £5.16, and the pickled red onions and avocado really lift the whole dish.

Find the recipe here

As for the leftovers…

Leftover salmon and broccoli can be used to make fishcakes. Enjoy with salad or new potatoes for a healthy lunch.

Leftover orzo stew makes for a next level pasta bake. Just reheat and top with feta or mozzarella then bake until piping hot melted.

Should you have any left, the remaining tacos and refried beans would make for a filling Saturday brunch: just top with fried eggs and extra chilli sauce.

Or, go ahead and check out all our midweek meal ideas.