Why is protein helpful for weight loss?
For what its worth, no single food magically makes you lose weight. As long as you’re in a calorie deficit – aka burning more calories than you eat – you’ll lose weight.
However, eating enough protein can support weight loss, because it:
- Keeps you full longer: In a deficit, it’s normal to be a little hungry. Protein can reduce overall hunger though, making it easier to stay in a calorie deficit.
- Helps you maintain or gain muscle: When you’re in a deficit, protein can help you maintain muscle while you lose fat. If you’re strength training and your deficit isn’t too aggressive, it may even help you gain muscle mass.
- “Burns” slightly more calories: I wouldn’t get too obsessed with this, but protein has a slightly higher thermic effect of food (TEF) than carbs or fats, which means your body has to work “harder” to break it down than the other macro nutrients.
What’s considered a high protein meal?
Protein needs will vary depending on your size, activity level, and preferences. Generally speaking though, a higher protein meal typically contains around 25 to 40 grams of protein.
If you find it hard to reach your protein goals, shoot for the lower end of that range first – about 25 to 30 grams per meal. If you’re comfortable eating more protein, then you can probably aim higher. There’s also nothing wrong with eating more than 40 grams of protein in one sitting. All of this is a range that you should just based on your individual needs.
Not sure how much protein you need? Download my Macros Calculator and Guide to find your protein target and calorie deficit to reach your weight loss goals.
Benefits of prepping high protein dinners
Having high-protein meals ready to go makes sticking to your goals easier. If you don’t want to eat the same thing every night, you can also prep some protein bases, such as ground turkey, chicken thighs, tofu, or fish and mix it up with different sauces, carbs, or veggies throughout the week.
As you read through these dinner ideas, consider how you can customize each of them based on your preferences and what you have on hand. Also, you can find everything you need for these meals at Safeway, Trader Joe’s, or most grocery stores.
7 easy high protein dinners
1. 20 minute garlic shrimp, asparagus, and rice
I really like this recipe from Lauren Fit Foodie.
Here’s a few tips on how I specifically adapted it:
- I used frozen, already-cooked shrimp that I found in the freezer section
- I added microwave bagged rice as a starchy carb (microwavable frozen rice works too!)
- You can swap out the asparagus for a difference vegetable if you want to mix it up.
2. Spaghetti Squash Casserole
This version by Well Plated Erin works well as a base recipe.
Here’s a few tweaks I’ve made to it when I want to mix it up:
- Swapped the canned diced tomatoes and Italian seasoning for BBQ sauce and parmesan cheese.
- Swapped the canned tomatoes for pizza sauce to make it more of a “pizza” casserole.
3. Tuna or Salmon Sushi Bowl
Sushi inspired, but make it low effort. If you like to follow a recipe, here’s one from Skinny Taste.
However, this is my super low effort version:
- Canned tuna + mayo or salmon lox or roasted salmon
- Rice (again, I go for microwaveable)
- Pickled cucumbers (I buy them in the store) + kimchi
- Sriracha
4. Greek Chicken Bowl
Here’s one version of this from Eating Bird Food.
However, if you have a sense of the base recipe, you can make a lot of changes to customize it to what you have in the house or what you like. For example, combine the following:
- Rotisserie chicken or ground turkey that you cooked and seasoned in advance.
- Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, chick peas, olives, and red onion (pickled red onion works well too!)
- Feta cheese with tzatziki and / or hummus
- Rice, tabbouleh, quinoa, or greens
5. Fall Turkey Skillet (Super Adaptable)
I love this because you can swap almost everything and it still works. I really enjoyed this recipe by Brocc Your Body.
However, here’s the cliff notes on how easy it is to throw together:
- Cook chicken, ground beef or ground turkey
- While cooking add in spinach, kale, or whatever greens you like. You can also sauté some chopped onions.
- Combine with roasted or air fried sweet potatoes, potatoes, butternut squash, or delicata squash
6. Protein-Packed Burgers (Any Protein Works)
There’s a million variations of this, but here’s a spicy feta chicken burger recipe by Nourished By Nic if you want some inspiration. And here’s how you can make it a complete meal.
Make burgers with turkey, salmon, chicken, or beef (you can also buy a pre-seasoned version if that helps!) and pair them with the following:
- Air-fried fries or a bun as your starchy carb (I’m personally team pretzel buns)
- Cheese, avocado, or burger sauce for a fat
- Roasted veggies for some extra nutrients and fiber
7. High-Protein Chicken Tacos
I love tacos as a high protein, low effort meal that includes all the major macros. Since I haven’t included an vegetarian options yet, Desiree, RD is a great resource for higher protein vegetarian and vegan recipes. Here’s one she has for crumbled tofu vegan tacos.
However, could put whatever you want in them. For example:
- Shredded or grilled chicken, pork, beef, tofu, or turkey
- Corn or flour tortillas, or make it a rice bowl
- Guac, salsa, cheese, and whatever toppings you love
Cooking tips to make meal prep easier
- Use pre-cooked proteins: Rotisserie chicken, frozen shrimp, or canned tuna save time.
- Keep frozen rice and veggies on hand: The brand doesn’t matter. Just note the brands you like, so you can buy them again.
- Double up on recipes if you know you’re going to eat leftovers: This sounds obvious, but is easy to forget, so make sure you plan on it if you know you use this strategy.
- Keep the base recipes, but switch up sauces and sides: Same recipe with different flavors makes meal prep easier, while reducing boredom.
Final thoughts: Having high protein dinners planned or prepped makes eating better and reaching your goals easier, but this stuff doesn’t need to be rocket science. It also goes without saying, but you can having these meals at lunch too.
