High protein but not “healthy” tasting meal ideas?

[faithshepard]

Struggling with keeping on track and meals. I typically enjoys more queso, chicken, pasta type meals. I’m 5’0 so I need about 1350 cal/day to stay in a deficit. What are your high protein go to meals that aren’t “healthy” tasting?

 

[dawn16]

@faithshepard Check out this YouTube channel. Focuses on high protein meal preps that are lower in calories with lots of cheesy dishes. You can make a lot of "not healthy tasting" dishes with cheese by blending cottage cheese so it's smooth and then adding in a bit of shredded cheese to make it more calorie-friendly.

 

[faithshepard]

@dawn16 Thank you! I saw this on insta but never made anything . Have you made any?

 

[dawn16]

@faithshepard I made one of the Mac and cheeses (the buffalo one I think, but without the bacon.) They’re pretty tasty and I’m gonna make more. The only thing is that cottage cheese has a slightly different texture to a regular cheese sauce. It’s kind of drier, if that makes sense? But I’ll still gladly eat it.

 

[pathseeker]

@faithshepard I am also 5'0- its totally unfair that our cutting calories are so low. I typically make whatever I would eat if i wasnt in a deficit, but without carbs. ex: swap a ham and cheese sandwhich for a ham and cheese omlette

 

[faithshepard]

@pathseeker So much suck. Thats Smart. I miss carbs if I do that and then I binge eat. That’s why I try hard to keep at the 1350 while still keeping my “normal” foods

 

[dawn16]

@faithshepard Less than 500 cal meals:

• Protein pasta noodles with red sauce. Tofu or ground beef for protein.
• overnight oats with milk, protein powder, fruit and peanut butter
• chia pudding (can add protein powder)
• fish tacos with light dressing
• home made egg McMuffins
• homemade or store bought burgers with buns

 

[beautifulending]

@faithshepard Also 5'0". I made a pizza from ground chicken once when I was doing keto. There are loads of recipes online. It was so good, protein packed and heavy.

Edit: jumped the gun, just saw this said "go-to". If I'm feeling lazy, chicken nuggets. There's protein pasta st most stores nowadays so I'll do that with some meat. I've gotten into sushi bowls lately so I'll chop up some sushi fish and put it with a bunch of deshelled edamame and other ingredients. I also like to make a lot of tacos and quesadillas so between the meat/tofu, beans, and cheese it's usually a good amount of protein. I also like bean burgers, sometimes I'll mix both beef and black beans.

 

[marblecake]

@beautifulending The sushi bowl idea sounds really good! What type of fish do you usually use? do you make your own beef and black bean burgers?

 

[beautifulending]

@marblecake I've gotten sushi grade tuna steaks from Aldi's and just cut those up.
And yeah! I get ground beef from the store and canned black beans (the no sodium added ones). For black bean burgers, I mash them up and bake half of them to take out a lot of the moisture, otherwise they're too wet. I use egg to bind them and I add finely diced garlic and other seasonings

 

[marblecake]

@beautifulending Yum! Thanks so much I will try both of those soon one last question do you bake the burgers or cook on the stove?

 

[beautifulending]

@marblecake Np! I bake them! I think it's easier since it may be more likely to fall apart.

This is the recipe I started from years back
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-black-bean-burgers/

I actually didn't use a lot of the ingredients since I didn't have them on hand like some of the sauces and the feta but I'm sure besides the main parts you can probably just wing it by adding/subbing stuff to your liking

 

[marblecake]

@beautifulending Thank you!!

 

[beautifulending]

@marblecake You're welcome, enjoy!

 

[dawn16]

@faithshepard Tonight I boiled lentil pasta (200cal/14g protein) with some peas and broccoli. In a sauté pan I cooked shrimp with ghee, garlic, lemon juice and italian seasoning plus salt + pepper

Mixed it all together and voilà, high protein comforting goodness

 

[langley7]

@faithshepard I made a high protein dip last week. Equal parts cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. Then add ranch flavour or whatever flavour you like. Then chop up some pickles to mix in (skip pickles if u don't like them). The protein content was much higher than I thought it would be. I ate it with raw veggies and was hitting my protein goal all week. Good to have on hand, I eat lower cals too

 

[faithshepard]

@langley7 That’s a great idea! I might try sweet with some apples

 

[langley7]

@faithshepard You can also blend the cottage cheese so the dip is smooth

 

[joulediamonds]

@faithshepard I swap regular pasta for protein pasta, and burrito Bowls were a big go to for me before I gave up dairy (allergic) Honestly tex Mex lends itself well to high protein/low calorie options. Nacho cheese tends to have less calories than regular cheese too.

I do a lot of salads now but I genuinely like salad, fried rice, Chef Woo makes a protein ramen. I'll cut things with veggies to bulk it up

 

[faithshepard]

@joulediamonds Thank you!