Skip to main content

10 delicious weight loss meals that are 300 calories or less

They're pretty delicious, too

Baked roasted hasselback chicken stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach
Ezume Images / Adobe Stock

If you are trying to lose weight, you may discover that nutrition is one of the most challenging aspects. What you eat is essential for your health goals, but many foods are high in calories and sugars that don’t support the body.

We have outlined ten different meals that are high in protein and various nutrients that will keep you full while helping you stay in a caloric deficit. These meals are straightforward to make and don’t require many ingredients, making them accessible for most people. Enjoy!

Cottage cheese and berries.
DraCat / Pixabay

Cottage cheese and berries

Nutrition facts

Calories: 299

Protein: 28g

Fat: 11g

Carbohydrates: 23g

Ingredients

  • 1 cup reduced-fat cottage cheese
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • ½ cup strawberries
  • 0.4 ounces sliced almonds

Instructions

  1. Put the cottage cheese in a bowl.
  2. Slice the strawberries and add them and the blueberries on top of the cottage cheese.
  3. Garnish with the sliced almonds.
Scrambled eggs.
Annushka Ahuja / Pexels

Scrambled egg whites

Nutrition facts

Calories: 275

Protein: 35g

Fat: 11g

Carbohydrates: 6g

Ingredients

  • 184 grams of egg whites
  • 1 link chicken sausage
  • ¼ of a bell pepper
  • 1 cup spinach
  • Cooking spray
  • Spices 

Instructions

  1. Heat a pan on medium heat and spray with zero-calorie cooking spray.
  2. Slice the chicken sausage and place it in the pan.
  3. While the sausage is cooking, chop up the bell pepper and spinach.
  4. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook until soft.
  5. Pour the egg whites over the sausage and veggies and add desired spices.
  6. Cook the scrambled eggs until fluffy, and serve.
Oatmeal with almonds and apples.
samael334 / Adobe Stock

Protein oatmeal

Nutrition facts

Calories: 295

Protein: 18g

Fat: 3g

Carbohydrates: 52g

Ingredients

  • 40 grams rolled oats
  • ½ scoop of Isopure vanilla protein powder
  • 1 apple
  • Cinnamon 

Instructions

  1. Add your desired amount of water to a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil.
  2. Mix in the oats and cook over medium-high heat until the desired consistency is achieved.
  3. Transfer the cooked oats to a bowl and thoroughly stir in the protein powder.
  4. Chop up your apple and add it and a desired amount of cinnamon to the oats.
Cilantro in tacos
Jeswin Thomas / Unsplash

Low-calorie tacos

Nutrition facts

Calories: 287

Protein: 23g

Fat: 10g

Carbohydrates: 27g

Ingredients

  • 1 medium-sized flour tortilla
  • 3 ounces ground turkey
  • 1 cup mixed greens
  • 2 tablespoons salsa
  • Cooking spray
  • Spices 

Instructions

  1. Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with zero-calorie cooking spray.
  2. Add the ground turkey and desired spices and cook until slightly browned.
  3. Add the ground turkey to the tortilla.
  4. Top with mixed greens and salsa.
Peeled sweet potato.
Loren Biser / Pexels

Chicken and sweet potato salad

Nutrition facts

Calories: 274

Protein: 31g

Fat: 4g

Carbohydrates: 33g

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces chicken
  • 1 cup cubed sweet potato
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 2 teaspoons honey mustard
  • Cooking spray
  • Spices 

Instructions

  1. Heat a pan over medium heat, and spray with zero-calorie cooking spray.
  2. Chop up your chicken, add desired spices, and cook on the pan until slightly browned.
  3. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the cubed sweet potatoes with the desired spices.
  4. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, add the spinach and chicken to a bowl.
  5. Top the salad with the cooked sweet potatoes and honey mustard.
Cooked salmon in bowl of rice
Leonardo Luz / Pexels

Salmon bowl

Nutrition facts

Calories: 285

Protein: 25g

Fat: 4g

Carbohydrates: 39g

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces salmon
  • ¾ cup jasmine rice
  • ½ cup diced cucumbers
  • ¼ cup diced carrots
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • Sesame seeds
  • Spices 

Instructions

  1. Add desired spices to the salmon and cook in an air fryer, oven, or skillet.
  2. Bring water to a boil over high heat and pour in the rice. 
  3. Bring the water to a boil again, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the water has been absorbed.
  4. Add your rice, salmon, cucumbers, and carrots to a bowl.
  5. Top with soy sauce and sesame seeds.
Cheeseburgers in skillet
HomeMaker / Pixabay

Ground turkey burger and fries

Nutrition facts

Calories: 296

Protein: 29g

Fat: 16g

Carbohydrates: 10g 

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces ground turkey
  • 1 slice Colby Jack cheese
  • 2 lettuce leaves
  • 1.5 ounces sweet potato fries
  • Mustard
  • Cooking spray
  • Spices 

Instructions

  1. Cook sweet potato fries per instructions on the bag.
  2. Add desired spices to ground turkey meat and form into a patty.
  3. Heat a pan over medium heat, and spay with zero-calorie cooking spray.
  4. Cook the patty thoroughly until both sides are browned.
  5. Top burger with a slice of cheese, lettuce, and mustard.
  6. Serve with the sweet potato fries.
raw salmon fillets.
Sergei Maximenko / Shutterstock

Lemon salmon with yogurt

Nutrition facts

Calories: 289

Protein: 39g

Fat: 6g

Carbohydrates: 23g 

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces salmon
  • ½ cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
  • ½ cup sliced cucumber
  • ½ cup chickpeas
  • Lemon juice
  • Cilantro 
  • Spices 

Instructions

  1. Add desired spices to the salmon and cook in an air fryer, oven, or skillet.
  2. Add Greek yogurt, sliced cucumber, and chickpeas to a bowl.
  3. Top with the cooked salmon and garnish with a desired amount of lemon juice and chopped cilantro.
Banana and berry smoothie
Denis Tuksar / Unsplash

Berry smoothie

Nutrition facts

Calories: 283

Protein: 28g

Fat: 10g

Carbohydrates: 26g

Ingredients

  • 1 scoop vanilla Isopure protein powder
  • ½ cup almond milk
  • ½ banana
  • ½ cup frozen mixed berries
  • ⅓ avocado

Instructions

  1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until you have achieved the desired texture.
  2. Pour the mixture into a glass and enjoy.
Chicken and asparagus.
Harry Dona / Pexels

Chicken and veggies

Nutrition facts

Calories: 280

Protein: 39g

Fat: 3g

Carbohydrates: 31g

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces chicken
  • 10 spears asparagus
  • 5.3 ounces golden potatoes
  • Cooking spray
  • Spices 

Instructions

  1. Chop the potatoes into cubes and add the desired spices. Place them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Heat a pan on medium heat, and spray with zero-calorie cooking spray.
  3. Season chicken as desired and add to the pan.
  4. Add asparagus to the oven with the potatoes once they are close to being done.
  5. Remove the chicken from heat once it is cooked through and browned.
  6. When the potatoes and asparagus are soft, add them to a plate alongside the chicken.

Editors' Recommendations

Christine VanDoren
Christine is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist with an undergraduate degree from Missouri State University. Her…
How to make the perfect carnitas, according to a chef
Check out these tips and tricks to make chef-worthy carnitas
Pork carnitas tacos

If you’ve ever had street tacos, whether from an actual street vendor or an upscale restaurant, you’ve likely had carnitas — whether you knew it or not. Carnitas grew in popularity through Mexican street tacos, but people use it in various dishes, from nachos to chimichangas. Carnitas are most commonly known to be pork, but it can really be any sort of meat cooked in its own fat (confit). The word carnitas in Spanish translates to "little meats."

You can learn how to make carnitas at home -- it isn't difficult. However, it’s not just a matter of throwing a chunk of pork in a pot, and then it turns into delicious carnitas. There are some crucial steps to cooking the perfect batch of carnitas. That’s why we reached out to an expert in Mexican cuisine.

Read more
The 10 best brunch recipes for restaurant-quality meals at home
Skip long lines and getting hangry and whip up your own high-quality brunch
A person cutting up tomatoes for a healthy meal

Spring is here, so it's officially brunch season. Over the past couple of decades, brunch has become the meal of the weekend, the repast that lets you keep the party going from the night before with mimosas and Bloody Marys. The name implies that it should fall sometime between breakfast and lunch but can run anywhere from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Some restaurants have given up trying to put time restrictions on their brunch menu and serve it all day. Others have dedicated their whole concept to the "in-between" meal and only serve brunch-friendly foods.

So, what is considered brunch food? Originally, restaurants had brunch to use up ingredients that weren't used over the weekend. But now, brunch is such a busy shift (if not the busiest for some), restaurants must order special items for brunch to present creative, in-demand dishes.

Read more
The Native American cuisine movement is on the rise
The vitality of Native cuisine
Chef Jack Strong.

Native American cuisine and indigenous food predate any food trend we know by a long shot. Tribes from coast to coast have created culinary styles over thousands of years, utilizing the ingredients that surround them and tried and true cooking techniques. Today, as indigenous peoples rightfully look to reclaim their seat at the table, we're seeing a rise in Native American cuisine and an entire movement around first foods.

Jack Strong is the executive chef at The Allison Inn & Spa, a luxury resort in the heart of Willamette Valley wine country. The restaurant is known for taking advantage of the many incredible ingredients that thrive in the region. He grew up in Oregon and is a member of the Siletz tribe, touting more than three decades of professional cooking experience to his name. He's one of relatively few native chefs, but the indigenous food movement is working to change that. After all, a culinary landscape that does not accurately reflect its community or historical context is a faulty one at best.

Read more