Whole30 Dinner Recipes
Many of my friends started a Whole30® in January as a way to kick cravings to the curb, restore a healthy metabolism, learn how to make healthier choices and lose weight.
January seems to be the most popular time to start a reset like The Whole 30, so I thought I’d help my friends out with some of my top favorite quick and easy Whole 30 dinners. Even if you aren’t doing a Whole30, these dinner recipes are super easy, healthy and best of all, recipes that my whole family enjoys. I think you’ll love them and hopefully you can find a few new family favorites, too 🙂
What is Whole30?
Let me give you a quick rundown if you’ve never heard of The Whole30. It’s kind of like a 30 day nutritional reset. It’s designed to put an end to unhealthy cravings, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract and balance your immune system. The Whole30 cuts all the unhealthy, hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups for a full 30 days. In those 30 days, you’ll let your body heal and recover from those damaging foods. Some pretty powerful things happen in those 30 days!
The Whole 30 says that,
“More than 95% of participants lose weight and improve their body composition, without counting or restricting calories. Also commonly reported: consistently high energy levels, improved athletic performance, better sleep, improved focus and mental clarity, and a sunnier disposition.”
I especially love that The Whole30 program is absolutely free – there’s no need to hire a personal nutritionist or buy expensive meal plans.
Even though it’s free, I would totally recommend checking out or buying It Starts With Food, a New York Times best selling book, where you’ll learn all about the program’s scientific background, meal planning, success stories, recipes, etc. It Starts With Food is actually one of my all-time favorite books on health and nutrition. Even if you aren’t interested in doing a Whole30, you’ve got to get your hands on and read that book – it was life changing for me!
(And just so you know – I have no affiliation with The Whole30 – I just am a personal fan of the book/program. I took part in a Whole30 about 3 years ago.).
When I get excited about something, I start to babble like I’m doing now. So I’ll stop now and give you my top 10 favorite Whole30 dinner recipes. Enjoy!
Top 10 Whole30 Dinner Recipes:
Buffalo Ranch Stuffed Peppers
This dinner is one of my most popular dinner recipes on the blog! It seems to be a Whole30 fan favorite, too!
Carne Asada
I find every excuse to make this easy and flavorful dinner. Let it marinade all day and when you get home, it’ll take less than 15 minutes to get on the table. Pair it with a salad or a quick stir-fry of peppers, onions and any other veggies you have on hand. This is one of our all time favorites!
Slow Cooker Chipotle Pork with Pineapple Cole Slaw
Who doesn’t love a good slow cooker meal? Let your crockpot do the work for you! I think you’ll love the flavors in this easy crockpot meal. One Whole30 participant said this was the best meal she had during her entire 30 days and that she’s made it a weekly staple for her family ever since 🙂
Crockpot Balsamic Roast Beef
Here’s another slow cooker recipe that gets rave reviews on my blog. A lot of reviewers have even said it’s the best roast beef they’ve had!
Salmon with Avocado Salsa
If you are trying to incorporate more fish into your diet, I think you’ll love the flavors in this easy salmon recipe. This is another dish that you can have on the table in about 15 minutes!
Greek Meatballs with Avocado Tzatziki
If you love Greek food, you’ll really enjoy these healthy Greek Meatballs that taste like a gyro! They are a cinch to make, too. I like to serve these greek meatballs on a bed of chopped lettuce and then use the avocado tzatziki sauce and an extra squeeze of lemon as my dressing. So good!
Salmon Balls
This is my go-to healthy dinner on busy week nights. The recipe uses canned wild salmon that I get at Costco – I always keep cans of salmon stocked in my pantry just for this recipe. We love it! Serve these salmon balls with a quick salad. Or just throw some chopped veggies in a pan, drizzle some avocado oil over the veggies, add a pinch of salt and pepper, and bake them right alongside the salmon balls in the oven. Super easy!
One Pan Wonder: Better Than a Steakhouse Steak with Veggies
It doesn’t get much easier than this one pan wonder! And I think you’ll find it even more satisfying than going to a steakhouse 🙂 This is another super easy, go-to meal for us and makes the perfect steak every single time.
One Pan Wonder: Sausage with Winter Squash
Easy peasy! Here’s an amazing healthy dinner, full of flavor that literally took minutes to make. Plus clean up is a breeze. Dinner doesn’t get better than that!
Grain Free Italian Meatballs
I come from an Italian food loving family. These grain free italian meatballs sure do hit the spot! I often double the batch so I can freeze half for later. We love these over zucchini noodles and never miss the pasta. On busy nights, I like to use a good quality, no added sugar store bought pasta sauce.
So there you have it! My top 10 quick and easy Whole 30 dinners. It can be hard to find healthy, easy dinners that the entire family enjoys so I hope you can find a few recipes that will make your life easier.
Have you ever done a Whole 30 before? Did you have any go-to, easy recipes that you really enjoyed? Please share in the comments!
The chipotle pork and balsamic roast beef sound amazing!
I think you would like them, Maggie!
Very nice recipes, but do you have a Top 10 Whole30 vegetarian?
Hi Carol, I found this that might have some good info for you: http://whole30.com/2014/09/vegetarian-whole30/ It looks like her Facebook page has some great ideas/more info: https://www.facebook.com/MyVegWhole30
Hope that helps!
I have a killer whole30 tomato basil soup recipe that is really simple
4 cups water
3 cups whole organic coconut milk
2 cans of tomato paste
3 cloves fresh pressed garlic
4 or 5 fresh minced basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything except the basil into a med. saucepan. Bring to a boil, simmer for 30 minutes (in the last 10 minutes of simmering add the minced basil) Delish! Makes about 5 generous bowls.
Thank you, Maryanne! This sounds so good. My husband and I loooove tomato soup and this sounds delicious – can’t wait to make it!
I’ve made every recipe here every One was exceptionally delicious! My husband even commented that the to tzatziki sauce was better than any restaurants! Thank you!
Oh that is so great to hear, Janel! Makes my day! 🙂