15+ Heart-Healthy Dinner Recipes to Meal Prep This Week

 Busy weeknights mean easy dinners are the way to go and these recipes are perfect for meal prepping in advance! You can make each recipe at the beginning of the week and you’ll have enough servings to last a few days. These dishes are also lower in saturated fat and sodium to meet our heart-healthy parameters. You’ll want to try options like our Vegan Superfood Grain Bowls or our Meal-Prep Chili-Lime Chicken Bowls for a delicious dinner that will help you support a healthy heart.

Vegan Superfood Grain Bowls

Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey


This nutrient-packed grain bowl recipe comes together in 15 minutes with the help of a few convenience-food shortcuts like prewashed baby kale, microwavable quinoa and precooked beets. Pack these ahead to keep on hand for easy meal-prep lunches or dinners on busy nights.

Eggplant Tortilla Casserole

This layered casserole is inspired by classic cheese enchiladas, minus the fuss of rolling and stuffing individual tortillas. You’d never guess that within this comforting casserole hides a layer of thinly sliced eggplant. The thin slices become tender when roasted and add a subtle savory note.

Meal-Prep Chili-Lime Chicken Bowls

Skip takeout and whip up these equally delicious and easy-to-make burrito bowls at home. They’re great for a fast and easy dinner or a healthy meal to pack for work throughout the week.

Vegan Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Bowl with Creamy Green Sauce

In a vegan riff on green goddess dressing, cashews provide a creamy base with tons of flavor from herbs and apple-cider vinegar. Drizzle it all over this bowl of quinoa and roasted vegetables to make a satisfying vegan dinner or easy packable lunch that is ready in just 30 minutes.

Meal-Prep Curried Chicken Bowls

Curry doesn’t have to take hours to prepare. With the help of our sheet-pan meal-prep chicken (see associated recipe) and some cooked whole grains, you can make these meal-prep bowls in just a few minutes! Keep them in the fridge for an easy dinner on a busy weeknight or for healthy grab-and-go lunches throughout the week.

Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Prepare this dish the night ahead of time so all you have to do is pop it in the oven for an easy and delicious dinner.

Meal-Prep Roasted Vegetable Bowls with Pesto

Here we combine tasty roasted veggies with pesto and brown rice. Make this recipe at the beginning of the week and you’ll have ready-to-eat dinners for several days.

Four-Bean & Pumpkin Chili

This healthy vegetarian chili has a fragrant touch of cinnamon for added flavor. Let diners top it with whatever suits their taste.

Smoky Slow-Cooker BBQ Brisket Sandwiches

Making brisket in the slow cooker ensures it is tender, delicious, and full of flavor. Serve this BBQ Brisket on hamburger buns for a tasty and satisfying meal.

Green Veggie Bowl with Chicken & Lemon-Tahini Dressing

For this healthy 30-minute dinner, treat your veggies like pasta and cook until al dente, or just done. If you have a little extra time, double or triple the lemon-tahini dressing and use it to quickly dress a salad or as a sauce for steak or shrimp.

Chicken-Spaghetti Squash Bake

In this version of a chicken-and-broccoli casserole, spaghetti squash takes on a creamy texture when baked with cream of mushroom soup.

Curried Chickpea Stew

Who says a meatless meal isn’t filling? Packed with fiber-rich vegetables and chickpeas, this fragrant stew satisfies.

Shredded Chicken Tacos

This taco recipe is a great choice for midweek dinners, even if it’s not Taco Tuesday! Instead of beef, we use moist, boneless chicken thighs and to make things easier for you, the taco filling is cooked in a slow cooker, so you can prepare it in the morning and come home to a delicious meal.

Pesto Chicken & Cannellini Bean Soup

This healthy, Italian-inspired chicken soup recipe is loaded with fiber-rich vegetables and beans and gets an extra boost of flavor from a swirl of pesto at the end. To get a homemade stock flavor using store-bought broth, we simmer bone-in chicken breasts in the broth before adding the rest of the soup ingredients.

Instant Pot Split Pea & Ham Soup Freezer Pack

Prep and freeze all the ingredients for this homey classic ahead of time, and it will be ready to cook and serve any night of the week–no lengthy simmering needed, thanks to the multicooker. Freezing the ingredients in a round container creates the perfect fit for an easy transfer into your pressure cooker without having to thaw first.

Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Bolognese

Beans stand in place of ground beef in this hearty vegetarian sauce that’s ready when you are—thanks to the crock pot. The prep is quick and easy to do in the morning before heading off to work. When you get home, just cook up some whole-wheat pasta to serve it over and dinner is ready. If you have leftovers, freeze them for an easy meal another day.

Eggplant with Sweet-Sour Onions & Pickled Cherries (Visneli Patlican Bayildi)

This layered dish features super-tender roasted eggplant and sweet sautéed onions spiked with tart and fruity pomegranate molasses. Serve with pita as part of a mezze course or as a side with a larger meal.

Three-Bean Chili

This rib-sticking bean chili is richly flavored with cumin, chili, paprika, oregano and an assortment of peppers. Use whatever beans you have in your pantry.

Leave a Comment