Top High Protein Recipes For Easy Home Cooking
These high-protein recipe suggestions incorporate basic cooking skills and ingredients to help new cooks make these recipes. Other high-protein recipe suggestions include PB&J smoothies and cottage cheese flatbreads. Other recipes include slow-cooked chicken, pepper steak, creamy beef bowls with gochujang sauce, and Japanese-style egg and chicken rice bowls. High-protein breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes feature stovetop and slow-cooker recipes.
Why These High-Protein Recipes Work Well
- Familiar Protein Foods: Chicken, beef, eggs, cottage cheese, and peanut butter are some possibilities. These choices allow you to pick options you may prefer.
- Manageable Equipment: Equipment used in the recipes includes blenders, woks, rice cookers, and crockpots, all familiar items to home cooks, instead of restaurant equipment.
- Possible Resources: Ready-made meal options, such as slow cooker meals, may be other resources to provide meals when other time commitments exist.
- Easy Meal Options: Smoothies, flatbreads, rice dishes, and saucy mains are easy meal options, including breakfast and dinner options.
1. PB&J Protein Smoothie with Frozen Strawberries
Peanut butter is one of the ingredients in this PB&J protein smoothie. I like this smoothie as a quick breakfast or anytime I want a drink with peanut butter and fruit. Frozen strawberries give the smoothie a jam-like taste. Vanilla protein powder adds protein to the smoothie. Frozen strawberries are a good choice because they provide fruit flavor and frozen ingredients for the smoothie without added sugars and other ingredients that contribute PB&J flavor (without needing to add ice to the smoothie). Vanilla powder is another flavorful addition, and you can view and measure all ingredients before preparing the smoothie. Ingredient order is important. Place almond milk in the blender first, then frozen strawberries, peanut butter, and powder. The liquid will help the blender get the other ingredients before the frozen ones. Blend until the finished drink is smooth and does not leave strawberry bits in the glass. Each smoothie ingredient has a specific role. I do not include any additional ingredients in the smoothie. Peanut butter acts as a binder in the smoothie. Frozen strawberries provide fruit flavor. Vanilla powder acts as a binder for all smoothie ingredients (vanilla is a sandwich flavor). The smoothie tastes similar to a peanut butter and strawberry sandwich without bread and jam. It takes 7 minutes to make the smoothie.
2. Crockpot Pepper Steak with Tender Sirloin and Savory Pepper Sauce
Choose beef sirloin strips or tips or other prepared products labeled for stir-fry use for the tenderest meat in this Crockpot Pepper Steak recipe. Use a slow cooker to prepare a satisfying main dish with beef and sliced bell peppers and onions in a sauce flavored with soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, and ginger. Hot beef broth helps dissolve bouillon and other sauce ingredients, including soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, ginger, other seasonings, and cornstarch or flour. The sauce is poured over sirloin steak and topped with sliced peppers and onions and raw garlic. Bell peppers add bulk and color to the dish. A sweet onion or yellow onion adds mild flavor. When starting the recipe, the slow cooker may seem dry compared to other dishes, but the beef and other vegetables add moisture during the cooking process. The finished dish should be saucy and tender when eaten. Other potential problems with this recipe include overcooking and soggy bell peppers. To help prevent soggy bell peppers, cook them for 30 to 60 minutes near the end of the recipe. Served with white, basmati, or brown rice; noodles; or mashed or baked potatoes. Can also be served without additional toppings or sides. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in airtight containers. Store leftovers in the freezer in freezer-safe containers. Reheat in the microwave or oven.
3. Creamy Gochujang Broth Bowls with Crispy Sesame Beef
To prepare four servings of food, serve steamed rice, caramelized ground beef, and hot gochujang broth with a creamy texture. Low-fat cottage cheese puree is used to thicken the broth. Ground beef provides a spicy, sweet, sesame flavor and caramelized texture. Combine cottage cheese, low-sodium chicken broth, and gochujang to make a puree and warm gently in a pan. Ingredients for the beef topping include green onions, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, optional white miso, and maple syrup. Add the beef topping ingredients to cooked beef; topping ingredients will caramelize on the bottom of the pan instead of forming a gravy over the beef. Simmer the broth, stirring frequently. There is no need to boil the broth. To cook the beef, brown one side for two to three minutes, then break it up. Let the beef in the sauce sit for a while undisturbed. You want to achieve a browned, crunchy layer at the bottom of the pan. The main downside of stirring the beef too soon is loss of the crunchy layer. Serving size: one cup of rice and one cup of soup broth with one-quarter of the beef. Top servings with sliced cucumber and green onions and sesame seeds. Store leftover beef and broth together and prepare fresh rice at a later time to keep rice from becoming soggy with soup broth.
4. Cottage Cheese Flatbread with Soft Centers and Golden Toasted Spots
These cottage cheese flatbreads are a quick lunch or side dish to make four puffy skillet flatbreads. The four flatbreads are lightly browned and puffy in places and can be served as wraps or sandwiches or in soups or curries and other dishes, including pizza crust. Cottage cheese, all-purpose flour, egg, baking powder, salt, and olive oil are combined to make the dough mixture. Cottage cheese helps keep the dough moist and soft. Mix the dough until it is workable and slightly sticky. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, covered. Egg and baking powder help hold patty ingredients together during cooking. Make handful-sized balls of dough and flatten them. Olive oil will prevent the patties from sticking to the pan during cooking. Mix the dough only enough to knead it into a ball. Excessive mixing of the dough will result in tough flatbreads. Cooked flatbreads should have some browned areas and be slightly puffed and crunchy on the outside with a toasted aroma. To cook flatbreads that are not fully cooked inside, lower the heat and continue to cook. To cook flatbreads that do not brown on the outside, increase the heat of the pan slightly. Cook one flatbread at a time to keep the heat level in the pan consistent. Cover cooked breads with a towel to prevent drying and serve with other dishes such as curries, soups, and yogurt- or cheese-based dips and spreads, including hummus. Bread is typically served warm. Leftover breads will keep for up to two days in an airtight container and can be reheated in a pan for the best texture.
5. Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken With Thai-Inspired Peanut Sauce
Make this recipe for four using a meal planning service. Chop vegetables and prepare sauce one day before serving. Place chicken in the slow cooker on the day you plan to serve. Slow Cooker Peanut Chicken includes chicken cooked in peanut sauce with Thai ingredients and other ingredients, including red bell pepper, lime, and cilantro, for extra flavor. Creamy or chunky peanut butter is mixed with chicken broth, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, and other ingredients. Chicken breasts are baked with diced peppers, onions, and garlic, topped with a peanut butter mixture. The recipe recommends natural peanut butter for better flavor. Red peppers provide sweetness that complements the flavor of the sauce. After slow cooking, the chicken will be fully cooked and covered with mixed peanut sauce rather than separate stripes of peanut butter and broth. Mix the peanut sauce thoroughly before adding it to the chicken to avoid issues with texture. Chicken thighs without bones may be used instead of chicken breasts, though boneless chicken thighs take longer to cook, according to the recipe. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to chicken after cooking. Enjoy with rice, noodles, or other vegetables. Store leftovers, including sauce, in airtight containers for future meals.
6. Easy Oyakodon: Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl With Silky Dashi Sauce
Prepare oyakodon, a Japanese recipe for four, by seasoning the chicken and mixing the dashi sauce ahead. Serve the other components, including eggs and rice, hot or at another temperature. Oyakodon is made with chicken thighs, onions, and a glossy, tasty dashi-based egg sauce. This dish would be suitable as a planned lunch or dinner. Boneless skin-on chicken thighs are marinated in soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, black pepper, and cornstarch. Cornstarch helps the other marinade ingredients adhere to the chicken. Sliced onions are cooked in the same pan. Dashi or chicken or vegetable broth and soy sauce and mirin are added. Soy sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce add sweetness and umami, while the stock forms the sauce base. Boneless skin-on chicken thighs are added and simmered before lightly beaten eggs are added to the pan. The onions need to be sautéed and fragrant by the time the chicken is nearly cooked and browned, flavored by drippings from the pan. Raw eggs added to the sauce when it simmers and covered without stirring will cook. Typical mistakes include overcooking the eggs. Add the eggs as one of the final steps in the recipe, just before serving. Serve the chicken, onion, egg, and sauce over hot rice garnished with chopped green onion. To serve separate portions with equal amounts of sauce, which will soak into the rice, you may need to set aside the garnish. You can use a ladle to portion out the food in the pan, adding onion and sauce to each portion.