Lighter Dinners: 350 Calories or Less Per Serving

How we cook lighter meals on a weeknight

Vegetables doing real work in a dish, not just sitting beside it, is most of the trick: roasted or seared until they brown, stirred into a soup, or built into a sauce, so a smaller portion of meat still reads as a full plate.

Broth, tomatoes, beans and a squeeze of citrus add volume and brightness for very few calories, which is why so many lighter dinners lean on a soup, stew or stir-fry base.

The calorie number is a planning tool for comparing recipes, not a daily target. How many calories any one person needs varies, so use it alongside your own judgment, not as medical advice.

Short on time? Baked Tilapia with Lemon Garlic Butter is the quickest here at 20 min, with 8 min of hands-on work.