Clean eating is one of those trendy terms people like to throw out there—and nobody really knows what it means. So we find ourselves asking if we can consider our meal “clean” if it has an iota of wheat, natural sweetener (another mysterious food term), or sea salt.
Nutritionist Tosco Reno, author of the Eat Clean Diet, has a simple way of defining clean eating. “Eating clean is about choosing fresh, whole foods with all of their nutrients intact,” she says. That means trying to avoid processed foods, including healthy things like unsweetened almond milk (unless it's homemade), as well as foods with added processed sugar.
To prove it's not as tough or tasteless as it sounds, we rounded up these recipes. All are made with common ingredients (no need for fancy superfood powders or spices you'll never use again) and contain loads of flavor, color, and satisfaction - plus health benefits because who doesn't like those? And no, they're not all kale salad. Time to get your taste buds out of the fast-food gutter and come to the clean side!
BREAKFAST
1. Cake Batter Chia Pudding
Not everyone loves the gelatinous texture that chia seeds develop when mixed with liquid, but here things are helped along when dates, almond butter, and oats come together to fake the delightful sweetness of cake batter. Not that we have any idea what cake batter tastes like, of course. And we're sure you don't either. (It's our little secret.)
2. Everyday Oatmeal With Amaranth, Coconut, and Maple Sautéed Apples
This breakfast is like eating apple pie without the crust, so you definitely want to bookmark this page. Amaranth is a grain that has slightly more protein than quinoa does, and here it gives a naturally sweet crunch. While the blogger who created this recipe uses homemade almond milk (because she’s a chef), you can simply cook the oats in water.
3. Healthy Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies
We love that this recipe is on a blog called Ambitious Kitchen - and that it has two ingredients. This is the kind of ambition we can get behind! Bananas and oats may be enough for you (and make surprisingly sweet breakfast cookies), but the addition of things like cacao nibs and nuts makes things more fun. Gasp: Four ingredients? Now we’re cooking!
4. Raw Buckwheat Porridge
Soak buckwheat overnight to get yourself an easy grab-and-go breakfast with about 6.5 grams of protein from the groats alone. We like to top with a big dollop of nut butter for extra protein and healthy fats to keep us energized all morning, no matter how long that meeting drags on.
5. Skinny Omelette
There has been a resurgence of the egg, and we're 100 percent behind this shift in popularity. Eggs are a great source of protein and vitamin B12, which is key for a healthy nervous system and metabolism. Turn the egg into a tortilla and top it with homemade pesto (check out our recipe), goat cheese, and greens, or try guac and salsa.
6. Cucumber Berry Breakfast Pasta
How often do you wake up and think: I could go for a hefty serving of pasta? This recipe could change all of that. Cucumber noodles are topped with berries, basil, kiwi, sesame seeds, and lime juice for a crispy, sweet morning meal. We think there's something very satisfying about twirling your breakfast and slurping it unabashedly.
7. Sweet Potato Cakes
Sweet potatoes and fiber-filled coconut flour make these cakes sweet enough that you don't need any syrup on top. Or go savory at breakfast and top with veggies and avocado. Either way, they're great alone or as a replacement for hash browns.
LUNCH
8. Zucchini Boats
Our lunch is on a boat! (We couldn't help it.) These zucchinis are carved out and filled to the brim with nutrient-dense brown rice, lentils, herbs, nuts, and dried fruit. It's a great switch for when you're bored of bringing zoodles to work and don't know what to do with the rest of the summer squash you bought.
9. Berry, Arugula, and Quinoa Salad With Lemon-Chia Seed Dressing
A little bit sweet and a little bit savory, this salad travels really well. And while we love greens and fruit, the addition of quinoa and walnuts brings the satisfaction, plus omega-3s from the nuts. If you're feeling crafty, layer everything into a mason jar for easy, pretty portability.
10. Chilled Asparagus Soup
Minimal cooking, lots of blender time, and easy to transport: This creamy and satisfying soup is a winner. Asparagus is a good source of vitamin A, which helps to form and maintain healthy skin and teeth. Plus, you know what they say: An avocado a day keeps unhappiness at bay. OK, we say that.
11. Black Bean and Quinoa Salad
We are going to do our best not to over-quinoa you, but this salad is super colorful, easy, and delicious. Here is what we love about it: It's a little spicy with the addition of jalapeños and a little sweet with the navel oranges. What more do you want in a food (or in a person for that matter)? Cooking skills needed: Boiling water, opening cans, chopping, and stirring things together. It makes a big batch, so serve some for dinner, then pack the leftovers to bring to the office since it's tasty warm or chilled.
12. Tahini Salad With Shiitakes and Arugula
Tahini has a hefty dose of calcium, which is one of the most important minerals in the body (it even helps you to squeeze your muscles!). Use this dressing on top of a simple salad of spicy arugula, warm shiitake mushrooms, and a hard-boiled egg. Warning: You may need some gum after eating. This drizzle has tons of garlic!
13. Collard Wraps and Satay-Style Dipping Sauce
Collard wraps can sometimes leave you wanting more (literally, we're hungry an hour later), but not with these! The filling of chicken, strawberries, mango, cucumber, and avocado is great, but the real star is the sauce. Almond butter and coconut cream make it super rich, while ginger and a little chili spice it up a bit.
14. Warm Farro Salad With Roasted Artichoke Hearts
Though it takes a while to cook, farro, a wild cousin of wheat, is super easy to make. Topped with tomatoes, artichokes, and leeks, this Mediterranean dish travels well and will taste good hot or cold on your lunch break.
DINNER
15. Black Bean Plantain Veggie Burgers With Avocado
Homemade veggie burgers are way healthier than packaged ones, but they often require a grocery list filled with ingredients, or they end up soft with a consistency similar to hummus. These are neither and they're super delicious. The plantains add a hint of sweet, and there's a slight kick from chipotle powder. Extra baked plantains on the side make this a meal.
16. Kale, Slivered Brussels Sprouts, and Soba Noodles
This is one of those super easy recipes for those days when you come home from work too tired to wait for a meal to simmer but your health (and perhaps budget) refuses to give in to takeout. Shred kale and Brussels sprouts, toss with a simple dressing, and then add soba noodles, which is made from buckwheat and has a nice nutty flavor.
17. Everyday Buddha Bowl
The images of Buddha show him with a distended belly, but we are pretty sure that won’t be the case with this clean-living bowl. This recipe calls for sauerkraut. Make sure you avoid the ones loaded with preservatives and stick to the varieties made with cabbage, salt, and water—or just get on the kimchi train.
18. Embarrassingly Easy Crock-Pot Salsa Chicken Thighs
We aren’t embarrassed. The result of throwing a few things in a slow cooker means that dinner is ready when we get home—plus we have fewer dishes to clean up. Go ahead and buy premade salsa. Just read the ingredients list: Eating clean is all about keeping it simple. Serve this shredded chicken on top of a Mexican-inspired salad.
19. Lentil Tamarind BBQ Burgers With Chickpea Fries
Admittedly, this burger recipe has a few more ingredients. However, it is worth the brief sautéing and chopping because you will be left with hearty vegan burgers. If you want to keep it simple, top with your favorite clean burger fixings. But the chickpea fries are totally worth it too.
20. Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl
A burrito is portable, but the best part is the insides, which is why we like bowls. This version uses cauliflower rice to cut the carbs and the bloat. Top with homemade guacamole, garbanzo beans, corn, pico de gallo, and cilantro, and you're ready to dive in!
21. Zucchini Noodles With Cilantro Lime Chicken
This is one of those dinners that comes together in a matter of minutes, which is great for those days when you arrive home ready to eat your own arm. Plus, chances are the only ingredient you may need to buy is the zucchini.
22. Sweet Potato Tofu Curry
This curry dish tastes rich and is filling thanks to protein-rich tofu and satisfying coconut milk. Tofu has received a bad rep as a processed food, so buy an organic brand that has three ingredients or less. Serve this easy dinner over your favorite grain or on its own.
23. Creamy Polenta With Crispy Beets
This is a big old bowl of comfort. The crispy baked beets (save extra for snacking) contrasts with creamy polenta, and is topped with dairy-free pesto that comes together in a flash in the food processor. You'll have leftover pesto, but we don't consider that a problem.
DESSERT
24. Chocolate Cashew Cream Cupcakes
No eggs, no dairy, and no flour means that these won’t taste like your usual cupcakes—instead, they're super rich and crazy good. And just as easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for them to set in the freezer. You can find cacao butter in a health food store or online. It's rich in oleic aid, which has anti-inflammatory benefits .
25. Summer Berry Cashew Cream Pie
There's nothing like sweet, fresh berries in summer, and eating them non-stop (as we're known to) means you're getting fiber and anthocyanins, flavonoids that fight inflammation, cancer, and heart disease . Here a two-ingredient crust is filled with rich cashew cream and topped with the jeweled fruit for the perfect no-bake end to a cookout.
26. Salted Caramel Tahini Cups
What was caramel before someone added a dash of sea salt? We don’t even want to think about it. This is a way that you can put dates and coconut oil to a very interesting and delicious use. Store them in the freezer—mostly to save you from yourself. (We'd eat them all at once too.)
27. Banoffee Pie
Take basic healthy ingredients like almond butter, dates, and bananas and make them into something even more appetizing than a smoothie. It may look like a lot of work, but the dough comes together in seconds, and both it and the toffee are just food processor magic. The main thing you need to remember is to chill your coconut milk overnight and you are good to go, using those spotty bananas in perhaps your favorite way.
28. Flour-Free Black Bean Brownies
We were skeptical of black beans in brownies too, until we tried them ourselves. Masked with cocoa powder, it is an amazing way to make sure you aren’t depriving yourself of your brownie quota. Taken separately, all of the ingredients read like a nutritionist’s dream. Taken together, you get brownies. Enough said.
29. One-Ingredient Ice Cream
Banana soft serve is nothing new, but we are still excited about it, especially when we add some raw almonds, cocoa powder, or cardamom on top. It's quite possibly the easiest dessert or snack ever.
