28 Easy 300 Calorie Meals

If you are looking to lower your daily calorie intake, there are many different ways to go about this.

However, one of the most effective ways to do this is by making changes to the meals which you eat.

People tend to get stuck in patterns and routines of what we eat since it is simply easier and less confusing to remember.

However, if you implement some healthier or lower calorie recipes into your diet, you will be able to get an overall healthier lifestyle.

By just knowing a few more low calorie meal options, you can make these when you feel like you want a lighter meal and to ensure that you do not resort to a lazier and less healthy option.

There is a stereotype that cooking healthy meals is expensive and requires too much effort, this list is here to prove this wrong with most of the recipes that have been included proving that cooking a low calorie meal does not have to be difficult, but also does need expensive ingredients easier.

Most of these recipes have been designed to be easy to make with a limited budget so even if you can not afford most pre-made healthy meals, these recipes will still be options and make it easier for you to eat healthy with limited options.

This list is also aiming to prove to readers that eating low-calorie foods does not have to be a struggle, and you can still eat foods you enjoy without having to feel guilty about anything.

These meals can easily fit into a balanced diet and are here to give you options for a lighter meal if you want something less heavy depending on your mood.

These meals are all delicious if made well, so you do not have to worry about being miserable while eating low calorie.

If you feel like eating low calorie food has always been bad for you, and you have struggled to find any recipes which are easy to make or have affordable ingredients, we have gathered 28 easy recipes here to show you how simple this process can be!

1.Healthy Chicken Lettuce

These chicken wraps are super healthy but also bursting with flavor!

This super seasoned chicken compliments the lettuce wraps perfectly which add a great texture to these finger foods.

You can have some freedom as well with how you season the chicken making this an easy meal to adapt if you start to cook it quite often!

2.Skinny Oven Fried Chicken

While on a weight loss journey, you may start to crave certain foods which you assume are unhealthy, but just because some foods are less healthy than others, does not mean you can not adapt them to be healthier.

This is what has been done by this recipe where you are frying your chicken in the oven to make it healthier and using cornflakes for the breadcrumbs to make it even healthier.

You would not expect this ‘fried’ chicken to be so delicious and easy to make, but the results speak for themselves!

3.Chorizo And Chickpea, Sweet Potato Stew

This stew is super filling and encapsulates a lot of delicious flavors with the combination of chorizo and chickpeas being super yummy!

4.Baked Tilapia With Lemon And Capers

Not everyone has cooked with tilapia before, but it is a fish with a quite mild taste which takes on flavor very well, so this recipe flavoring it with lemon and capers is perfect for pairing with different sides.

This fish is only 172 calories per serving giving you freedom with want you want to serve it with, so if you have never tried tilapia before, this is your excuse to do so!

5.Balsamic Roast Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin, surprisingly is a super easy cut of meat to work with, and luckily it is also quite a lean meat making it a great choice for low calorie meals like this.

The balsamic seasoning lends this dish a delicious flavor and by the time it is done cooking, the smell of this pork is mouthwatering.

6.Sticky Chicken Traybake

This sticky chicken tray bake is super easy to make and will trick you into forgetting this dish is meant to be healthy.

If you want a low effort dinner for a crowd, this is the perfect recipe.

7.Grilled Lemon Chicken

Grilled chicken is a common recommendation when it comes to low calorie meals, but it is quite easy to mess up and make unappetizing, but this flavorful lemon chicken will talk you through the process to make it easy.

This is the perfect type of meat to serve with a salad with its zesty flavors matching perfectly.

If you are looking for a summery low calorie meal, this is the perfect choice!

8.Steak Salad

Steak is not everyones first thought when it comes to diet food, but this recipe will give you the perfect tender steak, and it is also super easy to cook and does not even take that long.

The steak is perfectly seasoned to be full of flavor with the use of pepper, salt, paprika, onion and garlic powder, as well as thyme.

If you love steak, and you have been wondering if there is a healthier way to enjoy it, try this recipe, and you will be surprised at how easy it is to get satisfying results!

9.Hawaiian Style Chicken Noodle Bowls

These healthy Hawaiian noodle bowls are super easy to make and extra filling if you want a nice simple meal to give you the energy you need!

10.Shrimp And Sausage Jambalaya

If you have never tried jambalaya, this is a perfect place to start, it is low-carb and full of flavor.

Once you have learned how to make it, it is also super easy to customize and add your own ingredients, seasonings, or sides to serve it with.

11.Low Calorie Creamy Vegetable Soup

If you love creamy soup, but you are worried it will be hard to make while still remaining low calorie, this is the perfect recipe including loads of veggies to make this soup even healthier for you!

The flavor is incredible including cauliflower, garlic, onion, and zucchini!

12.Spicy Southwestern Style Salad With Avocado Dressing

This salad is full of flavor and super easy to make and with all the ingredients included, one portion is enough to fill you up!

13.Pepper Steak With Fried Onions, Tomato And Spinach

This is one of the most delicious ways to good steaks, and the combination of onion and pepper really give the meat a strong flavor which is worth the effort it takes to make.

If you are worried about the potential calories in steak dishes, this meal will prove you wrong!

14.Potato Pancakes

While you may think potatoes will never show up on a list like this, these potato pancakes manage to be on this list because they are not fried in oil for too long making them the perfect low calorie side dish!

15.Egg Roll In A Bowl

If you love egg rolls, and you have been craving their flavor, this deconstructed egg roll is the perfect way to enjoy them in a much healthier form!

16.Low Calorie Chicken Teriyaki

One of the most delicious ways to prepare chicken is with a teriyaki dressing, and this recipe makes it low calorie.

On top of being healthy, this chicken teriyaki is super quick to make and uses ingredients which you probably already have in.

17.Skinny Southwestern Chicken Soup

This is another deliciously creamy and meaty soup which is super easy to make, and the secret to its amazing texture and still remaining low calorie is the inclusion of pumpkin purée.

This recipe is super easy to make in large batches, so if you love meal prepping, this is a great choice!

18.Vegan Enchilada Casserole

This casserole is super easy to make and perfect for anyone being vegan!

19.Healthy Minestrone Soup

If you love minestrone, but you have never been able to find a low calorie version of it, this recipe gives you the perfect way to make minestrone soup but in a low calorie form, and it is probably cheaper and much healthier than the original!

20.Shrimp Tacos With A Cilantro Lime Sauce

The best way to make a tortilla recipe like this so low calorie is to use corn tortillas as this makes them much healthier (see also ‘28 Of The Easiest Recipes Which Use Tortillas‘).

These shrimp tacos are full of flavor, and it will also teach you a delicious way to season shrimp with this simple cilantro lime seasoning!

21.Pot Red Posole

If you love Mexican food, you have to try this easy posole which includes plenty of healthy ingredients for a perfect low calorie meal.

22 .Tortilla Pizza

If you love thin crust pizza and want a low calorie way to recreate it, this recipe is the answer to your prayers, by substituting a tortilla for the pizza base you are taking out a lot of the effort involved in making pizza.

And just like making a normal pizza this is super easy to customize meaning they can fit anyones taste if you know what to top them with!

23.Stuffed Bell Peppers

If you are worried about finding a healthy way to incorporate protein into your diet, these stuffed bell peppers are a great way to do so and they are also super filling too!

24.Tofu Stir Fry

If you love tofu and want a simple low calorie way to prepare it, this recipe is a perfect way to do so!

25.Healthy 300 Calorie Lasagna

Many assume there is no easy way to make lasagna low calorie, but this recipe proves otherwise.

The sliced pasta sheets are replaced by zucchini, and with how flavorful the filling is you will hardly notice the difference!

26.Healthy Taco Salad

Taco meat is delicious in any form and this yummy taco salad is the perfect way to prove this being a great way to rework leftovers.

27.Zucchini Noodle Garlic Parmesan Pasta

Using zucchini noodles is a great way to make pasta healthy, and the Parmesan garlic flavorings will make you forget that this dish is supposed to be healthy!

28.Asparagus And Shrimp Stir Fry

Stir frying this asparagus and shrimp is a great way to cook these ingredients and once done it is a super filling and deliciously seasoned meal!

Takeaway

As you can tell from this list, there are plenty of options for easy and affordable 300 calorie meals which you can fit into your daily routine easily.

Try choosing a couple from this list to make first and then work your way up from there.

Of course keep in mind that the specific calories of your meal will depend on your portion size and any sides or drinks you consume with it, however, these meals are all designed to be around 300 calories per portion.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Is 300 Calories

While people talk about calories a lot, it is surprising how many people struggle to visualize what calories look like when it comes to portion sizes and what foods and meals they are equivalent to.

There are many picture guides online which display portion sizes of foods and show what they are equivalent to, but we will give some examples of what 300 calories are here to help you get a grasp of this certain amount.

For breakfast a bowl of a healthy cereal with a banana and hot beverage is around 300 calories.

The same is true for a simple oatmeal breakfast or scrambled eggs with toast.

For lunch options, a lot of salads, some soups, and even a simple baked potato are all 300 calories.

Lots of simple chicken and vegetable dinners are normal examples of 300 calorie dinners, but dinners like tortellini, and fish are also good examples.

What Are Calories

Calories are actually a unit of energy which are used to display how much energy a dish will be able to give you.

When you are eating or drinking more calorie content than what you are using through different activities, the excess amount of calories will be stored in the body as fat and if done regularly, this will lead to weight gain.

There are general recommended calorie intakes for different demographics which all depend on different categories and aspects of life, for example; age, gender, or medical status.

While calories are often villainized, and it is often recommended by people to keep your intake down, it is sometimes overlooked that we do in fact need calories to function and if we do not intake food and drink, which have calories, we will not be able to complete standard bodily functions like walking or breathing.

This is why it is generally recommended to try and match your daily activity to your calorie intake to lead a healthy lifestyle as well as maintain a stable weight.

Nowadays, most foods will have their calorie amount clearly labelled, and a lot of menus in restaurants are also starting to follow this as well.

However, make sure to not obsess over your calorie intake too much as this can lead to an unhealthy attitude towards food which will not just affect you negatively, but can also affect those around you and negatively impact your relationships.

What Is The Recommended Daily Calorie Intake

As previously mentioned, your daily calorie intake depends on a lot of different factors and there are calculators for helping you work out a specific amount depending on all your personal details.

However, for adult men the daily recommended calorie intake is 2500 calories and for women this is 2000 calories.

However, there are many factors that can affect this number with some of the most common being; your age, the lifestyle you live, and your height and weight.

There are also factors which will affect how efficiently your body can burn calories, these include; the hormones which your body produces (the most common issue being thyroid hormones), the medicine which you could be on, and your general wellness and medical status (for example pregnancy).

If you want to lose weight the best thing to do would be to contact a dietitian or similar medical professional and get advice you trust on what the healthiest weight for you to be and get advice on how to get there.

This advice could be altering your diet which is where the information found in this article will become useful, but there are also sometimes different, preferred methods, like altering your daily activities.

What Is A Calorie Deficit?

This is a term which is thrown around a lot when it comes to weight loss, but many people do not actually know its proper definition.

This is when you are providing your body with fewer calories than what you are in taking meaning that your body will be working with a calorie deficit, if this is done consistently you will eventually lose weight, the opposite of this is a calorie surplus.

A general recommendation for weight loss is a calorie deficit of 500 calories and this should not affect your appetite too much.

But make sure to get a proper recommendation if you can as going on a calorie deficit which is not healthy for you can end up with inverse results and can be quite dangerous.

Similar to how personal details can affect what makes a healthy daily calorie intake, the same is for your calorie deficit, for example, you should not aim for a calorie deficit if you are pregnant or unwell. 

Similar to some previous points, do not let your aim for a calorie deficit give you an unhealthy relationship with food as this can have very dangerous consequences.

What Is The Healthiest Time Of Day To Eat?

Recent studies have shown that the time of day at which you eat can affect how your body processes food and this can help with weight loss efforts.

While this does not line up with actual hours in the day, but more to do with your daily cycle.

For example, it is recommended to try and keep a constant routine with when you eat as this allows your body to grow more accustomed.

It is also shown that eating more, earlier in the day rather than later can help with losing weight, so if this is your goal, then snacking earlier in the day will stop you feeling hungrier throughout the day, while snacking at night is usually just attacking cravings and this will be more difficult to burn off.