Our 23 Best Summer Foods for Weight Loss

These delicious lunch recipes are some of our best, with 4 and 5 star ratings from our readers! To help you feel full, they’re high in fiber or protein (or both) with 6 grams of fiber and 15 grams of protein per serving. They are also low in calories, which can support weight loss, and are made with delicious summer produce like zucchini and bell peppers. Try our Chicken & Kale Taco Salad with Jalapeño-Avocado Ranch and Veggie & Hummus Sandwich for a delicious and healthy summer lunch.

Chicken & Kale Taco Salad with Jalapeño-Avocado Ranch

This healthy, super-quick salad recipe swaps out romaine for kale, giving you 10 times the vitamin C. Simple flavor hacks like store-bought ranch and roasted jalapenos help make the dressing. delicious, sweet and delicious you will want to drool. on everything from salads to chopped veggies and grilled chicken.

Shrimp Cobb Salad with Dijon Dressing

We’ve replaced the chicken with shrimp in this delicious and easy Cobb salad recipe for this satisfying meal that only takes 20 minutes to prepare.

Veggie and Hummus Sandwich

Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Styling: Margaret Monroe Dickey


This mile-long veggie sandwich with hummus makes for a healthy vegetarian lunch. Mix it with different flavors of hummus and different types of vegetables, according to your taste.

Chickpea Tuna Salad

Photography / Caitlin Bensel, Food Styling / Ruth Blackburn

This chickpea tuna salad with capers, feta and cucumber makes for a perfect lunch to take to work or school. You can prepare the salad the night before (make sure to keep the spinach separate and dress the salad before serving).

Bowls of Grilled Shrimp, Pesto & Quinoa

These shrimp, pesto and quinoa bowls are delicious, healthy, beautiful and take less than 30 minutes to prepare. Feel free to add vegetables and substitute shrimp for chicken, steak, tofu or edamame.

No-Cook Black Bean Salad

The vegan black bean salad dressing gets its flavor from the blended avocado. Any combination of salad greens will work well, but try arugula if you want to give this salad a hearty flavor.

Green goddess salad with chickpeas

In this cucumber, tomato, Swiss cheese, and chickpea salad recipe, a healthy green goddess dressing is made with avocado, buttermilk, and herbs. The extra dressing is great to use with roasted vegetables.

Chimichurri Noodle Bowls

We combine whole-grain spaghetti and zucchini noodles to add volume and save calories in these easy, flavor-packed bowls to prepare, topped with a light sauce and herby chimichurri.

Chipotle Chicken Quinoa Burrito Bowl

This delicious burrito bowl features grilled chicken topped with a delicious chipotle glaze. Loading it with vegetables and using quinoa instead of rice adds nutrition for a healthy meal.

Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

This delicious vegan salad has plant-based ingredients: peas, quinoa and hummus. We love the crunch of sunflower seeds and the unexpected flavor of roasted peppers.

Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajita Bowls

Skip the tortillas in favor of this warm fajita salad, which features a hearty chicken mix with roasted kale, peppers, and black beans. The chicken, beans and vegetables are all cooked in one pan, so this healthy meal is easy to cook and easy to clean.

Chicken Quinoa Fried Rice

Fried rice always gets a boost of protein when rice is swapped for quinoa in this dinner recipe. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand—broccoli, green beans, and mushrooms are great choices for this quinoa fried rice. Serve with hot sauce, if desired.

Chopped Cobb Salad with a delicious garlic dressing

Joy Howard

Instead of bacon, this satisfying salad uses store-bought chickpeas for lower fat content and less prep time. Using fresh herbs, bright citrus and a delicious base of yogurt and mayonnaise for the dressing gives it a delicious taste.

Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad Bowls

Pasta salad is a classic summer dish, but adding protein (leftover roast chicken is perfect here) and some vegetables makes it a very satisfying lunch. We use baby spinach, but arugula or baby kale work too. Top with a light and sweet basil vinaigrette before serving.

Delicious Ramen Noodle Cup Soup

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster


In just 15 minutes, you can make three bowls of vegetable ramen soup to bring to work or school. These cup soups not only save time, but they also contain protein from hard-boiled eggs, which will help keep you full until your next meal.

Chicken Hummus Bowls

The spiced chicken on these bowls is prepared quickly with the help of a broiler. Serve with a warm whole wheat pita for scooping up extra hummus in the bottom of the bowl.

Spicy Slaw Bowls with Shrimp & Edamame

A quick 10-minute Spicy Cabbage Slaw serves as the low-carb base for this veggie-packed lunch. Topped with protein-rich edamame and shrimp, this satisfying lunch will get you through the afternoon.

Avocados with salmon

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Lydia Purcell


Canned salmon is a pantry staple and an effective way to include heart-healthy, omega-3-rich fish in your diet. Here, we combine it with avocados for a simple no-cook meal.

Lemony Lentil Salad with Feta

Jason Donnelly

This delicious and healthy lentil salad comes together in just 30 minutes and makes a great hot weather meal. Serve with whole wheat pitas, if desired.

Spring Roll Salad

This healthy spring-inspired salad explodes with rainbow colors from lots of fresh greens, shrimp and whole grains tossed in a peanut dressing for a super satisfying salad.

White Bean & Avocado Sandwich

White beans are finely ground into a delicious protein-packed snack for a satisfying healthy sandwich that makes for an easy lunch or dinner. Mix it up by trying it with canned peas or black beans. This vegetable sandwich recipe is also a fiber superstar: avocado, beans, greens and whole wheat bread provide 15 grams of fiber, which is more than half of what most women should aim for per day. .

Peanut Zoodles and Edamame

Photo by: Carolyn A. Hodges, RD

A packet of fresh zucchini noodles are tossed with edamame scallions and store-bought peanut sauce in these 5-minute, no-cook vegetable noodle bowls. Because prepared sauces and dressings tend to be high in sodium, check the label and choose those with 150 mg sodium or less per tablespoon.

Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl

Photography: Carson Downing, Food Stylist: Holly Dresman, Prop Stylist: Gabe Greco


This black bean and quinoa bowl has many of the usual hallmarks of a taco salad, except for the fried bowl. We topped it with pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and avocado along with a simple hummus dressing to drizzle on top.

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