10 Surprisingly Healthy Mexican Dinner Ideas
Famous for its sour cream, nachos, queso and and over-stuffed burritos, Mexican cuisine doesn’t exactly have a great reputation when it comes to healthy eating.
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But Mexican cuisine doesn’t have to be super heavy and greasy — in fact, there are plenty of Mexican dinner recipes that are both light, delicious and chock full of nutrition.
From a dangerously tasty five-minute guacamole (because who doesn’t look for an opportunity to consume as much guac as possible?) to fresh grilled fish tacos — there’s a little something for everyone.
1. Five-Minute Guacamole
Guacamole is one of those rare foods that’s healthy as it is pleasing to the palette. Just one cup of guac provides you 15.4 grams of the daily-recommended 20 grams of fibre your body needs, plus, it adds flavour and creaminess to just about any dish. Get the recipe
2. Chicken And Mashed Pinto Bean Tacos
Just one cup of boiled pinto beans offers up 15 grams of lean protein. Perhaps most impressive though, is the calorie-to-fat ratio in a cup of pinto beans: coming in at 245 calories and 1 gram of fat per cup. Get the recipe
3. Pork In Salsa Verde
Sure, this recipe may require more prep than the others, but the overnight wait while the pork marinates is well worth the wait. The spiciness of the salsa verde with its jalapeno peppers fires things up enhance the flavour of the pork loin. Plus, every three-ounce serving of pork loin contains up to 17.8 grams of protein, and 210 milligrams of phosphorus (30% of your recommended daily intake) which your body needs to maintain strong and healthy bone tissue. Get the recipe
4. Roasted Pork Fajita Salad
Allow us to introduce you to an even healthier variation on a traditional pork loin meal — the roasted pork fajita salad! This dish’s claim to fame is its bell peppers, which are just 45 calories per cup and also rich in vitamin C, which keeps your skin looking young and beautiful. Get the recipe.
5. Chicken Tortilla Soup
This chicken tortilla soup packs plenty of spice with it’s green chilies, and provides your body hearty servings of both protein (from the beans) and essential carbohydrates. The sodium content can run a bit high, so you may want to enjoy this recipe in moderation if you’re watching your sodium intake. Get the recipe
6. Zesty Steak Fajitas
This one’s an immediate crowd pleaser, and packed full of essential vitamins and minerals from green bell peppers, tomato and onion. We dug up a helpful healthy insider tip for you guys on this one: try washing down the steak with water before you go to cook it in the skillet, in order to shed excess fats. Get the recipe
7. Margaritaville Grilled Chicken
The only thing that could make this tasty dish better would be you enjoying it from a beach with a margarita! We’ll add that the cumin, oregano, and chili powder work well together to enrich the flavor complexity of this recipe variation on the traditional grilled chicken. Get the recipe
8. Fajita Burger
This recipe’s dangerously tasty for those members of the foodie community that already enjoy fajitas and/or burgers. This “burger” includes poblano peppers, which have .55 grams of protein and are only 13 calories per serving. Love all things spicy? This is your meal! Get the recipe
9. Veracruz Style Fish
This light and fresh recipe packs an extra spicy punch with a hearty serving of jalapenos alongside three tablespoons of jalapeno juice. The red snapper in this recipe contains 70% of your recommended selenium intake per 100 grams, and a nice helping of lean protein. Get the recipe
10. Easy Mexican Meatloaves
As with most the Mexican-inspired recipes this one has yet another southwestern kick to it, with up to a cup of your chosen salsa — the spicier, the better! Get the recipe