Looking for new healthy dinner ideas to make this autumn? Check out our collection of cozy healthy fall dinner recipes featuring simple soups, salads and healthy one-pan meals made with colorful fall fruits and vegetables.
In autumn, when chilly days are getting shorter, you want to fill them with warmth, comfort, and color. Healthy fall recipes are the most comfortable way to enjoy changeable and vivid autumn with bountiful harvests. Packed with fall vegetables like pumpkins, broccoli, carrots, spinach and sweet potatoes fall dinners are healthy and anything, but boring.
What To Eat During Fall
Vegetables and fruits grown during fall survive cold temperatures and, as a result, help your body adjust to cold weather better.Here’s a short list of affordable must-eat healthy fall foods packed with plant-based calcium and vitamins like A and K, as well as other essential compounds. These make the perfect base for healthy fall dinner ideas:
- Brussels Sprouts are immunity-boosting cruciferous veggies that can help improve blood pressure and high cholesterol, thus preventing heart disease, and diabetes.
- Carrots are loaded with vitamin A and beta-carotene. Carrots can support cholesterol balance and bone, heart, and gut health.
- Cauliflower is a hormone- and immune-supporting vegetable that is full of antioxidants, fiber, and phytonutrients. This fall vegetable supports digestion and assists in weight loss.
- Spinach is a wonderful leafy green packed with vitamins, minerals and protein that you can use for smoothies, salads, in soups and stews. Spinach grows pretty well during the mild autumn season and is therefore a great plant to grow in your fall garden.
- Pumpkin is a low-calorie nutrient-dense fall vegetable that might help to boost the immune system, prevent cancer and promote heart and skin health.
- Sweet Potatoes are rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and potassium. They can help enhance brain function, support the immune system and healthy vision.
- Cabbage. Cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables to enjoy when the seasons start turning colder. It might not taste sophisticated like arugula, but cabbage is packed with nutrients and is pretty cheap. Which makes it a winner in my opinion. You can use cabbage as a more nutritious crunchy base for salads instead of lettuce, pack it into lunch wraps or enjoy in soups, stir-fries, stews and curries.
All of these fruits and vegetables can be used in nourishing cozy fall recipes and are featured in the healthy fall dinners that you will find below.
15 Healthy Fall Dinner Recipes
Suitable for different lifestyles and occasions, these delicious healthy fall dinner recipes will please and satisfy vegetarians as well as meat lovers, and fans of the Mediterranean diet. Enjoy a seasonal eating lifestyle and add more colors to your weeknight dinners!
1. Fall Lentil Vegetable Soup
This healthy, spicy lentil vegetable soup with cabbage and mushrooms will undoubtedly warm up your autumn evenings. Easy and nourishing, this vegan fall dish is a comforting healthy choice for dinner on chilly days during autumn. What’s even better is that this lentil soup ready in just 30 minutes.
2. Sweet Potato Moussaka
This hearty sweet potato moussaka skillet made with ground turkey, sweet and regular potatoes is an an easy wholesome dinner. It’s good as it is, but in case you want to take it over the top, make sure to serve the moussaka with some simple yogurt garlic sauce – the combination is amazing. If you like sweet potatoes and moussaka then this flavourful healthy dish will become a fall dinner hit.
3. Easy Stuffed Peppers
Still available at the beginning of fall, red peppers are a great base for healthy fall dinner recipes. Peppers are packed with pro-vitamin A and vitamin C and have that amazing unique flavor. I especially love them cooked or roasted.
If you’re in the mood for something new, try this homemade easy stuffed pepper recipe! Fresh peppers work perfectly with ground beef, rice, onion, and a rich creamy sauce. This is a tasty fall meal prep idea that will provide you with healthy dinners for the week ahead!
4. Easy Chili Con Carne
If you love chili, out of all the seasons fall is the right time to make it more often and experiment with different ingredients to make the perfect healthy fall dish.
This variation of chili con carne is made with corn, black and white beans, warming spices and ground beef and it is SO delicious. Flavorful and nourishing, this fall recipe is cozy, satiating, and super nutritious. It all comes together in just 35 minutes, one pot, and makes the most colorful easy healthy fall family dinner that even picky eaters will love.
5. Homemade Chicken Barley Soup
Homemade chicken soup is one of those meals that everybody loves! It’s satisfying, it’s tasty and the definition of comfort. And what better season than fall to enjoy chicken soup more often? (Well, I guess you can say winter…)
Providing hearty nutrients, this healthy recipe for homemade chicken barley soup will warm your body and soul. Loaded with chicken, barley, potatoes, carrots and butternut squash this filling chicken soup should be a regular in your healthy fall dinner rotation!
6. Creamy Keto Chicken And Vegetables
For keto diet lovers, this creamy keto vegatble and chicken dish will become one of the most practical healthy fall dinner recipes. Enriched with aromatic garlic seasoning, leftover vegetables work perfectly with 3 types of cheese and boneless skinless chicken thighs to make this amazing meal in about 20 minutes.
7. Fall Coconut Curry Noodles
If you’re seriously hungry and lack time, these tasty, easy, and nutritious vegan red curry noodles are just what you need! You’ll find the combination of vegetables, noodles, tofu, and coconut milk is especially filling and it tastes just wonderful. But that’s not where the magic ends…because you can make this amazing spicy fall weeknight dinner in about 15 minutes. Now, that’s pretty magical to me.
8. Lentil, Rice, and Peas Curry Soup
The main ingredients in this healthy lentil curry soup are lentils, peas and rice, complemented by the lovely flavors of coconut milk and red curry paste. I’m telling you, you will love this. Mostly because this super-cozy soup is filling and easy to make. It’s the most comforting healthy dinner to eat on a chilly fall evening.
9. Ground Beef Cabbage Stir-Fry
Here’s a real fall nourishment powerhouse made with cabbage, carrot, red pepper, scallions, and parsley, then complemented by iron- and protein-packed ground beef. You need just 15 minutes of cooking and one pan to make and enjoy this easy and healthy fall dinner skillet!
10. Perfect Healthy Bean Soup
The best things in life are pretty simple…exhibit A: this healthy bean soup that you can make with few ingredients, in one pot and within about 20 minutes. Canned beans are cooked with tomatoes, mint and onions to create this hearty fall dinner that has the potential to become a family-favorite comfort meal for busy weeknights.
11. Ground Beef & Broccoli Fried Quinoa
With protein-rich ground beef and healthy fall vegetables like broccoli, carrots and spinach this easy quinoa recipe is another favorite meal prep fall recipe. Utilizing cooked quinoa, made in just one pan and ready in about 20 minutes this is the perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner.
12. Sweet Potato Salmon Bowls With Brussels Sprouts
Rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3s, these healthy sweet potato salmon bowls are one of my favorite healthy fall recipes! Additionally, if you’re a fan of meal prep, this meal is great for meal prep too!
These wonderfully healthy autumn dinner bowls are filled with yummy mashed sweet potatoes, pan-seared Brussels sprouts, and salmon.
What really brings the whole thing together though are the cashew garlic sauce and the pickled jalapenos. These two additions just send the bowls to the next level, because they provide such a beautifully fresh and flavorful contrast to the mild comforting flavors of the cooked ingredients.
13. Healthy Fall Chicken Salad
Sometimes during fall, you might actually be craving a salad and when that happens, remember this healthy fall chicken salad.
Some of the highlights here include roasted pumpkin, roasted peppers, feta cheese and rotisserie chicken. All complemented by fresh fall vegetables like lettuce and cabbage.
While this salad may, let’s just say it, not look very appeasing, it is actually mouth-watering and super good for you. As a bonus, you only need 10 minutes to throw it together and can use up some leftover chicken while doing so!
14. Easy Chickpea Soup
Got some canned garbanzo beans? Then this comforting healthy chickpea soup should be on your list of quick and easy fall dinners, because it’s simple and tastes wonderful.
Made with nourishing ingredients like onions, spices, garlic and spinach this chickpea soup is a great hearty vegan dinner. Moreover, if you’re short on time, the good news is you can cook the entire thing in 20 minutes.
15. Bulgur, Red Lentil and Butternut Squash Skillet
Looking for an easy, warming meatless weeknight dinner? Then you should try this delicious one-pan wonder with lentils, bulgur, butternut squash and spinach!
This satiating vegan meal provides a healthy blend of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that aid weight loss and support digestion and gut health. Ready in just 30 minutes, this vegan skillet is one of the best healthy vegan fall dinner ideas.
Eat With The Seasons
Eating with the seasons is highly beneficial for our well-being because it allows us to get the most out of local produce grown in season-specific weather and conditions.
Fall in particular is a great period for seasonal eating since it’s harvest time and food is highly nutritious and cheap. Autumn offers a huge variety of vibrant and nourishing fruits and vegetables that you can and should include into your diet. From healthy greens like spinach and arugula, to carotene-packed pumpkins and carrots, fall produce provides everything you need to stay healthy when seasons are changing.
Embrace fall produce and experiment in the kitchen to create healthy fall dinners and recipes for the whole family.
I hope you enjoy this collection of simple, comforting and healthy fall recipes and share these simple delicious dinner ideas with your loved ones!
Healthy Fall Dinners
Yield: 3
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Need some new healthy dinner ideas to make this autumn? Get cozy and enjoy this recipe collection of healthy fall dinners featuring simple soups, salads and healthy one-pan meals made with colorful fall fruits and vegetables.
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 cup butternut squash, chopped (or other vegetable)
- 1/2 cup red lentils (soaked)
- 1/2 cup bulgur, coarse
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, washed
- 1/3 cup tomato sauce or 2 small tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 tsp cumin (dry, ground)
- 1/2 tsp coriander (dry, ground)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp hot red pepper flakes (or paprika)
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large pan at medium-high, heat the chopped onion, minced garlic and butternut squash with 1 tbps olive oil for about 2 min, stirring.
- Add cumin, coriander, turmeric, red pepper flakes, black pepper, stir.
- Add tomatoes or tomato sauce, stir. Then add lentils and bulgur and 1/2 to 1 tsp salt (you might need to add more salt later).
- Add 2/3 cup hot water, stir well together. Cover with lid and let cook at medium for 7-8 min. Add the mint and cook a little more - about 7-8 more minutes, until red lentils and bulgur are ready.
- Take off heat and sprinkle some olive oil (about 1 tbsp). Stir again.
- Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley or more mint.
Nutrition Information
Yield 3 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 216Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 0mgSodium 411mgCarbohydrates 29gFiber 8gSugar 7gProtein 7g
