8 Easy and Delicious Meals to Make using High Volume, Low-Calorie Foods
Whether you’re calorie counting or following a diet plan like Weight Watchers, high volume, low-calorie foods are your best friend on a slimming journey. On a healthy diet you should be able to eat all the foods you love, in moderation, and never feel hungry.
Choosing food that is filling, but low in calories, will mean that you feel satisfied for longer, so you’ll be less tempted to reach for sugary snacks. With the right ingredients, and these tasty recipes, you’ll be well on your way towards smashing your slimming goals!
What are high volume, low-calorie foods?
When food is low in calories, you can indulge in more of it! That’s exactly what high volume, low-calorie eating is all about. If you build your meals around ingredients that fill your plate, without piling on the calories, you’ll never go hungry.
Most fruits and vegetables fit into this category, but you can enjoy lots of other foods that you might not realise. There are sources of protein such as fish and eggs, as well as dairy products including yoghurt and cottage cheese.
It’s important to have balance, so you should pair these foods with nutrient-rich, higher-calorie ingredients to create healthy, satisfying meals.
We’ve picked out a few of our favourite recipes that use high volume, low-calorie foods to give you a little bit of inspiration for your next meal plan!
Cauliflower and Chicken Fried Rice
While it’s still important to eat grains such as rice, you’ll fill your plate for far fewer calories when you cook with vegetables instead. If you’re feeling ravenous, a bowl of our Cauliflower and Chicken Fried Rice will never leave you hungry.
Cauliflower rice is filling, yet low in calories, so it makes a tasty alternative to the real thing in this recipe. Thanks to our nifty ingredient swap, a portion of the takeaway-inspired dish works out at just 255 calories.
With plenty of protein from the bacon, chicken and egg that goes into the pan, this fakeaway is especially satisfying, so you won’t feel peckish after leaving the table. In fact, since it’s so light, you could even go back for a second helping – that’s one of the good things about high volume, low-calorie eating.
Diet Coke/Pepsi Max Chicken
Take one look at the ingredients list for our Diet Coke/Pepsi Max Chicken and you’ll notice it’s absolutely packed with fresh vegetables. Since mushrooms, peppers, baby corn and red onions are all great examples of low-calorie foods that you can eat in volume, they bulk out the dish, while keeping it slimming friendly.
Paired with chicken and our sweet, sticky sauce, the end result is a meal that tastes like a takeaway, yet it’s only 217 calories per serving. Fill yourself up by serving with loads of extra veggies, or add a portion of rice or Salt and Pepper Chips.
Thai-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
If you’re looking for meal ideas that are filling, but low in calories, just about any kind of vegetable soup will fit the bill! Thick and velvety without any need to add high-calorie cream, our Thai-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup is perfect for lunchtime.
It’s only 122 calories per bowl, since it’s made from a handful of simple veggies and seasonings, blended with a coconut, plant-based dairy milk alternative. If one bowlful isn’t enough you could always go back for more, or add a bread roll – either way, it’ll still be a low-cal meal that’ll fit into your slimming plan.
Mushroom Bolognese
What if we told you that you could load up your plate with bolognese for just 119 calories? The secret is that we’ve swapped beef mince for mushrooms to make this veggie-friendly Mushroom Bolognese.
You can eat a much higher volume of mushrooms for far fewer calories than a portion of mince, so this recipe is perfect on days when you’re feeling really hungry! Add a serving of spaghetti to twirl around your fork, and we guarantee you won’t be raiding the snack cupboard an hour after dinner’s finished.
Somerset Pork
When you pair higher-calorie ingredients with high volume, low-calorie foods, slimming-friendly magic happens! Pork isn’t known for being one of the leanest meats, but when the rest of the meal is made with lighter ingredients, you can create a delicious dinner that fits with your goals.
That’s how we managed to make this Somerset Pork recipe filling for less than 300 calories per serving! Along with plenty of veggies, we’ve used reduced-fat cream cheese to make the sauce rich and silky. That means you get a hearty plate of food, with all the flavour and fewer calories.
Chilli Roasted Greens
As far as low-calorie ingredients go, it’s hard to beat good old green vegetables! You can pretty much pile these up on your plate alongside any meal, and eat until you’re full.
For extra flavour, try our Chilli Roasted Greens – we’ve taken green beans, asparagus, courgette and broccoli, then added ginger, lime and chillies for a Mexican-inspired zing. There’s just 62 calories in each portion, yet it’ll liven up any mealtime! The ideal side dish for high volume, low-calorie eating, a spoonful of these fiery veggies alongside any of your favourite main meals will add more food to your plate – and extra green goodness too.
Lasagne Courgette Boats
Swapping traditional carbs for extra veggies is one of the easiest ways to make food that’s both filling and slimming friendly. That’s precisely what we’ve done in our Butternut Squash Lasagne (where we’ve switched out sheets of pasta for slices of squash), but we’ve taken things a step further with these Lasagne Courgette Boats.
At 168 calories per serving, you could have 3 or 4 portions of this recipe in place of one plateful of a traditional lasagne. We’ve stuffed turkey mince bolognese inside scooped-out courgettes, before topping it all off with reduced-fat grated Cheddar. It’s so delicious, you won’t miss the pasta one bit!
Rainbow Jellies
If you can’t get enough when it comes to sweet treats, you can have as many helpings of our Rainbow Jellies as you can handle! For just 14 calories each, sugar-free jelly and fruit is all it takes to make a snack that’ll curb your cravings and fill you up in between meals.
We’ve layered up the flavours to keep things interesting as you dig your spoon in, but even if you stick to one fruity flavouring, these slimming-friendly jellies are ideal for high volume, low-calorie eating.
What recipes do you like to make with high volume, low-calorie foods?
We’d love to hear if you’ve found that eating bigger portions of lower-calorie ingredients helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer. Head on over to our Facebook group to drop in any hints, tips, or stories about your experiences. Everyone in the group will LOVE hearing from you!
Plus, don’t forget you can upload any photos you’ve taken of your recent meals to the PON gallery – you might even win some SWAG!
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