Low Effort, High Protein Meals
Get off the cooking struggle bus with these no-fuss ideas
Cooking kind of sucks sometimes. It can often feel like you just signed your life away in a deal without reading the fine print. The constant prepping, dishwashing, kitchen cleaning, handwashing, and trips to the fridge leave me burnt out after doing it for the fifth time in the same week.
Like many of you, I don’t mind cooking overall but much like exercising, I don’t like every aspect of it. Maybe for you, it’s the mental gymnastics of adding one more task to an already overflowing daily schedule that makes cooking much less appealing.
Regardless of the reason, it’s obvious cooking isn’t a perfect experience. In a perfect world, we’d have our own personal chef or snap our fingers to make food magically appear. In our real world though, we’re caught in the tedious routines of cooking that leave us with less time to enjoy family, hobbies, and life in general.
So as I’ve run into this dilemma time and time again, I’ve been continuously finding ways to put together food that fits my macros and my low amount of patience.
And that’s exactly what I want to share with you. Three effortless high-protein recipes I turn to when I just need an easy week of cooking for once. They taste like meals that need a lot of prep without requiring all of your energy and attention. With these meals, you’ll have some ideas to turn to when life gets in the way and cooking seems too much like a chore.
Here’s what’s on the menu:
Chicken Tostadas
Meal Prep Charcuterie
Crispy Beef Hummus Plate
Now, let’s dig into these recipes!
Chicken Tostadas
58G Protein Per Serving | 530 Calories | 20 Minutes | 4 Servings
Hard tacos have always been my shell of choice when making tacos, but all it takes is one bite for them to fall over and shatter into pieces. Tostadas on the other hand are like a better version, with more sturdiness and the same crunch that makes hard shells beyond addicting. Even better is that you can pile them high with your protein of choice and other toppings. Making them the ultimate high-protein alternative to normal tacos. After you cook the chicken, all you have to do is add whatever you like to your tostada and then you’re off to the dining table.
Ingredient List
Sautéed Chicken
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into cubes
4 tbsp Cholula or Mexican hot sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
Lime juice to taste
2 tsp salt
Toppings
14 oz pack tostadas
16 oz can refried beans
14 oz container store-bought mango salsa or pico de gallo
16 oz jar restaurant-style salsa
Light shredded Mexican cheese
Light sour cream
Pickled jalapenos
Shredded lettuce
Cooking Instructions
Mix all of the ingredients under the sautéed chicken list.
Cook the chicken in a pan over medium heat until fully browned.
Warm up the refried beans in the microwave until heated through.
On one tostada, spread a layer of beans on the bottom. Add mango salsa, followed by the cooked chicken and cheese.
On the other tostada, spread a layer of sour cream on the bottom. Add jalapenos, lettuce, restaurant salsa, chicken, and cheese. Enjoy!
Meal Prep Charcuterie
50G Protein Per Serving | 550 Calories | 7 Minutes | 8 Servings
Everyone knows charcuterie is just adult Lunchables in disguise. We just try to mask it by making it all pretty and spreading out the ingredients into crazy cool patterns. Nobody’s got time for that, so I scavenged a few stores for ingredients that were low-calorie and would sit well in a meal prep container. The result is a charcuterie experience that’s a bit more portable and basically requires no prep. It’s by far the most flexible meal you can make on this list. Can’t find one of the meats or cheeses? Swap it out for another. While I’m a fan of the combo of ingredients I did, you can make it any way you like!
Ingredient List
Nut Thins Almond Crackers or thin crackers of choice
16 oz turkey summer sausage
32 oz turkey pepperoni
8 oz spicy jambon americano or low-fat ham
Mini Babybel Semisoft Cheeses or Laughing Cow Wedges
Spreadable pub cheese
1 jar fig butter
1 jar cornichon pickles
8 oz black olives
Cooking Instructions
Slice up the turkey sausage, babybel light cheese, and black olives.
Portion out 1 tbsp each of the pub cheese and fig butter.
Put 1 serving of thin crackers in a meal prep container along with the cheeses, fig butter, cornichons, pepperoni, jambon, and summer sausage. Enjoy your charcuterie!
Crispy Beef Hummus Plate
37G Protein Per Serving | 393 Calories | 20 Minutes | 5 Servings
I’ve always wondered if you could cook ground beef straight from the freezer, so I put my smarty pants on and googled it. To my surprise, not only can you do it but it takes less time than you’d think. After about 15 minutes, you can have some seriously crispy beef that goes perfectly over a bed of hummus. Serve this with a little bit of a thin pita and it almost feels like a cheat code for restaurant-quality food. Definitely one I’ll be making over and over again!
Ingredient List
Crispy Ground Beef
2 lbs 90/10 ground beef
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp harissa paste
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
Chunky Hummus
16 oz hummus
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Reduced-fat feta cheese
1 large cucumber, chopped
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Fresh parsley, chopped
Cooking Instructions
Add the olive oil to a pan then preheat to medium-high heat. Add the ground beef.
Cook the frozen ground beef for about 15-20 minutes until it starts getting somewhat crispy and browned.
Season the beef with coriander, cumin, harissa paste, and salt.
Mix all the ingredients under the chunky hummus list.
Top with the beef and devour. Enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out the archive here for other gourmet high-protein recipes.
Eat Well,
Marcus Matkins