19 Easy High-Fiber Dinners to Help You Poop
Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD
Eat one of these flavorful, 30-minute dinners to support getting enough fiber in your diet. Fiber is linked to numerous health benefits, from healthier weight management and improved heart health to decreased risk of chronic diseases like diabetes. Not to mention, consuming enough fiber is important for regulating digestion and promoting regular bowel movements. That’s why this roundup features meals packed with at least 6 grams per serving!
Deliciously increase your fiber intake with recipes like our Marry Me Chickpeas with crusty bread. Or, throw our five-star Pear, Gorgonzola & Walnut Salad together when you’re in the mood for a fresh dish one reader says is “high-end restaurant quality.”
Marry Me Chickpeas
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle, Food Stylist: Renu Dhar
We put a vegetarian spin on Marry Me Chicken, a dish typically consisting of chicken coated in a sun-dried tomato cream sauce, by swapping in fiber-packed chickpeas as the main ingredient. From the creamy chickpeas to the umami-laden sun-dried tomatoes, you’ll want to sop up every last bit of sauce. To riff on this recipe, you could swap the chickpeas for white beans, like cannellini or navy.
20-Minute White Bean Soup
Photographer: Jennifer Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
This fiber-rich soup is an easy, healthy dinner when you’re pressed for time. This brothy soup is finished with a bit of heavy cream for body and richness. For a thicker soup, mash 1/2 cup of the beans and stir into the soup right before adding the cream. Frozen sweet potatoes and collard greens keep the prep to a minimum, but if you have a little extra time on your hands, fresh veggies work just as well. Serve with crusty bread for dunking.
Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta
If you've ever wanted to make a meal out of warm spinach and artichoke dip, this creamy pasta is for you. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.
Chhole (Chickpea Curry)
Andrew Scrivani
This healthy Indian recipe is a flavorful chickpea curry that you can make in just 20 minutes. Also called chana masala, this dish is a comforting and delicious dinner.
Pear, Gorgonzola & Walnut Salad
This pear and gorgonzola salad celebrates fall with its beautiful colors. The light and refreshing vinaigrette offsets the tangy funk of Gorgonzola and the sweetness from the raisins and pears.
https://www.eatingwell.com/chickpeas-alla-vodka-8619818
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hauser
This Chickpeas alla Vodka is the ultra-quick, fiber-packed dinner you’ve been waiting for! Chickpeas are swimming in a creamy vodka sauce that gets enhancements from sautéed garlic, onion and vibrant green baby kale. Crispy, toasted whole-wheat bread is perfect for dipping. You can customize this dish easily by using chard or spinach in place of kale.
White Bean & Sun-Dried Tomato Gnocchi
Sun-dried tomatoes are the star of this recipe—providing texture and umami. Combined with the spinach, they make this dish a great source of vitamins C and K.
One-Pot Spinach, Chicken Sausage & Feta Pasta
A little bit of Sunday meal prep goes a long way in this one-dish pasta recipe. The pasta is cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge to use for meals all week, but any leftover cooked pasta you have on hand will do. Chicken sausage with feta is especially good in this recipe.
Sheet-Pan Gnocchi with Broccoli & White Beans
Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell
This effortless dish comes together on two baking sheets for easy preparation and a fast cleanup. A blend of lemon and broccoli mixes with tender gnocchi and rich cannellini beans, all brought together with a generous drizzle of olive oil. For an added protein boost, toss in some shrimp or flaked cooked salmon.
Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara
Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.
Baked Feta & Tomato Chickpeas
Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell
This simple baked feta casserole recipe turns cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and chickpeas into a hearty, protein-rich vegetarian meal. After baking, it creates a savory-sweet tomato–olive oil sauce ideal for slathering on pita bread. Feta cheese in brine melts more readily compared to dry, crumbled feta, so it’s worth seeking out. For a different take, replace the chickpeas with creamy white beans.
Skillet Salmon with Orzo & Green Pea Pesto
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
This delightful one-pan dinner combines salmon fillets with fresh green pea pesto and orzo pasta. Green pea pesto adds a unique twist to the traditional pesto, bringing a hint of sweetness, body and a vibrant green color to your plate. If you like a more traditional pesto flavor, swap out the dill for chopped fresh basil, or use store-bought basil pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto in its place.
Spaghetti with Creamy Lemon-Spinach Sauce
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
Give your veggie servings a boost with this easy spaghetti with spinach sauce recipe. Loosely inspired by the flavors of classic pesto, this vibrant pasta packs in plenty of spinach and basil with a garnish of nutty walnuts and savory Parmesan cheese. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and a green salad on the side.
Spinach & Artichoke Dip Soup
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
This creamy soup captures the essence of spinach-artichoke dip perfectly. A touch of lemon juice adds a refreshing zing. Mop up every last bit with a hearty slice of whole-grain country bread or garnish the soup with crushed pita chips for extra crunch. If you can’t find frozen artichoke hearts, you can opt for canned, but remember to give them a rinse to reduce sodium before adding them to the soup.
Creamy Feta & Tomato Pasta
Photographer: Greg DuPree, Prop stylist: Shell Royster, Food stylist: Emily Hall
This creamy feta-and-tomato pasta puts a satisfying vegetarian dinner on the table using only 5 simple ingredients. Cherry tomatoes are a go-to when tomato season is not at its peak. Grape tomatoes provide a sweet and juicy alternative, ensuring a satisfying and flavorful meal.
Creamy Caramelized Cabbage Pasta
Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Lexi Juhl
In this comforting vegetarian dinner, cabbage is sautéed in butter until it caramelizes, imparting a subtle sweetness to the dish. A light, creamy sauce coats both the cabbage and the pasta. If you want to stretch the sauce a little further, you can thin it out by adding in a few tablespoons of pasta cooking water.
Beef & Bean Sloppy Joes
This healthy copycat recipe of the comfort food classic trades beans for some of the meat to bump up fiber by 7 grams. We also cut back on the sugar and ketchup in this Sloppy Joe recipe makeover to save you 12 grams of added sugar.
Apple-Cranberry Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese
The tangy-sweet dressing in this spinach salad beautifully amplifies the apples and cranberries—and the creamy goat cheese transforms it into the perfect salad.
Zucchini-Chickpea Veggie Burgers with Tahini-Ranch Sauce
This veggie burger recipe is one you'll want to make again and again. Savory chickpea and zucchini patties are topped with a creamy, herb-flecked tahini ranch sauce, juicy tomato slices and peppery arugula for a satisfying and healthy homemade veggie burger. Serve these vegan burgers on buns or stuff them in pitas. We recommend making extra sauce—it's a great dip for veggie sticks and, thinned with a little water, it makes a wonderful salad dressing.
Read the original article on Eating Well.
