15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (2024)

Yes, healthy beef recipes do exist! Try our revamped beef taco pie, air-fried meatballs, or classic beef tenderloin for a delicious, good-for-you dinner that will satisfy those meat cravings. Plus, each healthy meat recipe is under 500 calories, which means you can score loads of flavor and protein without using up your entire daily quota of calories.

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Sheet-Pan Beef and Sweet Potatoes with Gremolata

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (1)

Meat and potatoes get a weeknight- and waistline-friendly makeover! This healthy beef recipe is lower in fat and higher in fiber than the usual steak and spud entrée. The key ingredients to make this meal magic possible: lean beef shoulder petite tenders and fiber-rich, vitamin-packed sweet potatoes. We're also fans of the mere 15 minutes of prep time, making this showy dinner totally doable any day of the week.

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Rotini with Beef and Beans

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (2)

When craving flavors similar to those beloved boxed burger pasta packs, turn to this healthy beef recipe. The easy meat-and-pasta dish pairs with kidney beans in this recipe that packs protein, fiber, and flavor—all brought to you by your favorite skillet. And all with much fewer additives and a lot less sodium.

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Beef Taco Pie

15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (3)

Tacos meet their match (a pie plate) in this tortilla-crusted twist on a Mexican classic. Ready in under an hour, this savory pie is about to become one of your favorite healthy ground beef recipes for easy weeknight cooking.

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Beef and Vegetable Biscuit Bake

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (4)

Who knew pot pie could be a perfectly well-balanced addition to your diet? Thanks to this healthy ground beef casserole, with just 309 calories per serving, it can be. A boatload (OK, a baking dish) full of veggies—including Brussels sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, and onion—plus lean beef, balance out the decadence of the flaky biscuit topping.

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Beef Stroganoff Soup

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (5)

Don't write off beef stew as solely a rib-sticking option for winter. Soups are the perfect way to meld tons of nutrients (and delicious flavor) into one dish. This healthy beef stroganoff, made with lean sirloin and piles of fresh mushrooms, does just that.

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Southwestern Noodle Bowl

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (6)

At under 300 calories and only 9 grams of fat, this is our kind of noodle bowl! How is this healthy beef recipe still the complete opposite of bland? Garlic, cumin, bell peppers, and homemade pico de gallo do the trick.

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Air-Fried Meatballs and Bell Peppers

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (7)

This healthy beef recipe will be on your table in just 30 minutes, thanks to your air-fryer. Cook the homemade beef meatballs with sliced bell peppers right in the air-fryer basket. Finish the dish with a sprinkle of green onions.

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Roast Beef with Beets and Chicories

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (8)

Pair slow-roasted beef with a fresh chicory salad to create this colorful dinner idea. The bitterness of the chicories (think endive, escarole, and radicchio) balance the juicy, succulent roast. Finish the salad and the roast with plenty of freshly cracked black pepper.

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Flank Steak with Antipasto Topper

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (9)

All this dinner takes is seven ingredients and a skillet (or a grill, if the weather cooperates). Even better news? You can marinate and do much of the prep for this healthy beef meal up to 24 hours ahead of time.

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Panko-Crusted Beef Roast with Hasselback Zucchini

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (10)

While it looks like a pricey and splurge-worthy spread, you might order at a chic steakhouse; this crunchy-coated roast and squash meal is only 322 calories per serving. With a nice balance of tender roast meat, buttery-textured Dutch potatoes, and stuffed zucchini, this healthy beef dinner idea needs nothing else to be a complete, party-worthy feast. Well, except for maybe a bottle of bold red wine.

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Oven-Roasted Beef Tenderloin

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (11)

This dish isn't short on flavor, as we call for seasoning the healthy beef tenderloin recipe with fresh parsley and coating it in just the right amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper. An herbed wild rice would make a fiber-rich accompaniment.

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Fork-Tender Pot Roast

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (12)

Veggies, spices, and your slow cooker make this a super-tasty, super-easy dinner. Missing one of the ingredients? We've got tons of substitutions to customize this healthy beef recipe with what you have on hand.

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Chimichurri Kabobs

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15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (13)

You'll want to start marinating the chicken and beef for these easy kabobs the morning before serving. Once you're ready to grill, skewer them with onions, mushrooms, and peppers to create this healthy beef recipe.

15 Healthy Beef Recipes for a Flavorful Meal Under 500 Calories (2024)

FAQs

How do you make beef healthier? ›

To get the nutritional impact of beef with less cholesterol and saturated fat, choose leaner cuts. Look for cuts labeled “extra lean” or “lean,” and always choose pieces with the least visible fat. Cut off as much visible fat as you can before you cook beef.

How do you make ground beef healthier? ›

There's a simple and, in my opinion, quite profound way to reduce the fat content in ground beef by 50 percent! Just rinse the fat off. The other awesome thing — rinsing and draining ground beef washes away the fat without decreasing the vitamins and minerals or messing up the flavor.

What are lean meats for dinner? ›

Leaner Cuts

Poultry: Skinless, white-meat chicken or turkey; ground turkey breast. Beef: Flank steak, top loin, sirloin, porterhouse, T-bone steak and tenderloin; 90% lean ground beef. Veal: Any trimmed cut. Pork: Pork chops or tenderloin.

What feed makes beef taste better? ›

During the last few months of the cow's life, they're given a high-grain diet, consisting of corn, soy, corn by-products, and additional supplements. This helps the cow grow and increases marbling. The grains leave the meat with a sweeter taste.

How do you make beef more tasty? ›

Add a flavorful liquid: Add a small amount of beef broth, tomato sauce, or red wine to the ground beef while it cooks to add extra flavor. Add vegetables: Finely chop vegetables such as onions, mushrooms, or bell peppers and add them to the ground beef while it cooks.

What can I add to hamburger meat for flavor? ›

2. **Herbs and Spices:** Experiment with various herbs and spices. Common options include paprika, cumin, chili powder, dried oregano, thyme, rosemary, and parsley. Combine them with the meat for a burst of flavor.

How to season your beef? ›

The best way to season steak is to add a generous amount of salt to both sides about 45 minutes before cooking. Then, just before cooking, add your other spices, like black pepper and garlic powder, ensuring that you cover both sides of the steak.

What does adding milk to ground beef do? ›

The calcium-rich properties of milk react with enzymes in the meat to gently soften the proteins. Whole milk (not reduced fat), buttermilk, and yogurt all get the job done – with a special nod to buttermilk and yogurt for their optimal tenderizing acidity levels.

What is the best meat to eat for weight loss? ›

Here are the top 9 healthy meats for weight loss.
  1. Skinless Chicken Breast. Skinless chicken breast can be a great source of vitamins A, K, B6, and B12, along with folate, iron, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. ...
  2. Grass-fed Beef. ...
  3. Salmon. ...
  4. Canned Light Tuna. ...
  5. Turkey. ...
  6. Venison. ...
  7. Pheasant. ...
  8. Ostrich.
Jun 9, 2022

What is the healthiest meat to eat for dinner? ›

Healthiest: Skinless Turkey Meat

An excellent source of niacin and vitamin B6, skinless turkey, is one of the best lean proteins to add to your meals. The nutrients found in skinless turkey meat can help support heart health, energy levels, brain function, digestion, and other bodily processes.

How do you add flavor to lean ground beef? ›

Use a flavored oil: Cook the ground beef in a flavorful oil such as olive oil infused with garlic or chili pepper to add depth of flavor. Add cheese: Mix in shredded cheese such as cheddar, blue cheese, or feta to the ground beef for a creamy, cheesy flavor.

What is the best ground beef for weight loss? ›

T-Bone, Sirloin, 93% Lean Ground Beef, are all lean cuts and can provide us with key nutrients that we need. This means you can feel good about putting lean beef on the table. You're providing your family the benefits of heart health, muscle development and weight management in a meal they know and love.

What are the top 5 leanest meats? ›

Here are the top 5 lean meats for weight loss and muscle gains.
  • CHICKEN BREASTS. These are the easiest to get hold of and most familiar. ...
  • RABBIT. This used to be a common sight on British dinner tables but is less popular today despite being one of the leanest meats around. ...
  • VENISON. ...
  • PHEASANT. ...
  • OSTRICH.

Is there a healthy beef? ›

Beef. It gets a bad rap. While it can be unhealthy to eat too much fatty red meat, lean red meat doesn't raise your cholesterol and contains nutrients like protein, vitamin B12, iron, niacin, and zinc. Beef tenderloin is a lean, delicious -- and healthy -- way to go.

What is the healthy way to eat meat? ›

Healthy ways to cook meat and poultry

Choose a lean cut of meat or poultry. A trimmed pork chop, a lean rump steak or a chicken breast without skin or crumbs on the outside are a great place to start. Grill your meat, rather than frying it. And don't add extra oil when you are cooking.

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