28 Delicious Skinny Recipes

We all know we should eat better.

In fact one Harvard University showed that up to 70% of Americans would be healthier if they lost a few pounds.

But here’s the problem: we want to eat healthier food, but we don’t want to give up food that tastes delicious.

That’s why I put together this collection of 28 of my favorite skinny recipes. Below you’ll find classic recipes made lighter. I think if you give them a try you’ll find out that you can give up a lot of the unhealthy junk without sacrificing the flavors you love.

That’s right, it’s possible to prepare a meal using tasty yet skinny recipes that are delicious but good for you. Go ahead, lift that jaw off the floor!

Whether you want a snack, baked goods, dinner, lunch, or breakfast, we’ve got you covered. From pancakes and waffles to burger patty melts and donuts, there is a skinny recipe here for everyone.

Here are 28 skinny recipes from breakfast to dinner that are healthy for you and most importantly, taste wonderful.

1. Baked Oatmeal Cups

Oatmeal is the ideal way to start your day, it’s very filling but also brimming with goodness. The oats are heart-healthy and give you long-lasting energy to fuel your morning. These baked oatmeal cups are great if you are in rush in the morning and don’t have time to cook oatmeal.

2. Weight Watchers Banana Pancakes

Weight Watcher Banana Pancakes take the idea of a regular pancake but switch out for oats flour and add in banana with only a splash of milk. You can mix up the basic recipe and change the add-ins. For example, add blueberries instead of chocolate chips. Again, the oats give you that great morning energy boost and the banana satisfies any sweet cravings.

3. Baked Blueberry Lemon Pancake Squares

Whisking and flipping pancakes isn’t in the cards for everyone’s morning routine, that’s where this handy recipe comes in. They have the same great taste as a pancake but with the ease of baking it instead of devoting one-on-one attention to every single flapjack. The protein hit comes from the eggs and Greek yogurt, and the leftovers will be good for about three days.

4. Spinach & Feta Make Ahead Breakfast Sandwich

If you’re more of a savory kind of person, this breakfast sandwich will hit the spot. It’s a baked egg recipe cut into equal portions and used as the filling in an English muffin. Of course, you can mix up the fillings for different flavors each week.

5. Pumpkin Latte Overnight Oats

This a recipe only for the fall season because if you eat it all year round, it just won’t be special! This recipe is so perfect for breakfast because it just goes ahead and adds coffee. That’s right, it’s caffeine and food fix all in one! Again, you get the benefits of oats for breakfast without actually having to cook them in the morning.

6. Mini Protein Waffles

Breakfast is a great excuse to eat dessert as your first meal of the day. This doesn’t have to end just because you’re eating healthily! It’s all about creating similar foods but with better ingredients. This recipe for waffles bulks up the protein content and reduces the gluten and sugar. If you’re topping waffles and pancakes with fruit, even better.

7. Everything Bagel Cheesy Breakfast Bake

Another recipe for those savory breakfast fans. Well, the invention of Everything But The Bagel seasoning was a game changer, wasn’t it? This tasty bake includes the bagel too, chopped up and covered with a deliciously seasoned cheesy egg bake. With almost 20g of protein per serving, this dish will start your day out right.

8. Garbanzo Bean Soup

Moving onto lunch and dinner ideas, soup is always a winner when it comes to skinny recipes. The key is to make them ‘skinny’ but also satisfying and filling. The worst thing you can do is make a broth with some vegetables thrown in, as that’s 100% guaranteeing you’ll go chow down on something not-so-skinny later. The garbanzo beans give the carb and protein hit needed for a wholesome meal.

9. Delightful Anchovy Pizza

How to eat pizza and still keep it skinny? Whole wheat flour and low-fat cheese, that’s how! The anchovies add beautiful omega-3s and protein, while the whole wheat flour adds plenty of fiber. It goes great with a simple green salad on the side.

10. Gigi Hadid Pasta

This skinny version of the Gigi Hadid pasta that almost broke the internet via TikTok uses tomato and vodka as the sauce base. You can use whichever type of milk you’d like, with non-dairy options being lower in fat and sugar. If you want to add more protein, shredded chicken is always an easy option.

11. Weight Watchers Chili

This spicy crock pot chili is an easy way to keep your dinner skinny but feels stuffed at the end of it. It only takes about 15 minutes to prepare before you dump it in the slow cooker, and the warming spices are ideal for winter. The ground beef offers a healthy dose of protein, the vegetables give you all of those good vitamins and the addition of hot sauce adds a delicious kick.

12. Whataburger Patty Melt (Copycat)

That’s right, a skinny version of this deliciously juicy, cheesy burger melt. Taking two thick slices of garlicky Texas toast, prime ground beef to ensure minimal saturated fat and a slice of cheddar cheese slice to create a copycat meal. The seasoning is what makes the meal yummy, so don’t miss out on that yummy mustardy, garlicky, oniony mix!

13. Olive Garden Giant Cheese Stuffed Shells (Copycat)

Another copycat recipe, because almost any meal can be made healthier with a few strategic substitutions. Who doesn’t love this Olive Garden Classic? You might have to skip the breadsticks to keep it skinny but tuck them into this homemade pasta dish with zero guilt.

14. Olive Garden Grilled Chicken Margarita (Copycat)

A second classic from good ole Olive Garden, this grilled chicken dish has plenty of goodness within. For Weight Watchers followers, it only comes in at four points per serving, so that tells you how much healthier it is. It’s also pretty versatile in terms of sides, you can go for a salad or roasted vegetables to make it lower calories or pasta for a bigger meal.

15. Simple and Quick Blackened Chicken

Blackened chicken is a great skinny meal because it is bursting with flavor that lacks calories! Much better than a creamy sauce. It goes great with vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, or spinach.

16. Tofu Tikka Masala

Tofu is an excellent low-calorie source of protein, and it soaks up all the flavors of whatever it’s cooked in. This curry is perfect if you want a meat-free meal, are cooking for vegetarians, or just want to change up your cooking. The tomato-based sauce is pretty healthy, thickened only with coconut yogurt.

17. Chipotle Sofritas (Copycat)

Another recipe uses tofu but in a completely different way. It calls for the tofu to be crumbled rather than served in cubes, making it more like the consistency of scrambled eggs. There are only 94 calories in half a cup of tofu, but it’s packed with protein, iron, calcium, and magnesium, making it an ideal ‘skinny’ food.

18. Ground Beef Taco Soup

Ground Beef Taco Soup is much easier to eat and saves on calories. It’s pretty versatile because you can add more vegetables or meat depending on what you want (more vitamins or protein?). You can also choose to top with more indulgent ingredients like sour cream, tortilla chips, shredded cheese, or avocado, or keep it skinnier with Greek yogurt.

19. Roasted Carrot and Pumpkin Soup

The pumpkin gives a creamy texture without actually adding any cream, an ideal scenario when looking for skinny recipes! This soup is so simple to make, with such basic ingredients but so tasty. Especially on a cold winter’s evening!

20. Maraschino Cherry Muffins

These bright pink muffins are a super fun dessert that is also pretty healthy. The recipe uses apple sauce as a sweetener rather than refined sugar, hence making the skinny recipes list! Perfect for a Valentine’s Day treat!

21. Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Dipped Donuts

Even donuts can be made healthier! With only one tablespoon of sugar in this recipe, most of the sweetness comes from mashed bananas. You might be thinking, what about chocolate dipped? How is that skinny? Well, it’s only three tablespoons of dark chocolate chips, for the entire batch! A little goes a long way.

22. Lightened Up Apple Cranberry Crisp

When picking out desserts, choosing something with fruits as the main ingredient is a good place to start. The main fattening ingredients in apple crisps are butter and sugar, so finding a way to minimize these helps immensely. This recipe uses light butter and adds in cinnamon, which helps reduce the need for sugar because of its natural sweetness.

23. Key Lime Pie

The prep time is less than 10 minutes for this no-bake key lime pie, so what are you waiting for? Get mixing! It sneakily uses lime flavor jello and key lime yogurt for the filling, giving it the same flavor and texture as a traditional key lime pie, but with a fraction of the calories.

24. Weight Watchers Baked Apples

Apple-based desserts are a great way to get your sweet fix without all the calories loaded on. Serving them with yogurt instead of cream or ice cream also significantly reduces the fat content as well. These baked apples are very healthy, and the warm cinnamon spices added to make them so delicious you’ll want seconds. 

25. Weight Watchers Jello Grapes

If you’re looking for novel snack ideas, this is the perfect recipe. Yes, we’ve all heard of having grapes or jello for a snack. But rolling the grapes in jello powder? Okay, that’s a new one. The grapes are rolled in whatever flavor of jello powder you want and then frozen. It gives you a deliciously sweet, slushy grape that tastes like it’s been rolled in sherbert. We promise, it’s so much more than just a grape rolled in jello!

26. Banana Almond Oatmeal Snacks

These banana-based snacks are very satisfying and perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up. Sliced in half and loaded with a mixture of almond butter and oats, you can then add a pinch of whatever ‘fun’ ingredient you enjoy. We’re talking sprinkles, chocolate chips, that kind of thing. Because if it’s only a sprinkle, it keeps it a skinny snack!

27. Chocolate Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

You’ve got the fruit for all the vitamins, the peanut butter for the protein, and the chocolate for a fat-free pudding mix. So not only is it skinny, but it’s sweet, tasty, and has a whole bunch of good stuff in too!

28. Dill Pickle Dip

Dill Pickle dip is perfect for a snack, appetizer, or party potluck. The tangy taste from the dill pickles works well with the cream cheese, sour cream, and greek yogurt base. The onion powder gives a delicious kick and can be served with pita bread, chips, or vegetable sticks for the skinniest option.