Six easy, high protein meals you can make in less than 15 minutes
They're so filling and healthy.
28 by Sam Wood's Head of Nutrition Shahna Sarpi shares her go-to meals when you want to eat well but are always short on time.
A common complaint I hear is that ‘healthy eating takes too much time’. In the busy society that we live in, it’s normal for people to be pressed for time and not have a lot of space in their day to cook.
The good news is, eating healthy doesn’t actually have to take up a whole lot of your time. There are many ways around it, including meal prep or batch cooking. Another great option is having some quick meals that take 15 minutes to put together in your repertoire.
This way, when it’s been a busy day and you don’t have a lot of time (or energy) to whip up a more elaborate meal, you can go back to basics and still have a nutritious meal.
High protein meals are great because they’re nice and filling. Protein is an important macronutrient for a number of reasons, it’s necessary for many structures within the body, as well as having a role in numerous biochemical pathways.
Getting a good amount of protein in a quick meal is valuable because it’ll keep us feeling satisfied for longer. There’s no point whipping up a quick 15-minute meal if you’re just going to have to make another meal to fill yourself up later.
The key to a quick and easy, high protein meal is to base it around a protein source. Protein sources include meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy products, beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, nuts and seeds. The best protein sources to base the meal around are animal products and legumes (beans, lentils and products made from these).
Nuts and seeds make for a good addition but not the primary protein source. When we create the meal around a good protein source, we know it’s going to be ticking the high protein criteria and supporting our fullness. Following are some great recipes that are examples of this:
Pan-fried salmon with sweet corn & avo salsa
Starring a delicious piece of Salmon, this recipe is a quick one to whip up because all you’ve got to do is cook the salmon and chop the veggies for the salsa while that heats up.
It’s extra filling because not only is salmon a great source of protein, it’s also packed with healthy fats. Fats are the last macronutrient to be digested and as a result help to keep us full. This recipe has around 29.7g of protein and with such a delicious taste it’ll become one of your favourite go-to recipes.
Wraps can be a nutritious and incredibly easy meal when you’re short on time. With approximately 35.4g protein coming mostly from the chicken, this high protein lunch can be made super quickly.
While your chicken is cooking, simply fill the wrap with the salad ingredients. This balanced meal has protein from the chicken, healthy fats from the avocado, a good chunk of veg and some complex carbohydrates from the wholemeal wrap.
Mushroom, spinach & asparagus omelette
While omelettes are typically thought of as a breakfast food, they can be enjoyed at any time of the day. Thanks to the eggs (and in this case the cheese) they’re a great source of protein, with around 25.1g in a serve. This recipe gets some additional veg into your day and is a real pleaser for the tastebuds.
Of course, pasta had to make it on the list for quick meals. This particular recipe is high in protein with almost 50g coming from the peas, bacon, cream, chicken, egg and parmesan. That’s a lot of protein! The other great thing about this pasta is that it’s still packed with veggies, all of which are quick veggies to chop or add in, making it meet the criteria of not taking up much time.
It doesn’t get much quicker than this detox tuna salad. Chop up a few veg, throw it all into a bowl and add a drained can of tuna. There is no space for excuses about not having time with recipes like this. This simple tuna salad has around 32.6g protein and will not disappoint.
Crispy salmon, lentil & walnut salad
This salad gets most of its protein from the lentils, salmon and walnuts that it contains, bringing it to about 30.7g of protein in a serve. Another quick meal, thanks to the cooked components this salad is suitable anytime of the year.
As you can see, healthy eating certainly doesn’t have to take a long time. It’s all about coming back to basics and being smart with your time. I mentioned meal prep and batch cooking in the intro, if you want to get even more efficient with your time, simply make up bigger batches of the above meals and you’ve got multiple meals in such a short time.