22 Healthy One-Pot Meals to Kickstart Your Wellness Routine

Updated July 15, 2020
Ryan Liebe
An easy route to sensible, good-for-you meals is to make dinner in just one pot. From Coconut-Curry Monkfish Soup to One-Pot Pasta, here are some of our favorite recipes.
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Ryan Liebe

There's a reason why one-pot meals are so popular—they're family-friendly, easy to prep and clean up, and absolutely delicious. Our one-pot meals include spicy vegetarian stews, such as Black-Bean and Sweet-Potato Stew, creamy soups, and pasta dishes packed with vegetables. Whether you're getting started on a New Year's resolution to eat better and cleaner, or are just trying to incorporate a few new nutritious meals into your weekly dinner routine, these healthy one-pot recipes are sure to do the trick.

One of our most popular recipes of all time is our stunning One-Pan Pasta—pasta, cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, and basil are brought to a boil, then tossed together to serve. The juicy tomatoes and starchy pasta water form a sauce that coats the noodles. Perhaps the best part is that it comes together in just 20 minutes, so you can enjoy it any night of the week.

We also have two warm and spicy rice dishes to soothe your soul. Kitchari is an Indian dish made with rice and lentils and flavored with cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, coriander, turmeric, and cinnamon (just to name a few). Our Shrimp with Spicy Green Rice is inspired by a traditional Venetian dish with Southeast Asian ingredients, such as Thai chiles, fresh ginger, basil, and lime.

Of course, there are plenty of healthy soup recipes here, too. Creamy Broccoli-and-Spinach Soup is fabulous year-round; crème fraîche is the secret ingredient that gives it richness and body without making it feel too heavy. Our Coconut-Curry Monkfish Soup, which is pictured here, is another great choice; we also like that it makes good use of an underrated fish. You could also whip up our vegetarian Super-Grain Soup with Watercress and Mushrooms, which is another nurturing soup that we love (leave out the grated Pecorino Romano cheese for a vegan meal). It doesn't hurt that it's so pretty, too.

Satisfy your cravings for feel-good comfort foods with these healthy one-pot recipes.

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Kitchari

Emily Kate Roemer
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Not familiar with kitchari? We like to think of it as a savory porridge. This test-kitchen favorite combines yellow mung dal (split mung beans), basmati rice, a bevy of warming spices, and a colorful medley of vegetables into one amazing dish.

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One-Pan Pasta

Marcus Nilsson
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So fresh and so easy! This one-pan recipe combines tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs, water, and a drizzle of olive oil with dried pasta—and everything cooks together. Once the water has evaporated, you're left with perfectly al dente pasta in a creamy sauce that coats every strand.

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Baked Cod with Tomatoes and Potatoes

Bryan Gardner
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One of Martha's all-time favorite potato recipes! Thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes, tomatoes, and shallots form a delicious bed for flaky cod.

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Chicken-and-Mushroom Congee

Lennart Weibull
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If you love risotto, then you'll love this take on Asian rice porridge. It's made from short-grain white rice, which gets creamy as it cooks with chicken broth, chicken thighs, fresh ginger, and scallions.

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Caribbean Fish-and-Pumpkin Stew

Lennart Weibull
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Looking for a new way to cook with pumpkin? Try this sweet and savory stew, which swaps in coconut milk in place of heavy cream (and adds so much more flavor, too). Individual pieces of cod float in the slightly spicy sauce alongside baby spinach and calabaza squash.

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Shrimp with Spicy Green Rice

Con Poulos
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On a chilly night, there's nothing more nourishing than this rice and peas dish. With plenty of spicy flavors and crisp green vegetables, it's our favorite one-pot, one-bowl dinner.

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Super-Grain Soup with Watercress and Mushrooms

Justin Walker
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We're calling this the most exciting vegetable soup ever. There's so much to take in—meaty mixed mushrooms, sweet slices of onion, quinoa, flavorful stock (vegetable or chicken!), and plenty of Pecorino Romano cheese for an indulgent finish.

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Creamy Broccoli-and-Spinach Soup

Yuki Sugiura
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It's easy being green with a soup this delicious. When you want to make a quick and nutritious meal for lunch or dinner, this 35-minute recipe should hit the spot.

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Greek-Chicken One-Pan Pasta

Yunhee Kim
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We've transformed the classic Greek dish avgolemono into a scrumptious weeknight pasta. It's as easy as boiling water—you're really just adding a couple more ingredients into the pot.

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Jook

Bryan Gardner
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This Asian chicken-and-rice porridge is our go-to dish when we're feeling under the weather. It's easy to make and incredibly nourishing.

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Warm Quinoa and Chicken Salad

Christina Holmes
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Quick-cooking quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse packed with protein, iron, and fiber. Here, it's the base for a main-course salad with chicken, spring peas, and asparagus.

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Black-Bean and Sweet-Potato Stew

Lennart Weibull
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This nutritious stew is flavorful, hearty…oh, and it's vegan, too! It packs in plenty of heat as well, thanks to a poblano pepper, minced chipotle in adobo, and garlic.

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Spring Ragout with Asparagus and Poached Eggs

The Ingalls
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This vegetarian ragout stew substitutes chickpeas and poached eggs in place of traditional beef. Make this when asparagus is at its peak for a vegetarian but hearty meal.

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Beet Hash with Eggs

Johnny Miller
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Colorful beets paired with protein-packed eggs bring immune-boosting vitamin C to this meatless dinner that's delicious any time of the year.

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Braised Chicken With Artichokes, Olives, and Lemon

GEORGE BARBERIS
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Cook a whole chicken low and slow with Mediterranean ingredients such as artichoke hearts, Castelvetrano olives, fresh oregano, and lemons. You'll be rewarded with super tender, flavorful meat.

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Salmon, Red Cabbage, and New Potatoes

Jonathan Lovekin
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This vibrant one-pan wonder features salmon (good for your heart), red cabbage (high in vitamin C), and new potatoes (high in fiber). And did we mention it tastes really delicious?

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One-Pot Penne with Zucchini and Parmesan

Aaron Dyer
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A simple summer pasta, this recipe is one good way to dispatch that bumper crop of zucchini.

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Kimchi Stew with Chicken and Tofu

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Add some spice to your weeknight with this soothing, colorful dish. Kimchi is hailed as a probiotic food that improves cardiovascular health and the digestive system.

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Chicken and Vegetables in Parchment

Bryan Gardner
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Cooking "en papillote" (French for "in parchment") in the oven is a wonderful technique. Everything cooks together, lightly steaming in their own juices in the parchment packet, without a lot of butter or oil.

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One-Pot Chicken and Brown Rice

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A great healthy dish for the whole family, this all-in-one meal is a smart way to use up the vegetables you probably already have on hand.

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Golden Lentil Stew

Yunhee Kim
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Slightly sweet and just the right level of spicy, this Moroccan chickpea and lentil stew is known as harira and makes a bright and hearty one-pot vegan dinner.

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