Healthy Diet Chili Recipes

A healthy diet is something that most people strive to achieve. Unfortunately, busy lifestyles often make it a challenge to plan and create healthy meals. Easy recipes that one can use to make quick, easy, "plan-ahead" meals are the solution. Chili is a great choice for healthy diets, as long as it is made from healthy and diet-friendly ingredients. As an added bonus, chili is the perfect make-ahead meal, as the flavors actually blend together and improve when stored in the refrigerator.

Choosing Healthy Ingredients

A good diet chili recipe includes only healthy ingredients. Chili sometimes has a bad reputation because it can be heavy and greasy. However, it is easy to make chili that does not contain any heavy or greasy ingredients.

Vegetables, which should be part of any healthy diet, are easy to incorporate into a healthy chili recipe. Chopped tomatoes are the obvious choice, but green peppers and corn are also great options. It is also possible to add vegetable purees to chili, in order to incorporate even more vitamins and good nutrition. This can also be a good way to sneak extra vegetables into a child's diet, especially if he or she is a picky eater.

Beans are another obvious choice when making chili, as they are a very nutritious and healthy food. There are also a wide variety of different beans from which to choose. When making chili, it can be fun to choose different beans. For example, black beans are a wonderful choice for chili. Not only are they a diet-friendly choice, but they also have great "eye appeal".

Although many people prefer meat in their chili, it is actually an optional ingredient. There are many ways to make delicious vegetarian chili. If meat is desired, it is important to choose healthy options. Ground chicken or turkey can be used to make delicious, healthy chili. After browning the meat, be sure to drain the fat. Blotting the cooked meat between paper towels is another way to remove even more fat and calories. Chunked or shredded cooked chicken also works well in many chili recipes.

"Do-Ahead" Diet Chili Recipe

Chili is a food that lends itself beautifully to recipe experimentation. It can be fun to try different vegetable, meat and bean combinations, in order to come up with a unique "signature" dish. Here is a quick and easy diet chili recipe that is easy to make in the morning, store in the refrigerator, and then heat up for dinner. Not only is this recipe easy, but it also requires minimal cooking. Check Pounds and Inches Away for more healthy recipes.

Brown a pound of ground chicken or turkey. Drain the fat then blot between paper towels to remove residual fat. Place the cooked meat in a bowl. Add one can of drained corn, one can of drained black beans, and one can of diced tomatoes. Add a can of low-fat, low-calorie spaghetti sauce, along with a packet of chili seasoning mix. If desired, add extra chili powder or hot sauce to taste. Mix the ingredients together, then put in the refrigerator for at least eight hours. The flavors will blend, and the end result will be a healthy, delicious, fresh-tasting chili, without the need for a long and involved cooking process.