Healthy Dinner Recipes Your Family Will Actually Eat -
Homemade Keto-Friendly Baked Chicken Flautas topped with red enchilada sauce, sour cream and chopped cilantro

Healthy Dinner Recipes Your Family Will Actually Eat

Healthy recipes are all well and good. Of course we need to try and cook healthy meals, and teach our kids the health values of eating foods that are good for our bodies. But if your family won’t eat them or it becomes a massive tug of war every night, then you may question whether it’s all worth it. That’s why I love finding (and creating) healthy dinner recipes that are actually delicious. I’ve found that the best way to get my family to eat good, wholesome food is by making healthy meal recipes that don’t taste “healthy”!

And my kids are my home test lab. If they don’t give it a thumbs up, then the recipe does not go any further. Believe me – over the years they have been the ideal testers and have nixed more than a few dishes we parents thought were delicious. Yet at the same time, there are more healthy dinner recipes that have passed their hard tests and become part of our regular family rotation.

My family loves it when I make this chicken because it’s juicy and flavorful.

6 Healthy Dinner Recipes Your Family Will Love

Yes I know this is a blog in part about LGBTQ family vacations, but healthy eating when at home or on the road is crucial. That’s why we write a lot about healthy recipes and healthy cooking. We think it’s important to teach kids at every age why a healthy eating plan is helpful to them throughout their lives. They don’t need to worry about calories or fat content. However, kids should know about the vitamins and minerals in fruit, vegetables, dairy and lean meat. They need to understand  how healthy ingredients can help build their bones and give them energy for everything they do throughout the day. As adults we need to remember this too. Making healthy cooking recipes is not just about getting the dial on the scale to tick down. It’s about furling our bodies with meals that taste great and make us feel good too.

I do believe that we should take everything in moderation…including moderation. I love a thick gooey chocolate chip cookie as much as the next dad. There are plenty of dessert recipes in this blog that can hardly pass as the healthiest of dishes. However, we try to stick to a healthy eating plan most days.

Fresh ingredients are the key in this easy recipe for Salmon with Sake Marinade.
Fresh ingredients and good sake are the flavors that bring this salmon dish to life.

6 Healthy Recipes Your Family Will Love

Here are 6 of our favorite, tried and true healthy dinner recipes you could serve tonight. And yes, your kids WILL eat them!

1. Roasted Lemon Chicken

Don’t be afraid of making a whole chicken! This delicious and savory Roasted Lemon Chicken healthy eating recipe is just the thing you need to try it.  It is moist and delicious and makes the whole house smell like my grandmother’s kitchen. I’m telling you, throw out all of your other chicken recipes. This is the one you want to keep. It smells like home to me.

whole roasted lemon chicken in pan with juices
Roasting the whole chicken gives it extra tenderness and juice.

2. Keto-Friendly Baked Chicken Flautas

It seems like everyone is talking about about making healthy recipes with a keto diet. I have found there are so many delicious things I can eat within the keto plan. I created keto-friendly recipes our family loves. This Keto-Friendly Baked Chicken Flautas recipe is a delicious choice.

Keto-Friendly Baked Chicken Flautas recipe
Not only do these chicken flautas taste amazing, but they look great on the plate too.

3. Salmon with Sake Marinade 

This Salmon Recipe with Sake Marinade is so darn good! While you can cook salmon many ways, most kids won’t eat fish if it tastes fishy. That’s why this dish makes the cut, because the flavors infuse the salmon with an Asian-inspired taste profile they seem to love. It doesn’t hurt that the salmon is served on a bed of fresh baby spinach leaves and a lemon slice. 

Salmon with lemon slice
This Salmon Recipe with Sake Marinade is so tangy and delicious!

4. White Chicken Chili

This is one of the most delicious yet healthy dinner  recipes. And it is so hearty! The White Chicken Chili recipe is filled to the brim with juicy chicken. Go ahead and splurge on using only the best ingredients for this dish, especially the chicken. Your family will thank you. The unique white beans, a kick of chili powder and a yeasty beer all combine together to make a dish everyone just gobbles up.

Bowl of white chicken chili topped with condiments
Perfect on a chilly night – or anytime really – this recipe for White Chicken Chili fills the bill.

5. Healthy Chicken & Rice Bake with Broccoli 

My mom used to make a delicious chicken and Rice casserole I loved growing up. However, it wasn’t really super healthy. I’ve updated mom’s version to this Healthy Chicken & Rice Bake with Broccoli recipe by using fresh vegetables and low-fat ingredients. I can grab all the necessary ingredients in a quick trip to our local grocery store. This healthy recipe is so easy too, because it all comes together in one pan.

freshly cooked Healthy Chicken & Rice Bake with Broccoli Recipe right from the oven
This Chicken and Rice Bake will warm even the coldest heart!

6. Roasted Beet and Citrus Salad

This Roasted Beet and Citrus Salad recipe is definitely one of those meals your family doesn’t know they’ll love, but they will. It’s perfect for the non-meat eaters in the family, and is sweet, tart, nutty and buttery. These are flavors that our family loves, and the plating looks really beautiful and festive too. Give it a try!

This Roasted Beet Salad is so colorful and delicious.

I write this gay family travel blog to help you expand your horizons and have some amazing adventures with your family. And we want to keep you healthy at home too. Try out one of these healthy dinner recipes and let me know what you think!

If you would like more of my recipes, check out the cookbook I wrote last year – One Pan Cookbook For Men (and women of course – the publisher made me use that title because it’s an untapped niche).

Jon Bailey and his new book One-Pan Cookbook for Men
Yum this white chicken chili recipe is in my new cookbook!

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