Healthy Dinners for Fall

These warm and healthy fall recipes are perfect for the crisp autumn weather. We've collected our favorite recipes—including healthy fall soups, stews, casseroles, savory steak, pork, pasta, and chicken recipes—so your menu is full of healthy dinner options.
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Fall Vegetable Fajitas

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For fall fajitas that are full of flavor, soak seasonal veggies and steak in a chile-lime hot sauce. Wrap the mix in a warm tortilla and sprinkle with your favorite toppings for a colorful and healthy fall dinner that is low in calories.

Cooking Steak Tip: Try freezing steak for 20 minutes before slicing or just until it is firm but not frozen. This allows for thin slices of succulent steak.

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Pork Stir-Fry with Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

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Healthy pumpkin recipes include everything we love about fall—they're warm, comforting, and loaded with pumpkin flavor. This easy pork stir-fry delivers a hearty, protein-packed meal that's healthy and full of fall flavor.

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Cheesy Butternut Squash Cavatappi Bake

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Our thick and bubbly pasta bake has all the cheesy goodness you love without all the guilt. By substituting some of the cheese for seasonal butternut squash, you'll save fat and calories, plus gain a healthy helping of fiber and vitamin A in this healthy fall recipe.

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Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs

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Trade traditional spaghetti noodles for warm strands of spaghetti squash. It will save you fat and calories, plus spaghetti squash is rich in antioxidants. A chunky roasted tomato sauce and bulgur-enhanced beefy meatballs top this healthy seasonal recipe.

Pasta Dinner Makevoer: Typical restaurant spaghetti and meatballs have nearly 1,000 calories and 36 grams of fat per serving. This healthy version has just 280 calories and 8 grams of fat.

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Tomato Pizza Rolls

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Your late-night pizza craving can now be nutritious as well as satisfying, thanks to these mouthwatering pizza rolls that will help use up the last of your summer tomatoes. Homemade pizza dough surrounds a rich Parmesan-tomato sauce, savory prosciutto, and basil leaves for a fall dish so tasty you won't believe it's not from a restaurant.

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Rosemary Cod with Plum-Tomato Sauce

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Plums and tomatoes pair to form the irresistible rosemary-infused sauce in this healthy fall recipe that mimics the changing colors of the season. If you don't have plums on hand, swap in any seasonal stone fruit, such as nectarines, apricots, or peaches.

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Creamy Potato and Asparagus Soup

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A creamy blend of asparagus and potatoes forms the base of this healthy fall soup recipe. Finish it with sauteed asparagus spears and crisp honey-drizzled bacon for a warming weeknight supper.

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Italian Barley and Sausage Casserole

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With rich Italian turkey sausage, button mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and melted mozzarella, these individual casseroles provide a comforting fall dish. As if those tasty ingredients weren't enough, chewy barley, a high-fiber whole grain, guarantees to keep you full.

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Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Red Pepper Pesto

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Season pork tenderloin with smoked paprika, garlic, and oregano, and pair with red pepper wedges and pesto. You'll love the rich, warm flavors, plus this healthy fall recipe comes in at just under 300 calories.

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Spicy White Chili

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On a crisp fall day, cozy up with a warm white chili made flavorful with green chiles, Monterey Jack cheese, and a dash of cayenne pepper. By swapping the traditional ground beef for turkey or chicken in this fall dish, you'll save both fat and calories.

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Broccoli Rabe, Garlic, and Mushroom Pizza with Golden Raisins

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Have your pizza and enjoy it, too, with this 300-calorie deluxe fall dish. Broccoli rabe, golden raisins, anchovy fillets, and cremini mushrooms taste as luxurious as they sound and only get better under a blanket of Pecorino-Romano cheese.

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Herb-Crusted Cod with Cauliflower Mash

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For a healthy twist on cheesy potatoes, mash cauliflower, gold potatoes, and carrots with a semisoft garlic-herb cheese, such as Boursin. Pair your potatoes with a golden dill-crusted cod fillet; the flaky fish is high in protein and low in fat, making this a great healthy fall recipe.

Test Kitchen Tip: When making mashed potatoes, reserve some of the cooking water from the vegetables. Add it to the mash as needed for desired consistency.

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Pan-Fried Garlic Steak

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Tender beef ribeye steak is high in protein and vitamins, and it tastes great garnished with garlic and parsley. Pair the red meat with buttery cannellini beans for a complete and healthy seasonal recipe.

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Pork Loin with Parsnips and Pears

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We've marinated tender pork loin in zesty Pickapeppa sauce, a Jamaican condiment similar to Worcestershire sauce, for a spicy, protein-packed dinner recipe. Parsnips, a cool-weather root vegetable, and juicy pears replace typical white potatoes to make this healthy autumn recipe even more nutritious.

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Seared Scallops and Baby Spinach with Spiced Pomegranate Glaze

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Not only are scallops rich with protein, but they are easy to prepare. Just sear each side until caramelized, then serve on a bed of wilted spinach. A drizzle of our cinnamon and coriander pomegranate glaze completes this healthy fall recipe with seasonal spice.

Health Tip: Antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice has been linked to heart health and may help prevent the formation of fatty deposits on artery walls.

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Turkey-Vegetable Casserole

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There are few things more comforting on a cool autumn night than a warm and bubbly casserole with home-style gravy. Combine the gravy with vegetables, sage-seasoned turkey, and an apple topping for a fall dish that is healthy, hearty, and ready in 30 minutes.

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Beef with Mushrooms and Pearl Onions in Red Wine Reduction

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Have all the sophistication of a fancy steak dinner for half the calories (and price) in the comfort of your home thanks to this healthy autumn recipe. Combine seasoned beef sirloin with garlic, mushrooms, and pearl onions in a skillet; when meat has reached its desired doneness, plate with a warm red wine reduction and enjoy.

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Golden Squash Bisque

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For a cream-base soup that won't unravel your diet, try our beautiful fall bisque that is ready in just 20 minutes. This healthy fall soup is low in fat, thanks to fat-free Greek yogurt, which adds protein and creaminess. A dash of curry powder adds a touch of heat.

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Pancetta-Wrapped Chicken with Glazed Date Sauce

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Pancetta is a widely loved Italian cousin of bacon. Wrap the salt-cured meat around semisoft cheese, such as Boursin, and a chicken breast, then coat with a warm date vinaigrette for a healthy fall recipe exploding with flavor.

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Chicken Meatball Noodle Bowl

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Balanced meals don't have to be boring, and this chicken-noodle bowl is proof. Rice noodles, shredded salad, and low-fat ginger-chicken meatballs join a coconut-lime chile pan sauce for one delicious fall dish. Plus, you can use in-season carrots to give this bowl a burst of color and freshness.

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Beef Bourguignonne Pot Pie

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Our twist on traditional French beef bourguignonne features an array of flavorful veggies and cooked beef tips in warm, bubbly Burgundy gravy. Golden croissant cubes top this fall dish with some crunch.

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Hearty Minestrone with Farro

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With savory turkey bacon and hearty vegetables like tomatoes and Tuscan kale, we're hard-pressed to pick this healthy fall soup's most delicious ingredient. Plus, it has a tasty helping of whole grain farro, a nutty grain full of cholesterol-lowering fiber and complex carbs to keep you full.

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Shrimp and Greens with Pasta

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Kale is a powerhouse of nutrients, and we've paired it with diced tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and garlicky shrimp in a pasta dish that goes from prep to plate in less than 30 minutes. This is one low-calorie fall recipe you'll be craving all year long.

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Turkey Steaks with Spinach, Pears, and Blue Cheese

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For a white meat take on steak, try our sage-rubbed turkey tenderloins. With wilted spinach, juicy seasonal pears, and a blue cheese topping, this delicious healthy fall recipe is hard to resist.

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Pork and Poblano Stew

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Cinnamon, the quintessential spice of fall, and orange juice balance the heat of poblano peppers and fire-roasted tomatoes in this flavorful, full-bodied stew. Plus, this fall dish has tons of protein thanks to savory strips of pork tenderloin.

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Pear and Potato Salad with Pickled Mustard Seeds and Sausage

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Anjou pears are especially ripe from September through spring. Pair them with chicken-and-apple sausage and gold potatoes for a hearty, satisfying dinner salad. Pickled mustard seeds add a burst of flavor and texture to the healthy fall recipe.

Test Kitchen Tip: Brown and roast rock-hard pears to enhance their natural sweetness.

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Bacon-Wrapped Salmon with Fruit Chutney

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One of America's most-loved indulgences is bacon. To reduce the fat content of this melt-in-your-mouth meat, try a center-cut version. Here, it's wrapped around flaky salmon fillets and topped with a cranberry-apricot chutney, making a fall dish so enticing you won't believe it's healthy.

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Lemon-Braised Chicken Tenders and Cauliflower

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Ditch the bag of frozen chicken nuggets for our delicious lemon-braised chicken tenderloins—they've got all the succulence with half the calories. Cauliflower, wilted spinach, and a crunchy combination of green olives, dates, and pistachios complete the healthy autumn recipe.

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Healthy in a Hurry

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Make a wholesome dinner in a flash with our best fast and healthy recipes. You'll find all the nutritious slow cooker, skillet, and 5-ingredient meals you need in this digital cookbook.

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Cheesy Bean-and-Rice Bites with Pumpkin-Sage Sauce

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Give rice and beans a healthy seasonal makeover by shaping mashed cannellini beans, brown rice, and Parmesan cheese into balls. Bake them with a panko-and-walnut crust and serve on a bubbly pumpkin-sage sauce for a healthy pumpkin recipe that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

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Sunday Dinner Stew

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This Sunday dinner stew has all the cold-weather essentials, including hearty chunks of carrot, onion, potato, and beef. A creamy gravy smothers the stew, yet one serving of this healthy fall recipe yields less than 10 grams of fat.

Test Kitchen Tip: To make this recipe even more seasonal, substitute 1 pound sweet potatoes for the new potatoes, and add a handful of chopped kale. Serve stew with crusty bread or whole grain crackers.

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Spicy Oven-Baked Fish and Sweet Potato Fries

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For a healthy twist on traditional fish and chips, bake breaded whitefish fillets instead of frying them, and make your own sweet potato fries. You'll still get a crunchy crust without adding unecessary fat to this healthy seasonal recipe.

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Steak with Fennel and Beans

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This protein-packed dish is budget-friendly thanks to its use of beef shoulder petite tenders. Serve this healthy fall recipe on a bed of fennel, cannellini beans, and cherry tomatoes, and drizzle with savory pan sauce.