Get Lean With These 5-Ingredient Low-Carb High-Protein Dinner Recipes (2024)

Cooking substantial meals with just five ingredients? You probably don't believe it's possible –yet. We didn't either. But, as novice (and time-sensitive) cooks ourselves –after all, there's nothing worse than spending your entire Sunday on food prep for the week –we've been converted to John Whaite's new cookbook Perfect Plates In 5 Ingredients.

Haven't heard ofJohn Whaite? That's okay. He's about to seriously simplify your life forever. An English cook who won the third series of The Great British Bake Off in 2012, Whaite nowworks as a chef who runs his own cooking school (more info here),and is a televisionpresenter/judge on ITV's daytime cookery competition show Chopping Block.

And using just five ingredients (plus the essentials like butter, oil, salt and pepper), he's created some seriously savoury meals that are packed with protein. What's more,you'll be able to cook them inwell under an hour, and not one has overfive ingredients. You're welcome.

RELATED:Two Quick And 'Naughty' Muscle-Building Meals From Joe Wicks

Cosy Roasted Chicken and Green Lentils

A roast chicken, done properly, is the epitome of comfort food forme. There’s nothing I love more than the smell of a bird roasting: amouthwatering premonition of the bronzed beauty itself, which latercomes steaming from the oven.To capitalise on the chicken’s juices, I set the lentils beneath the birdso that every last drop of fat falls down and bastes them, makinga flavoursome broth. That’s why a roasting dish with one of thoseelevated racks is necessary here. If youwere to just drop the chickenatop the lentils, the underside of the bird would remain pale, andI want every last inch to be golden.

SERVES 4

Ingredients

2 leeks

2 celery sticks

200g green lentils

1 roasting chicken(approx. 1.75kg)

1 head of garlic

900ml boiling water

75g unsalted butter

Sea salt flakes

Coarse black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 260°C/240°C fan/gas mark 10.

2. Finely slice the leeks and celery and place in a roasting tray – one youhave a rack for – with the lentils.

3. Toss everything together and add apinch of salt and pepper. Add 700ml of the boiling water.

4. Untruss the chicken and discard the giblets – or freeze them, as I do,ready for a rainy day of stock-making. Soften the butter so that it ismalleable but not molten. Repeatedly pinch the skin of the chickenbreast to loosen it, then at the neck end carefully work your handbetween the skin and the breast meat.

5.Once you have loosened the skin,take half of the softened butter and slide it in between the meat and skinon each breast. Spread the remaining butter over the skin of the entirechicken and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

6. Place the chickenonto the rack, so that it is elevated above the lentils. Halve the garlic andstuff it into the chicken cavity.

7. Put the tray into the oven and immediately reduce the temperatureto 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.

8. Roast for 30 minutes, then add theremaining water to the lentils – if you can do this without taking the trayout of the oven, do so.

9. Roast for 1 hour longer, or until the chicken isgolden brown and cooked through – when you slice into the crease at thetop of the leg, the juices should run clear; if they don’t, roast for a littlelonger. The lentils will be a little dry-looking on top, but when you stirthem, they’ll be deliciously tender.

10. Serve platefuls of the lentils topped with thick slices of the chicken, or youcould plonk the whole tray on the table and dig in – though do get in therebefore anyone else can; it’s every man for himself when a roast is involved.

Haddock with Braised Chorizo and Leeks

I adore the somewhat contradictory delicate boldness ofsmoked fish. A newcomer might suspect that the delicateflesh wouldn’t take the flavour, but we all know that it justworks. That gentle smokiness pairs so well with the paprika-spiced chorizo. The tender leeks and slightly startling bitefrom the capers elevate the flavour of this dish – which isessentially a broth – even further.

SERVES 2–4

Ingredients

300g rawchorizo sausage

2 large leeks

500ml good-qualitychicken stock

2 large smokedhaddock fillets(I prefer undyed)

2 tablespoonsnon-pareil capers

Sea salt flakes

Coarse black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.

2. Cut the chorizo into 5mm slices. Slice the leeks into 1cmdiscs and place to one side until needed.

3. Heat a heavy, shallow casserole – one you have a lid for –over a high heat and add the chorizo. Fry the pieces, stirringevery few seconds, until the chorizo starts to leak out itsorange, spicy oil.

4. Once it does, add the leeks to the pan andfry for 1 minute.

5. Add the stock with a pinch of salt andpepper, bring to the boil, then cover with the lid and cook for40 minutes in the oven – if you don’t have a lid, a piece offoil tightly wrapped around the rim of the pan should be okay.

6. After 40 minutes, uncover the pan and lay the haddock filletson top. Return the pan to the oven and cook for a further10–12 minutes, until the haddock is cooked through. Flakethe haddock into the broth beneath, scatter over the capers,check the seasoning – though I find this to be balancedenough – and, finally, serve.

Chorizo and Chickpeas Braised in Cider

Chubby chickpeas are marvellous. They are surprisinglymeaty and have such a smooth, buttery inside. For thatreason I’d always opt for the fresh varieties, as those in cans can sometimes be very tough.This flavour combination is not new – I had chorizo cookedin cider quite a few times when I spent a summer in Madrid– but it’s here to stay. An interesting alternative to ciderwould be sherry. I’ve tried it both ways, and loved them both,but I’m a sucker for that sweet sharpness that cider brings.

SERVES 2

Ingredients

250g raw chorizosausage

660g jar cookedgarbanzos (chickpeas)

100ml good-qualitybeef stock

200ml dry cider

Small handful offlat-leaf parsley

Olive or rapeseed oil

Sea salt flakes

Coarse black pepper

Method

1. In a large sauté pan, heat a good glug of oil over a mediumheat.

2. Chop the chorizo sausages into 5mm-thick discs andadd them to the pan. Fry the chorizo, stirring occasionally,for about 5 minutes, or until cooked through and juststartingto brown.

3. Add the chickpeas to the pan and stir to coat, then add thestock and cider.

4. Bring to the boil, then reduce to agentlesimmer and cook slowly to reduce, until the liquid in the panis sparse and thick. Remove from the heat andseason to taste.

5. Roughly chop the parsley and scatter over the top to serve.

Variations

Whilst chickpeas are best for this dish, you could use thosegorgeous, plump butter beans from a jar instead.

Eastern Spiced Meatballs with Fiery Tomato Soupy Sauce

Some like it hot – and I most certainly do. That’s somethingyou’ll praise or curse me for when you’re tucking into this.Obviously, you can reduce the four chillies to just one ifyou like something milder, but I love how fiery it all is. Theaddition of butter in the sauce does help to temper the heatsomewhat, but the main goal with that is to make it into avelvety, voluptuous sauce – almost like the canned cream oftomato soup I enjoyed as a child.

The meatballs are roasted rather than fried. Not only doesthat make the whole thing easier but it also ensures themeatballs roast rapidly and so stay succulent.

SERVES 2

Ingredients

500g vine tomatoes

4 fat red chillies

500g minced beef(at least 15% fat)

1 heaped teaspoonground allspice, plusextra for sprinkling

½ teaspoon groundcinnamon, plus extrafor sprinkling

Sea salt flakes

Coarse black pepper

Olive oil

30g unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7.

2. Quarter the tomatoes and put them, along with the chillies,onto a baking tray – make sure they aren’t huddled togetherotherwise the excess liquid won’t evaporate. Sprinkle with apinch of salt and leave to macerate at room temperature.

3. For the meatballs, put the minced beef into a mixing bowland add the spices with ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepperand 3 tablespoons olive oil.

4. Mix everything together until it’spaste-like – I use my hands – then divide into 16 portions,rolling each into a compacted ball. Put the meatballs ontoanother baking tray or roasting tray.

5. Put the tray of tomatoes and chillies into the oven and roastfor 15 minutes, then add the meatballs to the oven androast everything for a further 10–12 minutes.

6. As soon as themeatballs are cooked through, transfer them to a plate andcover with foil. If the tomatoes don’t look slightly charredand limp, leave them in the oven until they do.

7. For the sauce, remove and discard the stalks from the roastedchillies and put the chillies, along with the tomatoes, into asmall food processor (I use my NutriBullet) along with thejuices from the meatball pan and the butter. Blitz to a smoothsauce, then serve in bowls with the meatballs studded on topand dusted with a light sprinkling of allspice and cinnamon.

Sticky Black Sesame Chicken

Let’s face it, a big bowl of white rice and sticky sweet chicken cannever see us wrong. This dish is certainly comforting, but it is soin an intriguing way. The honey brings the sticky sweetness andthe dark soy sauce isn’t salty like the lighter version – instead itis treacly and full-bodied. I prefer black sesame seeds here for thedark colour, but you could use whichever you prefer.

SERVES 4

Ingredients

50ml dark soysauce, plus extra toserve (optional)

50g black sesameseeds, plus extra toserve (optional)

125g runny honey

8 skinless chickenthigh fillets

300g basmati rice

Sea salt flakes

Olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6.

2. Place the soy, sesame seeds and honey into a small saucepanand bring to the boil. Boil for a few minutes until well mixed,then add a pinch of salt and stir through.

3. Place the chicken thighs into a roasting dish and pour overthe sauce. Coat the chicken pieces well, then roast in theoven for 30 minutes, uncovered.

4. While the chicken roasts, cook the rice. Rinse the rice wellin a sieve under cold running water until the water runs clear.

5. Tip the rice into a saucepan and cover with water – youneed it to be a good 2cm above the surface of the rice. Adda pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon oil, then bring the pan to theboil. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover the panwith a lid and gently cook the rice for 10 minutes.

6. Removefrom the heat – don’t even think about taking the lid off –and leave to rest for a good 10 minutes more.

7. Leave the chicken in the roasting dish and pour the sauceinto another saucepan. Bring the sauce to the boil and reduceit until it’s a little thicker and stickier. Pour it back over themeat, then serve the sticky chicken over the rice, and do feelfree to add extra sauce and seeds.