30-Day Heart-Healthy, Diabetes-Friendly Dinner Plan (2024)

This month, whip up a healthy and delicious dinner every day of the week with this 30-day plan. These dishes feature complex carbs like whole grains and legumes and are low in saturated fat and sodium, so they're both heart-healthy and diabetes-friendly meals you can feel good about. Recipes like our Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas and Buttermilk Fried Tofu with Smoky Collard Greens are flavor-packed dinners that can help you meet your nutritional needs.

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Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas

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30-Day Heart-Healthy, Diabetes-Friendly Dinner Plan (1)

One sheet pan is all you'll need to whip up this chicken fajita recipe. They're quick and easy to make and cleanup is even faster!

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Seared Scallops with White Bean Ragu & Charred Lemon

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30-Day Heart-Healthy, Diabetes-Friendly Dinner Plan (2)

This recipe for seared scallops with white beans and spinach turns out a healthy dinner that looks impressive (and tastes great) in just 25 minutes. Giving lemons a quick sizzle in the skillet amps up the flavor of this piccata-inspired dish. The heat helps release even more citrus juice and sweetens it too. When shopping for scallops, look for ones labeled "dry." Some scallops are soaked in a solution that prevents them from searing properly and can give them a soapy flavor.

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Green Veggie Bowl with Chicken & Lemon-Tahini Dressing

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For this healthy 30-minute dinner, treat your veggies like pasta and cook until al dente, or just done. If you have a little extra time, double or triple the lemon-tahini dressing and use it to quickly dress a salad or as a sauce for steak or shrimp.

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Buttermilk Fried Tofu with Smoky Collard Greens

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30-Day Heart-Healthy, Diabetes-Friendly Dinner Plan (4)

Dipping tofu in buttermilk makes the coating stick for a crispy pan-fried tofu, reminiscent of fried chicken. Spicing up the collards with paprika coats them with smoky flavor while keeping this dish vegetarian. And this quick, easy and healthy dinner comes together in just 25 minutes, so it's great for busy weeknights.

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Chickpea & Potato Curry

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30-Day Heart-Healthy, Diabetes-Friendly Dinner Plan (5)

This fast Indian-style curry comes together with ingredients you most likely have on hand, like frozen peas and canned tomatoes and chickpeas. Plus, using these spices shows how simple it is to make a curry sauce for an easy vegetarian recipe. Serve with whole-wheat naan to sop it all up.

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Slow-Cooker Chicken & White Bean Stew

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This load-and-go slow-cooker chicken recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. Serve this Tuscan-inspired dish with crusty bread, a glass of Chianti and a salad.

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Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchiladas

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A crisp, citrusy slaw contrasts nicely with the enchiladas' creamy squash filling.

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Skillet Chicken Potpie

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A store-bought pie crust, frozen veggies and precooked chicken simplify the prep for this easy potpie. This healthy dinner recipe is comfort food at its best.

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Baked Beans with Ground Beef

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30-Day Heart-Healthy, Diabetes-Friendly Dinner Plan (9)

Upgrade baked beans from a classic side dish to a meaty main meal by adding lean ground beef. The final result, a hearty casserole, is an easy and fast dinner option.

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Herby Fish with Wilted Greens & Mushrooms

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This healthy fish recipe makes a tasty and easy weeknight meal. Serve with wild rice or roasted potatoes.

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Creamy White Chili with Cream Cheese

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This rich, yet healthy, white chicken chili recipe comes together in a flash thanks to quick-cooking chicken thighs and canned white beans. Mashing some of the beans acts as a fast thickener when your soups don't have a long time to simmer. Cream cheese adds the final bit of richness and a hint of sweet tang.

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Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage

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Though traditional stuffed cabbage recipes are made with meat, here Savoy cabbage leaves are stuffed with a combination of rice, mushrooms, onions, garlic and herbs for a healthy vegetarian stuffed cabbage recipe. The stuffed cabbage leaves gently bake in a simple tomato sauce. This easy stuffed cabbage recipe can be made ahead of time and baked just before serving.

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Creamy Chicken, Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms One-Pot Pasta

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You'll only have to dirty one pot in this easy pasta recipe that cooks chicken and vegetables right along with the noodles. Plus, by using the exact amount of water you need to cook the pasta, the starch that usually gets drained off with your pasta water stays in the pot, giving you delectably creamy results.

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Slow-Cooker Braised Beef with Carrots & Turnips

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The spice blend in this healthy beef stew recipe—cinnamon, allspice and cloves—may conjure images of apple pie, but the combo is a great fit in savory applications too. Serve over creamy polenta or buttered whole-wheat egg noodles.

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Zucchini-Chickpea Veggie Burgers with Tahini-Ranch Sauce

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This veggie burger recipe is one you'll want to make again and again. Savory chickpea and zucchini patties are topped with a creamy, herb-flecked tahini ranch sauce, juicy tomato slices and peppery arugula for a satisfying and healthy homemade veggie burger. Serve these vegan burgers on buns or stuff them in pitas. We recommend making extra sauce—it's a great dip for veggie sticks and, thinned with a little water, it makes a wonderful salad dressing.

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Rosemary Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

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Chicken and sweet potatoes unite with the delicious taste of rosemary in this easy, one-skillet meal. Because we use parcooked and unseasoned sweet potatoes, the cooking time is much shorter—making this recipe perfect for weeknight cooking.

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Sheet-Pan Chili-Lime Salmon with Potatoes & Peppers

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Busy weeknights beg for something simple like this salmon sheet-pan dinner. Like the name suggests, it's all cooked on one pan. The potatoes get a head start, followed by sweet bell peppers and finally chili-coated salmon fillets. It's a complete meal with easy cleanup!

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Baked Cavatelli Casserole

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This easy to make, comforting dish will keep you warm on a cold day.

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Roasted Root Veggies & Greens over Spiced Lentils

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This earthy bowl of lentils is topped with leftover roasted root veggies from a large batch for an easy weeknight dinner. Keep it vegan or add a drizzle of plain yogurt for extra richness.

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Homemade Chicken Tenders with Everything Bagel Seasoning over Salad

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Using everything bagel spice is a quick way to season and add extra crunch to breadcrumbs for chicken tenders. If you can't find any premixed, it's easy to make your own to have on hand for quick and easy recipes like this chicken tender-topped salad that's ready in just 25 minutes.

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Roasted Salmon with Smoky Chickpeas & Greens

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In this healthy salmon dinner, you'll get a dose of greens and green dressing! Chowing down on 6 or more servings of dark leafy greens a week can help keep your brain in top shape. This dish features the Test Kitchen's current go-to method for doctoring a can of chickpeas: spice them up and roast until crispy.

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Stuffed Potatoes with Salsa & Beans

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Taco night meets baked potato night with this simple recipe for loaded baked potatoes with salsa, beans and avocado. This easy, healthy family dinner comes together with just 10 minutes of active time, so you can make it on even the busiest of weeknights. This recipe is just as delicious with sweet potatoes in place of russets.

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Garlic Green Beans with Crispy Ground Beef

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This green bean and ground beef stir-fry is seasoned with fragrant white pepper, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Serve over rice or rice noodles.

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Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Casserole

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Prepare this dish the night ahead of time so all you have to do is pop it in the oven for an easy and delicious dinner.

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Tomato, Cucumber & White-Bean Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

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This no-cook bean salad is a delicious way to use summer's best cherry or grape tomatoes and juicy cucumbers for a light dinner or lunch. Fresh basil elevates an easy vinaigrette recipe that dresses up this simple salad into something extraordinary.

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Roast Chicken & Sweet Potato

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Healthy chicken and sweet potato recipes are always a delicious and reliable choice for dinner. This low-calorie sheet-pan meal combines chicken thighs and sweet potatoes and cooks up fast in a very hot oven. Serve with a fall salad of mixed greens, sliced apples and blue cheese.

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Skillet Steak with Mushroom Sauce

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This steak, broccolini and pea dinner is a one-skillet meal that will be on your table in just 25 minutes! The pan drippings combine with mushrooms, broth and grainy mustard to make a thick and delicious sauce.

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Roasted Vegetable & Black Bean Tacos

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These hearty vegan tacos are quick and easy to make, perfect for busy weeknights. They are so tasty no one will miss the meat or dairy.

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Maple-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato Wedges and Brussels Sprouts

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This easy sheet-pan recipe brings together many fall favorites into a hearty dinner.

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Turkey-Vegetable Bake

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30-Day Heart-Healthy, Diabetes-Friendly Dinner Plan (30)

Need to use up leftover turkey? Make this low fat casserole. It's made with brown rice and lots of vegetables.