30+ Weight Loss Salads (Healthy High Protein Recipes)
Quick, nutritious, easy: these 30+ healthy weight loss salads are the healthy recipes anyone trying to cut down should have on their menu!
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Going on a diet is no easy feat. You have to say bye bye to all the scrumptious high-calorie meals you used to enjoy and embrace a new life of conscious eating and moderation.
This is made even more difficult when what’s on your new menu is less than tantalizing and that’s especially true when it comes to healthy salads.
We all know the formula. It’s gotta be some lettuce with a low fat dressing and no flavour.
Sounds yum? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.
Thing is, those sad salads won’t help you reach your goals. What you need is tasty food that’ll keep you full and satisfied, else you won’t want to stick to the healthy stuff.
That’s why we’ve rounded up the best vegetarian salad recipes packed with protein but lower in carbs and fats you’re sure to enjoy. And, let’s not fforget, will help you crush those milestones.
But isn’t every salad a weight-loss salad?
Pretty much any salad can be a part of a weight loss meal plan but if you’re looking for a salad for lunch or dinner, it needs to have the right ingredients to keep you going (these light salad recipes are more good example of weight loss friendly salad recipes).
Word of advice from our pro nutritionist (James) says each weight loss friendly salad should contain:
- at least 15 grams of protein
- whole grain carb sources (eg. brown rice, pasta, buckwheat, quinoa)
- starchy veggies (eg. sweet potatoes, potatoes)
- less than 600 calories
- at least 5g+ of fibre
- less than 25g of fat with less 8g of it being saturated
Lean protein and fibre rich ingredients make filling salads which means you don’t get hungry an hour after lunch.
Naturally occurring healthy fats are also an important part of staying full and carbs are important to keep us satisfied too.
There’s obviously a pattern here, and if you’ve done a little research into weight loss (or subscribed to our free 7-day weight loss meal plan) you’d know why.
Eating too little will leave you all grumpy, low on energy and make you crave more food which makes you significantly less likely to stick to your weight loss goals. On the other hand, eating too much doesn’t help either.
That’s why portions matter, and the right ingredients do too.
Dieting has never felt better with these 30+ vegetarian weight loss salad recipes!
So, if you want to lose weight in a sustainable way (or you’re just bored of your generic salad recipes), try the new and exciting ones below!
1. Quick Cottage Cheese Salad
Bonus: hearty and healthy
Looking for a super-speedy, tasty high-protein lunch? This cottage cheese and pear salad is ready in just 12 minutes!
2. Saucy Eggplant Tomato Pasta
Bonus: amazing combination
A tasty vegan eggplant and tomato pasta with navy beans and kale. Super healthy and super tasty!
3. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Bonus: delicious top-class
Looking for a tasty, healthy new way to use up some sweet potatoes? Try this Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with red pesto!
4. Chickpea Salad with Quinoa
Bonus: scrumptious mix of ingredients
This salad is a marriage of nourishment and flavor that will awaken your taste buds and leave you craving more. Whether you’re a committed health enthusiast or simply seeking a delicious and satisfying meal, this Chickpea Salad with Quinoa is the perfect choice.
5. Healthy Egg Salad
Bonus: perfect taste
Looking to up your salad game? Try this healthy egg salad recipe with quinoa and beets – the perfect weight loss lunch!
6. White Bean Salad
Bonus: appetizing and great looking
Speedy White Bean Salad – this tangy take on the classic is super-quick and super-tasty. It’s time to make lunch a thing to look forward to again.
7. Vegan Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Bonus: light and refreshing, perfect for warmer weather
Looking for a healthy vegan pasta salad that you can prep ahead for lunch? Try our Mediterranean pasta salad!
8. Lentil Quinoa Salad
Bonus: full of crunchy, tangy and creamy ingredients
In this superfood salad red lentils and quinoa are jazzed up with crunchy almonds, tangy olives and creamy avocado.
9. Wedge Salad with Cashew Dressing
Bonus: nutritious and delicious
Fresh, easy and delicious vegetarian wedge salad with creamy cashew dressing makes a perfect high protein lunch in a jar.
10. Sweet Potato and Beetroot Salad
Bonus: cook the potato in a microwave to speed things up
Smooth and hearty meets sweet and crunchy, this sweet potato and beetroot salad has got it going on!
11. Avocado Citrus Salad with Feta
Bonus: a light and refreshing weight loss-friendly lunch filled with citrus fruits (which are some of the best fruits for weight loss) and loads of vitamin c
After something different for lunch? Try this avocado and citrus salad with feta – it’s sweet, sour & packs a punch!
12. Buckwheat Salad with Kale & Feta
Bonus: a filling and easy salad in a jar
Looking for an easy gluten-free lunch you can bring to work with you? Try our vegetarian kale, feta and buckwheat salad!
13. Couscous & Pear Salad with Cheese
Bonus: try this simple salad out with any kind of cheese you’d like
After a salad recipe that actually fills you up? Try our Couscous & Pear Salad! It’s high protein, high fibre & low fat!
14. Thai Quinoa Salad
Bonus: packed with fibre and protein
Thai Quinoa Salad – Tropical Vibes. A refreshingly light, tasty Asian super-dish with lots of color and tropical flavor. Get your summer feeling here.
15. Cantaloupe Summer Salad
Bonus: use any kind of low-fat cheese or your favorite nuts for this!
With lime and mint providing mojito vibes, this summer cantaloupe salad will make you feel like you’re on holiday!
16. Arugula Lentil Salad
Bonus: fresh, nutty and easy
High protein, iron and fibre in exotic Arugula and Lentil Salad that’s healthy and vegan. Only 12 minutes to make with easy-to-find ingredients
17. Chickpea Winter Salad
Bonus: simple, light and packed with protein
An animal-friendly, fresh and tangy winter salad with some serious health benefits. It’s fresh and new, but still prepped within 15 minutes – awesome!
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18. Black Bean Salad with Corn
Bonus: protein packed and totally vegan
High Protein Black Bean and Corn Summer Salad. Simple recipe ready in just 10 minutes, bursting with summery flavours, protein, fiber and iron.
19. Fitness Lentil Bean Salad
Bonus: the perfect post-workout meal
Fitness Lentil Bean Salad. Ridiculously high in protein post-workout salad. 40g per bowl. Ready in 7 minutes. Tasty and effective.
20. Turkish Lentil Salad
Bonus: full of flavour and protein
Turkish Lentil Salad with a honey mustard dressing. Easy and quick, ready in 7 minutes. Full of fiber, protein and vitamin K.
21. Chickpea Avocado Salad
Bonus: colourful and full of flavour
Avocado Chickpea Salad. Supercharge Your Lunch: High in protein, fiber and put together in 5 minutes before you go to work. Easy and tasty.
22. Vegan Lentil and Potato Salad
Bonus: hearty and healthy
This protein-packed vegan lentil and potato salad is a perfect weight-loss recipe (it’s also the perfect macro salad meal). It’s filling, healthy and nutritious, while still tasting amazing!
23. Quick White Bean Salad
Bonus: a great salad and a healthy option for lunch
High Protein White Bean Salad that’s healthy and vegan. High in fiber, vitamins A, C, E, B2 and B6 as well as iron and calcium. Takes less than 10 minutes.
Perfect for those hectic days when you need something nourishing in a flash. Try it out today!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 can white beans (1 can = 15.5 oz / 435 g)
- 1 red onion
- 4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 1 bell pepper, red
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small handful parsley, fresh
- 1 small handful cilantro/coriander, fresh
- salt
- black pepper
Optional:
- 2 slices wholegrain bread
Instructions
- Wash the beans and let water drain.1 can white beans
- Dice onion into small pieces.1 red onion
- Wash bell pepper, cut into small pieces as well.1 bell pepper, red
- Add parsley and cilantro.1 small handful parsley, fresh, 1 small handful cilantro/coriander, fresh
- Cut the dried tomatoes in small strips.4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Throw everything into a big bowl, add the olive oil, lemon juice and finish it off with some salt and pepper.2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt, black pepper
Optional:
- Add some toasted wholemeal bread.2 slices wholegrain bread
NOTES
Nutrition
24. Potato and Broccoli Salad Bake
Bonus: serve this perfect one pan meal in a large bowl
This time-saving traybake with sweet potato, broccoli, and quinoa is big on superfood nutrition and even bigger on taste.
25. Vegan Tuna Salad
Bonus: add more mustard or lemon zest if you’d like your tuna salad tangier
All the taste and all the goodness – without the fish. The new kid on the vegan block is even tastier than the original!
26. Pasta Salad with PB Dressing
Bonus: adding more peanut butter is a great way to make your pasta salad all the more creamy
Pasta Salad with an unbelievable Peanut Butter Dressing. Did we mention it’s actually healthy too? Ready in 15 minutes, and packed with fiber and protein.
27. Lentils with Vegetables in Tahini Sauce
Bonus: filled with tasty and healthy veggies
A tasty bowl of lentils with vegetables in a tahini sauce and cashews. This veggie comfort food is just what an autumn day calls for.
28. Spring Salad with Peas & Lentils
Bonus: consider adding some sumac to this
Looking for a salad that is filling, healthy and high in protein? Try this spring salad with lentils & veggies now!
29. Lentil Tabbouleh Salad
Bonus: tabouli with a lentil twist
Looking for an easy tabbouleh recipe? Get a load of our lentil tabbouleh – a protein-packed take on the classic dish!
30. Blackberry Salad with Cashew Ricotta
Protein: 15g
Calories: 420kcal
Ready in: 30 minutes
Recipe by: HealthyMyLifestyle
Bonus: exciting and full of new flavours
This easy summer salad is both healthy and delicious, mixed with quinoa, blackberries, a tangy balsamic vinaigrette, topped with pumpkin seeds and vegan cashew ricotta (for more salad recipes for summer check these out).
31. Crunchy Quinoa Salad
Protein: 16g
Calories: 339kcal
Ready in: 27 minutes
Recipe by: DebraKlein
Bonus: crunchy, crispy, creamy
When you’re craving crunchy, tasty, satisfying and you know you’ll feel your best if you load up on energizing greens and veggies….this salad straddles both worlds brilliantly.
32. Falafel Salad with Tahini Dressing
Protein: 15g
Calories: 319kcal
Ready in: 30 minutes
Recipe by: MountainBerryEats
Bonus: full of Mediterranean flavours
This Falafel Salad recipe is naturally gluten-free and vegan and full of protein! Pan-cooking the Falafel keeps this dish light and fresh, and you can prep ingredients ahead of time to make this a quick weeknight dinner.
33. Cabbage Salad with Chickpeas & Parmesan
Protein: 315kcal
Calories: 21g
Ready in: 35 minutes
Recipe by: AlwaysUseButter
Bonus: crispy and different
Spinach, sweetheart cabbage and the most flavorful chickpeas are topped with a good amount of Parmesan cheese to turn this salad into a feast – healthy, delicious and easy to make.
*Note: Most parmesan contains rennet, which isn’t vegetarian. Stick to rennet-free parmesan cheese to keep this recipe vegetarian!
FAQs for weight loss salad recipes
Get more info about these salads to make the most out of your weight loss journey!
Which salads are good for weight loss?
Salads containing weight loss-friendly vegetarian foods like bean salads, fruit salads, salads filled with leafy greens, tofu and tempeh salads and a whole range of others are great for weight loss.
Toss them with some low-fat cream or a light dressing and you’re good to go.
Can you lose weight by eating a salad every day?
Since salads can be incredibly nutritious, usually low-calorie and packed with a whole host of healthy ingredients, eating a salad everyday could definitely help you lose weight.
Having a bowl each day means you’re getting the health benefits of salad greens and nourishing yourself with the nutrients vegetables and fruits provide, all of which are necessary for a healthy lifestyle and weight loss-oriented diet!
What is the healthiest salad dressing?
The healthiest salad dressings are the lightest ones like a simple vinaigrette or a tangy cilantro dressing with lime juice (like these salad dressings under 100 calories!).
If you’re aiming for healthy salad dressings, you’re going to want to avoid creamy dressings made from ingredients like mayo, sour cream and greek yogurt.
I hope that this list of my favorite salad recipes walks the right balance between high protein and low carb to help you meet all your weight loss goals (if you liked them, why not check out our top 15 vegan protein salads too!).
Feel free to check out our other recipes for healthy vegetarian salads! They might not all be aimed at weight loss but damn, are they good.
Dave Bell
I’m not a foodie, although I do love eating. I believe food should serve us and our goals, not hinder. Taking control and responsibility for what I eat is important to me. Lots of veggie protein is my way forward.
This article has been medically reviewed by James LeBaigue MSc Learn More
James LeBaigue MSc
James has a Masters Degree in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Human Nutrition.
He loves combining his scientific knowledge along with food in the real world, and these recipes are the result.
He’s on top of all the latest evidence and guidelines to make sure our nutrition advice on the website is as accurate as it can be.
By day he works as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in a busy NHS GP Practice.
Each recipe is tested and then eaten (much to James’ delight), many times before it is deemed worthy to be published. Bon appetit!
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