This has quickly become one of my favorite meals to make for a variety of reasons. It’s low calorie, super easy to make, budget friendly, and delicious! Best of all, it’s extremely satisfying, which is sometimes hard when preparing “diet friendly” meals. It checks all the boxes folks!
This recipe utilizes only 3 ingredients and a slow cooker! If you don’t already own a slow cooker, it’s time you pick one up. They are very inexpensive (~$15-35) and they really save time and make meal prepping a breeze. I chose to use whole-wheat rotini pasta and whatever sauce was cheap at the time, but feel free to use whatever suits your fancy. Choosing whole-wheat pasta will be slightly lower in calories and carbs, while having a good amount of fiber that will aid in helping you feel fuller for longer.
Ingredients:
3lbs Skinless boneless chicken breasts (GreatValue)
One 24oz jar of tomato sauce (Great Value Tomato Basil Garlic Pasta Sauce)
One 16oz/454g box of pasta (Barilla Whole Grain Pasta Rotini)
12-24oz water
Chopped basil (optional)
Procedure:
Step 1: Set slow cooker to “low and add raw chicken. You may want to season chicken here for more flavor with salt and whatever spices you enjoy. Cover and cook until chicken is just cooked through (~2-4 hrs)
Step 2: Remove chicken and set aside to cool a bit. *There should be a fair amount of water remaining that cooked out of the chicken. To that, add the dry pasta and jar of sauce, Next, fill the empty pasta sauce jar halfway (~12oz) with water and add to the pasta and sauce. Stir contents.
Step 3: Dice the chicken and add back to the slow cooker, covering the pasta, sauce, and water. Cover with lid and continue cooking on “low” until pasta is just about cooked through (al dente) (1-1½ hrs)
Step 4: Remove the slow cooker insert from the actual cooker and set aside to cool. The contents will continue cooking from the heat, therefore pasta should be cooked perfectly through by the time it’s cooled. Stir mixture and season to taste (I like adding red pepper flakes). This recipe makes 10servings, so divide the contents up by 10 using a food scale and distribute 10 equal servings into meal containers. I recommend pairing that with a vegetable…because they are healthy and all, I chose broccoli and the nutritional information below includes 1.5 cups/~150g of frozen broccoli florets along with the meal. If you’re feeling extra fancy, this is where you can top the meal with chopped basil, totally optional though. Go ahead and store your meals, I recommend 5 in the refrigerator and the other 5 in the freezer. Enjoy!
Nutrition information:
1 serving:
361 calories
44g carbohydrates
3.5g fat
53g protein!!!
12g fiber
Of course, you can always modify the calories for this or any meal by adjusting the servings and serving size. If you would like a write-up on how to do so using a food tracking app (myfitnesspal), please comment below.
