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Low-calorie recipes

Under 350 kcal per serving, without the sad-diet energy. Real flavour, careful fat, plenty of vegetables — the kind of light cooking you actually want to make again.

All ⏱Under 30 min ⏱Under 60 min

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🇨🇳ChinaEasy

Sweet Dishes

Tanghulu (Chinese Candied Fruit)

Tanghulu has been sold on Beijing streets since the Song dynasty, but most people outside China discovered it through TikTok — where the cracking sound became its own genre. Fresh fruit on a stick, sealed in boiling sugar that sets like glass. Three ingredients. You will probably mess it up the first time. The instructions below exist so you don't.

30 min145 kcal5 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan⚡Quick

★4.4

🇯🇵JapanMedium

Appetizers and Sandwiches

Tempura

Vegetables and shrimp dipped in ice-cold batter and fried until shatteringly crisp. The batter must be barely mixed — lumps are good — and the oil screaming hot. Done right, tempura is light enough to eat endlessly.

25 min320 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick

★4.4

Tepache (Mexican Fermented Pineapple Drink with Piloncillo and Cinnamon)

🇲🇽MexicoEasy

Beverages

Tepache (Mexican Fermented Pineapple Drink with Piloncillo and Cinnamon)

Tepache is a traditional Mexican fermented pineapple drink built on pineapple rinds, piloncillo (unrefined Mexican cane sugar), Mexican cinnamon, and cloves. Wild yeast living on the pineapple peel does the work over 48 to 72 hours, producing a mildly sweet, lightly tangy, naturally carbonated drink with about 1 to 3 percent alcohol. Origins go back at least 500 years to pre-Columbian Mexico, where the drink was first made from corn (the name comes from Nahuatl 'tepatti', meaning corn drink); today every street vendor in Oaxaca and Mexico City sells it in big glass jars with ice. Active work is 20 minutes, fermentation handles the rest. Makes 2 liters, 8 servings of about 250 ml each.

20 min110 kcal8 serves

🌱Vegan⚡Quick🌿Vegetarian

★4.4

🇯🇵JapanEasy

Sauces and Dips

Teriyaki Sauce

A glossy, deeply savory-sweet glaze built from soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar, thickened with a cornstarch slurry until it coats a spoon. Homemade teriyaki takes ten minutes and tastes nothing like the bottled kind — the fresh garlic and ginger give it a brightness that disappears completely in shelf-stable versions. I keep a jar in the fridge and use it on everything from grilled chicken to roasted vegetables.

10 min60 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick

★4.8

🇹🇭ThailandMedium

Salads

Thai Spicy Beef Salad

A bold Thai salad of seared beef with red onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, fresh mint and cilantro, dressed in a bright lime-fish sauce dressing. Served on lettuce leaves or with jasmine rice — light, spicy, and deeply aromatic.

30 min210 kcal2 serves

🌶️Spicy⚡Quick

★4.7

🇹🇭ThailandMedium

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Thai-Style Salmon

Pan-seared salmon with a fragrant ginger-lime marinade and a glossy soy-honey glaze inspired by Thai flavors. The sweet-sour sauce enhances the richness of the fish without overpowering it.

40 min300 kcal4 serves

🌶️Spicy💪High protein🥑Keto

★4.7

Tom Yum Goong (Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup)

🇹🇭ThailandMedium

Soups

Tom Yum Goong (Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup)

Tom Yum Goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง) is Thailand's most internationally recognised dish — a clear, fiercely aromatic hot-and-sour soup built on the 'tom yum trinity': lemongrass, galangal, and makrut lime leaves. The broth is simultaneously hot (from Thai bird's eye chillies), sour (fresh lime juice added off the heat), salty (fish sauce), and fragrant (the three herbs). Shrimp heads and shells, simmered first, create a naturally rich stock with a coral-orange color. Two versions exist: the clear broth (nam sai, น้ำใส) — the original — and the creamier version with evaporated milk or coconut milk (nam khon, น้ำข้น). Both are served in the same bowls of jasmine rice across Thailand, from roadside stalls to five-star restaurants.

30 min180 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free🌶️Spicy

★4.6

🌊MediterraneanEasy

Salads

Tomato Salad

The simplest salad in the world — when tomatoes are truly ripe. Thick wedges of juicy tomatoes with red onion, garlic and oregano, dressed with olive oil and sherry vinegar. The tomatoes release juice that blends with the dressing into an extraordinary sauce.

20 min150 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌱Vegan

★4.6

🇺🇸USAAdvanced

Soups

Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is a classic American dish noted for its smooth texture and rich flavor. Made with crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic and cream. Often served with a grilled cheese sandwich.

70 min225 kcal4 serves

🌾Gluten-free💪High protein

★4.8

🇹🇷TurkeyEasy

Sauces and Dips

Toum

Toum is a Lebanese garlic sauce whipped into a fluffy white emulsion with just garlic, lemon juice, oil, and salt. It pairs with grilled chicken, shawarma, falafel, or roasted vegetables and keeps in the fridge for weeks.

15 min160 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free

★4.7

🇬🇪GeorgiaAdvanced

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Trout with Prunes

Trout with prunes is an unusual and exquisite dish that combines the delicate flavor of fish and the sweetness of prunes. The prunes give the fish a slight sweetness and rich flavor.

65 min200 kcal4 serves

💪High protein🌾Gluten-free

★4.5

🇹🇷TurkeyEasy

Beverages

Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee is not a type of coffee — it's a method. Powder-fine grounds are simmered unfiltered in a small long-handled pot called a cezve, never boiled, and poured straight into the cup without straining. The grounds settle at the bottom. You drink down to them, then stop. The foam that forms on top is not incidental — it's the measure of a well-made cup. Getting it consistently requires a cold water start, low heat, and patience. The process takes about three minutes once you know what to watch for.

10 min5 kcal2 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free

★4.9

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Vegetarian Keto Quick Spicy Gluten-free low-calorie High protein Vegan