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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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🇬🇧UKEasy

Beverages

Espresso Martini

Vodka, coffee liqueur, and a shot of freshly pulled espresso shaken hard over ice until the outside of the tin frosts over. The foam on top — that pale, creamy layer that holds the coffee beans — comes from the CO₂ in the espresso crema getting trapped during shaking. You can't fake it with instant coffee. The drink was invented in a London bar in the 1980s by Dick Bradsell for a model who asked for something to wake her up and mess her up at the same time.

10 min190 kcal1 serves

🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

★4.7

Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad with Cotija, Lime, and Chili)

🇲🇽MexicoMedium

Salads

Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad with Cotija, Lime, and Chili)

Esquites is a Mexican street food salad of charred corn kernels mixed with mayo, Mexican crema, lime juice, jalapeño, red onion, cilantro, and crumbled cotija cheese, all dusted with chili powder or Tajín. It is the off-the-cob version of elote — same flavours, easier to eat with a spoon. Street vendors across Mexico City and Oaxaca sell it in small clear cups for snacking on the go. The technique rests on one move: properly charring the corn until 50 percent of the kernels show black spots — the Maillard reaction is what turns this from boiled corn with mayonnaise into the smoky, layered street-food classic. Ready in 20 minutes, serves 6 as a snack or 4 as a side dish for grilled meats and tacos.

20 min220 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

★4.9

🇲🇽MexicoMedium

Flour and Confectionery Products

Flour Tortillas (Tortillas de Harina)

Tortillas de harina are the defining bread of Northern Mexico — particularly Sonora, where the Sonoran Desert's wheat-growing tradition produced a flatbread entirely different from the corn tortillas of central and southern Mexico. Made from just flour, lard, salt, and hot water, they are rolled thin and cooked on a dry, screaming-hot comal until dark blisters (leopard spots) appear and the tortilla puffs with steam. The result is soft, pliable, slightly chewy, and deeply wheaty — the essential wrapper for carne asada, burritos, quesadillas, and tacos. Lard is the defining ingredient: it coats the flour proteins, preventing excessive gluten development, and produces a tender, flexible tortilla that stays soft even when cold. Vegetable shortening is a practical substitute; butter gives richness but less pliability.

45 min160 kcal8 serves

🌱Vegan

★4.5

🇺🇸USAMedium

Vegetable and Mushroom Dishes

Flower Potatoes

Hasselback-style "flower" potatoes made in the air fryer — thin slices fan open like petals, crispy on the edges and soft in the center. Brushed with garlic-paprika butter, sprinkled with parmesan in the last three minutes. The chopstick trick creates perfect even cuts every time without slicing through, and soaking in cold water removes the starch so the petals separate and crisp up properly.

30 min250 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free

★4.7

🇮🇹ItalyAdvanced

Flour and Confectionery Products

Focaccia

A high-hydration dough stretched into a generously oiled baking tray, dimpled deep with fingers so the pockets hold brine and olive oil, then baked at high heat until the bottom fries crisp and the top turns deep gold. Focaccia from Liguria — with sea salt and rosemary — is the version everyone copies and almost no one gets quite right at home. The brine is the technique most people miss.

300 min310 kcal8 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan

★4.7

🇺🇸USAMedium

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Foil Packet Fish

White fish fillets sealed in foil with cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, zucchini and lemon. Everything steams together in 15 minutes — on the grill or in the oven. Zero cleanup.

30 min270 kcal4 serves

💪High protein🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

★4.6

🇫🇷FranceAdvanced

Soups

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup is the epitome of French comfort and culinary elegance. Slowly caramelized onions in a rich beef broth, topped with toasted baguette and melted Gruyère cheese.

85 min325 kcal4 serves

💪High protein

★4.4

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Fried Calamari

Italian-style calamari combines tender squid meat with a rich tomato sauce. Perfect for lovers of seafood and Italian cuisine.

18 min325 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick💪High protein🌾Gluten-free

★4.7

🇺🇸USAMedium

Meat Dishes

Fried Chicken

A classic American dish that has become an icon of Southern cooking. Pieces of chicken on the bone, covered with a crispy, golden brown breading.

45 min225 kcal4 serves

🌶️Spicy💪High protein

★4.6

🇬🇧UKAdvanced

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Fried Cod

Fried cod is a simple and delicious dish made from fresh or defrosted cod fillets. Especially popular in Scandinavian, British and Portuguese cuisines.

65 min225 kcal4 serves

🥑Keto💪High protein🌾Gluten-free

★4.5

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Flour and Confectionery Products

Fried Piroshki with Meat

Soft yeast dough pockets stuffed with juicy braised minced meat and onion, deep-fried to a golden crust. A beloved Russian street-food classic equally good as a snack or a meal alongside soup or broth.

150 min350 kcal8 serves

★4.6

🇺🇸USAMedium

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Fried Shrimp

Shrimp coated in seasoned flour, dipped in egg, and fried in hot oil until the crust turns deep gold and audibly crunchy. Served with a squeeze of lemon, the contrast between crisp shell and tender, juicy shrimp is addictive.

30 min275 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick💪High protein

★4.8

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