5 Super Simple & Healthy Turkish Meals Under 500 Calories

When I came to Turkey years ago, I was initially very intimidated to try and make Turkish food. The dishes look so complex and have such flavor that I always assumed they were not easy to accomplish. While there are indeed some dishes such as Icli kofte, that are quite difficult and time consuming, I have come to learn that, while many Turkish dishes are super nutritious, they are the easiest thing you will ever make and often are one-pot/pan wonders.

After making a few dishes and realizing how forgiving and simple they were, I had an epiphany. It seemed to me, upon deliberation, that cultures centered around food and family seemingly have very simple dishes, yet they do not lack in taste. My theory is that, because women had to prepare 3 meals a day for a dozen of their kids as well as any guests who showed up unannounced (very common in Turkey), dishes were designed to be simple and forgiving. They were made to be put in the oven and left until they were ready so other tasks could be attended to. 

The best kinds of dishes are the ones that require zero effort, but are so good that your guests think you worked really hard on it. In my previous life, I remember cooking being an arduous task, following step after step and using 4 pots just to make a decently impressive meal. These days, every time I cook, I am in a state of wonder and awe at the sheer simplicity. Despite simplicity, these dishes are packed with nutrients and have tremendous volume making them excellent for weight loss which is why I have decided to share with you my top 5 super simple & healthy Turkish meals under 500 calories.

Turkish food is generally not fussy and extremely forgiving, so do not worry if you make a mistake or don’t get it exactly right. The funniest thing to me is when you look up recipes, oftentimes the recipe says “yeteri kadar” or “enough” in reference to things like salt and other spices. Other terms they use include things like “göz kadar” or “eye amount,” meaning that you put however much looks right. 

#1 Kuru Fasulye (Dry Beans or Turkish Chili)

Here we have an absolute classic that I would call the Turkish equivalent of chili. This recipe uses white kidney beans, or navy beans, that need to be soaked overnight - hence the name “dry beans.” Navy beans are considered a superfood and are actually the healthiest bean of all. Compared to black beans, navy beans are loaded with vitamin B6, have higher calcium, iron, manganese, niacin, and phosphorus as well as half the amount of saturated fatty acids. They have also been said to lower bad cholesterol in the body and help with appetite regulation. In other words, they are low calorie, packed with nutrients, and keep you full for a long time. Kuru fasulye is typically served with a side of rice, which I highly recommend. For less than 500 calories, you can have one cup of cooked rice and one cup of kuru fasulye. 

Note: This can be made without meat as a vegetarian option.

Serves 5-6 people

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Navy Beans (soaked overnight)

• 300g Ground or cubed beef (optional)

• 1 Medium-Sized Onion

• 1 Green Pepper

• 1.5 TBSP Tomato Paste

• 5 Cups of Hot Water

• Salt To Taste

• Olive Oil to Grease Pot

1. Grease pot with olive oil (try not to use too much) and add diced onion. Cook until they begin to soften and add diced green pepper.

2. Optional: Add meat and cook until it begins to change color.

3. Add tomato paste and mix until fully incorporated.

4. Add navy beans and cook for a few minutes while stirring until fully mixed in.

5. Add hot water and salt to taste - bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover with a lid to let it simmer.

6. Allow to simmer until the beans are softened (around 30 minutes).

7. For extra flavor, let the beans simmer on low heat for 1-2 hours. This allows the sauce to fully saturate the beans.

8. Serve with a side of rice.

Pro Tip: Slowly drizzle kuru fasulye on rice as you eat instead of putting them in the same plate.

Pro Pro Tip: Eat with a side of greek yogurt.

#2 Mercimek Çorbası (Red Lentil Soup)

Mercimek (red lentil soup) is a staple in every Turkish home and is incredibly easy to make, nutritious, and vegan. Usually lentil soup is eaten at breakfast or as an appetizer, but it can be eaten at any time of the day. While Turkey boasts over 360 types of soup, mercimek is the one you can find at any restaurant at any time. If you visit a Turkish home for dinner, this is the soup you will be served. Mercimek is highly satiating and packed with fiber, iron, potassium, folate, and protein leaving you full for long periods of time. One cup of red lentil soup has only 140 calories, so it is a wonderful option to increase volume while getting in lots of protein and vitamins.

Serves 3-4 People 

Ingredients: 

• 2 Tbsp Olive oil

• 1 Tbsp All Purpose Flour

• 1 Small Onion

• 1 Teaspoon of Tomato Paste

• 1 Carrot

• 1 cup of red lentils

• 4 Cups of Hot Water

• 1 Teaspoon Salt (to taste)

• ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper

• ½ Teaspoon Cumin (optional but recommended)

Sauce: 

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Teaspoon Red Pepper

1. Add olive oil to a pot and stir in diced onions. Cook until they are softened.

2. Add flour and continue stirring over low heat until it covers the onions.

3. Add tomato paste and mix until incorporated then add diced carrots and lentils (make sure you wash them).

4. Add water, salt, black pepper, and cumin. Cover it until it boils. Let the soup simmer until the contents have become softened (around 30 minutes)

5. Optional: Using a blender to blend the ingredients is recommended. If not, you can try to crush them. Otherwise, skip this step. I don’t have a blender and I don’t take the time to crush everything - it is still delicious.

6. Now, you can add salt to taste and adjust the consistency by adding more water. If you add more water, let it boil again.

The sauce:

1. Add butter and red pepper to a pan until it melts and is incorporated. That’s it.

To serve:

Add your soup to a bowl and drizzle a bit of the sauce onto the top. Serve with a slice of lemon on the side. Before eating, squeeze the lemon into the soup. Enjoy.

Pro Tip: If you would like to make a full authentic Turkish meal, prepare a Turkish salad (diced onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, salt to taste, with olive oil & vinaigrette for dressing - that’s it), chicken on rice (listed below). Voila, you have a full Turkish dinner.

Pro pro tip: Garnish with cilantro.

#3 Chicken On Top of Rice (Pilav Üstü Tavuk)

Chicken on top of rice is a very common meal served at local restaurants and by street vendors called “pilavci,” or “rice maker.” It is very commonly paired with the soup I just described as well as Turkish salad to make a full meal. Chicken on top of rice is very plain and simple, but there are some extra steps you can take if you’d like to add flavor to the chicken. Personally, I enjoy this dish as is, but to each their own.

Chicken on top of rice can be made with chickpeas or orzo, whichever you prefer, and white rice with chicken breast. I recommend one chicken breast per one cup of uncooked rice. 

Serves 2 People (you can double or triple it)

Ingredients: 

• 1 Skinless Cooked Chicken Breast

• 1 Cup of uncooked rice

• ¼ cup of orzo or cooked chickpeas (canned is fine just rinse them)

• 1.5 Tbsp Unsalted butter

• Salt & Pepper to Taste (“yeteri kadar” or “enough”)

• 1 Cup of Chicken Broth (you can make this yourself)

• 1 Cup of Water

• **If you do not have chicken broth on hand, cook the chicken breast by boiling it in water for 5-10 minutes. Use 2 cups of this water to cook your rice.

1. Add butter to pan. 

2. Add orzo/chickpeas to pan and cook them until they begin to roast.

3. Add washed and rinsed rice. Stir around for 3-5 minutes.

4. Add cubed, cooked chicken breast along with salt and pepper, chicken broth and water.

****If you want to add sauce to your chicken, do not add it to your rice. Add one tbsp of butter, a tsp of red pepper flakes, black pepper, and thyme to a pan. Once the butter and spices are melted together, add chicken and fully cover it in the sauce. Salt to taste.***

1. Bring the water to a boil and cook until all of the water is absorbed by the rice (around 18 minutes)

2. Let rest for ten minutes before serving.

Serve:

1. If you used saucy chicken, pack some chicken into a small bowl, then cover it with rice until the bowl is full. Flip the bowl over onto a plate and you have chicken on top of rice.

2. If you used the original method, pack your chicken rice into a small bowl and flip it over onto a plate.

Pro tip: Serve with mercimek and Turkish salad to have a full authentic Turkish meal.

Pro Pro Tip: Garnish with cilantro.

#4 Fırında Patatesli Tavuk (In the Oven Chicken with Potatoes)

Whenever I have guests, or whenever I want something extra easy and delicious, I make this single-tray dish. This is a dish I make quite literally every single week and it is commonly served for dinner at other people’s houses. Everything goes in the same tray with the same sauce at the same time and comes out delicious, ready to eat. At 380 calories per serving, this recipe is made with only a few ingredients. By now you may have noticed that Turkish food uses a lot of tomato paste. In my opinion, if you want to make something Turkish style, just add tomato paste, tomatoes, and green pepper.

Note: This recipe is zero-fuss. If you want less chicken and more potatoes, go for it. It would be fewer calories.

Serves: 4 People

Ingredients:

• 6 Skinless, boneless chicken thighs

• 2 Medium Sized Potatoes (cubed)

• 1 Large Tomato

• 1 Green Pepper

• ½ TBSP Thyme

• ½ TSBP Sweet Red Pepper

Sauce: 

1.5 TBSP Tomato paste

½ TBSP Olive Oil

2 Cloves of diced garlic

1 TSP of salt

1 TSP black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 190 C (375 f). Cube potatoes, tomatoes, and green pepper.

2. Add sauce ingredients to a bowl and mix together.

3. Add chicken and potatoes to the bowl and generously coat them in the sauce.

4. Add entire contents of bowl to a baking tray or pyrex dish.

5. Put diced peppers and tomatoes on top and sprinkle with thyme and sweet red pepper.

6. Put in the middle rack and bake for 35-40 minutes. 

Note: For extra crisp, I move the tray up to the top rack after 20 minutes and turn the broiler on for the last 20 minutes. 

Pro tip: Serve with Turkish salad and Mercimek for a full Turkish dinner.

Pro pro tip: I HIGHLY recommend eating this with a side of plain greek yogurt. Use the yogurt as a sauce to dip the chicken and potatoes in. This has become my favorite flavor combination in the world. In one word: divine.

#5 Tavuk Yahni (Chicken Stew?)

Do you enjoy fall-off-the-bone chicken stew? This is the recipe for you. At only 250 calories per serving, it takes about 10-20 minutes of effort and then you can sit back and relax while your gorgeous dinner simmers to perfection on the stove. You barely have to do any chopping either as most ingredients go in the pot whole. This dish has impressed many of my guests, even my own sister who was surprised that I had managed to make something that looked so complex. The best thing is, it’s the easiest thing in the world, yet it tastes and looks amazing enough for others to think you're a skilled cook. The best of both worlds. Summer is approaching here in Turkiye, so I will not be making this dish as often. However, just know that in winter I make this just about every week. It is warm and hearty and hits all the right spots. 

Note: Serving size is about one soup bowl including one portion of chicken. You can consume 1.5 servings of this chicken stew and ½ cup of cooked rice for under 500 calories.

Serves 6-8 People

Ingredients:

One Whole Chicken (cut into portions eg wings, legs, thighs etc) or whatever chicken you have as long as it’s around 6-8 pieces

4 Tomatoes (cut in quarters or large chunks)

4 Green Peppers (cut in large chunks)

12 golf-ball sized onions (or quartered large onions) omit if you don’t like onion

6 cloves of garlic (whole)

⅓ Cup Oil (I like using Olive oil)

1 TBSP of Tomato Paste (you knew it was coming)

1 TBSP of salt or to taste

1 TSP Sweet red pepper

1 TSP Red pepper flakes

1 TSP Black Pepper

1 TSP Cumin

1 TSP Thyme

1 TSP Basil

1. Heat oil in a large pot and add the chicken. Cook in oil for 10 minutes.

2. Using tongs, transfer chicken to a separate plate, leaving the oil in the pot.

3. Add tomato paste, salt, and all spices to the oil and mix until fully incorporated.

4. Add whole garlic cloves, green peppers, and whole small onions (or quartered large onions). Cook over medium heat for around 3-5 minutes.

5. Return chicken pieces to pot and add 1-1.5 cups of water (or until almost covered, not completely). Bring to a boil and let simmer on low heat for 45 minutes.

6. Add tomatoes to the top and let simmer for 15 more minutes.

7. Serve with a side of rice.

Pro Tip: To make a full meal, serve with Turkish salad. 

Pro pro tip: Eat with some plain greek yogurt on the side - if you know, you know.

Conclusion

All in all, these are my top 5 under 500 calorie go-to recipes that I make religiously. Each one of these are so nutritious and, though low in calories, do not sacrifice flavor. In my absolute unbiased opinion, Turkiye has some of the best food in the world and it doesn’t hurt that it’s largely easy to make. 

If you enjoyed this article and want more easy Turkish recipes, leave a comment and let me know! Subscribe so you don’t miss out on future posts.