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My meal prep salads for weight loss are perfect whether you currently have a weight loss goal or are just seeking culinary deliciousness. You can easily make a big salad for under 500 calories that’s filled with tasty ingredients. These salad recipes for weight loss are a great way to use up leftovers, and I give options that are low carb, keto, gluten free.
Keto Greek Salad
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Learn how to make keto Greek salad with chicken or turkey and a delicious keto Greek salad dressing. Under 500 calories, only 17g net carbs!
Get the recipe: Keto Greek Salad for Weight Loss
Orange Chicken Salad
Savor fresh, whole foods with this orange chicken salad with strawberries! Under 400 calories with Whole30, Paleo, gluten free, and low carb options!
Get the recipe: Orange Chicken Salad
Canned Salmon Salad
Try my no mayo keto salmon salad for a healthy lunch with 331 calories, 11.2 grams net carbs! It’s Paleo, Whole30, low carb, and gluten free!
Get the recipe: Canned Salmon Salad (No Mayo)
Taco Salad Bowls
Use this air fryer taco meat recipe to make the best taco bowls! The meat cooks in only 5 minutes for an easy option.
Get the recipe: Air Fryer Taco Meat
Egg Salad
A low carb meal of this healthy egg salad recipe and veggies provides protein and low-calorie volume for staying power.
Get the recipe: Egg Salad for Weight Loss
Sardine Salad
These low carb sardine salad wraps are made with collard greens to boost your veggie intake. Canned sardines are an inexpensive way to eat more seafood, and choosing sardines with bones provides an added calcium boost.
Get the recipe: Sardine Salad Wrap
Turkey Salad
This easy recipe swaps mayo for Greek yogurt for a lighter turkey salad that’s low fat and low calorie while remaining delicious! You can serve it in lettuce cups or in a sandwich.
Get the recipe: Turkey Salad Recipe without Mayo
Summer Berry Salad
This berry salad uses strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries for a medley of colors, textures, and flavors. If you’re looking for healthy salads for weight loss that are perfect for summer, this one’s for you.
Get the recipe: Summer Berry Salad
Air Fryer Salad
Learn to make a variety of air fryer salad recipes in this ultimate guide to air fryer salads! They’re super for weekday lunch meal preps.
Get the recipe: Air Fryer Salad Recipe
Cobb Salad
This may sound strange, but this Cobb salad (with bacon and egg) is more satisfying than a plate of bacon and eggs! Low-carb & under 500 calories, I think it’s the best salad for weight loss.
Watch How to Make It!
Healthy Meal Prep Salads for Weight Loss
Ingredients
- 8 cups leafy greens (I used Trader Joe's spring mix)
- 4 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled
- 4 slices cooked bacon
- 12 ounces chicken breast, cooked (340 grams)
- 1 avocado
- ½ lime, juiced
- 2 ounces blue stilton cheese, crumbled (57 grams)
- 1 lb grape tomatoes (454 grams)
- 2 tablespoons chives, chopped
- 4 Persian cucumbers
- 1 scallion
- 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
Instructions
- Chop the chicken, avocado, Persian cucumbers, chives, and scallions. Halve the hard-boiled eggs and grape tomatoes. Crumble the cooked bacon and blue cheese.
- Sprinkle the lime juice on the avocado to help keep it from browning.
- Divide the leafy greens between the four containers or salad bowls. Add ¼ of the eggs, bacon, chicken, avocado, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, chives, and scallions to each of the containers.
- Put the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, and garlic in a small canning jar. Put the lid on the jar and give it a good shake. Divide the dressing evenly between four dressing cups. Dress your salad right before serving. Enjoy!
Equipment
Notes
💭 Expert Tips from Dietitian Summer Yule
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). This salad gives you 33 grams of protein and under 10 net carbs for under 500 calories. Whether you are focusing specifically on low calorie or low carb for weight loss, this one is a great choice. Additionally, it is packed with a rainbow of phytochemical-rich vegetables, offering a high volume meal for very few calories. The fluid and fiber-packed veggies will help to keep your stomach full. Since you need to maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight, the best salad for weight loss will help you feel full longer on fewer calories. Can you lose weight eating salads every day? Just about any diet where you can maintain a calorie deficit can (eventually) help you lose weight. That said, a diet of only salads doesn’t sound very sustainable. To keep the weight off, it’s better to find an eating pattern you can maintain over the long-term. Nutrition information is for one serving.
nutrition info disclaimer
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.
“To taste” means to your preferences, which may have to be visual to follow food safety rules. Please don’t eat undercooked food x
Nutrition
Hello! I’m Summer, a registered dietitian and home chef who loves to cook, eat, and create recipes for you! Every recipe on this site has been tested by me to help ensure your success in the kitchen. All eaters are welcome here 🙂
Looks scrumptious, Summer! Loaded with so many spectacular goodies, from the avocados, to the tomatoes, to the Dijon….oh my! There’s just no way all this can be good for me, but somehow…
Have to take a pass on the eggs, as hard-boileds aren’t a favorite (to understate it), but everything else more than makes up for it! Especially those tomatoes. Aren’t grape tomatoes awesome? By mid-winter, most tomatoes here in the Northeast are about as tasty as cardboard, but grapes are still pretty spectacular. Maybe not as good as picking them off the vine in late July, but close.
Oh, about dietitians’ efforts – you’ve heard the observation about firefighters being ones who dash into a burning building while everyone else flees? The same applies to nutritionists, who usually are pressed into service only after someone has suffered a dire fate. It takes courage and creativity to do what you do, and I applaud you for it!
Thank you! If you aren’t into the eggs, I think it would be fine to skip them here. My son has never been a big fan of eggs either. I’ve figured out a few ways he’ll eat them over time. For a number of years, he’d get huevos rancheros minus the huevos when I made that dish. 🙂
I’ve noticed the Heavenly Villagio Marzano Tomatoes at Trader Joe’s are really good year-round. They are not what I ended up using here but I tend to grab them when they are in stock. This is definitely the time of year I could really go for a fresh, local tomato. Several more months…
Thank you for your kind words about dietitians, by the way. It’s tough with writing because I know that anything I share isn’t going to meet everyone’s needs. And yes, by the time someone becomes a patient, they may not be in a great situation. 🙁
Villagio Marzanos were the standard until a month ago, when I discovered a variety called, “Dolce Bites.”
Good Lord! Put them under a sunlamp for a moment or two, and I defy you to tell them apart from what you gathered in early August from a trip to your garden!
Alas, they might be just from a local greenhouse, though, because I haven’t heard people in other parts of the country raving about them.
I have never heard of these! I’ll keep an eye out for them, for sure.