These easy shrimp fajita bowls come together in a flash! If you don’t like salad, this bowl packed with protein and veggies makes an excellent healthy lunch alternative. Swapping the brown rice for cauliflower rice will turn this low-calorie meal into a low-carb option as well. If you want to lose weight, meal prepping is one approach that can help you with your goals.
As much as I enjoy salads, sometimes I like to mix up my lunches with entrees like easy shrimp fajita bowls. Keeping my healthful way of eating from getting boring makes it easier to stick with it.
Are there certain healthy foods that you like, and your family members do not? If you have older kids who are in school, use your lunches as an opportunity to fit these foods in.
It is great to try and expand the palate to enjoy a wider variety of foods if the diet is limited. However, IMHO, there is no reason to torment family members with a few foods they dislike. For example, since my son dislikes tempeh, I’ll typically either have it for lunch or while he is away.
If you haven’t been eating shrimp because your family hates it, why not give this meal prep a try? You’ll have a fridge full of lunches that are ready to go on busy weekdays. Keep all of the tasty and easy shrimp fajita bowls to yourself. Haha
Weight loss Questions & Answers
I thought I’d do a little Q&A today on the topic of whether you must do certain things to lose weight. If you’ve been following my site for a while, you can probably guess the answers!
Do I need to eat salads to lose weight?
I happen to love a good salad for lunch. However, if you dislike salads, you do not need to force yourself to eat them. Let me repeat: you do not have to eat salad to meet your health goals.
There are lots of foods that can meet your essential micronutrient needs while you create a calorie deficit. These easy shrimp fajita bowls are packed with protein and veggies; no salad necessary.
Do I need to track calories to lose weight?
I found calorie tracking (using MyFitnessPal) to be very helpful in my 70-pound weight loss. Now, at over six years into my maintenance, I still log food to help keep me accountable. That does not mean that this is what everyone else who has a weight loss goal should do.
Since a calorie deficit is necessary for weight loss, it can be helpful to know the general calorie content of foods. I could eat endless amounts of healthy nuts, cheese, and olive oil. Knowing that small amounts of these foods are high in calories helps me to portion them appropriately.
How might intuitive eating fit into all of this?
The overabundance of hyper-palatable ultra-processed foods in today’s society can make it challenging to maintain a healthy weight while eating intuitively. If you want to lose weight without tracking, shifting to a diet of more whole and minimally processed foods may prove helpful. That said, we all start our journey at different points, and there is no one right way.
I found consuming small snacks each day during my weight loss to be a transition step that kept me from feeling deprived. In truth, sometimes these were ultra-processed, less healthful options. I’ve since moved away from the regular use of these products, but I did find them helpful earlier on.
Many people are repetitive eaters, consuming the same small repertoire of meals each week. Reformulating your regular meals to provide satiety at calories that keep you at a healthy weight may make tracking unnecessary. One method that people use to accomplish this is with a low-carb diet.
(P.S. I am not a repetitive eater, often trying new recipes. I think that this particular trait may make keeping a food diary more helpful for me than it may be for others.)
Do I need to give up foods that are high in carbs to lose weight?
Though I did eat very limited portions of certain high-carb foods during my weight loss, I never gave them up completely. I ate plenty of fresh fruit (and still do), but kept my intake of grains (especially flours) and added sugars relatively low. Again, this does not mean that this is what everyone else should do.
Many people find low-carb diets to be the approach that is most helpful to them to regain their health. For persons with type 2 diabetes, low-carb may help them lose weight and gain better glycemic control. (An effective way for some to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.)
Because low-carb strategies are so helpful for some people, I will offer some recipes that fit this way of eating. If there is an easy way to make a posted recipe lower in carbs, I will also share that information. For example, this easy shrimp fajita recipe can easily be made low-carb by using riced cauliflower instead of brown rice.
And now for the 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 calorie 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 wildly inaccurate, so please don’t sweat the numbers too much.
For more information on how the three recipe levels may help with a weight management goal, refer to this post. Let’s get cooking!
Easy Shrimp Fajita Bowl Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 1 c brown rice, dry
- 2 T avocado oil
- 1 lb. raw tail-on peeled shrimp, thawed
- 2 t chili powder
- ¼ t garlic powder
- ¼ t onion powder
- 1 t cumin
- 1 t paprika
- ⅛ t black pepper
- 4 medium bell peppers, sliced (one of each color: red, orange, yellow, green)
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 jalapeno, chopped
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 4 T sour cream
Instructions
- Cook the brown rice according to the directions on the package. While the rice cooks, prepare the rest of the meal.
- Sprinkle the lime juice over the avocado to prevent browning.
- Mix the chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, and black pepper together.
- Heat the avocado oil in a pan. Add the shrimp and spice mixture.
- Cook over medium heat until the shrimp are cooked through, stirring often. This will take 5-10 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan.
- Add the bell peppers, onion, and jalapeno to the pan you cooked the shrimp in. Add ¼ cup water to the pan to help steam the veggies and to pick up some of the seasonings. Stir often until cooked (takes about 10 minutes).
- When the peppers and onions have finished cooking, stir the shrimp in to fully distribute the seasonings.
- Distribute the rice and the shrimp mixture evenly between four food containers. Add ¼ of the avocado and 1 T of sour cream to each container. (See notes below if you will be reheating these later.)
- Put the lids on the containers and refrigerate. Meal prep complete!
Notes
This is a level 1 recipe (may help support fat loss). As mentioned above, you can make this a low-carb entrée by swapping out the brown rice for cauliflower rice. This will make the meal lower in calories as well. Using non-fat plain Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream is another way to bring the calories down. Fajitas are typically served with tortillas. Consider this option if you need a meal to meet higher energy needs. If you are planning on reheating this meal later, keep the sour cream and avocado in a separate container. As an alternative to microwaving, I tend to let this dish sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating. (Just keep the cover on the container while it sits!)
Nutrition
What are some of your favorite meal prep recipes for lunch? Share some links with me in the comments if you wish. I’m always on the lookout for new ideas!
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