20 Healthy Make-At-Home Recipes with Whole Foods Vibes But Cheaper
I love a good hot bar or deli salad but not the price tag! 💵 I'm sharing my easy, healthier recipes that taste like they're from a gourmet grocery but for a fraction of the cost. DIY power! 💪🏻
Healthy, Easy…. and NOT $14.99/pound!
I’m not trying to single out Whole Foods because in Southern California we’ve got loads of very good, but veryyyy expensive specialty markets! Gelson’s, Lazy Acres, Frazier Farms, Bristol Farms, and the granddaddy Rolls Royce of grocers…. yep, Erewhon.
Don’t get me wrong, I love cruising the oh-so-enticing and very foodgasmic deli counters, hot bars, cold bars, salad bars, it’s literally fun to me. Yep, call me a foodie, call me old, but I love seeing what they’ve got. And then I want to recreate it all!
But what I do not love is when the person working at the deli counter fills up my tiny container holding what appears to be 5 bites, and it’s $11.62. And it was broccoli salad! Broccoli shouldn’t break banks.
So here I am to rescue you from all that insanity with some recipes you can make all summer long that taste every bit as good - or better - that what you’d buy and for a fraction of the cost!
Recipe categories below include:
Chicken 🍗
Shrimp 🍤
Lettuce-Free 🌿🚫
Quinoa 🧘♀️
Superfoods 😇
P.S. I have an ebook of Restaurant Copycat Recipes so if you want to recreate everything from Panera’s Broccoli Cheese Soup to Starbucks’ Lemon Loaf at home (and my versions taste better!), I’ve got you covered.
No Boring Chicken Salads
🫐🥒🥗 Grilled Chicken Berry Salad is big, hearty, and chock-full of juicy grilled chicken, blueberries, blackberries, creamy avocado, hard-boiled eggs, and more! Topped with a creamy shake-together red wine Dijon vinaigrette, this is a salad that you’ll want to put on rotation all spring and summer! It’s EASY, so flavorful, and ready in 30 minutes!
🥗🥕🥒🙌 There’s lots of CRUNCH in this hearty Asian Peanut Chicken Salad made with bell peppers, red cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, and more! The protein-packed edamame and chicken make this salad very filling, and the creamy peanut dressing infuses the salad with layers of Asian-inspired FLAVOR! Put your leftover chicken to use with this FAST and EASY salad that’s great for work lunches or as a lighter dinner idea!
This Sesame Orange Chicken Salad 🍊🥗🥕 is THE salad to make! We’re talking crunchy cabbage, bell peppers, carrots, and toasted almonds tossed with juicy Asian chicken and sweet mandarin oranges. There’s a homemade tahini-sesame-ginger dressing that coats everything perfectly and takes this quick, EASY, and healthy salad recipe from good to INCREDIBLE!
🥗🧀🍅🌽 This Southwest Chicken Cobb Salad is a Southwestern spin on traditional Cobb salad, complete with tender chicken, crispy bacon, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, black beans, corn, and avocado over a bed of Romaine lettuce! Topped with barbecue sauce and Ranch, there’s so much FLAVOR and TEXTURE galore in every bite of this crispy, crunchy, EASY salad!
🥗🥜🥬 Chicken Satay Crispy Rice Salad Bowls are loaded with so much TEXTURE and layers of FLAVOR! Juicy, curry-spiced chicken along with edamame, cucumbers, cabbage, cilantro, and more. Rice is baked until crispy and it truly MAKES this dish come alive! The finishing touch is a simple homemade peanut sauce dressing you’re going to LOVE!
Shrimp Salads Stealing The Show
🥑🍤🥗 My Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad with Black Beans and Avocado went viral on Pinterest when I first published it and people just love this one! It’s an easy, Mexican-inspired salad ready in 10 minutes! With tender, juicy shrimp, black beans, avocado, cilantro, and more are coated in a lime sauce, creating a fiesta in your mouth!
🍤🌿 This Creamy Shrimp Pasta Salad recipe features tender pasta, juicy shrimp, crunchy celery, bell peppers, and peas tossed in a tangy, zesty dressing. Quick and easy to make, it’s great for summer gatherings to serve as a side salad or a stand-alone meal!
This EASY 15-minute Avocado Mango Shrimp Salad 🥑🥭🍍🍤 with tropical fruit, avocado, red onion, lime juice, cilantro, and plump JUICY shrimp will become a new FAVORITE! Healthy and light with an assortment of wonderful flavors in every bite that’s perfect for a snack, quick lunch, or casual summer dinner!
Salads Without Lettuce Are Still ‘Salads’
Grilled Chicken Salad with Corn 🌽🍅🥑🍗 is an EASY salad that’s ready in 15 minutes and you won’t be able to stop eating it! Tender chicken, juicy corn, crisp bell peppers and tomatoes, creamy avocado, cilantro, and fresh lime juice for the WIN! When it’s too hot to fire up your oven, make this instead for a light yet satisfying meal the whole family will love and take advantage of summertime ingredients while they last!
🥚👏🏻 NO MAYO needed in this Cottage Cheese Egg Salad which is a healthier twist on egg salad made with cottage cheese! Creamy, flavorful, and packed with two lean PROTEIN powerhouses to keep you full and satisfied for hours! If you like egg salad, you need to try this EASY twist on the classic!
French Potato Salad with Green Beans 🥔🥗🌿 is a mayo-free potato salad with soft potatoes and crisp-tender green beans! They’re tossed in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette for bright, big flavor. This EASY French potato salad will be your new go-to for summer cookouts, potlucks, picnics or a great weeknight side dish.
🥚🫑 Deviled Egg Pasta Salad has all the rich flavors of deviled eggs in easy-to-make pasta salad format! Along with tender elbow macaroni, this pasta salad includes hard-boiled eggs, bell peppers, celery, and more. It’s all tossed in a creamy whisk-together dressing. Make deviled egg macaroni salad for summer holidays and casual entertaining, or it’s great for quick lunches or as a side salad for busy weeknight dinners!
Quinoa Salads With Maximum Taste
Tips – There’s no mayo in any of the quinoa salads listed below, making them great for outdoor events, backyard BBQs or summer camp lunch boxes! And everything in this section is naturally gluten-free and vegetarian.
This Zesty Quinoa Salad 🍅🍋🥗 has been on my site since 2014 and I still love it every time! Sundried tomatoes, sliced almonds, and a burst of lemon for a salad that’s fast, EASY, and fresh! Lovely bright flavors and loads of texture in this clean-eating salad keeps you full and satisfied! Healthy never tasted so good!
❤️🤍💚 My EASY Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad is packed with fresh Italian flavors. You can mix and match the ingredients to use up any fresh produce you have on hand, making it great for summer potlucks, barbecues, and meal prep!
🌽🍅🥗 My go-to warm weather meal, this Garden Fresh Summer Quinoa Salad is loaded with everything fresh, light, and healthy! Great for parties, potlucks, and lunchboxes (because there’s no mayo), it’s easy, flavorful, and great to serve as a side dish or main course!
🍚🫘 My Mexican Rice and Black Beans Medley is hearty enough to be a meal or makes a FANTASTIC side dish with loads of textures in every bite! It’s a super FLEXIBLE recipe that’s HEALTHY and makes a big batch for planned leftovers!
🫒🧀😋 This Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is ready in 20 minutes with Mediterranean-inspired ingredients, including chickpeas, Kalamata olives, artichokes, and goat cheese, to give layers of flavor and texture in every bite!
Superfoods Galore!
Twelve Superfood Salad 🥗🫐🥬🍇 is packed with 12 superfoods and has been a massive reader favorite over the years! This is a great clean out the fridge meal and is easily customized to suit whatever you need to use up. Best of all you just FEEL so good eating it!
Strawberry, Avocado, and Kale Salad with Strawberry-Apple Cider Vinaigrette – Make a kale lover out of anyone in this healthy salad with creamy avocado and juicy berries! The vinaigrette is tangy-sweet and just hits.
🥗🫐🍓 This Spinach Blueberry Salad is loaded with superfoods, including spinach, wheat berries (try them, so good!), blueberries, cranberries, almonds, and more. Then, the honey Dijon vinaigrette adds the perfect light touch. Every bite is full of so much FLAVOR and amazing TEXTURE!
