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A skillet of golden chicken pieces, chickpeas, broccoli and spinach, with a bowl of yogurt sauce and a lemon half

High Protein Weight Loss Dinner With Lemon Chicken and Chickpea Skillet

Prep
10 min
Cook
20 min
Total
30 min
Servings
4 servings

A one-pan dinner of chicken breast, chickpeas, broccoli and spinach with a lemon-yogurt sauce: high in protein, high in fiber and ready in about 30 minutes, with USDA numbers per serving.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbboneless skinless chicken breast, about 680 g, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
  • 1 tbspolive oil
  • 1 mediumonion, sliced
  • 3 clovegarlic, minced
  • 2 tsppaprika
  • 1 tspground cumin
  • 1/2 tspsalt
  • 1/4 tspblack pepper
  • 240 gcanned chickpeas, about 1 1/2 cups or 1 can, drained and rinsed
  • 300 gbroccoli florets, about 3 cups (10 oz), bite-size
  • 1/2 cuplow-sodium chicken broth
  • 4 cupbaby spinach, loosely packed
  • 3 tbsplemon juice, fresh, from about 1 large lemon
  • 1/2 cupplain greek yogurt, for the sauce
  • 1 tsplemon zest

Instructions

  1. Sear the chicken. Pat the chicken dry and season it with the salt, pepper, paprika and cumin. Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes, turning once or twice, until golden on the outside. Lift it onto a plate. It does not need to be cooked through yet.
  2. Soften the onion and cook the vegetables. Turn the heat to medium. Add the onion to the same pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, then add the garlic for 30 seconds. Stir in the chickpeas, broccoli and broth, cover and cook for 5 minutes, until the broccoli is bright green and just tender.
  3. Finish the chicken and wilt the spinach. Return the chicken and its juices to the pan, stir in the spinach and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the spinach wilts and the thickest piece of chicken reaches 165°F (73.9°C) on a thermometer. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
  4. Make the lemon-yogurt sauce and serve. Stir the lemon zest into the Greek yogurt with a spoonful of the hot pan juices to loosen it. Divide the skillet between four plates and spoon the sauce over the top.

Notes

  • Cut the chicken into pieces of the same size so they finish together, and trust the thermometer rather than the clock.
  • Rinse the canned chickpeas well and use low-sodium broth to keep the salt in check; add more salt at the end only if you need it.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (estimated) : Calories: 395 | Total Carbohydrate: 26 g | Protein: 50 g | Total Fat: 11 g | Sodium: 587 mg

Category: Weight & ProteinAuthor: Bogdan DCuisine: Mediterranean