Special Diets Anti-Inflammatory 22 Anti-Inflammatory Dinners That Aren't Salmon By Dillon Evans Dillon Evans Dillon Evans fell in love with cooking at a very young age. He remembers the novel experiences of microwaving a bowl of oatmeal without his parents' permission and asking to make his mother's morning pot of coffee. These moments became catalysts for his interest in cooking and baking. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Published on February 27, 2024 Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD Jessica Ball, M.S., RD, is nutrition editor for EatingWell. She is a registered dietitian with a master's in food, nutrition and sustainability. In addition to EatingWell, her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Real Simple, Parents, Better Homes and Gardens and MyRecipes. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Trending Videos Close this video player You won’t want to miss out on these flavorful and nutritious dinners. While salmon is a great go-to main, this collection is chock-full of dishes that feature other inflammation-fighting foods, including leafy greens, dark green and deep orange veggies and other omega-3-rich fish. That way, your anti-inflammatory meal rotation is more diverse, while helping you combat inflammation’s pesky symptoms like digestive issues, joint stiffness and mental fog. Recipes like our Spaghetti with Creamy Lemon-Spinach Sauce and Green Veggie Bowl with Chicken & Lemon-Tahini Dressing make sure that what you eat at night is delicious and helps you feel your best. 01 of 22 One-Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Broccoli Diana Chistruga Shrimp and broccoli cook quickly in this easy, one-pot recipe, making it perfect for busy weeknights. Serve this healthy shrimp recipe over whole grains or rice. View Recipe 02 of 22 Chopped Power Salad with Chicken Jason Donnelly Enjoy this filling and colorful salad for lunch or dinner. The dressing gets made in the same bowl that the salad is tossed in, so the greens absorb every bit of flavor. View Recipe 03 of 22 Spaghetti with Creamy Lemon-Spinach Sauce Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle Give your veggie servings a boost with this easy spaghetti with spinach sauce recipe. Loosely inspired by the flavors of classic pesto, this vibrant pasta packs in plenty of spinach and basil with a garnish of nutty walnuts and savory Parmesan cheese. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and a green salad on the side. View Recipe 04 of 22 Arugula & Cucumber Salad with Tuna Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Melissa Gray, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster Spicy baby arugula pairs with crisp Persian cucumbers and celery in this refreshing salad. Italian Castelvetrano olives offer a mild, buttery flavor that doesn't compete with the flavor of the tuna. If you want more punch from your olives, Niçoise olives or Kalamata olives work well too. View Recipe 05 of 22 Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Broccoli This sweet and savory baked honey-garlic chicken thigh recipe comes with a side of veggies that cook on the same sheet pan as the chicken for the perfect weeknight dinner. View Recipe 06 of 22 Zucchini Lasagna Rolls with Smoked Mozzarella This healthy riff on lasagna rolls uses strips of zucchini instead of lasagna noodles for a vegetable-packed dinner that's fun for the whole family. This is a great recipe for kids to help make--let them get their hands dirty rolling the zucchini ribbons with the cheesy filling. Use a vegetable peeler or mandoline to quickly slice the zucchini into uniform thin strips--this will ensure easy rolling and even cooking. View Recipe 07 of 22 Green Veggie Bowl with Chicken & Lemon-Tahini Dressing For this healthy 30-minute dinner, treat your veggies like pasta and cook until al dente, or just done. If you have a little extra time, double or triple the lemon-tahini dressing and use it to quickly dress a salad or as a sauce for steak or shrimp. View Recipe 08 of 22 Ash-eh Reshteh (Persian Bean & Pasta Soup) Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Addelyn Evans, Prop Stylist: Gabe Greco Ash-eh reshteh is a hearty bean and noodle soup that’s packed with fresh herbs. The vegetarian soup is often made for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, but it’s delicious any time. View Recipe 09 of 22 Minestrone Soup Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Lexi Juhl, This fresh and simple minestrone soup is the perfect recipe for chilly days. Adding the ingredients in stages allows this quick-cooking soup to develop deep flavors in a short time. Cooking the pasta in the soup is an easy and efficient way to add body. This minestrone soup would work with different veggies (think peas, cabbage or winter squash) or another type of canned bean, like creamy cannellini beans or even chickpeas. View Recipe 10 of 22 Sheet-Pan Shrimp, Pineapple & Peppers with Rice Greg Dupree This incredibly easy seafood dinner uses fresh pineapple and a teriyaki-style sauce a sweet-and-tangy flavor profile. The pineapple also concentrates as it bakes and helps keep the rice mixture from becoming too dry. Rather than spreading the rice to the far edges of the sheet pan, keep it closer to the center and layer the vegetables and shrimp on top. This way their juices seep right into the rice, and the teriyaki drizzle coats every bite. View Recipe 11 of 22 Zucchini Noodles with Pesto & Chicken This healthy summer dinner subs zoodles for pasta to help use up your zucchini bounty--as well as slash calories and carbs. Once the spiralized zucchini has time to soak up the herby pesto sauce, this chicken and pesto pasta makes particularly good leftovers. View Recipe 12 of 22 Shrimp & Fish Stew Christine Ma This hearty shrimp and fish stew is inspired by cioppino, an Italian-American dish that originated in San Francisco. Serve with crusty bread to soak up every last bit of the savory broth. View Recipe 13 of 22 Coconut Stew with Spinach & Beans Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Lexi Juhl Sweet potatoes add sweetness and body to this stew flavored with ginger, cumin, coriander and turmeric (which gives it its vibrant yellow color). Unseeded chiles add extra heat, but you can seed them to mellow the spiciness. You want the potatoes cooked until they're tender, but not falling apart in the stew—the carryover heat will continue to cook them as the stew sits off the heat. View Recipe 14 of 22 Baked Halibut with Brussels Sprouts & Quinoa Fish plus two sides? It seems fancy but this healthy dinner comes together in just 30 minutes. View Recipe 15 of 22 Spicy Chili Oil Noodles with Zucchini & Carrots Matthew Francis Making your own chili oil is more time-intensive than using store-bought, but it’s worth it for the fresh flavors in this dish. The goal here is to infuse the oil with tons of aromatics like bay leaves, star anise, peppercorns and chili flakes to create a spicy base for the sauce. Spiralized zucchini and carrot add crunch, color and nutrients to the dish. View Recipe 16 of 22 Pesto Tuna Noodle Casserole Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Lexi Juhl A creamy pesto sauce with sweet shallots and wilted spinach gives a light and bright spin to classic tuna noodle casserole. Albacore tuna is an ideal choice, as it holds its texture well once mixed in, although any water-packed tuna will do the job. For the best results, we recommend using refrigerated pesto for its fresh flavor which enhances the overall dish. View Recipe 17 of 22 Eat-the-Rainbow Vegetable Soup Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall , Prop Stylist: Shell Royster This vibrant and wholesome soup recipe helps support your well-being. It’s packed with a variety of colorful vegetables, like tomatoes, which contain lycopene, a phytochemical that may help reduce inflammation. The base of the soup is prepped ahead of time and stored in separate containers. Simply add the broth and heat it in the microwave when you’re ready to eat. If you don’t wish to travel with vegetable broth or don’t have access to a microwave, you can use reduced-sodium bouillon instead and just add hot water. View Recipe 18 of 22 Weight-Loss Cabbage Soup Loaded with cabbage, carrots, bell pepper and tomato, this healthy cabbage soup recipe packs in lots of flavor and is ultra-satisfying. This easy recipe makes a big batch for lunch or dinner all week. View Recipe 19 of 22 Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Diet Stew With a focus on vegetables, fiber-rich legumes and healthy fats, this slow-cooker stew fits the bill for those following the Mediterranean diet. Swap out the chickpeas for white beans for a different twist, or try collards or spinach in place of the kale. A drizzle of olive oil to finish pulls together the flavors of this easy vegan crock pot stew. View Recipe 20 of 22 Vegan Superfood Grain Bowls Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey This nutrient-packed grain bowl recipe comes together in 15 minutes with the help of a few convenience-food shortcuts like prewashed baby kale, microwavable quinoa and precooked beets. Pack these ahead to keep on hand for easy meal-prep lunches or dinners on busy nights. View Recipe 21 of 22 Slow-Cooked Beef with Carrots & Cabbage In this main-dish recipe, the pot roast is slow-cooked with carrots and low-sodium beef broth. Toward the end of the cooking time, shredded cabbage is added in to round out the meal. Each of the two servings has just 215 calories. View Recipe 22 of 22 Green Goddess Salad with Chickpeas In this cucumber, tomato, Swiss cheese and chickpea salad recipe, a healthy green goddess dressing is made from avocado, buttermilk and herbs. The extra dressing is delicious served with grilled vegetables. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit