17 Recipes That Actually Got Me Through Whole30

    From someone who can barely cook and likes to eat.

    Anna Borges
    by Anna Borges

    BuzzFeed News Reporter

    The Whole30 program is an elimination diet that calls for avoiding grains, legumes, dairy, added sugar, and alcohol for 30 days — and last month, I did it.

    Given that I'm a pretty shitty cook with limited patience for both complicated recipes and gross food, finding a few solid staple recipes was necessary for getting through Whole30.

    Because of that, I can promise all of these recipes: are simple and easy to make

    * don't use any fancy appliances because I have a tiny-ass kitchen and three roommates

    * require no outlandish ingredients, except for a few Whole30-specific things that you'll probably be stocking up on anyway (like coconut aminos, which are actually worth it, btw)

    * lend themselves well to meal-prepping and leftovers, since I only ever wanted to cook 1-2 times a week

    * are tasty and filling enough that I rarely felt like I was being deprived of anything (except alcohol and dessert, RIP)

    Here were my favorites:

    1. Roasted garlic chicken salad in bell pepper cups

    Little Bits Of / Anna Borges / BuzzFeed News

    Listen, I don't mean to be dramatic, but discovering bell peppers as alternative receptacles for sandwich fillings was NOTHING SHORT OF LIFE-CHANGING. Using lettuce is fine and all but ultimately very messy without much payoff, whereas bell peppers are crunchy and delicious and also easy to assemble into yummy little chicken salad boats at work. YOU TOO WILL BE A CONVERT, I PROMISE.

    2. Cauliflower fried "rice"

    Jay's Baking Me Crazy / Via jaysbakingmecrazy.com

    This recipe scratched my take-out itch, because SHOCKINGLY, my Seamless habit was not sustainable while observing Whole30. Cauliflower rice, btw, is just cauliflower chopped or processed till it's the size of grains of rice. Or if you're lucky, you can get it frozen or pre-chopped at the grocery store.

    3. Potato avocado "toast" with poached eggs

    The Organic Kitchen / Via theorganickitchen.org

    I'll be honest, I'm not sure I understand the marketing of this dish as toast instead of loaded hashbrowns or something, but whatever, it made for a great brunch-y meal for me, Girl Who Really Missed Boozy Brunch and Eggs Benedict. You can find some useful tips for poaching here, but it's good with a fried egg too, if poaching is too intimidating for you.

    4. Coconut curry chicken meatballs with cauliflower "rice"

    The Bewitchin Kitchen / Via thebewitchinkitchen.com

    Not only is this meal itself super delicious, but these meatballs were lifesavers. I cooked them in bulk to save for other recipes (see below) or just to have on hand to snack on.

    5. Thai meatball and egg drop soup

    A Saucy Kitchen / Via asaucykitchen.com

    Everyone needs a solid soup recipe and since I'm usually too lazy to make any that involve blending or pureeing AND had a small army of meatballs leftover from the last recipe to sub in, this one became My Soup.

    6. Zoodles with turkey meatballs* in roasted red pepper sauce

    A Dash of Megnut / Via adashofmegnut.com

    *Lol, you know I used the same chicken meatballs from recipe #3 instead, right??? And with the meatballs pre-prepped, this was a go-to throw-together meal when I was too busy to really cook. If you don't have a spiralizer, you can also shave the zucchini into ribbons using a peeler or cut it into long, thin strips with a knife. It won't look as much like pasta, but it also doesn't taste like pasta either, so who are we trying to kid here???

    7. Fish taco bowls with mango salsa, chipotle aioli, and coconut-lime cauliflower rice

    40 Aprons / Anna Borges / BuzzFeed News

    FYI: The recipe calls for prepping and seasoning all of the parts separately, which makes for a nice picture but is really needlessly time-consuming. INSTEAD you can just toss the mango, cabbage, avocado, and red onions all together with some lime, salt, and cilantro. Slightly messier presentation, but same satisfyingly sweet-and-spicy bowl.

    8. These snack ideas from Shutterbean

    Shutterbean / Via shutterbean.com

    I LOVE SNACKING and there is nothing more demoralizing than having to put a lot of effort into preparing snacks — especially if you're used to just grabbing a bag of chips or a piece of string cheese like I was. Because of that, really simple snacks were pretty much vital to my success.

    This roundup contains most of my go-tos from the month, some standouts being: salt and vinegar potato salad, avocado sushi bites, mango with chili powder and lime, and pickled cucumber salad.

    9. Asian chicken chopped salad

    Tasty Thin / Via tastythin.com

    Since I meal prepped, I looked for salads that stayed crunchy and fresh-tasting even after chilling in my fridge for three days. This was a winner in that way, as long as I waited to toss in the dressing until day-of.

    10. Rosemary and sea salt sweet potato chips

    Plaid and Paleo / Via plaidandpaleo.com

    Look, I'm only human. I needed something that resembled junk food. Baked sweet potato chips saved me. And I know there's some debate on whether or not this counts as Sex With Your Pants On, but I don't care!!! Don't @ me!!!!

    11. Pear and prosciutto wraps

    Megoirs / Via megoirs.com

    My roommate and I have weekly Wine and Cheese Thursdays, wherein we pretend to be decadent people, and since I could no longer have wine or cheese, this was a great ~fancy~ feeling snack. Paired with some LaCroix with fresh fruit and sprigs of rosemary tossed in, I almost didn't feel left out of the cheese plate fun.

    12. Sun-dried tomato bacon mini frittatas and like a dozen more egg cup recipes

    Paleo Running Momma / Via paleorunningmomma.com

    In case you hadn't noticed by the lack of breakfast recipes on this list, I'm not a human who can muster the energy to make elaborate meals before noon. Since my usual breakfast pre-Whole30 was greek yogurt and some fruit, I had to change things up. And mini egg frittatas made in a muffin tin were simple to make AND grab in the morning without much thought, so they became my go-to.

    13. Chicken lettuce wraps

    One Lovely Life / Via onelovelylife.com

    Instead of the dressing listed in the recipe, I decided I wanted some sort of peanut sauce — but since peanuts aren't Whole30-approved, I made do by blending together almond butter, garlic, ginger, lime juice, coconut aminos, and a date. And it was actually good!!

    14. Cauliflower hummus

    I Breathe I'm Hungry / Via ibreatheimhungry.com

    You can't eat regular hummus on Whole30 (because chickpeas) and while that was a tremendous loss, cauliflower-based hummuses might be my new favorite.

    Instagram: @healthfest / Via lifehealthhq.com, Instagram: @planksloveandguacamole / Via lifehealthhq.com

    Salads tend to be readily available if you have to grab-and-go, but most dressings have added sugar or unknown ingredient lists. SO, stocking up on homemade dressings, both at the office and at home (and one really embarrassing time when I actually brought my own to a restaurant), came in handy.

    16. One-pan chicken piccata

    Noshtastic / Via noshtastic.com

    My lazy bum loves one-pan meals and this was a damn good one. Also, good news: I subbed the arrowroot in the sauce (because sorry, wtf is that???) with a bit of almond flour and it turned out just fine.

    17. Five ingredient Hawaiian chicken burgers

    Physical Kitchness / Via physicalkitchness.com

    If you're feeling extra festive, you can pair it with this pina colada coleslaw too, which... *chef finger kiss*

    And voilà! After 30 days, you can celebrate by immediately ordering a cheese plate and drinking a bottle of wine*.

    Anna Borges / BuzzFeed News

    *Before remembering that you're supposed to SLOWLY REINTRODUCE FOOD GROUPS TO YOUR DIET and doing that instead.