Chicken and Spinach Pasta

fitness
(Image credit: unknown)

This simple pasta dish provides a hit of carbs and protein, perfect for after a gym session or a run. Chicken breast is one of the best high-protein foods out there with 24g of protein per 100g. The spinach and mushrooms provide some essential vitamins and minerals that will help keep your body performing at its best.

If you’re following Coach’s weight loss meal plan for women or a weight loss diet plan for men, you can simply swap this meal for one of a similar calorie count.

Chicken and Spinach Pasta Recipe

568 calories

Ingredients (Serves One)

  • 80g pasta (uncooked weight) of your choice
  • 85g boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
  • ½tbsp olive oil
  • ½ to 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 100g fresh spinach, washed drained and roughly chopped
  • 55g sliced mushrooms
  • 50ml chicken broth (fresh or canned)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the chicken for 30 seconds. Add the garlic and mushrooms and stir well. Cook for around five minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and bring the mix to a simmer. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts. Add the cooked pasta to the mix and toss well over a heat for two minutes. Season to taste.

Nutrition

We used the calculator on Myfitnesspal, one of the best weight-loss apps for calorie counting, to estimate the nutritional values of this pasta dish. Each serving contains 568 calories, 41g protein, 64g carbs, 18g fat, and 6g fibre.

Mushrooms are an important source of vitamin D, as well as containing B vitamins and selenium. You probably know spinach contains iron, but it also contains calcium, magnesium and vitamin K, which help maintain healthy bones.

Recipe from Nancy Clark, Sports Nutrition Guidebook (£13.99, Human Kinetics)


More About Nutrition 

Lucy Miller
Former editor

Lucy Miller is an experienced journalist who has worked across a range of health and fitness titles. She was the fitness and nutrition editor at Men’s Fitness UK, and has also been fitness editor of both Health & Fitness UK and Women’s Fitness UK. Lucy qualified as a NASM-certified personal trainer and nutritionist in 2008.

With contributions from