Our 10+ Best New Gut-Healthy Diabetes-Friendly Recipes

a recipe photo of the Harira served in a bowl — Photo:
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Lauren McAnelly, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco

Give one of these flavorful new, gut-healthy recipes a go ASAP. From simple veggie sides to satisfying grain bowls, each dish below highlights prebiotic-rich ingredients like garlic, leeks, beans, legumes and whole grains to support a healthy gut microbiome. These fiber-packed foods can also help with slowing down digestion which can support stable blood sugar levels. Plus, every recipe here is made conscious of calories, carbohydrates, sodium and saturated fat counts to align with a diabetes-appropriate eating pattern.

Enjoy a serving of our High-Protein Black Bean Breakfast Bowl at the start of your day for something with some staying power. And make our Garlicky Green Beans and Crispy Lemon-Parmesan Leeks for a mouthwatering addition to dinner tonight.

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Garlicky Green Beans

These easy garlic green beans are the perfect side for any protein. You can cook the beans ahead of time and then reheat and season them right before serving. If you don't like tarragon, substitute dill or leave it out completely.

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02 of 11

Spiced Couscous-Stuffed Peppers

While I enjoy a classic dish of peppers stuffed with hashweh, a spiced ground beef dish, there are plenty of other traditional options that don’t use meat at all. A roasted stuffed vegetable is so central to regional Mediterranean cooking, and there’s something deeply satisfying about making a delicious pilaf-style filling of couscous and lentils to tuck inside juicy bell peppers. To take things up a notch, I drizzle everything with a fresh cucumber yogurt sauce. These spiced stuffed peppers are flavorful, filling little packages that will make any plant or meat eater happy. Excerpted from THE FEEL GOOD FOODIE COOKBOOK by Yumna Jawad. Copyright © 2024 by Yumna Jawad. Used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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03 of 11

Spiced Chickpea Confit

Confit Chickpeas in a serving bowl — Ali Redmond

This endlessly versatile side dish pairs beautifully with any grilled meat or fish and can also be a wonderful plant-based main dish. You can serve it over rice or pasta to round it out, or pair it with whole grains or whole-wheat pasta to reinforce the nuttiness. You can also turn it into a terrific salad by serving it over baby spinach, escarole or arugula. Leftovers can be blended into a chunky dip that is great with pita wedges or crostini. Or make leftovers into a soup by reheating with an equal volume of vegetable or chicken broth.

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04 of 11

Crispy Lemon-Parmesan Leeks

Enjoy the sweet and delicate flavor of roasted leeks with this elegant and unique side. We slice leeks into rounds and top them with savory Parmesan cheese and lemon zest that crisps up in the hot oven. Remember to thoroughly rinse and dry the leek rounds to ensure any trapped dirt or sand is removed before roasting.

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05 of 11

High-Protein Black Bean Breakfast Bowl

While eggs offer plenty of protein, you can make a satisfying, high-protein breakfast without them. This breakfast bowl includes black beans, yogurt and Monterey Jack cheese, providing 15 grams of protein to keep you feeling full and energized throughout the morning.

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06 of 11

Baghali Pollow with Quinoa (Persian-Style Quinoa and Beans with Chicken)

This adaptation of baghali pollow, a traditional Persian layered rice dish, is made with quinoa instead of basmati rice. Plenty of fresh herbs and fragrant spices and a trifecta of protein—quinoa, chicken and beans—ensure the dish is both flavorful and satisfying.

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07 of 11

Sautéed Spinach with Lemon, Garlic & Parmesan

a recipe photo of the SautÃ©ed Spinach with Lemon, Garlic & Parmesan — Photographer: Stacy K. Allen, Props: Christina Brockman, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf

The thinly sliced lemons in this versatile side dish add a dressy element to sautéed spinach with garlic, but they are not there just for looks! Sautéing lemon slices captures flavors from both the juice and the rind for an easy side dish that works any day of the week. When cooking larger quantities of spinach, add it in batches, letting the spinach wilt a little before adding more to avoid overcrowding the pan.

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08 of 11

Roasted Broccolini with Lemon & Parmesan

Broccolini, a hybrid of conventional broccoli and gai lan, or Chinese broccoli, is perfect for roasting. Here, we add freshly grated Parmesan, which coats the florets and helps the cheese melt into every bite. If the pan seems crowded, divide the broccolini between 2 large rimmed baking sheets and roast in the upper and lower third positions of your oven, rotating between racks halfway through.

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09 of 11

Harira (Moroccan Tomato, Lentil & Beef Soup)

Harira is a tomato-based soup featured at the center of many Moroccan tables during the month of Ramadan. It’s often enjoyed as part of iftar, or the meal served to break the fast each evening, along with dates, milk, hard-boiled eggs, semolina pancakes and chebakia (sesame cookies). This version features chickpeas, lentils, beef and noodles in a fragrant tomato broth, but there are endless variations on the soup.

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Sheet-Pan Gnocchi with Broccoli & White Beans

This effortless dish comes together on two baking sheets for easy preparation and a fast cleanup. A blend of lemon and broccoli mixes with tender gnocchi and rich cannellini beans, all brought together with a generous drizzle of olive oil. For an added protein boost, toss in some shrimp or flaked cooked salmon.

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Slow-Cooker Three-Bean Chili Mac

Chili meets mac and cheese in this fix-it-and-forget-it slow-cooker dinner. Hot tomato sauce, a Mexican canned tomato sauce that also includes spices and chiles for heat, kicks up the flavor. If you can’t find hot tomato sauce, regular canned tomato sauce with a tablespoon of chili powder mixed in is a good substitute. You can cook the pasta separately and add it in at the end of cooking, or use our alternative method and cook the pasta in the slow cooker with a few adjustments listed below.

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