Adding protein to meal

JoeyG

Can anyone help me?

I make a quick and easy pasta dish every week enough to last 2 meals, it consists of wholewheat pasta, passata, chicken, sweetcorn and peppers... I then add herbs, grated cheese and salad

I currently use 2 chicken breasts, but I would like to reduce that and replace it with a different (non meat) protein source... any ideas what i can use?

Warning: I'm no chef! this is about as complicated as my cooking gets

pink_princess

Hi joey
You could add a handful of sesame seeds or peas to it.Both are good sorces of protein.You also have a lot of protein already in the meal.

Don t worry about not being cheffy,this is a good balanced meal
Well done.

LeeSouthEast

Quorn or Soya my friend. Superb protein source, high in fibre and virtually no saturated fat.

evejon

frozen quorn is really cheap at the moment in asda and iceland very easy to use from frozen

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

How about tinned red kidney beans (rinsed well) or tinned chickpeas -or any of the other tinned beans?
I love tinned red kidney beans and chickpeas cold in pasta salads

Boodle

You already have the cheese in there so do have some protein, but if you want extra then I would add tinned beans (butter beans probably) or tinned tuna/mackerel/salmon.

carbbit

What about a bid handful of sliced mushrooms? We love mushrooms here and I put them in just about everything!

fernliebee

Yeah I'd probably put butter beans or chickpeas in, though agree with others that cheese is prob enough protein, we actually need far less than you would imagine. You could put quorn chunks or mince in, though if it's cheap your after what about TVP (textured vegetable protein), though you should rehydrate this in water or stock before cooking (about 15 mins I think.)

frugalfoodie

With the chicken and cheese you probably have enough protein - how about some spinach to boost the nutritional value? Like all dark green leafies, it's really good for you! V good for folic acid/vit B, calcium, iron. I always put a couple of layers of spinach in my lasagnes.

greenbee

I would stir in a pack of silken tofu. It would replace the protein content in the chicken, and is very light and easy to digest, so good for an evening meal. I'd also add the spinach, mushrooms and peas suggested by frugalfoodie & carbbit and pinkprincess, and make sure that I used red, yellow and orange peppers to make it a really superfood-packed dish!

Bronnie

Please don't take this as a criticism folks, its just an observation!
Sometimes I think you can spoil dishes by trying to be too OS! I read so many recipes where people say I always throw in beans or throw in any old veg I've got in the fridge. From a nutritional point of view, this is fine but sometimes I think you can run the risk of adulterating what sounds like a lovely combination of flavours and textures and making many of your dishes taste the same/ have the same texture etc every time.

Your chicken and pasta dish with herbs and tomato sweetcorn and peppers, topped with cheese and served with salad sounds perfect as it is; a lovely light fresh Spring/ Summer dish. I would just use 1 chicken breast cut into smaller pieces if you want. There is ample protein in the chicken/cheese and and also protein in the pasta and sweetcorn.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Sounds delish to me.