5 Easy Macro Friendly Meals To Make This Week

You know they’re easy because I’m making them! If you read my blog post, “a foodie’s guide to macro-friendly eating,” you’ll know I have a hard time calling anything I make, a recipe, because they’re truly that simple. But I’m also a diehard foodie so I can assure you, these easy macro friendly meals are super delicious!

All macros included are an estimate based off of the My Fitness Pal app. Keep in mind, the term macro friendly is very subjective. These meals are friendly to my macros and likely yours too. However, if your diet and macros are more restrictive, you may need to make some adjustments to portion size or a few ingredients. I love counting calories and macros for this very reason. It allows me to eat food I really enjoy while still achieving my fitness goals… What’s not to love?

Related post: Easy snacks under 200 calories

Easy Macro Friendly Meals:

1. Chicken sausage and cheese tortellini in portobello mushroom sauce.

Macros for one serving: 545 Cals | 34g Protein | 55g Carbs | 24g Fat

1. 1.5 hot Italian chicken sausage links
2. 1 cup of Buitoni three cheese tortellini
3. 1/4 cup of Rana portobello mushroom sauce

Disclaimer: I tend to eat sautéed green beans or baked asparagus (recipe for asparagus here!) with most of my meals. You know what veggies you like. Choose one and add it to the side of any of these easy macro friendly meals to get your micronutrients in.

Cook the chicken sausage in a pan over medium heat for 20 minutes or so. Between 15-18 minutes, I cut the links in to pieces so I can ensure they’re cooked through. Also also so they will brown and get a little crispy on the edges.

Boil water and cook the tortellini for 5 minutes and then drain.

I love the mushroom sauce but if you don’t like mushrooms or those macros don’t work for you, you can use the same brand (Rana) and get their marinara sauce. It is a lot more macro friendly than the mushroom sauce. I just heat up one serving (1/4 cup) in the microwave and pour over the top.

Feel free to heat all the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. This would be ideal for meal prepping. We just don’t do it that way because my fiancé, Matt and I always eat different sauces. Also, it’s easier for us to track the macros if it’s separate. For example, if you cut up all 5 links of chicken sausage that comes in the package and put them in to the tortellini, it’s much harder to judge when you’ve eaten 1.5 links. We keep all three ingredients cooked but separate in the fridge and put them together for each meal.

2. Ritz coated chicken breast and oven roasted red potatoes

Macros: 356 Cals | 36g Protein | 34g Carbs | 9g Fat

1. 6oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
2. 2 servings of Ritz cracker coating
3. 5oz Birds Eye Oven Roasters Red Potatoes and Onions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.

The serving size for the Ritz cracker coating is “1 tender” so I roughly doubled the amount for a chicken breast. You can find the Ritz coating in the seasoning aisle pre-packed and ready to go. We’ve used the “garlic” and the “everything” and both are delicious.

Pour out a little at a time so you don’t have the throw it away if you don’t use it all. Coat the chicken breast in the Ritz crackers and lay on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

The Birds Eye oven roasters are the bomb y’all. Grease the baking sheet with cooking spray and spread out the amount you want to cook on the pan and pop them in the oven for 20 minutes as well. Or, you can split the cookie sheet in half between the chicken and potatoes and have less dishes after. You gotta love when the items go in the oven for the same time and temp! I like to sprinkle the potatoes with seasoning salt when they come out of the oven.

3. Beyond Meat hot Italian sub

Macros: 500 Calories | 32g Protein | 44g Carbs | 23g Fat

We are not vegetarian or vegan. We tried the Beyond Meat sausages because they were lower calories than regular hot Italian sausage and we wanted to see what all the buzz was about.

They’re spiced like an Italian sausage but obviously the consistency is a little different than meat. I probably wouldn’t eat it plain but on a sub, it’s delicious.

1. 1 Beyond Meat hot Italian link
2. 1 Cobblestone sausage roll (these are the lowest calorie rolls we can find)
3. 1.5 oz of Polly-O whole milk mozzarella (could be swapped for lower fat mozzarella)
4. Garlic powder
5. Red bell peppers and diced onions (optional- not included in macros)

The Beyond Meat sausage can be grilled directly from frozen which is really cool, especially if you didn’t have anything pulled for dinner. Cook them on the grill or stovetop according to package directions. If you choose to include the red bell peppers and onions, slice them and begin sautéing those in a pan with butter or olive oil.

While those are cooking, thinly slice some of the mozzarella and lay it in the sub roll. When the sausage is done, put it on the sub (on top of the mozz,) top with cooked red peppers and onions, the rest of the mozzarella, and a generous sprinkling of garlic powder. Put the sub on a cookie sheet and broil it on high in the oven to melt the cheese. KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM. They will burn quickly if you walk away.

If you have the extra calories/macros…. butter the rolls first! This dish can be made with regular hot Italian sausage for about 90 more calories and 10g more fat. You could also swap the Beyond Meat sausage for the chicken sausage that’s in the first meal.

4. Yellow rice and black beans with Cajun andouille sausage

Macros: 511 Calories | 36g Protein | 41g Carbs | 22g Fat

I guess we have a thing for sausage! This is one of those easy macro friendly meals where the portions could be easily adjusted to fit different preferences.

1. 2 Aidells Cajun style Andouille Sausage links (warning: slightly spicy)
2. 3/4 cup (prepared) of Vigo yellow rice
3. 3 tbsp canned black beans
4. Diced red onions (optional- not included in macros)

Cook the rice and sausage according to the package directions. It takes 22-25 minutes for the rice so get that started first. The andouille sausage only take 10 minutes. Heat up black beans in the microwave. Put it all together! Super simple y’all. I cut the sausage up in to pieces before putting it in the rice. You don’t have to include the black beans but they are high in fiber. Top with diced onions if you like.

Again, the andouille sausage can easily be swapped for either of the sausage options above or shredded chicken breast! If I want a higher protein/lower fat option, I’ll only use one andouille sausage and add in 3oz of shredded chicken breast previously cooked in the crock pot.

5. Carnitas Tacos

Macros: 472 Calories | 52g Protein | 39g Carbs | 24g Fat

Those are the macros for one of my servings (2 tacos, 3oz of pork in each) However, this is a crockpot recipe so it’s a little different. I cook up about 2lbs of pork shoulder for this Carnitas recipe and then eat the rest as really delicious leftovers.

1. 6oz of pork shoulder
   • We usually buy 4lbs and split it in half to freeze.
2. Pre-packaged Carnitas seasoning packet
3. 3/4 cup of orange juice
4. 2 Lime
5. Cayenne pepper
6. Diced onions
7. Minced garlic
8. 2 La Banderita whole wheat carb counter wraps
   • Only 50 calories per wrap and super high in fiber
9. 1/3 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Put roughly 2lb of pork shoulder in a crock pot. Add in the orange juice and the seasoning packet. I put in however much onion and garlic I feel like or whatever we have on hand, roughly 1/4-1/2 cup of diced onion and 1 tbsp of minced garlic. Squeeze the juice of one lime. Sprinkle as much Cayenne (or chili powder) as you like. Cook on high for 4 hours.

Once cooked, remove bones and excess fat and then shred. The pork is so tender is falls apart by barely touching it. Spread it in a thin layer on a baking sheet and broil in the oven for 4-5 minutes until the edges start getting crispy.

I keep my Carnitas tacos super simple with just shredded cheddar and lime juice squeezed over the top of each taco. The meat is really flavorful so I don’t want toppings to overpower it. If you have a little extra macros, melt about 2 oz of Velveeta cheese in the microwave. Put an ounce in each wrap before the pork and cheddar cheese.

What about the other 2 days of the week?

You didn’t think I’d leave you hanging right? Now, don’t get your hopes up for anything extravagant but I am still going to let you in o what Matt and I do for the other days of the week.

First let me say, we eat all our leftovers. Plus, any of the above mentioned meals can have easy swaps. If you’re out of cajun sausage, put shredded/grilled chicken in the rice instead. Instead of Ritz chicken, swap for another protein such as the pork tenderloins I am obsessed with that I mentioned here! Achieving my fitness goals and enjoying what I eat comes as a direct result of easy macro friendly meals. Too many ingredients or too many steps is a recipe for failure unless you really enjoy cooking.

1. Deli chicken lunch meat sandwiches
2. Frontera Bowls
3. Breakfast for dinner
4. Pork chops seasoned with whatever we have in the cabinet and grilled
5. Pulled pork sandwiches
6. Splurge a little and eat out (It’s all about balance!)

I hope these easy macro friendly meals will make their way to your plate soon! And more than that, I hope you realize that a little bit of planning can allow you to eat for your fitness goals and still really enjoy your meals. If you try them, take a picture and tag me on Instagram (@TheRelatableRed)

Which one are you trying first? Tell me in the comments below!

-The Relatable Red