Next Week’s Meal Plan: 5 Low-FODMAP Diet Dinners from Phoebe Lapine

Welcome to Next Week’s Meal Plan! Meal planning isn’t always easy — especially if you’re just getting started. But I’m a firm believer that it’s the secret to stress-free weeknight dinners. I want to help you find inspiration and ease some of the pain points that come with getting dinner on the table night after night, whether you’re cooking for one or a family of eight. Every week, I’ll be sharing a new meal plan solution specifically customized for you from reader requests or from a guest contributor.

Author, food and health writer, podcast host, and gluten-free chef Phoebe Lapine believes kale margaritas are better than no margaritas at all. After she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in her mid-20s, she stepped away from her full-time job and turned her focus to learning how to heal her body with wholesome comfort food. Since then, she’s been on a mission to help others facing similar issues. Her blog, Feed Me Phoebe, and her debut book, The Wellness Project, are both packed with healthy comfort-food recipes and insights about balanced lifestyle choices beyond what’s on your plate. Phoebe follows a low-FODMAP diet (more on that below), and when it comes to weeknight dinners, she’s all about comforting, feel-good meals that are easy and delicious.

Last year, a medical diagnosis forced me to try out a low-FODMAP diet to heal my gut. For those who don’t know what this is, the diet is an acronym that stands for certain types of fermentable carbohydrates. It’s incredibly complicated to remember the rules. But among the biggest items on the omission list are garlic and onion, which makes it nearly impossible to eat at restaurants. Needless to say, meal planning and prep came to the rescue in a big way. I’ve since been on a mission to make cooking for this diet a whole lot more delicious and less painful (including creating this FREE e-book of low-FODMAP weeknight meals). The below dinners not only fit within the parameters of this IBS diet, but are also generally anti-inflammatory and nutrient-dense, which isn’t always true of low-FODMAP recipes.  

Garlic-infused oil helps make this Italian classic safe for those suffering from SIBO or IBS. But even if you’re not in that camp, it’s simply an easy, one-pan delicious weeknight recipe that’s gluten- and dairy-free.

This dish has all the elements of a perfect fish taco: spice, creaminess, crunch and a pickled punch. It may look like a lot of ingredients and steps, but they are all relatively streamlined and straightforward. I promise — not only is this the tastiest, but it’s also the easiest fish taco recipe around. To make it low-FODMAP, follow the recipe notes or simply omit the garlic and use green parts of the scallions only.

You can make this uber-flavorful Portuguese sauce up to 24 hours in advance and let the chicken hang out in the marinade in the fridge. To make this low-FODMAP, simply omit the garlic and shallot. 

To make the dish more of a complete meal, if less of an actual pasta-sauce situation, I tossed a whole bunch of red chard in with the tomatoes and topped the mixture with jumbo wild shrimp. You can serve it tossed with gluten-free pasta or spaghetti squash if you want a carb. 

This is a healthier version of one of my favorite Thai dishes: crispy rice. To make this low-FODMAP, omit the shallot and white scallions. If you’re not vegan, you can sub fish sauce for the tamari for an even more authentic Thai experience or add red curry paste for some heat.

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• The Beginner’s Guide to Meal Planning: What to Know, How to Succeed, and What to Skip
• The Best Way to Use a Weekend for Meal Planning Success
• Ask Yourself These 5 Questions Before You Start Meal Planning
• 5 Strategies for Picking Recipes for a Week of Meal Planning

Thanks so much, Phoebe! Follow her around the Internet on Instagram and Twitter and find more of her delicious recipes on Feed Me Phoebe.