Iron & Bloom

The Bloom
Book

Twenty high-protein recipes that taste like the food you actually crave.

Free · 20 recipes · ~46g protein each
scroll to cook ↓

High-protein food has a reputation for being sad. Dry chicken, plain rice, a scoop of something beige. It doesn't have to be that way — and this little book is proof.

Every recipe here is built the way we build the whole Iron & Bloom catalog: real comfort food first, macros engineered to fit underneath. Burgers, quesadillas, fried chicken biscuits, cheesecake bowls — each one lands enough protein to actually move the needle, with numbers you can plan a day around.

Pick one. Cook it tonight. If it makes you forget you're "eating well," it's doing its job.

— The Iron & Bloom kitchen

20tested recipes
~46gprotein, on average
8cravings covered
What's inside

The menu

01Cottage Cheese Berry Protein Bowl60g protein02Egg White & Turkey Sausage Muffin Cups27g protein03Cake Batter Protein Cheesecake Bowl55g protein04Big Mac Bowl52g protein05Skinny Grilled Chicken Nuggets & Sauce32g protein06Protein Lettuce Burger34g protein07Chicken Quesadilla + Protein Sour Cream65g protein08Jalapeño Popper Chicken Burrito50g protein09Cauliflower Rice Chicken Fajita Bowl38g protein10Loaded Mac & Cheese60g protein11Smothered Chicken & Gravy51g protein12Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Rice63g protein13Balsamic Chicken over Creamy Polenta48g protein14Basil Pesto Chicken Pasta56g protein15Pad See Ew with Chicken45g protein16Shrimp Yakisoba Noodles32g protein17Pork Bibimbap Rice Bowl43g protein18Honey Hot Chicken Biscuit32g protein19Fried Green Tomatoes with Blackened Shrimp59g protein20Protein Banana Bread Slice11g protein
01
🍳  Breakfast

Cottage Cheese Berry Protein Bowl

503cal
60gprotein
41gcarbs
11gfat

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup Good Culture cottage cheese
  • ½ cup Fage 0%
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein
  • ½ cup mixed berries
  • 2 tbsp low-sugar granola
  • Cinnamon

Method

  1. Blend the cottage cheese alone for 30-60 seconds, scraping the sides, until totally smooth with no curds. Don't skip this; it's the difference between a mousse and a lumpy bowl.
  2. Add the Fage and protein powder and pulse just until combined, about 15 seconds.
  3. Add a splash of water if it's too stiff to fold, a teaspoon at a time.
  4. Taste and stir in cinnamon to your liking.
  5. Scrape into a bowl and top with the mixed berries and granola.
  6. Add the granola right before eating so it stays crunchy, and finish with a last dusting of cinnamon.
Make it easyNo-cook and ready in 5 minutes. Blend a double batch of the base and keep it covered for up to 3 days; add fruit and granola fresh.
↑ contents
1 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
02
🍳  Breakfast

Egg White & Turkey Sausage Muffin Cups

190cal
27gprotein
7gcarbs
6gfat

Ingredients

  • 2 cups liquid egg whites
  • 1/2 cup Jennie-O turkey breakfast sausage crumbles, cooked
  • 1/4 cup diced bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar
  • 1/4 cup chopped spinach
  • Everything bagel seasoning

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and coat a 12-cup muffin tin generously with cooking spray, sides included. Egg white sticks hard to any spot you miss.
  2. Whisk the egg whites with the everything bagel seasoning and a little pepper until slightly frothy. Go light on salt; the seasoning and cheese bring plenty.
  3. Fold in the cooked sausage crumbles, bell pepper and spinach.
  4. Divide the mixture between the cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Stir the bowl between pours so the add-ins don't all settle into the last few cups.
  5. Top each with a pinch of the shredded cheddar.
  6. Bake 18-20 minutes, until the centers are set and no longer jiggle and the tops are just starting to color. Pull them as soon as they're set; overbaked egg whites turn rubbery and weep.
  7. Cool 5 minutes in the tin, then run a knife around each cup and lift them out. Cool completely before storing.
Make it easyReheat 3 muffins for 30 seconds for a grab-and-go breakfast. They keep 4 days in the fridge or 2 months frozen.
↑ contents
2 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
03
🍳  Breakfast

Cake Batter Protein Cheesecake Bowl

330cal
55gprotein
25gcarbs
3gfat

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Fage 0%
  • ½ cup Good Culture cottage cheese
  • 1 scoop Clean Simple Eats Cake Batter protein
  • Splash of Fairlife milk
  • Cinnamon
  • Optional: strawberries / blueberries

Method

  1. Add the cottage cheese to a blender or small food processor and blend 30-60 seconds, scraping down the sides, until it is completely smooth with no curds left. This is what makes it read as cheesecake instead of cottage cheese.
  2. Add the Fage and protein powder and blend another 15-20 seconds, just until combined. Over-blending past this point thins it out.
  3. Add the milk a splash at a time, blending briefly, until it's thick and spoonable like cheesecake batter.
  4. Taste and adjust with cinnamon.
  5. Scrape into a bowl, cover and chill 10-20 minutes. It firms up noticeably as it cools.
  6. Top with strawberries or blueberries and a final dusting of cinnamon before serving.
Make it easyDoubles as the dessert top-off in the meal plan. Chills well up to 3 days, covered.
↑ contents
3 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
04
🍔  Fast Food

Big Mac Bowl

450cal
52gprotein
25gcarbs
16gfat

Ingredients

  • 6 oz lean ground beef (or chicken)
  • 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
  • ¼ cup fat-free cheese
  • 2 tbsp diced pickles
  • 2 tbsp diced onion
  • Special sauce (recipe below)

Method

  1. Finely dice the onion. Reserve about half raw for the bowl.
  2. Set a skillet over medium-high heat and mist with cooking spray. Add the ground beef and the remaining diced onion.
  3. Brown the beef 6-8 minutes, breaking it into small crumbles, until no pink remains and an instant-read thermometer hits 160°F. Season with salt and pepper and drain off any liquid.
  4. Pile the chopped lettuce into a bowl and spoon the hot beef over one side.
  5. Scatter the fat-free cheese over the beef so it softens, then add the pickles and reserved raw onion.
  6. Drizzle the cold special sauce over the top and serve right away, while the lettuce is still cold and the beef is hot.
Make it easyKeep the sauce cold and the beef hot -- that hot-cold contrast is what makes it read as the real thing.
↑ contents
4 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
05
🍔  Fast Food

Skinny Grilled Chicken Nuggets & Sauce

240cal
32gprotein
14gcarbs
6gfat

Ingredients

  • 6 oz chicken breast, cubed
  • 1/4 cup pickle juice
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 cup Fage 0% Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 1 tsp honey

Method

  1. Toss the cubed chicken with the pickle juice, garlic powder, and paprika in a bowl. Marinate 20 minutes at room temperature -- no longer, or the acid turns the surface chalky.
  2. Whisk the Fage, mustard, and honey with a pinch of salt until smooth. Refrigerate -- this sauce is served cold and will split if heated.
  3. Drain the chicken and pat the cubes dry with paper towels. Wet cubes steam instead of charring.
  4. Set a skillet over medium-high heat until it's properly hot, then mist with cooking spray.
  5. Add the chicken in a single layer with space between the cubes, working in two batches if needed, and leave it undisturbed 2-3 minutes until the underside is charred and releases on its own.
  6. Toss and cook 2-3 minutes more, until browned all over and cooked through to 165°F. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Serve the hot nuggets with the cold dipping sauce.
Make it easyPickle juice does the tenderizing job the fast-food version relies on breading for -- but pat the cubes bone-dry or you'll get gray chicken instead of char.
↑ contents
5 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
06
🍔  Fast Food

Protein Lettuce Burger

290cal
34gprotein
16gcarbs
10gfat

Ingredients

  • 5 oz 93% lean ground beef patty
  • 4 iceberg lettuce leaves
  • 2 tomato slices
  • 1/4 cup grilled onion
  • 2 dill pickle slices
  • 2 tbsp Fage 0% Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp ketchup
  • 1 tsp relish

Method

  1. Separate the iceberg leaves whole and chill them in the freezer for 5 minutes -- they wrap tighter and hold their crunch.
  2. Whisk the Fage, ketchup, and relish with a pinch of salt and pepper. Keep it cold.
  3. Set a grill or skillet over medium-high heat and mist with cooking spray. Add the sliced onion and cook 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned and sweet. Set aside.
  4. Season the patty with salt and pepper on both sides and press a shallow dimple in the center so it doesn't dome.
  5. Grill 3-4 minutes per side, flipping once, until well browned and cooked through to 160°F.
  6. Rest the patty 1-2 minutes so the juices don't flood the lettuce.
  7. Build on two overlapped lettuce leaves: sauce, patty, grilled onion, tomato, pickles, then the remaining two leaves on top. Wrap in parchment and cut in half to hold it together.
Make it easyRest the patty 2 full minutes before it touches the lettuce -- straight off the grill it dumps juice and collapses the wrap.
↑ contents
6 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
07
🌯  Mexican

Chicken Quesadilla + Protein Sour Cream

500cal
65gprotein
40gcarbs
10gfat

Ingredients

  • 1 Carb Balance tortilla
  • 6 oz ground chicken
  • ½ cup fat-free shredded cheese
  • 1/2 cup sliced bell peppers
  • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup diced onion
  • Protein sour cream (recipe below)

Method

  1. Stir the Fage with salsa, taco seasoning and lime juice in a small bowl; keep it cold and set aside. Never heat it or it splits.
  2. Dice the peppers, mushrooms and onion. Mist a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and cook them over medium-high 5-6 min until the mushroom liquid cooks off and the edges brown; season with salt and pepper and scrape onto a plate.
  3. Raise the heat, spray the pan again and add the ground chicken. Spread it flat and leave it alone 2-3 min to brown, then break it up and cook 3-4 min more to 165°F. Drain any liquid in the pan.
  4. Return the vegetables to the pan and toss with the chicken; season with salt and pepper.
  5. Wipe the pan, set it over medium and lay the tortilla in dry. Scatter the cheese over one half, pile the chicken and vegetables on top, and fold the tortilla over.
  6. Toast 2-3 min per side, pressing with a spatula, until the tortilla is spotted brown and crisp and the cheese has melted.
  7. Slice into wedges and dip into the cold protein sour cream.
Make it easyCheese against the tortilla on both faces glues the fold shut so nothing spills when you flip it.
↑ contents
7 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
08
🌯  Mexican

Jalapeño Popper Chicken Burrito

410cal
50gprotein
28gcarbs
11gfat

Ingredients

  • 1 Carb Balance tortilla
  • 5 oz ground chicken
  • ¼ cup Good Culture cottage cheese
  • ¼ cup fat-free shredded cheese
  • Jalapeños
  • Onion
  • Garlic seasoning

Method

  1. Blend the cottage cheese until completely smooth, 30-45 seconds, scraping down once. It should look like sour cream with no curds left.
  2. Seed and mince the jalapeños. Fold them and the fat-free shredded cheese into the blended cottage cheese; season with salt and pepper and keep it cold.
  3. Dice the onion. Set a skillet over medium-high, mist with cooking spray, and cook the onion 2-3 min until the edges brown.
  4. Add the ground chicken, spread it flat and leave it 2-3 min for colour, then break it apart. Season with garlic seasoning, salt and pepper and cook to 165°F, 3-4 min more. Drain the pan and let the chicken cool for a minute.
  5. Warm the tortilla in the dry skillet 15-20 seconds a side so it folds without tearing.
  6. Spread the jalapeño-cottage-cheese mixture down the center, top with the chicken, fold in the sides and roll tight.
  7. Toast the burrito seam-side down in the dry skillet over medium 2-3 min per side, until browned and crisp.
Make it easyLet the chicken cool a minute before it meets the cottage cheese filling -- screaming-hot meat makes the dairy weep.
↑ contents
8 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
09
🌯  Mexican

Cauliflower Rice Chicken Fajita Bowl

295cal
38gprotein
18gcarbs
8gfat

Ingredients

  • 6 oz grilled chicken breast, sliced
  • 1.5 cups riced cauliflower
  • 1/2 cup sliced bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup sliced onion
  • 1 tbsp fajita seasoning
  • 2 tbsp Fage 0% Greek yogurt
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • Fresh cilantro

Method

  1. Whisk the Fage with the lime juice and a pinch of salt for the crema; keep it cold. Chop the cilantro.
  2. Set a skillet over medium-high and mist with cooking spray. Add the bell pepper and onion in a single layer and leave them alone 2 min to catch colour.
  3. Toss, add the fajita seasoning and cook 3-4 min more, until the edges are charred and the onion is translucent but the peppers still have bite.
  4. Add the sliced grilled chicken to the pan for the last minute just to heat through and pick up the seasoning.
  5. Steam or microwave the riced cauliflower 3-4 min until tender, then season with salt and pepper. If it looks wet, press it in a towel or return it to a dry hot pan for a minute.
  6. Build the bowl with the cauliflower rice, then the chicken and peppers.
  7. Top with the crema and cilantro.
Make it easyCauliflower holds a surprising amount of water -- drying it in a hot dry pan for a minute is the whole difference between rice and porridge.
↑ contents
9 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
10
🍗  Southern

Loaded Mac & Cheese

520cal
60gprotein
50gcarbs
10gfat

Ingredients

  • 1 serving Goodles mac
  • 5 oz ground chicken
  • ½ cup fat-free cheese
  • Splash Fairlife
  • Jalapeños

Method

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the Goodles to package directions, just to al dente. Reserve about a quarter cup of the starchy pasta water, then drain.
  2. While the pasta cooks, heat a skillet over medium-high and coat with cooking spray. Add the ground chicken, spread it flat and leave it alone for 3 to 4 minutes to brown before breaking it apart.
  3. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and finish cooking, 3 to 5 minutes more, until no pink remains and it reaches 165°F. Drain off any liquid in the pan.
  4. Return the drained pasta to the pot off the burner. Stir in its cheese packet with the splash of Fairlife and a spoonful of the reserved pasta water until glossy.
  5. Add the fat-free cheese off the heat and stir until it disappears into the sauce; the residual heat melts it, and boiling would turn it grainy. Loosen with more pasta water if it tightens.
  6. Fold in the browned chicken, taste and add salt and pepper, then top with jalapenos and serve right away.
Make it easyFat-free cheese only melts smoothly off the burner with a little moisture -- add it last, never let it boil.
↑ contents
10 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
11
🍗  Southern

Smothered Chicken & Gravy

370cal
51gprotein
28gcarbs
6gfat

Ingredients

  • 6 oz chicken
  • ½ cup sweet potato or rice
  • Fage gravy (recipe below)
  • 1/2 cup sliced onion

Method

  1. Pat the chicken dry and season both sides hard with salt and pepper. Slice the onion thin.
  2. Cook the rice to package directions, or roast the sweet potato at 400°F for 40 to 50 minutes until a knife slides in with no resistance.
  3. Heat a skillet over medium-high, coat with cooking spray, and sear the chicken 4 to 5 minutes per side until deeply browned and 165°F at the thickest point. Move it to a plate.
  4. Drop the onion into the same pan over medium heat and cook 6 to 8 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, until soft and golden at the edges.
  5. Pour in the chicken broth, season, and simmer 5 to 8 minutes until it reduces by about half and coats the back of a spoon.
  6. Pull the pan off the burner and let it stop bubbling. Whisk a spoonful of the hot broth into the Fage first to temper it, then stir that back into the pan -- it will curdle if it boils.
  7. Spoon the gravy and onions over the chicken and serve on the rice or sweet potato.
Make it easyTemper the Fage with a spoonful of hot broth before it goes in the pan -- straight from the tub into heat, it splits.
↑ contents
11 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
12
🍽  Restaurant

Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Rice

773cal
63gprotein
87gcarbs
18gfat

Ingredients

  • 5 oz chicken
  • 1¼ cups fried rice
  • 3 tbsp low-sugar teriyaki (or make the sauce below)
  • 1 cup mixed veggies
  • ½ cup egg whites
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

  1. Use cold, day-old rice if you have it -- warm fresh rice steams into mush instead of frying. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high, mist with cooking spray and sear the chicken 4-5 minutes a side, until browned and 165°F. Move it to a board to rest.
  3. In the same pan, cook the mixed veggies 3-4 minutes over medium-high, until they take on some color.
  4. Push the veggies to one side, pour the egg whites into the empty half and scramble them 60-90 seconds, until just set, then break them up into the veggies.
  5. Add the rice and press it into the pan. Let it sit 60 seconds untouched to catch a little crust, then toss. Repeat 2-3 times, 4-5 minutes total, until hot and toasty.
  6. Slice the chicken, return it to the pan and pour the teriyaki over everything. Toss 30-60 seconds, just long enough to glaze and lacquer.
  7. Plate and top with sesame seeds.
Make it easyHibachi-style plate, carb-forward. Teriyaki goes in last over high heat for under a minute -- any longer and the sugar burns bitter.
↑ contents
12 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
13
🍽  Restaurant

Balsamic Chicken over Creamy Polenta

620cal
48gprotein
60gcarbs
20gfat

Ingredients

  • 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 1/3 cup dry polenta
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp vegan butter
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Method

  1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and sear it in the olive oil over medium-high heat, 3-4 minutes a side, without moving it. You are not cooking it through yet -- you are building the brown layer on the pan that becomes the sauce.
  2. Add the minced garlic for 30 seconds, then the cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and broth. Scrape the pan bottom as it bubbles, cover, and braise 8-10 minutes until the chicken reaches 165F and the tomatoes collapse.
  3. While it braises, bring the almond milk and 1/2 cup water to a bare simmer in a saucepan and rain the polenta in slowly, whisking the whole time. Dumping it in at once welds lumps together that no amount of whisking undoes.
  4. Cook the polenta on low 15-18 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes and scraping the corners. It thickens as the grain hydrates, not from hard boiling -- a rolling boil just splatters and scorches.
  5. Off the heat, beat in the vegan butter and the nutritional yeast. The yeast supplies the savory, faintly cheesy backbone parmesan usually gives polenta; without it dairy-free polenta tastes like plain porridge.
  6. Lift the chicken out and reduce the pan liquid 2-3 minutes until it is syrupy enough to coat a spoon.
  7. Slice the chicken across the grain, spoon it over the polenta with the tomatoes and pan sauce, and finish with the basil.
Make it easySalt the polenta at the start, not the end. Cornmeal absorbs seasoning while it hydrates, and salt stirred in at the finish sits on the surface tasting sharp.
↑ contents
13 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
14
🍽  Restaurant

Basil Pesto Chicken Pasta

887cal
56gprotein
79gcarbs
39gfat

Ingredients

  • 3 oz dry penne
  • 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 3 tbsp dairy-free basil pesto (or make the sauce below)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp pine nuts
  • 1 lemon

Method

  1. Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. That water is the only opportunity you get to season the pasta itself rather than the sauce sitting on it.
  2. Slice the chicken into strips, season with salt and pepper, and sear in the olive oil over medium-high heat 4-5 minutes, turning once, until it reaches 165F. Set it aside to rest.
  3. Boil the penne to package al dente, then scoop out 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water before draining. That water is what turns thick pesto into a sauce that coats.
  4. Toast the pine nuts in the dry pan 1-2 minutes over medium heat until they smell nutty and turn light gold, then tip them out immediately -- they go from toasted to burnt in about 15 seconds.
  5. Return the drained pasta to the warm pot off the heat, add the pesto and the halved tomatoes, and loosen with the pasta water a splash at a time until every tube is glossed. Keep the heat off: pesto cooked over a flame turns dull and army-green.
  6. Fold the spinach through -- the residual heat wilts it in about a minute -- then the chicken.
  7. Finish with the pine nuts and a hard squeeze of lemon, which lifts a dairy-free pesto that would otherwise read flat without parmesan's salt.
Make it easySauce the pasta off the heat. Pesto is an emulsion of raw oil and basil; put it back on a burner and it splits and browns.
↑ contents
14 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
15
🍜  Asian

Pad See Ew with Chicken

918cal
45gprotein
123gcarbs
26gfat

Ingredients

  • 5 oz sliced boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 8 oz fresh wide rice noodles
  • 3 tbsp store-bought sweet soy stir-fry sauce (or make the sauce below)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp avocado oil
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped Chinese broccoli
  • 2 minced garlic cloves

Method

  1. Separate the fresh rice noodles by hand before they hit heat. If they came refrigerated and stiff, microwave them 30 seconds so they pull apart without shattering.
  2. Slice the chicken thighs thin, mince the garlic, and cut the Chinese broccoli into 2-inch pieces, keeping the thick stems separate from the leaves -- the stems need a head start.
  3. Heat the avocado oil in a wok over the highest heat your stove makes. Add the garlic and broccoli stems and stir-fry 1 minute, then add the chicken and sear 3-4 minutes until it hits 165 degrees F.
  4. Push everything to one side, crack the egg onto the bare metal, and scramble it hard for 45 seconds before folding it into the chicken.
  5. Add the noodles and the sweet soy sauce. Now stop stirring: let the noodles sit flat against the pan for 60-90 seconds so they pick up char. That smoky edge is the whole identity of pad see ew.
  6. Toss once, add the broccoli leaves, and give it a final 60 seconds until the leaves wilt and the sauce has fully coated the noodles.
  7. Slide it straight onto the plate. Rice noodles keep cooking in a hot pan and go gummy if they sit.
Make it easyThe char is non-negotiable -- if your pan is not smoking before the noodles go in, you are making a sweet noodle stir-fry, not pad see ew.
↑ contents
15 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
16
🍜  Asian

Shrimp Yakisoba Noodles

666cal
32gprotein
94gcarbs
18gfat

Ingredients

  • 5 oz peeled and deveined raw shrimp
  • 7 oz fresh yakisoba noodles
  • 3 tbsp store-bought yakisoba sauce (or make the sauce below)
  • 1 tbsp avocado oil
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
  • 1/2 cup sliced yellow onion
  • 1 thinly sliced medium carrot
  • 2 tbsp pickled red ginger

Method

  1. Rinse the yakisoba noodles under warm water and pull them apart with your fingers. They come packed in a tight block and will not separate once they are in a dry hot pan.
  2. Pat the shrimp bone dry and season lightly with salt. Wet shrimp poach in their own liquid and go rubbery instead of searing.
  3. Heat the avocado oil in a wide skillet over high. Sear the shrimp 60-90 seconds per side until they just turn opaque and curl into a loose C -- a tight O means overcooked. Pull them out to a plate.
  4. Add the onion, carrot and cabbage to the same pan and stir-fry 3 minutes over high heat until the cabbage wilts but the carrot still snaps.
  5. Add the noodles and the yakisoba sauce and toss 2 minutes, letting the noodles press against the pan between tosses so they pick up a little browning.
  6. Return the shrimp with any juice on the plate, toss 30 seconds to warm through, and top with the pickled red ginger. The sharp pickle is what cuts the sweet-savory sauce.
Make it easyCook the shrimp first and add them back last. Anything that keeps shrimp in a hot pan longer than three total minutes is working against you.
↑ contents
16 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
17
🍜  Asian

Pork Bibimbap Rice Bowl

895cal
43gprotein
110gcarbs
29gfat

Ingredients

  • 4 oz ground pork
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked short-grain white rice
  • 2 tbsp store-bought gochujang sauce (or make the sauce below)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup julienned zucchini
  • 1 cup bean sprouts
  • 1 julienned medium carrot
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

  1. Cook the short-grain rice to package directions. Bibimbap wants sticky rice -- long-grain will not hold together under the mixing at the end.
  2. Cook the vegetables one at a time in a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high: carrot 2 minutes, zucchini 2 minutes, bean sprouts 1 minute, salting each lightly and setting each aside on its own. Cooking them separately is what keeps the four colors and four textures distinct instead of blurring into one stir-fry.
  3. Add the ground pork to the same pan, break it apart, and cook 5-6 minutes until browned and cooked through. Stir in half the gochujang sauce and cook 1 more minute so it glazes the meat.
  4. Wipe the pan, add the sesame oil, and fry the egg over medium-low until the white is fully set but the yolk is still liquid. The runny yolk is a sauce component, not a garnish.
  5. Press the rice into the bottom of a wide bowl and arrange the pork and each vegetable in its own wedge on top, like spokes on a wheel.
  6. Slide the fried egg into the center and spoon the remaining gochujang sauce beside it. Finish with the sesame seeds.
  7. Serve it looking neat, then break the yolk and stir the entire bowl together hard before the first bite -- bibimbap literally means mixed rice.
Make it easyIf you have a small cast iron pan, heat it screaming hot and build the bowl in it -- the bottom layer of rice crisps into a crust, which is the dolsot version.
↑ contents
17 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
18
🍞  Fried

Honey Hot Chicken Biscuit

400cal
32gprotein
38gcarbs
13gfat

Ingredients

  • 1 Real Good breaded chicken patty
  • 1 light biscuit or protein English muffin
  • Hot honey (recipe below)
  • 6 dill pickle slices

Method

  1. Air fry the chicken patty from frozen at 400F for 10-14 minutes, flipping halfway, until crisp all over and 165F inside.
  2. While it cooks, stir the hot sauce and sugar-free honey together to make the hot honey.
  3. Split and toast the biscuit or English muffin until the cut faces are golden.
  4. Brush the hot honey over the hot patty so it soaks into the crust.
  5. Set the patty on the bottom half, top with pickles, and close it up.
  6. Eat immediately -- the crust softens fast once the sandwich is built.
Make it easyBrush the honey on the chicken, not the bread -- the bread turns to paste.
↑ contents
18 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
19
🍞  Fried

Fried Green Tomatoes with Blackened Shrimp

1116cal
59gprotein
111gcarbs
50gfat

Ingredients

  • 7 oz raw shrimp, peeled
  • 2 medium green tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
  • 3 tbsp comeback sauce (or make the sauce below)
  • 3/4 cup canned black-eyed peas

Method

  1. Stir the cider vinegar into the almond milk and leave it 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. That soured plant milk is the buttermilk substitute here, and it grips the cornmeal well enough that you never need an egg wash.
  2. Slice the green tomatoes into 1/2-inch rounds, salt both faces, and rest them on paper towel 10 minutes, then blot them dry. Green tomatoes hold a lot of water and the salt pulls it to the surface -- skip this and the crust slides off in the pan.
  3. Whisk the cornmeal and flour together with salt and pepper in a shallow dish.
  4. Dip each tomato round in the soured almond milk, let the excess run off, then press it into the cornmeal on both sides until it is fully coated with no wet spots showing.
  5. Heat the canola oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high until a pinch of cornmeal sizzles on contact. Fry the rounds 2-3 minutes a side without moving them until deep golden, then drain on a wire rack and salt immediately.
  6. Toss the shrimp with the Cajun seasoning and sear them in the same pan 2 minutes a side, until they are opaque and curled into a loose C. The seasoning wants to darken against the hot pan -- that char is the blackening.
  7. Warm the black-eyed peas in a small saucepan over medium heat, 4-5 minutes.
  8. Stack a fried tomato, a few shrimp, another tomato, then drizzle the comeback sauce over the top and serve the peas alongside.
Make it easyUse tomatoes that are genuinely green and rock hard, not underripe red ones. A softening tomato collapses into pulp inside the crust while the outside is still frying.
↑ contents
19 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
20
🍰  Dessert

Protein Banana Bread Slice

151cal
11gprotein
15gcarbs
5gfat

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1/2 cup egg whites
  • 1/3 cup oat flour
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp sugar-free chocolate chips (optional)

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line a small loaf pan with parchment or coat it with cooking spray.
  2. Blend the banana and egg whites until frothy and completely smooth, about 30 seconds.
  3. Add the oat flour, protein powder, and cinnamon. Blend in short pulses only until no dry flour remains -- over-mixing protein batter makes the loaf rubbery.
  4. Pour into the pan and scatter the sugar-free chocolate chips over the top if using.
  5. Bake 25-32 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed lightly and a skewer in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs -- not clean. Protein bakes dry out fast, so pull it while it still looks slightly underdone.
  6. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then lift out and cool at least another 15 before slicing; hot protein bread tears.
  7. Serve a slice warm, or reheat a slice 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
Make it easyKeeps 3 days wrapped at room temperature, or slice and freeze -- a frozen slice reheats in 30 seconds and tastes fresher than a fridge-cold one. Makes about 4 slices -- the macros shown are per slice.
↑ contents
20 / 20 · Iron & Bloom
This is 20 of 200+

Your whole week, planned around food like this.

Iron & Bloom builds you a high-protein week from 200+ recipes, hits your calorie and protein targets automatically, and turns it into one tap-to-shop grocery list.

Try the web app → See the recipes
🍎  Live on the App Store soon

Get in line for launch day.

Drop your email and we'll send you exactly one message — the moment Iron & Bloom hits the App Store.

No spam, ever. One email, at launch.