Jamie Oliver’s go-to easy healthy recipes, include a 10-minute prawn curry

January can often feel like a bit of a drag, leaving us craving a pick-me-up. Fortunately, renowned chef Jamie Oliver is back with a collection of delicious and revitalising recipes designed to boost your energy levels. His latest cookbook, Eat Yourself Healthy, marks a significant shift, focusing on long-term well-being by encouraging us to incorporate more nourishing foods into our diets, rather than restricting what we eat.

With an impressive 120 recipes, the 50-year-old culinary star is set to inspire home cooks across Australia with his innovative approach to healthy eating. Here, we dive into some of his favourite dishes that promise to pack a flavour punch and provide sustained energy.

Easy Prawn Curry

This vibrant and speedy curry is perfect for a weeknight meal, delivering a significant portion of your daily fruit and vegetable intake.

• Serves: 2
• Total time: 10 minutes
• Contribution to your seven-a-day: Four portions

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (approx. 160g)
• 250g ripe cherry tomatoes
• 1 x 50g sachet of creamed coconut
• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 1 bunch of coriander (approx. 30g)
• 2 tablespoons of your favourite curry paste
• Olive oil
• 250g frozen mango chunks
• 165g raw peeled king prawns, sourced sustainably
• 1 x 250g packet of cooked wholegrain basmati rice
• 30g Bombay mix

Method:

1. Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over high heat. Peel and finely slice the onion. Dry-fry the onion and cherry tomatoes in the pan, tossing regularly for about four minutes.
2. While the onions and tomatoes are cooking, place the creamed coconut in a blender. Add half of the chickpeas (with their juice), half of the coriander leaves, all of the coriander stalks, and a splash of water.
3. Tip half of the onion and tomato mixture from the frying pan into the blender. Blitz until you have a smooth sauce.
4. Stir the curry paste and about half a tablespoon of olive oil into the frying pan. After a minute, add the frozen mango and the remaining chickpeas. Pour in the blended sauce.
5. Toss everything over a medium heat for two minutes. Then, add the prawns and cook until they are just done, loosening the sauce with splashes of water if it becomes too thick. Season to your liking.
6. Cook the wholegrain basmati rice according to the packet instructions. Divide the cooked rice between two plates.
7. Chop most of the remaining coriander leaves and stir them into the curry. Spoon the curry over the rice.
8. Scatter the last few coriander leaves over the top. Finally, crush and crumble the Bombay mix over the dish for added crunch.

Chickpea Arrabbiata with Speedy Pasta

This quick and flavourful pasta dish is a fantastic way to get more fibre and nutrients into your day, with minimal fuss.

• Serves: 1
• Total time: 13 minutes
• Contribution to your seven-a-day: Two portions

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 200g passata
• ½ x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 125g fresh lasagne sheets
• 30g rocket
• 20g Parmesan cheese
• Optional: extra-virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Boil the kettle. Heat about half a tablespoon of olive oil in a 28cm frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Peel the garlic and finely slice it along with the red chilli. Reserve a little chilli for garnish. Add the garlic and chilli to the hot pan and fry until lightly golden.
3. Pour in the passata and add the chickpeas. Include half of the liquid from the chickpea tin. Let the sauce bubble for two minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. While the sauce is simmering, slice the fresh lasagne sheets into 2cm strips. Roughly chop most of the rocket, reserving a few leaves for garnish.
5. Add the chopped rocket and the lasagne strips to the pan. Pour in enough boiling kettle water to just cover the pasta (approximately 300ml).
6. Allow the mixture to bubble away for about four minutes, or until the pasta has absorbed most of the water and a nice sauce has formed. Stir regularly.
7. Turn off the heat and season the pasta dish.
8. Scatter the reserved rocket and chilli over the top. Finely grate the Parmesan cheese over the dish. For an extra touch of flavour, finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.

Aubergine Involtini with Borlotti Beans

This is a more involved dish, but the resulting flavour and texture are well worth the effort. It’s a hearty and satisfying meal packed with vegetables and protein.

• Serves: 2
• Total time: 50 minutes (Prep: 20 minutes, Cook: 30 minutes)
• Contribution to your seven-a-day: Three portions

Ingredients:

• 2 aubergines (approx. 250g each)
• 1 bunch of basil (approx. 30g)
• 1 x 400g tin of borlotti beans
• 100g ricotta cheese
• 20g Parmesan cheese
• 1 lemon
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 heaped teaspoons of baby capers in brine
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon
• 2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F/Gas Mark 4).
2. Heat a large, non-stick, ovenproof frying pan over high heat. Slice the aubergines lengthways into 1cm thick slices. Dry-fry the aubergine slices in batches for about two minutes per side until softened. Remove them to a cutting board.
3. Meanwhile, pick a few nice basil leaves and set them aside in a bowl of cold water. Place the rest of the basil, including the stalks, into a food processor.
4. Drain and add the borlotti beans to the food processor with the basil. Add the ricotta cheese. Finely grate in the Parmesan cheese and the zest of the lemon. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon. Blitz everything until well combined. Season to perfection.
5. Once all the aubergine slices have been fried, add one tablespoon of olive oil to the empty frying pan. Peel and finely slice the garlic. Add the garlic, capers, and cinnamon to the pan. Fry for two minutes.
6. Tip in the plum tomatoes and crush them with a spoon to create a sauce.
7. Divide the ricotta and bean mixture evenly between the softened aubergine slices. Roll each slice up to create involtini.
8. Nestle the rolled aubergines into the tomato sauce in the frying pan.
9. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until the involtini are golden and the sauce is bubbling.
10. Scatter the reserved fresh basil leaves over the top before serving. This dish is particularly delicious served with crusty wholemeal bread, perfect for soaking up all the flavourful sauce.

Eat Yourself Healthy by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Michael Joseph. The content is copyright © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2025, Eat Yourself Healthy). Recipe photography is credited to © David Loftus, 2025.