Add Muscle to Your Meals

With these simple food swaps and add-ons, you can transform a basic nutrition plan from scrawny to brawny.

When it comes to muscle-building nutrition, it’s hard to beat grilled chicken or beef, brown rice and assorted vegetables. Add a heaping helping of oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, and you’ve got the basic meal plan of many precontest bodybuilders. The motive is simple - these fundamental provisions are proven nutritional forces that can help keep you pumped up and lean. But hell if it isn’t boring. Even if your diet plan offers a little more diversity, you could probably still use a few options for variety’s sake. With that in mind, here are 17 sneaky, palate-pleasing ways to improve the protein content or boost the health, fat-fighting or workout-recovery benefits of your typical meals, by either adding an ingredient or making an all-out food swap.