By Hannah Twiggs

Copyright independent

Our guts are doing far more behind the scenes than we often give them credit for. The trillions of microbes that live in the gut don’t just help with digestion – they play a role in everything from immunity and heart health to mood and brain function. Which is why, this Love Your Gut Week (15-21 September), it might be time to show yours a little extra care.

The good news? Supporting your microbiome doesn’t have to mean complicated supplements or restrictive diets – just flavour-packed meals made with the right ingredients. To prove it, the experts at Love Your Gut have created six easy recipes designed to feed your gut as well as your appetite.

Each dish is built around microbiome-friendly hero ingredients – think fibre-rich pulses, fermented foods, crunchy vegetables and antioxidant-packed herbs – all shown to help diversify and strengthen the bacteria in your gut. And there’s plenty of variety too, because eating a wide range of plants is one of the simplest ways to keep your gut happy.

There are savoury pancakes with cottage cheese and broad beans to brighten up breakfast, a one-pot chicken lasagne for fuss-free weeknights, and even a creamy baked quinoa rice pudding that proves comfort food can be gut-friendly too. Alongside them sit dishes inspired by global flavours – from a Burmese-style chickpea tofu to a vibrant poke bowl with miso aubergine and kimchi.

So, whether you’re in the mood for something nostalgic, nourishing or a little adventurous, these recipes are a reminder that looking after your gut can be as easy – and delicious – as what you put on your plate.

These savoury breakfast pancakes pack in plenty of whole food protein thanks to cottage cheese, eggs and three types of legumes – peas, broad beans and chickpeas – in the form of flour. Fresh herbs push up the plant count even more. Delicious served with just a squeeze of lemon and some pea shoots, or accompanied with your choice of roasted tomatoes, sliced avocado, poached eggs or smoked fish.

Gut-friendly hero ingredient: Vegetables such as broad beans help to keep the gut healthy because they contain an abundance of polyphenols, a type of antioxidant. Broad beans are also a particularly good source of flavanols, which help keep the balance of microorganisms in the gut healthy by inhibiting the growth of various pathogens and increasing the populations of beneficial bacteria.

Serves: 4 | Makes: 8 pancakes (8cm in diameter/1cm thick/60g batter per pancake)

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

150g cottage cheese

1 medium egg

50g gram (chickpea) flour

½ tsp baking powder

100g frozen peas, defrosted

100g frozen baby broad beans, defrosted

3 spring onions, chopped

15g basil, chopped

15g flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 lemon, zest finely grated

1 tbsp olive oil

50g pea shoots

1 lemon, cut into wedges (the one that has been zested for the recipe is fine)

Plus roasted tomatoes, sliced avocado, poached eggs or smoked fish (optional)

Cook’s tip: If you’re serving fewer people, freeze any leftover cooked pancakes. They can be re-crisped from frozen in an air-fryer (180C/8 minutes) or defrosted and warmed in the oven (180C/160C fan/gas mark 4 for 10 minutes).

Poke bowls, with their mix of colourful vegetables, are always a nutritious choice, but this recipe boosts the gut health benefits even more. We’ve replaced half of the sushi rice with mixed colour quinoa to increase the fibre content of the poke base. As well as boosting the variety of fibres, different colours and varieties of the same plant contain different polyphenols, which fuel the microbiome. The aubergine is cooked with miso paste and sprinkled with sesame seeds and we’ve also added a generous spoonful of kimchi. Serve with a rainbow of salad vegetables.

Gut-friendly hero ingredients:

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

125g sushi rice

125g white, black and red quinoa

25ml rice vinegar

1 tbsp caster sugar

For the aubergine:

2 medium aubergines, cut into 5cm cubes

2 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tbsp white miso paste

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 red chilli, finely chopped

Salad vegetables of your choice: avocado, radishes, peppers and thinly sliced red cabbage all work well

175 g kimchi – look for kimchi from the fridge aisle that says ‘live’ to make sure it contains good bacteria

Cook’s tip: The quinoa rice mixture is also delicious cold, so it’s ideal meal prep for packed lunches. As soon as it’s cooked, spread it out on a large plate and cover with damp kitchen paper. Leave to cool, then store in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

This super convenient one-pot dish is a satisfying and healthy midweek meal option. The humble canned haricot bean makes a velvety and nutritious alternative to a traditional bechamel sauce and doesn’t require any pre-cooking, making it perfect for this speedy one-pot dish. The beans, sweet leeks and earthy spinach increase the fibre content and plant count.

Gut-friendly hero ingredients:

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

30g butter

1 large leek, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

500g chicken mince

450ml chicken stock

250g spinach, stalks removed, leaves roughly chopped

1 tbsp cornflour

250g fresh lasagne sheets

400g canned haricot beans, drained and liquor reserved

1/8 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

50g Parmesan, finely grated, plus a little extra for the top

125g mozzarella (drained weight)

For the salad:

1 small clove garlic, crushed

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

4 red chicory, separated into leaves and halved if large

30g roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Cook’s tip: You can use any canned or jarred white beans to make the bechamel, including cannellini and butterbeans. These bigger bean varieties can be slightly softer, so reduce the amount of bean liquor to 50ml.

Chickpea flour is used by many different cultures to produce a polenta-like mixture, which can be set in a mould. In Myanmar, it’s known as Shan tofu and is often served sliced as a salad or deep-fried with a dipping sauce. We’ve paired the tofu with some typical Burmese-style salad ingredients, which happen to be high in both prebiotic soluble fibre to feed your microbiome, and insoluble fibre to aid digestion and help you feel fuller for longer.

Gut-friendly hero ingredients:

Prep time: 15 minutes (plus cooling) | Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

100g chickpea (gram) flour

½ tsp mild paprika

¼ tsp turmeric

For the salad:

½ white cabbage, very thinly sliced

1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons

250g cherry tomatoes, sliced

50g pickled sushi ginger, drained weight

2 tbsp fresh coriander, leaves roughly chopped

2 tbsp crispy onions

2 tbsp crispy chilli oil, or to taste

For the dressing:

1 lime, juiced

2 tsp caster sugar

1½ tbsp Thai fish sauce, or use tamari to keep it vegan and gluten-free

1 clove garlic, crushed

Cook’s tip: Any leftover cubes of the cooled chickpea tofu can be brushed with a little oil and then cooked in the air-fryer. After 12-15 minutes at 200C, they puff up, turning crisp on the outside with a tender centre. Serve with your favourite Asian dipping sauces.

Walnuts have long been associated with good heart health, but they’re also beneficial for the gut. In this recipe, they add a lovely crunch to salsa verde, a vibrant dressing made with a mixture of polyphenol-rich herbs and olive oil.

Gut-friendly hero ingredients:

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

400g beetroot, peeled and halved (or quartered if large)

600g carrots, halved lengthways (or quartered if large)

3 tbsp olive oil

4 x 150g hake portions (or other white sustainable fish)

For the walnut salsa verde:

25g flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped

10g basil, leaves finely chopped

8 mint leaves, finely chopped

40g walnuts, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tbsp baby capers, rinsed and drained

5 green olives, stoned and finely chopped

1 lemon, juiced and zest finely grated

4 tbsp olive oil

Cook’s tip: The salsa verde also pairs really well with oily fish like mackerel, barbecued lamb or griddled asparagus.

A gut-friendly revamp of the nostalgic comfort food classic baked rice pudding, this recipe swaps traditional rice for quinoa. We’ve also broken with tradition to use almond milk, which complements the pistachios and apricots used to flavour the pudding, plus it makes the pudding suitable for those following a vegan diet. We’ve given instructions for a hands-free long slow cook, as well as a speedier version that requires a little more attention.

Gut-friendly hero ingredients:

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes (or 25 minutes – see tip)

Ingredients:

150g quinoa

75g pistachio nuts, chopped

75g dried apricots, chopped

400ml almond milk

400ml tin light coconut milk

60g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly ground

1 tbsp apricot jam

1 tbsp lemon juice

Cook’s tip: If you’re short on time (and don’t mind sacrificing the traditional golden skin!), the pudding can be cooked in a saucepan: simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure it doesn’t stick.

For more recipes, information and useful resources, visit www.loveyourgut.com