Rachael DeVaux is not afraid of beef.

That might sound obvious, but in a wellness culture still haunted by plain chicken breast and low-fat everything, her enthusiasm for grass-fed ground beef feels almost radical. The Seattle-based author, personal trainer, and founder of Rachael’s Good Eats has built a following of more than 3.5 million people by talking about food in a way that is both science-backed and lived-in. She grew up in Washington, studied nutrition and dietetics at Oregon State, became a dietitian in 2016, and later added personal training to her credentials. What started as a college Instagram account sharing the meals she packed for class turned into a platform—and, eventually, cookbooks.

Her first book introduced readers to her style of cooking: nutrient-dense, approachable, and built for everyday life. Her second, The High-Protein Plate: 100 Satisfying Everyday Recipes, which came out March 3, is more focused. It centers meals around protein, which DeVaux says is the one nutrient many people—especially women—consistently under-eat. The book includes 100 recipes, from smoothies and breakfast hashes to Philly cheesesteak–stuffed poblanos and pesto-crusted cod, along with a 28-day reset and what she calls a “power pantry” guide that walks readers through the fridge, freezer, and cupboard staples she relies on to make weeknight dinners easier.

DeVaux keeps pounds of ground beef in her fridge, reheats it in a pan midweek, packs meat sticks for traveling, and orders extra turkey on her sandwich before boarding a plane. Protein, she says, isn’t a trend. It’s the backbone.

What made protein feel like the right focus for this book?

It truly impacts everything from energy and blood sugar to muscle metabolism, even our cravings. I didn’t want a diet book, but I wanted a practical everyday cookbook that helps people build balanced meals without having to track or become obsessed with the numbers behind it.

When protein is anchored early on in the day and throughout your meals, everything else gets easier. It’s what I’ve found personally through my own food journey. I want people to know that protein isn’t trendy, it’s foundational, and most of us are just missing that mark.

Ginger garlic turkey skillet from The High-Protein Plate.

Photo by Eva Kolenko

Looking back at your first cookbook, what did you want to do differently this time?

My first book grew out of initially sharing my recipes online as a dietitian who loved cooking. Over time people wanted meals they could trust with nutrition as the focus but also that tasted delicious and withstand the test of time. That was the basis of Rachael’s Good Eats: Easy, Laid-Back, Nutrient-Rich Recipes.

The High-Protein Plate feels like a full-circle moment because it’s really the clearest expression of how I actually eat and cook now. A lot of my recipes in the first one had protein as part of it, but this one focuses on protein while still including fiber-rich veggies, healthy fats, complex carbs. I see cookbooks as a tool. If someone cooks from it for a week and feels better, I feel like I’ve done a good job.

Why is it important to frame protein around energy and strength rather than aesthetics?

People get so hung up on protein being aesthetically driven through muscle, but there’s so much that goes behind it when it comes to your metabolic health, which I think is becoming more popular in mainstream media. We are talking about aging and longevity and what we can do to prolong that and maximize our daily intake of what we’re consuming and the foods we’re putting in our bodies.

I want people to know there is so much more that goes into protein than just creating and maintaining muscle. It plays a huge part in your immunity as well. You think about antibodies, they’re literally protein structures. I would just love to help people focus more on making protein the anchor of their meals and then layering in those other healthy ingredients, fiber-rich veggies, healthy fats, complex carbs.

How did the idea of the “power pantry” come together?

It’s easier to cook from home when you have the proper ingredients to do so. I really wanted to give people a look into my pantry as a dietitian and someone who focuses on nutrient-dense ingredients in their meals. I broke down what’s in my pantry, what’s in my fridge, what I keep in my freezer, to always be prepared. Of course I’m still ordering groceries sometimes the day of for dinner that night, but if I can set myself up for success and have ingredients from baking—a lot of my baking is gluten-free because I’m mostly gluten intolerant—I’ll have almond flour, coconut flour, nut butters.

As a dietitian I really want to focus on less added sugar throughout the day. A lot of the ingredients that I have in my fridge and pantry have no added sugar. That’s a huge focus of mine in addition to eating high protein. When I open my freezer it’s full of tons of different proteins. There’s grass-fed ground beef, ground turkey, chicken breasts, wild-caught cod. If we are in a pinch, I can throw some things together and have dinner ready that night.

How did becoming a mom change the way you think about meal prep?

Oh my gosh, so much. Becoming a mom and going through pregnancy and postpartum, I really figured out that those are two main windows where women can either keep the muscle they have or lose it, and protein plays a huge role in that.

I like to use simple ingredients, ingredients that are functional. By that I mean they support my real life—my workouts, my energy levels, my focus throughout the day, my health. I like leaning on batch-friendly proteins that can turn into multiple meals throughout the week. That’s been huge for me. I’ll cook two or three pounds of grass-fed ground beef just plain and keep that in the fridge throughout the week.

On Monday I’ll add taco seasoning and we’ll have tacos. On Wednesday I’ll add Italian seasoning and marinara and some pasta. On Friday maybe I’ll add different seasonings and make a wrap.

I don’t meal prep a lot, but having those proteins ready in the fridge along with fresh produce makes it really easy to throw a healthy meal into a bowl.

What’s one easy starting point for someone who feels overwhelmed by trying to eat well and cook at home?

I included the first 40 pages of valuable information, so I hope everyone reads the entire introduction and all the tips I have for them to set themselves up for success and learn how to start thinking about food in a different way by focusing on the health benefits of ingredients.

Just by consuming the recipes in this book, people are naturally going to eat more protein. I really wanted to make it easy from breakfast all the way to dessert. The chapters cater to anyone and everyone. There’s breakfast, smoothies, mains broken down into 30-minute meals, one pot, one pan, slow cooker, everyday mains, salads, soups, and desserts. You have every meal of the day that focuses on protein.

Did learning about muscle loss after thirty change how you think about strength?

That’s one of the things I learned in school and it’s something I always think about. Strength training has been a huge part of my life, especially in the last five years getting to thirty. Most of us lose 3 to 8% of muscle mass a decade. If you can start building muscle and maintaining that muscle through eating high protein, that’s going to help maximize health and longevity. You can kind of reverse that if you focus on protein as the backbone of your meals.

Seattle is often thought of as a wellness-focused city. From your perspective, what does it get right?

I think everyone here is very active. We went out last weekend to Alki just to go on a walk and people are doing the sauna and cold plunge at the beach, which I love. I love that people are so wellness-focused here. People are at home making recipes, but they’re also enjoying food out at restaurants. I love that blend.

Buffalo chicken baked tacos, a simple dinner you can make any night of the week.

Photo by Eva Kolenko

Where do you love eating out in Seattle?

We love Pablo y Pablo in Wallingford. It’s Mexican food. It focuses heavily on seasonal ingredients, so the menu is ever changing. We also love Grappa in Queen Anne. Mediterranean, homemade pasta, fresh fish, again focusing on seasonal ingredients. That’s what I love about the Seattle food scene. There’s a great respect for ingredients, seasonality, the seafood, the produce. That really aligns with how I naturally cook.

What’s the most important thing you’d say to someone trying to eat healthier?

When you start including more whole foods in your diet, you naturally crowd out the more ultra-processed foods that a lot of us are consuming in our daily life. It boils down to choosing more whole food ingredients and focusing on including protein at every meal.

Maybe it’s intimidating for people to think about hitting a certain protein goal for your whole day, but if you can break it down into meals and try to focus on getting 25 to 40 grams of protein at each main meal, that makes it more simple.

Also focusing on reducing your added sugar intake. There’s so much added sugar in everyday items that people don’t notice—condiments, marinara, peanut butter, coffee creamers. It’s about becoming more aware of what you’re consuming and learning to read labels and ingredient lists.

What are you packing for book tour and long flights?

There’s going to be lots of Chomps meat sticks in my bag. Whole food sources of produce like apples and whole oranges because I like to get that fiber in the whole food source versus a juiced version. Eggs and avocados are a staple every day for me. Dry roasted salted nuts.

If we have a flight, I love to order a Homegrown sandwich in the morning, usually with extra turkey on it. Sometimes I’ll make a salad for the plane with grilled chicken or ground beef and chopped red bell pepper and avocado and olive oil.

I think protein distribution throughout the day is huge. If you front-load your protein at breakfast and lunch, it’s less stress once you get to dinner. If you can focus on 25 to 40 grams of protein for breakfast and lunch, you feel much better going into dinner.

Rachael DeVaux will be at Elliott Bay Book Company on Tuesday, March 10, from 7–8 p.m. RSVP here.