Low-Carb Dinner Recipes

Making low-carb dinners may seem challenging when you first start to change your diet, but once you get the hang of it, it's really not hard. You are probably making a few main dish recipes that are almost diet-friendly already. Here are some tips and recipes for easy and delicious low-carb dinners.

Start With What You Know

Main dishes that are old standbys and are naturally low-carb or can easily be adjusted are the best place to start.

Look to your meals where the protein is plainly cooked, such as grilled or pan-fried meats or broiled fish. Include more vegetables instead of potatoes/rice, including substitutes like "Cauli-Rice" or Mashed Cauliflower. If the plate seems puny, add a green salad with an olive oil-based dressing or a soup. Also, don't be afraid of including more healthy fat than you are used to—it will help satisfy you until the next meal.

Skillet meals consisting of meat and veggies are often naturally low-carb or you can just leave out the starch or sweet sauce.

Grilled foods are also a great place to start (as long as you stay away from sugary BBQ sauces). Grilled food is delicious without being fussy. And cleanup is easy! Check out:

De-Carb Your Favorites

To make low-carb eating into a way of life (instead of a "diet"), it's important to find low-carb versions of a lot of your favorite meals.

In some cases, the adjustments needed can be surprisingly small.

Embrace Eggs

If you don't have much cooking experience, eggs are a wonderful place to start. You can eat eggs for any meal! Not only are eggs highly nutritious, they are easy to incorporate with any vegetables, cheeses, or meats to make an entirely different meal.

Try a New Cuisine

Some cuisines naturally have fewer carbs than others. Traditional Greek food is often less starchy and sugary than many others and has a focus on vegetables, protein, and olive oil. When people think about France, they usually think of bread. But traditional French food is only moderate in carbohydrates. Many Asian dishes automatically become low-carb if you leave out the rice or noodles.

Hunt for New Favorites

If you are on a specific diet plan, take a look at the cookbook(s) that go along with it or other low-carb cookbooks. Checking a book out of the library can help you figure out if the author's tastes are similar to your own without investing in the book too soon. Here are some other resources and some delicious recipes:

Make It a Meal

Consider and enjoy these options the next time you are wondering what to have with your main protein:

A Word From Verywell

To avoid spending a lot of time cooking dinner at the end of a busy day, have your vegetables chopped up and ready to go—as well as any other preparation done. That way, dinner can be prepared in just a few minutes and you're more likely to cook rather than order take-out.