Doing a little counting lately at the table? These low-carb dinner recipes are so satiating you won’t even miss what’s not there. While these recipes don’t necessarily meet all the requisites for keto or paleo, they do each come in at 22 grams carbohydrate per serving or less. Sometimes much less. (To give you some perspective, a slice of cheese pizza contains more than 36 grams and a bowl of sweet potato soup more than 42 grams.)
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Roast Chicken With Pancetta and Olives
This roast chicken with pancetta and olives and garlic from Gourmet magazine is braised in white wine to keep the chicken tender. A LOT of folks are calling it the best chicken recipe they’ve ever made.
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This Thai beef salad is one of my favorite meals–at home and when eating out. Spices, tangy lime juice, pungent fish sauce, tender beef, and loads of veggies make this a well-rounded dish.
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These pork sausages with roasted grapes are a traditional Umbrian dish that juxtaposes rich sausage with sweet grapes.
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This gung bao chicken, made with boneless chicken breast, chiles, Szechuan peppercorns, and peanuts, is authentic Szechuan fare.
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These tender, marinated Catalan lamb skewers are served with a spicy pepper sauce and cooling cucumber-yogurt salad. Full of flavor, spicy and cool, all at once.
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This cauliflower fried rice is indeed gluten-free and paleo, but is almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The sweet and savory sauce really gives the dish loads of tastiness.
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This Italian sausage and broccoli rabe is made by pan-frying sausage and sautéing broccolini with oil, garlic, and pepper flakes. A simple and easy weeknight meal.
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These Korean chicken wings are actually baked, not fried, yet are still impossibly crisp. And they’re served with a finger-lickingly lovely sweet and spicy dipping sauce. Move over, Buffalo wings.
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Hot and sour soup may be something you’re used to ordering from your closest Chinese restaurant. But this easy and authentic version, filled with ground pork, tofu, and mushrooms, is done in less time than it takes to order takeout. And, quite honestly, it’s the best we’ve ever had.
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Serve this incredibly flavorful chicken shawarma with your favorite sides and toppings for an easy weeknight meal everyone will love. Plus, nothing beats a sheet pan dinner, am I right?
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This authentic lamb curry, or laal maas, is made with a rich spiced yogurt sauce, and meltingly tender slow-cooked lamb.
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This cheese omelet is fluffy and filled with fresh herbs, goat cheese, Gruyère, and sour cream. A classic that’s easy, simple, and satisfying any time of day. Here’s how to make it.
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This whole roasted branzino with lemon and shaved fennel salad tossed in white wine vinaigrette is an easy, healthy meal that’s on the table in just 40 minutes.
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This chopped salad is a mash-up of Waldorf and Cobb salads. It's healthy, with just enough indulgence tossed in there to keep everyone interested.
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This keto beef and broccoli is an easy, healthy riff on your fave takeout dish, made with flank steak and tender broccoli florets, and finished with a special mixture of soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil to keep it low carb.
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Mushroom miso soup. Quick. Easy. Healthy. Vegan. And yes, it even tastes spectacular.
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This blackened salmon with pineapple avocado salsa is an easy, healthy weeknight winner made with spiced, pan-seared salmon fillets that are topped with a sweet and spicy, pineapple, avocado, and jalapeño salsa.
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Sheet pan dinners, in this case sausage and peppers (plus tomatoes, garlic, and onions) demands just one thing of you: Toss everything together on a single pan and shove it in the oven. Dinner: done.
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Eggs in purgatory is what to eat when you’re feeling like hell. I’m not saying that you have to have a hangover, but after an evening of carousing, eggs cooked in a fiery tomato sauce can feel like heaven.
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Steak chimichurri is a classic Argentinian dish that marries tender grilled beef with a punchy herb and vinegar sauce. Here, rib eye steak is marinated in the chimichurri, grilled to perfection, and served with more chimichurri on top.
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These chicken Caesar salad skewers are essentially salad on a stick made with a homemade Caesar dressing that’s also harnessed as a marinade for the chicken. Just toss the skewers on the grill and serve with lettuce leaves. Stunning yet simple, it’s a deconstructed classic
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This dish features cauliflower two ways: in a smooth, creamy mash and as an innovative "couscous" accented with preserved lemons, mint and pistachios.
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This is definitely not your classic shakshuka. But with its lilt of lemon, its hearty braised greens, and its sprinkling of za'atar, it's not something we’d kick out of bed.
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These spicy scrambled eggs, made with eggs, fresh green chiles, onions, tomatoes, and cumin, make for an unexpected and satiating stand-in for any time of the day.
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This pan-seared Moroccan salmon is gently but perfectly spiced, comes together in minutes, is perfect for crazy weeknights yet impressive enough for entertaining, and healthy enough to remind you how good it can taste to take care of yourself.
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This braised chicken with tomatillos has a slightly tart green sauce made from tomatillos, onions, peppers, garlic, lime, and cilantro that’s perfect with chicken cooked until falling apart tender, whether on the stovetop or in the slow cooker.
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These Portuguese clams and sausage are slowly cooked with chouriço, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and spices in a cataplana, the Portuguese precursor to the wok.
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HUNGRY FOR MORE?
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Thanks so much for this! My husband and I are eating low-carb and will try many of these in the coming days.
I’m also grateful to have a recipe for Hot and Sour Soup, one of my great loves.
Eggs are a great no-carb source of protein so souffles and fritattas are also good options and can be flavored so many ways. I’m having some leftover souffle with a salad for lunch. I find souffles not the least fussy or temperamental and, cold, they still have an interesting texture and all their flavor so, sliced into ribbons, they’re a great protein addition to a salad.
Great suggestion! Thanks, Rainey. I’m so glad these recipes can provide you with some inspiration.