7 Cheap Low Carb Meals – a week of easy Keto Diet dinner recipes on a budget.
Cheap Low Carb Meals
Following a low carb way of eating, like the Keto Diet, doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
There are plenty of easy, cheap low carb meals that you can enjoy through the week whether you’re on a tight budget or just looking to save money on your grocery bill.
In this post you’ll find a week of cheap low carb meals, all made with simple ingredients, which are Keto Diet friendly and the whole family will enjoy them too.
7 Cheap Low Carb Meals
All of these low-carb meals will help keep your carb intake down while all being easy dinner ideas to mix and match and include in your weekly meal plan.
The delicious low-carb recipes are made of whole foods that are a great choice without costing much money to add to your shopping list.
Day 1 – Low Carb Vegetable Casserole
I like to balance out my week with meaty and veggie meals for maximum health benefits, usually starting with a meat free Monday. This veggie casserole is so easy and budget friendly because you can include whatever healthy vegetables are in season (and cheap) near you.
In this instance I included brussels sprouts and broccoli, you could swap in cauliflower, green beans, zucchini or any other vegetables on the low carb list.
To make the vegetable casserole, clean and chop your chosen vegetables into roughly the same sized pieces.
Then, pop it all into a baking dish, along with plenty of healthy fats in the form of 1/4 cup each of – sour cream, heavy cream and grated mozarella or cheddar cheese. Give it a good mix and top with more grated cheese.
Place into your oven, preheated to 180C/350F, for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and done to your liking.
Day 2 – Corned Beef, Cabbage & Cauliflower Mash
For this delicious meal, you’ll need a corned beef for this dish and then you can either cook it according to the package directions or I follow the method of half an hour per 500g/1.1lb and then an extra half an hour. So my 1kg corned beef in this instance was cooked for 1.5 hours. (Here’s the full recipe.)
For low carb sides, I went for cabbage and cauliflower mash. The cabbage was cooked in the water once the corned beef was cooked and removed to a plate. So, all the wonderful flavours were absorbed by the cabbage. It only took a few minutes to soften and cook, I added a bit of butter along the way too, for hearty, buttery cabbage.
The cauliflower mash was made by cooking cauliflower until soft enough to mash and then mashing, together with butter, salt and cream.
You could opt for instant cauliflower rice or another healthy low-carb diet dish instead to enjoy with your balanced meal.
You can cook the biggest piece of corned beef that you can find at the grocery store and then use leftover cooked beef in meal prep boxes through the week.
Day 3 – Tuna Noodle Casserole
You’ll find that chopped cabbage makes and cheap and easy noodle substitute, instead of much loved zucchini noodles, to enjoy in keto recipes.
For a low carb tuna noodle casserole all you have to do is slice as much cabbage as you want into noodles. And, in this instance, they are fried in butter up until softened, adding more butter along the way when needed.
Then, add a tin of tuna, a couple of tablespoons of cream and sour cream and a few handfuls of grated cheese.
Mix it all together, let it bubble and thicken for a minute and then you have a creamy, cheesy tuna casserole with cabbage noodles.
Day 4 – Keto Burgers
Ground beef mince can be used in some of the cheapest keto meals. I bought a bulk package of just under a kilo of ground beef mince and used it over day 4 and day 5. For day 4, I went for keto burgers.
Simply combine beef mince together with your burger seasoning of choice, mine are salt and ground coriander.
Then, cook the burgers in plenty of coconut oil or olive oil until browned on both sides and cooked through.
Instead of carby buns, use lettuce leaves as a bun and then enjoy with your burger fillings of choice. Mine are simply sour cream and cheese.
Day 5 – Easy No Bake Moussaka
I found this easy recipe on the BBC Good Food website and adapted it to easily be low carb friendly.
Simply brown the beef mince and then add the chopped eggplant/aubergine to brown too. You could add in mushrooms, bell peppers or your vegetables of choice.
Once the beef and eggplant has browned, add the chopped tomatoes. Toss to combine and simmer until the sauce has reduced and all is softened and cooked through. Finally, top with crumbled feta and enjoy.
Day 6 – Turmeric Cauliflower
When the season is right, cauliflower can be found really cheaply. Lately a whole head of cauliflower has been as little as €1.25. You could enjoy cauliflower in cauliflower rice, mash casserole or a cauliflower mac and cheese.
In this instance though, I’ve sauted the cauliflower in butter and turmeric until browned. Then move to a bowl and top with grated parmesan. An easy cheap low carb meal that’s vegetarian friendly too.
You could add a few tablespoons of cream, cream cheese or lots of cheese for a creamy, cheesy keto diet meal.
Day 7 – Best Ever Chicken Bake
Chicken drumsticks are our favourite piece of chicken, so I’ll often make our best ever chicken bake. (Here’s the full recipe and video tutorial.) You could swap the chicken drumsticks for pieces of chicken breast, chicken thighs, chicken wings or your cut of choice.
All you need is a package of chicken drumsticks, a jar of low carb pasta sauce and cheese.
Place the drumsticks into a baking dish, cover with the pasta sauce and toss until well combined. Place into the oven, preheated to 180C/350F for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss the chicken over and then top with a generous portion of grated cheese.
Place back into the oven for a final 30 to 45 minutes or until golden and cooked to your liking.
You can feel free to mix and match the days through the week or pick and choose which you think you’d like to try this week and come back next week to try another easy meal to help you on your weight loss journey.
Low-Carb Dinner Ideas Video
Here’s the video where you can watch all of the low carb recipes being prepared, step by step. Hit play below or click here to watch on YouTube.
More Low Carb Diet Inspiration
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Disclaimer – this post is meant for informational post only and should not be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your health professional before making any dietary changes.
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