This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Atkins. The opinions and text are all mine. Today’s post includes simple homemade low carb meals including ideas for easy breakfast lunch and dinner – plus low carb snacks!
All of these meal ideas are in line with the Atkins20 Phase One Acceptable Foods List, which is a great resource for even more low carb food ideas!
I recently did a 4-part series on the Atkins Instagram channel sharing A LOT of low carb fast food options for “keeping it keto” on the go.
You can click on each of these images to see those posts, and use the arrows to scroll through for a photo tour of easy drive-through low carb foods:
While I do travel often and eat on-the-go a lot, when I am home I make VERY simple meals. So today I wanted to give you some super easy ideas for at-home low carb meals that don’t require much time or prep.
This should help you with ideas when you need a quick low carb meal in a pinch on those days you didn’t have anything prepared!
“Getting Back To The Basics”
Easy Low Carb Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Snack Ideas
The longer you’re on a low carb lifestyle, it seems like carbs can creep back into your daily meals on you over time. This can cause weight loss stalls or plateaus, induce cravings, or just slow your weight loss down.
When you find that happening, getting back to the basics is ideal! 😉
When I first started eating low carb more than 7 years ago, I started with the Atkins20 Phase One Acceptable Foods List, which is a great resource for choosing whole foods you can mix & match for a wide variety of delicious low carb meals.
What many people don’t realize is that the Atkins20 or Phase One is “keto” – or a ketogenic low carb diet plan. While the term “low carb” can mean anything 100 carbs a day or less, keto is MUCH lower carb at 20 net carbs a day (ie Atkins20).
Atkins 20 is comparable to the keto diet, but overall Atkins allows for more flexibility as they encourage people to incorporate foods back into their meals and find their carb tolerance level.
Using their Acceptable Foods List, here are ideas and inspiration for “getting back to the basics” with super simple low carb meals…
Low Carb Breakfast Ideas
Bacon and Fried Eggs
Fried Eggs over Fresh Baby Spinach
I like to fry my eggs in plenty real butter, then drizzle the hot butter over the spinach!
Egg Loaf or Low Carb French Toast Sticks (RECIPE)
When you get tired of eggs, or if you don’t like eggs, this is a great breakfast you can make up and enjoy for a quick breakfast several mornings of the week!
My Low Carb Cinnamon Crunch Coffee Cake Recipe also makes for a GREAT breakfast!
Low Carb Omelet (RECIPE)
Omelets are a fun way to dress up eggs with your choice of meats, cheeses & veggies!
I often don’t have time to cook in the morning, or get tired of eggs for breakfast, so I’ll make a simple snack plate instead. These work well on those mornings when you’re rushed and need to eat at your desk or on your way to work too. 😉
Salami, Almonds & Cheese
Meat & Cheese Rollups with Almonds
Low Carb Lunch Ideas
Tuna Salad over Fresh Baby Spinach
Meat, Cheese & Dill Pickle Rollups
Snack Plates make for a quick and easy lunch too.
I love simple plates with meat, cheese, nuts and just a few berries. I might add 18 grams of blueberries or raspberries, or one or two fresh strawberries.
Fresh Baby Spinach topped with Fried Chicken Sausage
Eggs are great any time of the day, so a few fried eggs on top fresh baby spinach drizzled with hot butter, makes for a super quick lunch!
Broccoli Slaw is one of my favorite quick & easy low carb vegetables. You can get it in the produce department at both Wal-Mart and Kroger stores. Sauteed in the skillet with a little butter & salt and paired with a slice of ham makes for a quick & delicious lunch.
Low Carb Dinner Ideas
I’m all for one-skillet meals, crockpot meals, and anything you can serve for dinner that’s healthy and delicious – but doesn’t require an hour in the kitchen! 😉
This Low Carb Oven Stew (RECIPE) fits the bill with a dish full of healthy low carb foods that makes a meal the whole family will love.
A hamburger steak (or “chopped steak”) is basically a big seasoned hamburger patty. Paired with a low carb green vegetable it makes for an easy dinner!
Example – Hamburger Steak with Sauteed Zucchini:
I usually just add an egg and seasoning to my hamburger steak, but my favorite way is to add steamed spinach!
Low Carb Spinach Burgers (RECIPE) with Seared Yellow Squash
If you want to get a little fancier with your low carb dinners, this Low Carb Parmesan Chicken (RECIPE) will please the whole family! 🙂
Low Carb Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Vegetables
I was recently invited over to a friend’s house for dinner, and was pleasantly surprised by a completely keto meal!
I shared this beautiful dinner with a carb eater and a teenager, and everyone at the table LOVED the meal. 😉
The bacon-wrapped asparagus was a HIT with everyone. What REALLY made it fabulous was the thick-cut bacon:
What an EASY and delicious low carb side dish!
Paired with that was steamed cauliflower tossed in salt and real butter, then sprinkled with pepper and topped with cheddar cheese shredded off the block:
And of course the highlight of the meal: a thick juicy ribeye steak. 🙂
This is an example of a beautiful meal that almost anyone would enjoy, whether they eat low carb or not. Proving how easy it is to make delicious meals that are keto-friendly for you, and still delicious for anyone else at the table!
Low Carb Snack Ideas
I’m not much of a snacker myself, but every now and then I crave chips – or something salty & crunchy or crispy. That’s when I make cheese crisps!
These delicious Spinach Cheese Chips are simply leftover steamed spinach added to shredded cheese and baked until crisp.
You have to squeeze all the water out of the spinach of course, then just add it to your little piles of shredded cheese – and bake it on parchment paper at 400 degrees until crispy.
Those cheese chips can be found in my 34 Easy Low Carb Food & Meal Ideas post. 😉
Other snacks I enjoy include mixed low carb nuts and cheeses…
Or for a sweet & salty low carb snack I like a sugar free chocolate with almond butter or peanut butter with mixed nuts: pecans, macadamia nuts & almonds.
Salami slices make great little snack sandwiches!
Stuff them with crisp cucumber slices or dill pickle and a hard or soft cheese for fun finger-food snacks. 🙂
And of course my favorite snack, especially when I’m craving greasy salty crunchy chips, are BACON CHIPS!
Crisp bacon broken into chip sized pieces and dipped in a low carb ranch dressing makes for a great low carb snack on movie night. 😉
I hope this gives you some ideas for simple meals you can put together at home without much fuss. I love EASY meals and snacks. The simpler the better!
Keep in mind that the goal of Atkins or a ketogenic low carb diet is basically meat & greens + healthy fats.
Speaking of healthy fats, one of my favorite side dishes is fried avocado…
Take a firm (ripe) avocado and slice it or cube it, then salt it and fry it hot and fast in real butter for a delicious low carb side dish that is full of healthy fats – plus plenty of potassium & magnesium!
I love that you can easily put a meal on the table for the whole family, even when you’re the only one eating low carb. Simply make a meat and green vegetable, then add a starch for the rest of the family.
As one example, I might make crab legs and steamed broccoli with a caesar salad. I’ll put the dressing and croutons on the side so everyone can “dress” their own salad, and make baked potatoes for everyone else.
Then I simply enjoy delicious crab legs dipped in melted butter with caesar salad – and I top my steamed broccoli with the baked potato toppings:
Because “loaded broccoli” is amazing! 
I hope you enjoyed this photo tour of simple low carb breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas.
I would love to hear YOUR favorite easy low carb meals and daily staples…
The more ideas the better!
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
P.S. I often refer people to the Atkins site for the Acceptable Foods List. The phase one list is low carb friendly and is exactly what I used to get started eating low carb.
You can also check out their site to learn more about the “Hidden Sugar Effect” – foods that you think are healthy that actually turn into sugar when digested. You don’t see the sugars, but your body does – and make sure you’re avoiding foods that you may think are healthy, but aren’t actually as healthy as you think.
On Atkins, you eat the right foods, not less – which I love! You never have to go hungry on a low carb lifestyle. 😉 They have a new lifestyle book out by that title: “Atkins: Eat Right, Not Less” too that I recently reviewed.
You’ll get to read more about MY getting started story at that link too. 😉 *cheers*
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