Low cost & low carb meals
Cooking can get expensive when being mindful of nutrition, so we’ve put together a list of meals that come in under $3 per serving. Enjoy!
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I know that I’m preaching to the choir here – the choir being every person who is buying ingredients and making food – but keeping meals on the table can be a costly proposition. And it gets even more expensive when you’re heavily weighing nutrition or managing a chronic condition like diabetes.Happily, many of the world’s most nutrient-dense ingredients – eggs and dried beans, I’m looking at you – happen to be spectacularly budget-friendly as well, and by “budget-friendly,” we’re referring to meals that should run you no more than two or three dollars a serving. (I’m not giving exact costs per serving here, since obviously things like a commitment to, say, organic produce or sustainably-farmed meats will change the price of the ingredients. But I used organic everything in my recipe testing, and the meals were still coming in at under $3 a serving.)
Two of the meals are bean based, because they are really healthy.
In addition to beans, what you’ll see here is a reliance on crafty cooking and seasoning techniques to shepherd those low-cost ingredients from the fridge to the dinner plate. Because once you’re not eating traditional pasta – and not eating pasta is a good way of reducing your carbohydrate load – it gets a little harder to throw an inexpensive meal on the table. Until I was watching carbs (and, in my house, gluten) spaghetti or fusilli was the perfect inexpensive go-to. Or X-on-toast, a favorite dinner of ours for years. Instead, I’m now turning to cheaper proteins and vegetables, learning how to coax them into exciting dinners that won’t break the bank or spike everybody’s blood sugar or kill anybody with repetitiveness of the “Scrambled eggs again?” variety.
Here are a few low-cost, low-carb recipes: (MAKE DROP DOWNS TO EACH NAME)
1. Crustless Quiche with Broccoli, Cheddar and Mustard
2. Tuna-Zoodle Casserole
3. Enchilada Zuchinni
4. Heuvoes Rancheros
5. Cottage Cheese Pancakes
6. Mason Jar Salads
1. Crustless Quiche with Broccoli, Cheddar, and Mustard
The crustlessness of this quiche does double-duty: it eliminates the fussy, pain-in-the-neck part of quiche-making, and it turns the dish happily low-carb.
Makes: 6 servings
Total carbohydrates: 10 grams per serving
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
The crustlessness of this quiche does double-duty: it eliminates the fussy, pain-in-the-neck part of quiche-making, and it turns the dish happily low-carb. The almond meal (which is a less-refined almond flour) adds a kind of visual and textural cue that there’s a crust—like eyebrows drawn on with a pencil—but you can totally skip it if you like. If this flavor combo isn’t your thing—or if you’ve got different vegetables languishing in your crisper drawer—feel free to make substitutions, keeping the vegetables to 2 cups (4 cups for leafy ones), and making sure to cook them a bit first so that they don’t give up too much liquid while the quiche is baking and make the custard watery. Other combinations that work well: spinach and feta with garlic and mint or dill; mushrooms and Swiss cheese with bacon and thyme; summer squash and corn with Monterey jack and cilantro.
Ingredients
Olive oil spray or olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons almond meal or almond flour (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 cups broccoli (about 1 stalk), florets finely chopped and stem thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt (divided use) (or half as much table salt)
4 large eggs
2 cups half and half (or 1 cup each whole milk and cream or 2 cups whole milk)
1 tablespoon stoneground or grainy mustard (or Dijon)
The grated zest of ½ lemon
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces sharp cheddar, grated (just barely 2 cups)
Instructions
Heat the oven to 400 and grease a deep pie plate with olive oil spray (or olive oil and a paper towel). If you like, sprinkle in the almond meal and tip the pan to coat it (this will create the faint illusion of a crust), or skip this if you don’t have almond meal or don’t want to use it.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté the onion until it’s tender and getting a little brown at the edges, around 10 minutes. Add the broccoli and ¼ teaspoon of the salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is browning and crisp-tender—another 8 minutes or so. The broccoli will cook more in the oven, but it needs to be most of the way done at this stage. Leave it in the pan to cool a bit while you prepare the custard.
Whisk together the eggs, half and half, remaining ¾ teaspoon salt, mustard, lemon zest, thyme, and black pepper. Stir in the grated cheese.
Tip the broccoli mixture into the pie plate and spread it out a bit. Pour the custard over it. Put the pie plate into the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the custard is golden and browning and just barely jiggles when you jiggle it. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold, with a crisp green salad.
2. Tuna-Zoodle Casserole
This is an adaptation of my own zucchini-noodle mac and cheese recipe; if you want to make that instead, just skip the tuna. But oh, the tuna makes this so, so good! It will light up almost all of your tuna-noodle casserole bulbs, I promise. Yes, the zucchini is not quite the same as noodles. But it’s actually really good, in its own right, if you don’t think of it as simply a poor substitute. And the cheese sauce is sharp, velvety perfection and comes together easily. The only trick here is trying to convince the zucchini to give up its water before it gets sauced and baked. If, even after your best efforts, there’s a little liquid in the bottom of the dish as you serve it, just go ahead and discretely ignore it.
Makes: 4 servings
Total carbohydrates: 11 grams per serving
Hands-On Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
This is an adaptation of my own zucchini-noodle mac and cheese recipe; if you want to make that instead, just skip the tuna. But oh, the tuna makes this so, so good! It will light up almost all of your tuna-noodle casserole bulbs, I promise. Yes, the zucchini is not quite the same as noodles. But it’s actually really good, in its own right, if you don’t think of it as simply a poor substitute. And the cheese sauce is sharp, velvety perfection and comes together easily. The only trick here is trying to convince the zucchini to give up its water before it gets sauced and baked. If, even after your best efforts, there’s a little liquid in the bottom of the dish as you serve it, just go ahead and discretely ignore it.
If you’re looking to:
Lower the carbs: Serve smaller portions. (The dish can quite easily feed 5 people.)
Lower the fat: Skip the butter.
Lower the salt: Reduce salt to 1 teaspoon.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
3 medium zucchinis, around 1 ½ pounds, spiralized (or 20 – 24 ounces prepared zoodles)
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (or ¾ teaspoon table salt)
1 egg
1 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Frank’s)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese (or torn American cheese slices)
2 (5-ounce) cans oil-packed tuna, drained
Instructions
Heat the oven to 425° F. Put the butter in an oven-proof baking dish (mine’s roughly 7- by 9-inches) and put it in the oven until the butter’s melted, then remove it.
Prepare your zoodles: Use scissors or a knife to cut them into roughly 2-inch lengths (very roughly – don’t sweat this), then spread them out on a clean dish towel. Sprinkle the salt over them and toss them well, then roll up the whole bundle tightly and leave it to sit while you prepare to make the sauce.
Put the egg, milk, hot sauce, and garlic powder in a medium-sized pot and beat well with a fork or whisk. Reserve ½ cup of cheese for topping, and add the rest to the pot.
Now return to your zoodles! Give the bundle a squeeze to extract the liquid, and then – and yes, this is kind of a pain – move the zoodles to a fresh clean dish towel, wrap them up again, and squeeze. You really want to get as much moisture out of them as you can. Dump the dry-as-you-can-get-them zoodles into the pan with the melted butter, toss them with tongs, and stick them in the oven while you make the sauce.
Turn the heat under the pot to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk or a heatproof rubber spatula, until the cheese melts and then the sauce gets thick and creamy and hot, around five minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven, flake the tuna over the top of the zoodles, pour the sauce over everything, and top with the extra grated cheese. Bake for 15 minutes. If it’s not sufficiently bubbled and browned at this point, feel free to turn the broiler on for a minute or two. Serve right away.
3. Enchilada Zuchinni
Makes: 6 servings
Total carbohydrates: 12 grams per serving
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
This is a very vegetable-forward recipe, in that the zucchini are not even remotely disguised as something else. But they are luscious: rich with a saucy, spicy meat filling and cloaked in oozy cheese. And I, for one, love the festive little canoes of zucchini. But if the frankness of the presentation is going to be too much for your family or friends, you can layer this like a lasagna, slicing the zucchini into very thin lengthwise strips, roasting them while you make the filling, and then layering zucchini, sauce, and cheese in a greased casserole dish. Likewise, you can mix up the flavoring, veering it more towards Italy by substituting your favorite hearty meat sauce and mozzarella.
Ingredients
4 medium zucchini (about 7 or 8 inches long)
Olive oil or olive oil spray
Kosher salt
Garlic powder (optional)
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can enchilada sauce with no sugar added (the brand Hatch makes a good one)
1 ½ cups shredded cheese: cheddar, Jack, mozzarella, or a blend
Cilantro leaves for garnish
Sour cream for serving
Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 375 and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or oil it.
2. Prepare the zucchini: Cut them in half lengthwise, leaving the ends on so they’ll maintain their integrity in the oven. Use a melon baller or a nice sharp teaspoon to scoop out the seeds and insides, leaving about a ¼-inch shell (save the insides and chop them up to use in the filling). Spray or brush the inside of the zucchini with olive oil, then sprinkle them with salt and, if you like, garlic powder.
3. Put the zucchini cut-side down on the baking sheet and pop it in the oven while you prepare the filling. You want the squash to be tender but not falling apart; check them at 20 minutes by poking the tip of a sharp knife near the stem. Take them out of the oven when they’re ready and flip them over.
4. Meanwhile heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat (don't use a nonstick pan for this) and, when it’s hot enough that a drop of water sizzles and evaporates, crumble in the ground beef. Cook and stir the meat, breaking up clumps with a spatula, until it is just browning, around 2 minutes.
5. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and sauté until the onion is just about see-through, another 5 to 10 minutes (the fat from the meat will fry the onions nicely, so please don’t drain it).
6. Add the chopped zucchini innards stir until everything is nice and cooked, around another 5 minutes. Finally, add the enchilada sauce and stir and simmer another 5 minutes, until some of the liquid has cooked off. Now taste the filling: you want it to be a little too salty so that it can season the zucchini (this is like using deviled egg filling to season bland egg whites). Add more salt if it needs it.
7. Use a spoon to scoop the filling into the zucchini shells, and mound it up attractively but stop before it’s falling out all over the place (you will likely have some filling left over, which you can eat with a spoon or serve with the zucchini). Sprinkle on the cheese and pop the zucchini back in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the squash is tender and the cheese is bubbling. Top with cilantro leaves and serve with a dollop of sour scream.
4. Baked Huevos Ranchos
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35-45 minutes
Makes: 4 servings
Total Carbohydrates: 22 grams per serving
Mexican Huevos rancheros is usually some combination of eggs, beans, salsa, and cheese, served with corn tortillas and various toppings. This version seems to have paid a visit to its Tunisian cousin, shakshuka, which is a dish of eggs baked or poached in a spicy tomato sauce. And it’s delicious: saucy, a little spicy (Or not!), and a perfect weekend breakfast or brunch or, while we’re at it, lunch or dinner. If you’re pressed for time, you can skip the onion and garlic and sautéing them, and just add a half teaspoon of garlic powder with the spices. You can also simply cover the pot and leave it on the stovetop to cook the eggs, thereby eliminating the oven altogether. If you want to serve this dish with corn tortillas, which are relatively low in carbs, go ahead – but it’s also really good just as it is.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Something spicy (1/2 teaspoon cayenne or chipotle powder; 1 teaspoon canned chipotle en adobo; 1 tablespoon hot sauce or chopped fresh or pickled jalapenos)
1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (diced tomatoes will work too)
1 (14-ounce) can black beans, drained
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
Cilantro leaves, crumbled feta, sliced radishes, avocado, and hot sauce, for topping
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375.
Heat the oil in a 9- or 10-inch oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is quite soft and turning golden, about 6 or 7 minutes.
Add the cumin and the spicy something and sauté just until fragrant – a few seconds – then stir in the tomatoes, beans, and salt. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally and then more frequently, until thick, around 15 minutes. Taste the sauce, and add more salt if it needs it.
Use a spoon to make a little well in the sauce, then crack in an egg. (I’m neurotic, so I crack the egg into a mug first, to make sure I’m not going to ruin the whole dish with shell fragments or a broken yolk etc. In fact, while the sauce is simmering, I crack each egg into a separate mug so they’re all ready to go! I have a dishwasher, so the dirty mugs are not a hardship.) Repeat with the remaining eggs, then put the pan in the oven. (Note: If you are super-particular about your eggs and how done you like them, then you might want to poach or fry them separately, as cooking them in the sauce is an inexact science. That said, do you really want to wash another pan?)
Bake until the eggs are as set as you like them, which will take anywhere from 7 to 15 minutes. (The eggs will be more cooked underneath than the way they look on top, just FYI.) Use the baking time to prepare the toppings, then top the finished dish and serve.
5. Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Makes: 4 servings
Total carbohydrates: 9 grams per serving
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
My daughter and I would basically eat these every morning – and sometimes, for weeks at a time, we do. It’s mostly only running out of cottage cheese that slows us down. If you have Eastern European relatives, then you will know what I mean when I describe them as a little bit like blintzes, but with the filling and crepe all mixed together: tender, delicate, and so tasty. Please note, too, that the recipe scales down easily: you can even quarter it to make the perfect serving for one person.
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups full-fat (4%) cottage cheese
4 eggs
4 tablespoons flour (all-purpose, or experiment with whole-grain, coconut, and/or almond flour)
3 tablespoons melted butter (plus more butter for greasing the pan and serving)
¾ teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
Instructions
1. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-low heat while you prepare the batter.
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until there are no lumps.
3. Butter the skillet (which should be hot by now), then pour in dollops of batter so that they spread into 3- or 4-inch circles. Cook until the underside is deeply golden and the edges are starting to look dry, then flip and cook until the other side is golden (around 5 minutes altogether).
4. Serve with butter and fruit, or, honestly – and this is my favorite way – completely plain.
7. Mason Jar Salads
Makes 1 serving
Total carbohydrates: 10-20 grams per serving
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
This is the most perfectly portable lunch ever, and it’s pinterest-pretty and exciting to boot! Plus, you can make 2 or 3 at one time and eat them a few days in a row. I wish I could say you can just eat it out of the jar, but the truth is that you should start keeping a large-ish bowl at work – then when you dump the jar into the bowl, the dressing and marinated beans at the bottom will end up covering the whole salad with deliciousness.
Just be sure to layer the ingredients from the sturdier ones to the more fragile so that the dressing marinates the ones that take best to being marinated.
Start with a 1-quart jar, then layer these ingredients in more or less this order:
Perfect Vinaigrette, below (2-3 tablespoons)
¼ cup canned beans or chickpeas
2 cups torn or chopped lettuce, fragile greens (arugula, spinach), and fresh herbs
1 ½ cups total other ingredients:
Vegetables, with those that take well to dressing closest to the bottom: slivered cabbage or kale, sliced fennel, carrots, cucumbers, celery, radishes, bell peppers, corn kernels, broccoli or cauliflower florets, green beans, snap peas, cut-up asparagus.
Fruit: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, sliced apples or pears, orange segments
Marinated things: artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, olives, beets
Protein: canned tuna, cooked chicken or steak, tofu (skip or store separately if you’re going to keep the salad longer than a day or two)
Cheese: Shaved parmesan, crumbled feta or blue cheese, grated cheddar, goat cheese
Seeds or nuts: Toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or walnuts, pecans, or almonds
Tip: If you happen to have one, or live with your grandma, a canning funnel is really helpful for filling the jar.
Perfect Vinaigrette
Makes 1 cup
Total carbohydrates: 0 grams
Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
This is a dead-simple salad dressing, but, weirdly, people ask me for the recipe all the time. It makes a lot, which is handy because it is so good and it keeps well. Simply shake together in a jar: 1 clove garlic, minced or put through a garlic press, 1/3 cup white-wine vinegar, 2/3 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or half as much table salt) and a grinding of black pepper. Store leftovers in the refrigerator more or less indefinitely.
