- Recipes
Sheela Prakash
Sheela PrakashSenior Contributing Food Editor
Sheela is the Senior Contributing Food Editor at Kitchn and the author of Mediterranean Every Day: Simple, Inspired Recipes for Feel-Good Food. She received her master's degree from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy and is also a Registered Dietitian.
updated Jul 7, 2020
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I’m a strong believer that meal prep is a good idea, period. But if you’re trying to cut back on carbs or happen to be following a low-carb diet, it can proves especially helpful. For starters, putting in a little time for meal prep before the week gets rolling can eliminate the question of what to eat for breakfast, set you up for a wholesome, low-carb lunch, and keep weeknight cooking to a minimum. It can also really help you stay on track with your carb count.
To make it easy, we’ve compiled some of our favorite low-carb meal prep ideas with 25 low-carb breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes that can be either prepped or fully assembled ahead of time for easy eating throughout the week. We highly suggest bookmarking this list for all your future meal prep sessions.
Breakfast
There are some really tasty make-ahead options when it comes to low-carb breakfasts. If your goal is to keep things easy as can be, make a batch of hard-cooked eggs to eat throughout the week. You also can’t go wrong with a veggie frittata or cheesy egg cup. We even have a few muffin recipes that keep carbs low by starting with cottage cheese.
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Easy Keto Breakfast Egg Muffins
More than anything, these protein-packed keto egg muffins are for anyone who loves the satisfying combination of cheesy eggs, sweet potatoes, and bacon.
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3-Cheese Frittata Cups
These cups are just the thing for protein-packed lunches, satisfying after-school snacks, or wholesome suppers served with a simple green salad.
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To keep them low in carbs, the base of these muffins is more cottage cheese and egg than flour, so the result is less like a springy baked good, and more like a pleasant mash-up of quiche and muffin.
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Sheet Pan Veggie Frittata
This cheesy, veggie-packed big-batch frittata is the best way to meal prep breakfast.
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Bacon Gruyère Egg Bites
Skip the line at Starbucks and make these protein-rich copycat sous vide egg bites instead — no sous vide required.
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Egg Muffins
These make-ahead egg muffins are packed with cottage cheese and veggies for a portable, low-carb, high-protein breakfast.
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5-Ingredient Cream Cheese Pancakes
These low-carb pancakes are made in a blender with cream cheese, eggs, and the flour of your choice.
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Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
Our go-to technique for making hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot is called the 5-5-5 method. It's easy to memorize and yields perfect, foolproof eggs every time.
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Cottage Cheese Muffins with Roasted Red Peppers and Feta
These low-carb muffins resemble a Greek omelet, with salty feta and delicious red pepper and chives for flavor. Cottage cheese provides filling protein and fats.
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Lunch
The best lunches for meal prep will keep for days in the fridge, and some (like sesame chicken salad) actually get even better as the week goes on. Sandwiches don’t quite fit the bill; instead, serve loaded Italian-style chicken salad or veggie-packed tuna salad over a bed of greens, zucchini noodles, or cauliflower rice.
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Mason Jar Tuna Niçoise
Prep this classic composed salad in advance, layer it in a Mason jar, and you've got a make-ahead lunch that's downright impressive.
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Italian Chicken Salad
This flavor-packed chicken salad sandwiched is loaded with herbs and wrapped up in tangy Dijon vinaigrette.
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Salmon Patties
If you love canned tuna but are new to canned salmon, these patties will convince you to keep the latter stocked in your kitchen at all times.
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Chicken Shawarma Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing
This salad is filled with colorful vegetables, topped with shawarma-spiced chicken, and finished with a creamy tahini dressing.
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Tofu and Broccoli Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing
A bag of broccoli salad ensures this satisfying salad comes together in no time, and stays crunchy for days.
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Mediterranean Cauliflower Couscous Salad
Keep the food processor where it is and save time on prep (and dirty dishes!) by starting with a bag of fresh cauliflower rice.
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Baked Chicken and Veggies
This recipe comes together in 20 minutes and leaves you with a protein-packed lunch for the week. Turn it into a bowl with a cauliflower rice base, serve it over greens, or wrap it in a tortilla.
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Crisp Tuna-Cabbage Salad
Load your tuna salad with crunchy cabbage once, and you'll never go back to plain tuna salad again.
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Sesame Chicken Celery Root Salad
Drizzled with a gingery sesame vinaigrette, this salad is even better when it's made in advance.
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Dinner
When the end of the day rolls around, and you’re tired and don’t feel like cooking, it’s easy to lean on whatever is most convenient. This is when meal prep feels like a total gift. Get a jump on the week with a big batch of shredded meat or chicken or a cheesy, veggie-packed casserole.
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Pesto Chicken
These chicken breasts coated in pesto and baked with cherry tomatoes are oh-so quick and easy.
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Zucchini Lasagna
This low-carb lasagna swaps thin-sliced zucchini for lasagna noodles, which shifts the emphasis to the best parts of lasagna: the tomato sauce, the cheese, the veg.
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Pressure-Cooker Kalua Pig
The leftovers freeze beautifully, so use some of the shredded pork this week and stash the rest in the freezer for another time.
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Parmesan Chicken and Kale Sauté
A splash of white wine, squeeze of lemon, and plenty of Parm are the secret to making chicken breast and kale a totally lovable dinner.
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5-Ingredient Sausage Stuffed Onions
Get a head start by roasting the onion shells, making the filling, and stuffing the onions, so all that's left to do is pop the baking dish in the oven before dinner.
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Garlic Butter Steak Bites
These steak bites are perfect for your steakhouse cravings.
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Easy Crispy Chicken Carnitas
Start the week with a batch of juicy carnitas then turn them into tacos, quesadillas, and dinner-worthy salads.
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Meal Planning
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