Meal planning makes life easier: You can organize your shopping lists, plan your cooking, and know just the right answer when the kids ask, “What’s for dinner?” But when you add a low-carb lifestyle into the process, it can get a lot harder. Gone are the big batches of rice to fill up on, gone are the grain salads and the potatoes. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done, and we’ve rounded up five of our favorite ways to keep the carbs at bay while still getting ahead of the meal-planning schedule.
1. Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
The bun on a Philly cheesesteak sandwich is merely a vehicle for transporting all that great griddled meat and cheese into your mouth, so it’s no surprise that this dish loses almost nothing by getting rid of all that filler. The meat, cheese, and onions instead come baked into a pepper for a little extra flavor.
Get the recipe: Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers from Little Spice Jar
2. Roasted Chicken with Fennel and Peppers
It’s hard to think of something more warm, lovely, and cozy than roasting chicken, but if there is something, it’s roasting a chicken with the addition of some late-summer peppers and fragrant fennel. The fennel and peppers caramelize up and match the browning on the skin of the chicken, resulting in a wealth of crisp deliciousness.
Get the recipe: Roasted Chicken with Fennel and Pepper from The Daley Plate
3. Tikka Masala Soup
Snuggle in with the creaminess of this soup and wrap yourself in a blanket of Indian-style spices, as this chicken soup takes hints from chicken tikka masala. Coconut cream and coconut milk make the soup rich and thick, and using an already-cooked rotisserie chicken makes it a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
Get the recipe: Tikka Masala Soup from The Modern Proper
4. Zucchini Lasagna Roll-Ups
Even for dedicated carbaholics, this dish will make you forget the missing noodles. The strips of zucchini take their place, but interact with the cheese and tomato sauce in much the same way a traditional lasagna noodle would. Meanwhile, the roll-up format makes them quick to cook, good-looking, and easy to eat.
Get the recipe: Zucchini Lasagna Roll-Ups from Damn Delicious
5. Slow Cooker Mississippi Chicken
Forget the butter, forget the beef — this is a lightened-up version of Mississippi pot roast. It’s spiced with pepperoncini and their juices, zinged up with a packet of ranch seasoning, and left to cook in the natural juices of the chicken thighs. It’s just three ingredients plus a little bit of time, but the results taste like a lot more went into it.
Get the recipe: Slow Cooker Mississippi Chicken from The Magical Slow Cooker
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