6 ways to stay low carb or keto when you don’t want to cook

How do you stay low carb or keto when you don’t want to cook? What do you do when you come home late, tired, or you’re simply unprepared?

Below, find our best ideas for how to stay low carb when you don’t feel like cooking at all or don’t have much time to cook.

1. Drink tea or coffee

A soothing cup of tea or coffee may be just enough to curb your appetite, especially if you add some heavy cream or melted butter.¹ This may take you to your next planned meal, with no cooking.

 

2. Eat low-carb snacks

Fill your pantry and fridge with low-carb essentials so you can quickly make a platter with one or more of these low-carb snacks instead of cooking. Be sure to include at least one protein source.

• Canned fish (tuna, salmon, sardines)
• Variety of cheeses
• Deli meat or cold cuts ²
• Avocado
• Nuts (Which are the best? Check out our guide.)
• Frozen berries or other low-carb fruits
• Cream
• Pate
• Beef jerky or pork rinds (with no sugars or wheat)
• Full-fat yogurt
• Olives
• Mayonnaise
• Healthy fats – like olive oil – to drizzle over snacks such as mozzarella or veggies

 

3. Reheat leftovers

Get in the habit of making double or even triple meals and vegetables. Freeze the leftovers. A meal is waiting, ready to reheat, when you don’t want to cook. Leftovers are superb for lunches too. Check out our planned leftovers worksheet for ideas.

 

4. Do minimal cooking

Boil an egg.³ Fry a steak or buy a hot cooked chicken (without bread stuffing or sweet sauces). Add a bag of salad, a selection of cheeses and homemade mayonnaise. Dinner can be ready in 10 minutes. Get creative with salads and use your low-carb pantry essentials.

You can also use our simple keto plates. Here’s some inspiration:

5. Learn to love your slow cooker

If you know you’ll be home late but have time in the morning (or even the night before), use your slow cooker. Slow cookers are a fabulous way to transform cheaper cuts of meat into satisfying comfort meals. This is easy ‘set and forget’ cooking.

What can you prepare in your slow cooker? Here are some great ideas to cook up:

6. Fast intermittently

Are you really hungry? Learn to understand your appetite and eat only when hungry. This may not be an option for a family but is great for individuals. And there is no faster (pun intended!) or simpler option.

Find out everything you need to know in our complete guide, Intermittent fasting for beginners.

 

Summary

Try to be prepared so you’re not in this position too often: planning meals for the week or even a few days at a time will help a lot. Try to set time aside each evening to cook, or batch cook once a week.

Low-carb recipes
Keto recipes

/ Libby Jenkinson

 

More guides

Visual low-carb guides