33 Low-Carb Comfort Foods That’ll Make You Say, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Carbs!”

Hello and welcome to this thing we’re doing where we help you figure out what you’re gonna put in your mouth this week. Some of these are recipes we’ve tried, some of these are recipes we’re looking forward to trying, all of them are fucking delicious. Tell us what you want to put in your piehole or suggest your own recipes, and we’ll talk about which things we made, which things we loved, and which things have changed us irreversibly as people.

for food lists

Every since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (boo), I’ve been on a carb-restricted diet. Restricted diets are weird for me because it’s kind of against everything I believe.

Also, I love carbs. A lot. A lot, a lot. I’ve been known to make a whole meal out of a pint of white rice and some soy sauce. I have no shame about tucking into an entire loaf of crusty garlic bread by myself. But Baby T. Rex needed me to change it up for a few months, so here I am.

I was a vegan/vegetarian for 15 years so modifying my eating habits isn’t too hard. Trying new foods and swapping out high glycemic foods for lower glycemic substitutes is very doable. I’m thinking of my current predicament as a choice and accommodation, much like being vegan was, not a “diet” in the traditional sense. Unfortunately, lots of diabetes advice for eating is very similar to negative diet talk.

For example, I said I was getting in a rut with my breakfast options and one of the things suggested to me by my (actually very nice) diabetes nurse was to try eating plain cottage cheese with powdered cinnamon for flavor. I mean, yuck. But being on a restricted carb kick doesn’t have to mean bland foods and unsalted nuts.

In the process of altering what I put into my mouth and when, I’ve discovered some amazing and yummy low-carb recipes. Whether you’re on a carb-restricted diet for health reasons, like me, or you just want more variety in your meals, here’s some low-carb comfort foodspiration that’s tasty and satisfying!

1. Cheesy Cauliflower Breadsticks

2. Cranberry, Orange, and Pecan Muffins

3. Chocolate Hazelnut Waffles

3. Curried Carrot Slaw With Smoky Maple Tempeh Triangles

5. Mini Cauliflower Pizza Bites

6. Thai Stuffed Avocados

7. Gooey Skillet Brownie for Two

8. Mock Moose Tracks Ice Cream

9. Baked Cauliflower Tots

10. Deconstructed Pizza Casserole

11. Coconut Shrimp

12. The Best Broccoli Cheese Soup

13. Southern Fried Chicken

via the food network

via the food network

14. Mac and Cheese Style Cauliflower

15. Paleo Thai Chicken Zoodle Soup

16. Peanut Butter Cups

17. Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

18. Veggie “Sushi” Rolls

19. Low-Carb French Fries

20. Double Espresso Brownies

21. Crepes with Blueberry Cream Cheese Filling

22.Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Casserole

23. Mexican Hot Chocolate

24. Baked Butternut Squash Chips

25. Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

26. Three Ingredient Paleo Flatbread

27. Low Carb Garlic Gnocchi

28. Low-Carb Protein Snickers Bar

29. Pad Thai Salad

30. Low-Carb Meatloaf

31. Snickerdoodle Crepe

32. Baked Parmesan Cheese Crisps

33. Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

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KaeLyn

KaeLyn is a 40-year-old hard femme bisexual dino mom. You can typically find her binge-watching TV, standing somewhere with a mic or a sign in her hand, over-caffeinating herself, or just generally doing too many things at once. She lives in Upstate NY with her spouse, a baby T. rex, a scaredy cat, an elderly betta fish, and two rascally rabbits. You can buy her debut book, Girls Resist! A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution if you want to, if you feel like it, if that's a thing that interests you or whatever.

KaeLyn has written 230 articles for us.

29 Comments

  1. OH THIS FOOD LOOKS Awesome !!! i can careless about carbs. but i know i should eat healthier than i normally do.

    • I know, right? I mean, some of these recipes might not fit into other people’s definition of “healthy,” but they definitely look delicious!

      • Pretty food is not also the healthiest.. I think Asian food is both Attractive and healthy. or most of it.

        • But have you had a Korean scallion pancake, though? Or any Americanized Chinese food? Haha.

          • Ok i used to work at a Chinese Restaurant and he food was not Americanized . we had people that had been to China and then came home and said the His food was so close to the food in Chinese that is was fair to say not Americanized . ..

          • Oh, yes, actual Chinese food is likely to be very healthy. What we eat in America tends to be less so. I’m just joking around, anyway. “Asian food” encompasses a LOT of cuisine, though!

            I’d agree that international food just tends to have more options that are made with fresh ingredients, showcase vegetables, are not deep fried, etc. than typical American food does. However, when I think of comfort food, I think of those American diet staples like pizza and casseroles and mac-n-cheese!

  2. So much food, not enough tummy room! ?
    My god I want the waffles and the cheesecake so badly.

  3. These look so good! Sorry to be a pain but would it be possible to mark on food articles which are vegan please? It would help avoid disappointment….! Thanks KaeLyn, these look yummy :)

    • I could try! If it’s not in the title of the recipe, I don’t usually add it, but several of these are vegan or easily could be with basic vegan substitutions! Like the stuffed avocados aren’t vegan, but if you sub out the cream cheese for vegan cream cheese or cashew cheese, they totally could be! Or I bet you could make the cauliflower tots with egg replacer or flax seed as a binder and faux parm or nutritional yeast for flavor.

      I’ll try to keep it in mind for future food lists, though, to mention it in the title when I can!

  6. Definitely wanna try the pizza casserole…hopefully it’ll go okay! Thanks for sharing these.

  7. I keep seeing cauliflower used as a replacement in all sorts of things. It seems like a cool idea, but I am not really a cauliflower fan. How cauliflower-y is the taste?

    • I personally don’t like cauliflower rice for texture reasons. Hence, there are no cauliflower rice recipes here, though a lot of folks like it a lot.

      Overall, though, the flavor is really mild and easy to hide once you smother it in sauce/garlic/cheese/spices. Cauliflower pizza crust is DELICIOUS if you season it well with Italian-ish spices and cheese!

    • I have made cauliflower fried rice, cauliflower crust pizza and cauliflower mac and cheese, and they’ve all been delicious!

  8. Yes, finally a recipe roundup where I can eat most of the things! These look amazing, thank you.

  9. This is basically my life – I will be trying several of these recipes asap. And ignore the nurse, its taken some experimenting but I have found really excellent subsitutes for just about everything now. I just bought an icecream maker so I can make low carb ice cream and now my life is complete.

    Have you tried fathead pizza yet? It is the best, way easier and more pizza-like than the cauliflower bases. I use this recipe – http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2015/04/23/fat-head-pizza/

    Can also recommend shirataki noodles/rice instead of cauliflower versions. They have the consistency of thick rice noodles and contain zero carbs.

    • YUM! Thanks for the recipe for fat head pizza!

      For some reason, I can’t stomach the shirataki noodles. I tried them when I was vegan and they left a weird metallic taste in my mouth. I don’t know why! I wanted to like them! Haven’t tried the rice, though. I use basmati rice as much as possible now, since it has a low glycemic index.

  10. Thank you for this, so much. I recently discovered a TED talk about reversing diabetes (type 2) with a low/no carb diet, and how low carb diets helps with weight loss (my goal), and then I looked at my food stash and all I see are carbs, everywhere. So these recipes will totally help move me in a less-carb-heavy diet way, which I am sure is not a bad thing at all. I’m still unsure on the easiest/best/most efficient way to lose weight (low carb? low fat? high excercise? ugh frustration!)

    And they all look so delicious.

    • I’ve got no info on the weight loss aspect. I mean, I know people tout low-carb diets as a weight loss thing, but I’ve never tried it. My goal definitely isn’t weight loss, personally. I don’t think weight loss diets work for most people. A lot of these recipes are probably not low-fat and are definitely not “health food.” They’re delicious food that is also lower in carbs. LOL.

      I do think a more balanced eating plan full of fresh foods is good, in general! And for diabetics, particularly, we need carbs, just in steady quantities and ideally lower-glycemic carbs. Most research points to exercise and a balanced diet as the best way to maintain health, so I’d start with moving your body and eating food that feels nutritious and yummy if you want to get healthier!

  11. Might I add that zoodles pair very well with pesto sauce and chicken.
    I’m not just saying that cause zucchini is in soupe au pistou, but because it is summer and zoodles are so light and just right like pesto sauce.

  12. These look amazing but my important question is, does America not have cauliflower cheese? Because “macaroni and cheese style cauliflower” is literally the definition of cauliflower cheese and it is YUM.

    • I mean no, it’s not something that I had heard of before the nocarb/lowcarb craze…

      But now I am getting really excited about it! :-D

    • No. Is that a thing outside of America? I mean, we put cheese on literally everything in the U.S., but it’s not like a “thing,” no.

  13. Really excited about this one, I’m always interested in more gluten-free food ideas that aren’t just like “put some vegetables together.”

Comments are closed.