Low carb on a budget

[Ebaysofa]

Hi

I am starting a low carb diet, just psyching myself up. Lots of weight to lose unfortunately. I am also on a strict financial diet too!

please could you hit me with your favourite budget low carb/keto meals so I can get some inspo.

thanks!

I'm sorry to say that it's not easy!! There's quite a lot of meat, cheese and butter which is expensive and I got quite into Keto baking etc so specialist ingredients.

Can you investigate cheap sources for veg so Olio or local community larders??

Make stuff in batches and freeze so you benefit from scale / lower energy costs. Eg cauli cheese / cauli rice / roasted med veg / cheese & almond muffins

Aldi and Lidl are good for ground almonds and other basic nuts - don't get them from health shops. Ditto full fat Greek yoghurt is much cheaper there. If you can afford to bulk buy and freeze, Lidl do a 2kg pack of chicken breasts which is best value.

Find out when your local supermarkets yellow sticker things and get organised about buying meat / joints when they're reduced.

Slow cooking means you can use cheaper cuts of meat.

Eggs are pretty cheap compared to meat so lots of omelettes.

Make everything - don't be fooled into Keto versions of stuff

Smoked mackerel is a really cheap protein as is cottage cheese.

Eggs. Good source of protein and fat, and cheaper than meat.

Yeah, sorry, a tip, not a recipe 😂

I was wondering about low carb soups as well. Soup must be cheap right? I enjoy cooking, so I’m happy to cook everything from scratch.

I know it’s an effective diet, but I do struggle with the lack of veggies! Love my veg 🥳

Lack of veggies?!?!! Keto is all about the veggies!!! Just lay off the spuds / parsnips / other root veg.

I do a lovely free soup - keep a large zip seal bag in the freezer with leek tops, broccoli and cauliflower middles, celery that's going over, half an onion languishing in the fridge, parsley stalks etc. plus any other leftover cooked or uncooked low carb veg. Personally I'd put the odd carrot ring in etc but up to you.

Fry off shallots then chuck all the veg in and cover with boiling water. Add veg stock or bouillon powder to taste plus white pepper and salt. I also use a couple of handfuls of lentils but again that depends how low you are going.

Boil for 20 mins then blitz - add soured cream or normal cream to serve. Freezes well (before fhe cream)

@FusionChefGeoff I thought keto was between 20 and 50g of carb?

Ok @FusionChefGeoff just googled all veg carb contents. I’ll be fine. Cauliflower soup sounds lush. Thankyou.

Fattier cuts of meat are generally cheaper - and you need to be eating higher fat foods on a low carb diet. So things like fattier mince, chicken thighs instead of breasts, for example. (They're often tastier than their lean alternatives as well)

If you have a look at the Low Carb Bootcamp spreadsheet, you'll find a tab at the bottom which has some 'economy recipes' which might help you.

In addition, I can recommend this cookbook (Budget Keto Kitchen), written by Monya Kilian Palmer, who writes some fantastic low carb recipes.

I bought a yoghurt maker and it was the best thing I ever did. Save a bit of yoghurt from the last batch and use that to start off the next.

Aldi smoked salmon is now cheaper than a coffee from a coffee shop.

Nibble on cucumber, apples and toasted sunflower /pumpkin seeds.

Tinned tuna, anchovies, sardines and mackerel are your friends. Hot water in a mug instead of cups of tea.

Shakshuka - make a batch of the saucy bit, it freezes well or keeps in the fridge for a few days, then you just have to add the eggs and sprinkling of herbs.

Tinned tuna mixed with caulirice and chopped veg, say red & green peppers - the frozen cauli sachets are best.

Batch cook chicken traybake using thighs, red onions, garlic, peppers etc.

Butternut squash & spinach (frozen is cheap) curry - you can replace the squash with cheap tinned chickpeas, one tin divided between 3 portions is low-carb.

Massive packs of chicken thighs from Tesco. Season as you wish and roast all together to save energy. I reheat a couple at a time in the air fryer.

Tesco are doing sides of salmon half price. I bought one and cut into 6 decent portions and froze them. Also got 8 pork loin chops for £3 and froze them too.

Keep your eye out for deals. These are still turkey crowns available at half price too which you can cut into portions and freeze too.

£6.50 for a Turkey this week in sainsbos

Feed you for about 3 months

Have you got your protein and carb counts wrong there @mumzx?

Surely it should be <30g carbs? And presumably >30g protein?

Deleted because it’s a spammer

… although I’ve just realised I’ve entered into a conversation with a spammer. FFS.

Have reported.

My shopping bill went down a lot when I went low carb. I was already buying meat, eggs and cheese etc so stopping buying fruit, bread, sweets crisps and snacks actually saved me money. It must be tricky if you have a family to budget for as well.