Making a low-carb menu for a family, especially with picky eaters, can be so much trouble that you want to not bother in the first place. But the point is to make sure everyone’s satisfied and full until the next meal, so you need high-protein options plus sauces and sides that work for everybody.
I do these dinners on weeknights because the portions are easy to adjust, they’re great for all ages, and they can be modified to satisfy the whole family.
1) Sheet Pan Chicken
This is a dish featuring chicken thighs, seasoning, and roasted vegetables all baked on one sheet pan in the oven. It’s a great dish for family night because it only uses one sheet pan, so cleanup is easy and convenient.
You could easily add carrots, parsnips, or sweet potatoes to this dish if you’re looking to satisfy the craving for carbs.
2) Taco Salad Bowls
This dish features all the classic flavors of tacos without all the extra prep. Just throw everything together in a bowl and enjoy. When my family makes this meal, everyone gets a bowl full of lettuce and helps themselves to the taco topping bar we’ve set up on the kitchen counter. Cheese, onions, sauces, salsa, sour cream, you name it.
Brown your ground beef in a saute pan with your favorite taco seasoning and add a little touch of water to keep it from drying out. Add this to the top of your salad, and if you’re really missing the carbs, you can throw a few tortilla chips on top for that little crunch.
3) Bunless Burgers
This is your classic burger, made with all your favorite toppings, just no bun. It’s an easy high-protein meal for the family, and if you get the extras right, no one will even miss the bun. Make sure to get your saute pan or grill nice and hot to get a good crust and caramelization on your burger.
Sauteed onions and mushrooms, bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and tons of pickles will really dress this meal up. If you’re missing the carbs with this meal, some grilled corn on the cob or carrot sticks and ranch can satisfy the pickiest eaters.
4) Creamy Chicken
This dish is pan-roasted chicken with a creamy sauce that allows you to sneak some extra vegetables in. For this dish, I would season and saute my chicken first and then set it aside. Afterwards, I would add my veggies and begin to build my sauce, deglazing with wine and then adding cream. At this point, I would not recommend adding half and half because your sauce could separate and become unappetizing.
If you want to sneak some spinach into this dish, make sure that you saute it separately in a pan until all the water is removed, and then you can add it in and it won’t dilute your sauce. Once your sauce is built and starting to reduce, add the roasted chicken back in to finish cooking it. Add parmesan cheese at the end to thicken your sauce.
5) Salmon With Butter
This is a simple pan-roasted salmon dish featuring lemon butter. I like to keep frozen salmon portions in the freezer because they are a quick and easy prep for a last-minute dinner idea. Frozen salmon can thaw quickly in running water or overnight in the fridge if you plan ahead.
For this dish, I would season the salmon with salt and pepper, lemon juice, and dill, and perhaps a little Cajun seasoning if you’re feeling spicy. Add butter to a hot skillet and cook your salmon skin-side up at first to get a nice crust, then flip it over skin-side down to finish cooking, being careful not to overcook the delicate fish.
Sauteed or roasted asparagus would accompany this dish very well, as the lemon and the butter and the dill would go very well with fish and asparagus. For a less fishy flavor, look for Atlantic salmon versus Pacific.
6) Zucchini Noodles
These are zucchini run through a spiralizer to mimic the shape and texture of pasta. They’re a great pasta alternative and children love them. I like to saute garlic in butter in a large saucepan. Once it’s browned, add the zucchini noodles, salt, pepper, and a touch of parmesan and cook for 5 minutes, and voila, you’re done.
I also like to serve these with bolognese, a classic Italian red meat sauce. And if you find yourself with guests that absolutely have to have pasta, you can always make some spaghetti and serve it on the side.
7) Turkey Lettuce Wraps
This is ground turkey cooked with ginger and garlic and served on a crispy piece of butter lettuce. Add a little sesame oil, some soy sauce, or your favorite Asian condiment to keep your family coming back for more. If you’re on a gluten-free diet, you can substitute the soy sauce for tamari in this recipe.
This is a light, fresh, flavorful dinner that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. Ground turkey is pretty forgiving, and if you overcook it, you can just add a little bit of extra sauce to bring back the moisture level.
8) Steak Fajita Bowls
This is all the best parts of a fajita, the meat, the veggies, and the toppings, just served without a tortilla and in a bowl. I like to thinly slice my steak or chicken and then marinate it in the fridge for a couple hours before I cook it. Salt, pepper, lime, fresh garlic, and a little bit of chili powder goes a long way in this dish.
Make sure your pan is nice and hot before you add your marinated meat so you get some nice browning on it when you cook it. I like to cook the meat almost all the way through and then take it out of the pan and set it aside. In the same pan, add my cut peppers and onions, cook them most of the way, and then add the meat back in. This keeps you from getting too much moisture on your meat and losing all of the browning you just did.
I like to serve this dish with shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream, and a variety of hot sauces. This dish is just begging for the addition of Mexican rice if you really need the carbs. For some quick Mexican rice, just take white rice, substitute the liquid for chicken stock, and add a couple tablespoons of your favorite salsa when you cook it.
9) Cauliflower Fried Rice
This is your classic fried rice dish, but instead of rice, you are using riced cauliflower, which is cauliflower that is ground up really fine, and you can barely tell the difference. I find it is best when you are making any type of fried rice to have all of your ingredients ready and prepped right there next to the hot pan, because when things start moving, they really start moving.
For my first step, I like to whisk the eggs with a little bit of sesame oil and soy sauce and then scramble them and fry them in a hot pan, setting them aside once they are cooked. Next, cook your favorite protein. For this dish, I personally prefer chicken. Once the chicken is cooked and the pan is still plenty hot, add your rice and saute it hard to get some good color on it.
And then for a nice little trick that I like to do, I’ll add a cup of frozen vegetable mix right out of the freezer into the pan. Add the scrambled eggs back in and a couple dashes of soy sauce, stirring everything to combine. Top with green onions and serve immediately.
10) Stuffed Peppers
This is a take on stuffed peppers featuring shredded chicken, buffalo sauce, and cream cheese. For meals like this, I personally prefer to grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store the day before, shred it up, and put it in the fridge, and then it’s ready to go.
When you’re shopping for the peppers for this dish, try to find ones that are evenly shaped with a nice flat bottom so they can stand up in the pan in the oven. I cut the tops off of the bell peppers and scoop all the seeds out, leaving a nice big vessel behind. You could easily make your filling ahead of time for these. Stuff it in the peppers and leave them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
If you’re trying to avoid dairy on this dish, you could easily substitute the cream cheese for goat cheese. It has about the same flavor and about the same melting ability. Bake your peppers in the oven until the peppers start to soften and take on a little color and the filling begins to bubble up over the top. If you want, you can add a little bit of shredded cheese at the end and brown it for some nice color and presentation.
11) Pork Chops
This is a take on the classic pork chop, seared and then served with a pan sauce. For this dish, I would season the pork chops and then sear them hard in a hot pan, then move them to a sheet pan and finish them in the oven to keep them from drying out. Keep the pan you seared the pork chops in because you can use it to make a beautiful pan sauce.
Simply deglaze it with your favorite wine, add some cream, and Dijon mustard as opposed to regular yellow mustard. Dijon has a more distinct flavor but it won’t come across as mustardy for someone who doesn’t like mustard. You probably don’t even have to mention it. Make sure you use heavy cream here and not half and half, as your sauce will split and separate and become unappetizing.
If you find yourself without enough sauce, simply add a little bit more heavy cream to it and stir to warm up. This dish could be served with salad on the side as well as roasted green beans or roasted asparagus, as the pan sauce will accompany either of them well.
12) Egg Roll Bowl
This dish is all the filling from a classic egg roll served without the wrapper. For this dish, you could use ground pork or ground chicken, as both are very forgiving for Asian cuisine, especially when you’re adding a lot of flavor like minced garlic and minced ginger to your filling. Because there will be no wrapper on this egg roll bowl, it’s important to get a really good brown sear on your meat to make up for the brown crispiness that you would taste from the egg roll.
In addition to the shredded cabbage in this dish, I would also add shredded carrots and then top the dish with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds and really any other Asian condiments that you love. For a fun textural element, you could always add slices of toasted seaweed on the side.
13) Meatballs in Sauce
This dish is classic meatballs baked in the oven and finished with red sauce, just no pasta. Whether baking or pan frying meatballs, it’s important to get the fat content right in the meat mix that you’re using, as well as to not overwork it when balling the meat. Baking the meatballs on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper saves a ton of mess and cleanup as opposed to using a saute pan.
Warm your favorite marinara sauce in a wide saute pan with a fitting lid, and once your meatballs are cooked, take them out of the oven and add them to the sauce, throw the lid on top, and leave it on low with a little parmesan cheese on top until your family is ready to eat. If you’re really missing the carbs with this meal, zucchini noodles are a great substitute for regular pasta.
14) Chicken Stir-Fry
This is Asian stir fried chicken and vegetables, just without the rice. For this dish and any Asian stir fry dish, it’s important to have all of your components prepped and ready next to the pan. I like to cook the chicken first in a little bit of sesame oil and then set it aside when it is completely cooked so it does not overcook with the rest of the vegetables.
Add your hardest vegetables first, such as carrots and onions, because they take the longest to cook, and then add your broccoli and possibly snow peas or anything else that you’d like, and make sure to add your garlic last because it can quickly burn and ruin your flavor.
For this dish, I would prepare a sweet soy sauce, equal parts soy sauce and brown sugar with a pinch of crushed red pepper, minced ginger, and minced garlic, brought to a boil and then simmered for 5 minutes to thicken. For this recipe, I would substitute chopped peanuts for the cashews, because cashews tend to get squeaky and soft after they steam on top of the vegetables, whereas the peanuts will maintain their crunch.
15) Greek Chicken Bowls
These are bowls consisting of seasoned Greek chicken, cucumber, tomato, olives, and the addition of tzatziki sauce. When I make a dish like this, I like to season the chicken ahead of time and leave it in the fridge. Get your pan nice and hot and add some good olive oil. This is the only component of the dish you’ll be cooking, so make sure to get a good hard sear on the chicken and cook it thoroughly.
When making tzatziki sauce, a Greek cucumber yogurt sauce, it’s important to shred your cucumber ahead of time, add a pinch of salt to it, and allow it to drain. Then wrap your cucumber in cheesecloth or something similar and squeeze as much moisture out of it as you can before you add it to the yogurt. Fresh parsley and fresh mint can be a great addition to brighten up this dish.
For this dish, I would use crumbled feta because it has a drier consistency to match the wet sauce. Make sure to use kalamata olives to maintain authenticity. If you find yourself missing the carbs on this dish, simply crumble some pita chips over the top.
16) Sausage and Peppers
This is sauteed peppers and onions served on top of a pan-fried or grilled Italian sausage, only this recipe features no bun. When making this dish at home, I like to use a nice hot cast iron skillet to brown and cook the sausage thoroughly, then set it aside. Next I’ll add the peppers and onions and cook them until they’re soft and then set them aside as well.
For a quick and easy sauce for this meal, just add a splash of marinara to the pan you just cooked everything in and reduce it. When serving this dish in a bowl, I would slice the sausages once they’re cooked and then layer everything in and add some shredded pecorino cheese or parmesan cheese for a little extra heartiness, protein, and flavor.
17) Stuffed Chicken
This is a chicken breast stuffed with feta cheese, spinach, and garlic and then baked in the oven. I know from experience that stuffing a chicken breast can be difficult, so one of my favorite hacks I learned in professional kitchens is to just take two small chicken breasts pounded thin and then put your filling in between those to bake it in the oven. This will save you from any complicated knife work or having to roll anything up or put any toothpicks in it.
For this dish, I would make sure to cook down my spinach and garlic all the way until the moisture is completely out, so that when I add it to my feta cheese and my filling, I’m not left with an extra wet dish. For a nice touch, I like to add a little bit of paprika to the outside, so when I’m searing my chicken before I fill it and stuff it in the oven, it has a nice red golden color on the outside.
If you have picky eaters that don’t like feta cheese, you could easily substitute mozzarella or provolone.
18) Stuffed Zucchini
This is a dish featuring zucchini that has been cut in half longways, hollowed out like a canoe, and filled with cheese and meat and then baked in the oven. When prepping your zucchini for this dish, make sure to scoop out all of the seeds while leaving the skin intact once you’ve cut them in half longways. This will help with your moisture retention and will also keep your zucchini from collapsing when you bake them.
It’s important to thoroughly season your filling because zucchini can stand up to a lot of seasoning and has a generally bland flavor on its own. Make sure your filling is cooked thoroughly and has low moisture content before you add it to the zucchinis to bake, being careful not to overcook the zucchini in the oven because it will become very mushy and unappetizing.
Between the ground meat and the cheese, this is a really easy way to have a high protein dish that also sneaks vegetables into your family’s diet.
19) Shrimp Scampi
This is shrimp sauteed in a garlic, lemon, and butter sauce, typically served over pasta but in this case over spinach. For this dish, I would personally use zucchini noodles as opposed to the spinach because spinach does not quite eat the same as pasta.
This sauce recipe is all about being delicate with your ingredients. When I’m making this sauce, I like to have cold butter cut up into butter pads reserved next to the pan, and when the sauce is almost done, you slowly add them one at a time and mix them in to make a nice delicate butter sauce. This is called mounting the butter.
With this dish, it’s hard to overdo it with the garlic and the lemon, so please feel free to be generous, especially if using zucchini or spinach as a substitute.
20) Roasted Drumsticks
These are seasoned and oven roasted chicken drumsticks. When I bake chicken, I prefer to use a dry rub on the outside of the chicken that features a small amount of baking powder, which allows the chicken skin to become crispy while rendering the fat from underneath.
Drumsticks are nice because they’re fatty dark meat and hard to overcook. I like to bake these in the oven, turning them every 15 to 20 minutes to ensure an even cooking process as the skin becomes crispy. In my house, we like to serve these with your classic summer barbecue fare. Potato salad, corn on the cob, potato chips, baked beans, and coleslaw.
21) Shakshuka
This is a dish of simmered tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices cooked down to a thick, rich, flavorful sauce that you crack raw eggs into and then allow them to steam in the sauce until they’re ready. This is a classic late summer dish in my home and always on the breakfast and lunch menu.
When cooking your tomatoes, cut the tops off and put them directly into the pan, cut side down, and then place a lid over the pan for 5 to 10 minutes. After the time is up, take the lid off and, using a pair of tongs, easily peel the skin off of the tomatoes. I like to cook the tomatoes and the vegetables until they’re a nice, hearty stew, so when it’s time to add the eggs, there is no additional cooking to worry about.
Make sure to keep your heat low once your stew is almost done so you do not overcook the eggs, which is easy to do. Chopped fresh parsley and feta cheese make an excellent addition to this dish once it is just about finished. Sprinkle liberally on the top. We like to serve this dish with crusty homemade sourdough bread.
22) Chicken Caesar Salad
This is grilled chicken on top of fresh romaine lettuce with a creamy, tangy, cheesy Caesar dressing. If you have guests that are really missing the croutons in this dish, I like to take leftover old bread, cube it up, and gently saute it in olive oil and garlic in a cast iron skillet. These make perfect croutons.
If you choose to make your own Caesar dressing from scratch, it is always best to add anchovies to be authentic. If you struggle with finding whole anchovies in the grocery store, anchovy paste in a tube is a great, affordable option where you have no waste, use as much as you need, and then put the cap back on. Real Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is a great addition to this dish, as it packs a lot of flavor and is very high in protein.
To add some extra crunch or a little flair to your presentation, you could make a parmesan cheese frico easily in the oven for this dish. Just grate parmesan cheese onto a lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 5 minutes until it becomes crispy. Crumble it up and sprinkle it on top for a fabulous addition.
23) Beef and Broccoli
This is an Asian-style dish featuring sauteed beef, broccoli, and typically sesame seeds in a garlic-based sauce. I like to make sure the beef is sliced thin for this dish so it remains tender throughout the cooking process. As always, I like to season and marinate the beef ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge so that there is maximum flavor when I cook it.
I like to cook the beef first, and when it is mostly cooked, add the broccoli in afterwards and continue to cook both together, steaming the broccoli while the beef finishes cooking. If you are making a sauce for this dish from scratch and you want to thicken it, mix one part cornstarch to two parts cold water and stir to combine, and then add a little bit of this liquid at a time to your sauce until it thickens appropriately.
24) Creamy Pork
These are pan-seared pork tenderloin medallions served with a creamy mushroom sauce. For this dish, as opposed to cutting the pork into medallions, I would leave it whole, season it, and then sear it on all sides in a pan. Remove it, and then bake it in the oven. I would then prepare the sauce in the same pan I seared the pork in, starting with the mushrooms, making sure to cook them almost all the way to remove all of the moisture before adding the garlic.
Wait until your veggies are almost all the way cooked before adding a splash of broth or wine to deglaze the pan, pulling all the tasty cooked little brown bits off and building them into your sauce, then finish with more stock and cream, cooking to reduce. When cooking whole proteins such as a pork tenderloin in the oven, I like to utilize a digital thermometer so I can track the internal temperature of the meat and not overcook it. Pork tenderloin naturally is low in fat, so you want to be careful not to overcook it when you’re baking it in the oven.
When the pork tenderloin comes out and you slice it, it is normal to see a little bit of pink inside. This is not like chicken, it is safe to eat at this temperature. If you have picky eaters that don’t like mushrooms with this sauce, run them quickly through the food processor for a few pulses until they’re minced up, and then when you cook them they will completely disappear into the sauce.
25) Cauliflower Mac
This is mac and cheese, but instead of pasta, it’s substituting riced cauliflower and then baking it in the oven as opposed to making it on the stove, yielding a better, easier to eat dish for kids and family. If I were to make this dish, I would take the cauliflower rice and sear it hard in a saute pan that is on medium-high heat, getting a nice color on it and rendering all of the liquid out of it before I try to add it to a cheese sauce.
For this dish, or any cheese sauce based dish, I would avoid sharp cheddar. Substitute medium cheddar or American cheese for an easily meltable sauce that does not break or separate. Sharp cheddar cheese can have an intense flavor that sometimes children don’t like.
Because you have your oven on, you might as well make some bacon to go on top of the mac and cheese. When I make bacon at home, I use a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, lay the bacon out, and then bake it in the oven until crispy. Chop the cooked bacon up and sprinkle on top of your cauliflower mac.
With a dish like this where you’re trying to substitute pasta for cauliflower and serve it to children, it’s important to keep it fun, so add lots of orange-colored cheese like Colby Jack or American to remind them of real mac and cheese. Because the pasta in this dish is being substituted for cauliflower, it is very forgiving and almost impossible to overbake, so make sure that you bake it in the oven until you get a nice crispy golden top. If the dish looks really good on the plate, your children will be far more likely to eat it and not even notice the missing pasta.
Pantry & Tools I Reach For on Low-Carb Family Nights
- GYQTGO Large Food Processor: Turns a head of cauliflower into rice in 30 seconds, rice cauliflower into a low-carb mac base, and handles family-size chopping without breaking out a board.
- ThermoMaven Instant-Read Meat Thermometer: Pulls the chicken thighs at °175, the pork chops at 145 before they cross into shoe leather, and the salmon at °125 for that rosy center.
- Cooler Kitchen Bamboo Cutting Board Set: For the steak slicing, the zucchini hollowing, the cabbage shredding, and every stir-fry mise en place that needs a stable, wide surface.
