25 Vegan Low Carb Recipes (Mouthwatering)
Here are 25 Delicious, Filling Low Carb Vegan Recipes!! Each is below 20g net carbs and I explain what low carb is and why you may want to try it!!
I am so excited to be doing this roundup because YOU guys asked for it. If you read my last OOTK, then you know that I’ve switched diets! My main diet now is more of a higher fat, lower carb way of eating!! I explained it all in the post but long story short, it’s really changed my life for the better.
P.S. – do you know that we have an entire site now dedicated to Low Carb Vegan Recipes? We’ll be having recipes, guides, how-to’s FAQ’s, freebies & so much more! Be sure to check it out!
If you want me to do a longer low carb blog post about low carb in general let me know!
What is low carb?
A low carb meal is a meal that is lower in carbs – pretty straight forward but not really. For most low carb diets (and I don’t mean diet like crash diet but rather way of life), instead of just “lowering carbs” you also want to focus on lowering simple carbs that are high in sugar, and focus more on carbs that are complex carbs and those that have great amounts of fibre.
The standard “recommendation” for carbs is 300g a day. This lifestyle left my sluggish, tired and with high anxiety. Generally a low carb diet means eating 100g to 150g per day. I tend to stay below 100g on most days, sometimes carb cycling up to 150g on some days (maybe twice a week) to switch it up so I don’t get bored and my body doesn’t get used to it.
What is a low carb meal? How many carbs are in a low carb meal?
There is no specific definition of what a low carb meal is, but if we are aiming for 100g a day, then I believe it’s safe to say that a low carb is 20g of carbs or believe for a full serving. I’ve done a lot of research and bought a few low carb books and that seems to be the general consensus all across. With that in mind, there are so many amazing options that open up!
When choosing low carb meals, I like to ensure they have a good amount of fats. The point isn’t to deprive our body of carbs, but to instead to give it another fuel source. Even better, a lot of these options include good fibre.
Usually on a lower carb way of eating you want to focus on fibre too. Carbs – fibre = net carbs which are the carbs you want to focus on when doing a lower carb diet since fibre is basically “all good” and doesn’t cause any insulin spikes. So for example, while some foods do have carbs (sweet potato) the fibre amount really balances it out, allowing you to still enjoy your favourite complex carbs. I never want my vegan diet to be restrictive, so this is excellent!
While I didn’t make all of these recipes with high fat in mind, I will add notes in the notes section of all of them to indicate how to ramp up good fats in these recipes!
Why low carb?
There are several reasons why you might want to incorporate some low carb recipes. Maybe you’re trying to break your simple carb addiction, or it’s for your well-being or your doctor recommended it. Like I said I went into my reasons in my last post!
How do you do low carb vegan?
It’s a lot easier than I thought! I already had quite a few recipes that focused on protein and fat, and so were lower in carbs, or just lower in carbs in general. You’ll see a trend below of cauliflower, coconut milk and very veggie centric meals. So really the key seems to be to, focus on veggies and filling fats to supplement your meals. I want to stress that while some of these meals are coincidentally keto, I am NOT keto nor doing keto, so that really does give me a lot more leeway too.
Okay – on to the recipes!
25 Low Carb Vegan Recipes (Mouthwatering)
25 Vegan Low Carb Recipes (Mouthwatering)
Vegan Quiche Muffins with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Spinach
Easy Vegan Quiche (without the crust)
Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower Steaks
Baked Carrot Fries with Harissa Tahini Dip
Pesto Zucchini Noodles with Burst Cherry Tomatoes
Cauliflower and Potato Curry (Aloo Gobi Masala)
Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken (Slow Cooker)
Easy Southwestern Tofu Scramble (without the taco shells)
Vegan Coconut Curry Soup (without the noodles/with less noodles)
BONUS SECTION – Sauces/Additions
Homemade Roasted Tomato Garlic Sauce
Hi Jessica,
I just wanted to let you know I made your wild rice and Mushroom soup for my 99 yr. old Mom and I, a couple of nights ago. It was delicious!!! My Mom said the next morning she was dreaming about it. We had it last night too. I added a little too much broth, so it wasn’t as creamy as the first night. Still pretty darn good. I asked my Mom what she wanted for dinner tonight and she said the Mushroom soup!!!
I’m going to make this for my Husband and I’m sure he’s gonna love it too!! He loves mushroom soup.
Thank you for all your great recipes. I always look forward to receiving them. Have a good day.
Patty
Hi Patty,
Oh wow, I’m so so happy to hear that!! Dreaming about a dish is always the best sign haha. I hope your husband loves it too – this makes me want to make that recipe again soon! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and you’re so very welcome!! I hope you have a good day too!!
– Jessica <3
Hi i like the low carb diets but is there any chance you could do a low sugar and low calorie one with low carbs to preferably under 100 calories or close to that? And the nutrition of the meal and how much for one person? Thanks
Hi Kat we’ll definitely try that.
Hi Jessica, I think it’s a bit misleading when you say low carb – I think you mean cutting out rfined products. Carbs are not the enemy & plant-based diets are based on carbs but healthy unprocessed, unrefined carbs. There is a big difference. Thanks for all your lovely recipes
Hey Gill!
We’ve actually always tried to keep refined products off of JITK, so that was also natural to do here of course! I’m not sure what’s misleading about the title or about saying that the recipes are low carb, since they are? Would love to hear your feedback! I never said that carbs were the enemy or anything negative about carbs. I even point out that this post is not me saying that we should deprive our bodies of carbs. In fact – I also included in the notes that I still have quinoa, chickpeas, and other forms of higher carb foods that I love and that are amazing for my body (I had hummus, falafel and salad for dinner last night for example!). Just pointing all of this out to highlight further that this post is not anti-carb, or anti-anything, it’s mean to be seen with positivity and light and excitement, and most importantly, a response to feedback from other JITK readers!
I did share in a very long OOTK about how switching to a high fat low carb way of eating has personally resulted in major improvements for me, and I got dozens of requests for more low carb recipes, and so I produced this roundup to start! I have many many recipes on JITK that have higher carbs, so again, there is no intention to demonise carbs at all! You’re so very welcome for the recipes!
– Jessica <3
I want to thank you for making low-carb vegan recipes. I’ve been vegan for about a year and a half but recently discovered I’m diabetic and need to eat low-carb to control my blood sugar. Carbs may not be the enemy for everyone as the OP suggested, but they are causing a lot of problems for me including infertility and the risk of eventually having to use insulin if I can’t get my blood sugar under control. For anyone wondering why ‘low-carb’ is important: Your recipes are literally saving my life right now. Thank you!
Hi Brandy,
Thank you so much for your comment! This is the exact reason why I wanted to and I’m so happy to hear these recipes are helping you! You’re so incredibly welcome and wishing you all the very best!!
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for the healthy and easy to make recipes. I made the quinoa fried rice and later tried the waffles. Happy to report that both were a huge success. I was hoping there would be leftovers but nope, my family polished everything.
Thanks again.
Best wishes all the way from South Africa
Hi Hilary!
We’re so happy to hear that the family enjoyed it! Thank you so much for reading!!
Learned some new stuff with very detailed information.
Thank you for sharing yummy and healthy recipes!
You’re welcome Arthur. We’re glad that you like it!