I often marvel at the amount of think, plan, shop, prep, preheat, cook, wash, dry and put away that’s wrapped around the average great dinner outcome.

For a lot of us, that work from thought to table is on a perpetual auto-pilot, to say the least. We’re used to it. More often than not I’d say, it’s totally worth it.

But, it’s still work.

And whether you’re a pro in the kitchen or rockin’ a B-minus game at best, there’s no getting around time as the staple ingredient for us all.

The older I get, the more I truly value every minute of the time I’m given in a day. And so, I truly value the good and good-for-you meals that can be compiled, completed and consumed with minor effort.

It is with that value in mind that I serve up today’s helping, five weeknights’ worth of super quick low-carb dinner eats for you and yours to enjoy.

These are all in heavy rotation at my house, especially on those jam-packed nights when I’m doing my best to make an hour out of 25 minutes, if you know what I mean. 😊

5 SUPER QUICK LOW-CARB DINNERS TO MAKE WHEN YOU’RE IN A HURRY:

1. Herb-Encrusted Baked Salmon w/Steamed Broccoli

This dish has my heart for many reasons. It’s super simple. It tastes amazing. It’s full of heart-happy omega-3 fats, and it pairs beautifully with the kinds of sides that can satisfy the gamut of low-carb and high-carb eaters at your table. (By the way, if you’re not a salmon fan, unless you’re allergic, like, why not? 😊)  

Here’s how I get it from the market wrap to my belly in approximately 20 minutes:

Preheat your oven to 450 F. To me, salmon is a captivating performer all by itself and doesn’t need much help. Here’s all you have to do:

Liberally season the fish (a two-pound piece of Atlantic salmon will feed a family of five or a family of four with leftovers) with your favorite all-purpose seasoning blend. One of my favorites is Bragg’s All-Purpose Seasoning Blend.

Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. of garlic powder and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper on the salmon after the seasoning blend (I do this just to add a little sparkle because my seasoning blend is salt-free.) Bake for 18 minutes on a foil-covered baking sheet (a little longer for an extra-thick piece).

While the salmon is baking, prepare your sides:

In the interest of staying true to a super quick low-carb dinner, I love to keep a bag of fresh broccoli florets on hand so I can quickly steam them, which is a perfect low-carb pairing for baked salmon. Add 1/2 cup of water to a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil.

Add the broccoli (one small bag is enough for 3-4 servings) along with 2T of butter or ghee, juice from 1/4 of a lemon and sea salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pot, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 7 minutes.

The final step in this meal prep is to select your real or wanna-be carb complement of choice.

Here are some tips:

If your family is eating low-carb like you, the salmon and broccoli are enough to make a meal, in my opinion. I think salmon is super filling. But if you need more, consider a few slices of avocado and tomato sprinkled with sea salt or truffle salt.

For the higher-carb diners at your table, try a baked sweet potato (approx. 5 minutes in the microwave for a fresh sweet potato in plastic wrap) or a microwaved cup of instant brown rice, served with butter.

2. Low-Carb Tacos

Here’s the tea on turning tacos into a super quick low-carb dinner.

It’s all about the shell, right? For the most part, the taco simply needs a mini-makeover to meet low-carb standards. Here’s what a typical taco night Tuesday looks like at my house:

Tacos are full of variety. Feel free to start with one pound of ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey (yields about 4 servings).

In a large pan, cook the meat in 1T of extra-virgin olive oil ‘til browned, breaking it up with a spatula as you go (okay, that last part feels a little Captain Obvious, but you get it 😊).

Once the meat is done, drain any excess fat and sprinkle 2T of your favorite Mexican seasoning over the meat (I often make my own, but when I’m in a hurry I like to use this one because it’s free from icky additives.)

Add about 1/4 cup of water, cover and simmer for about 7-10 minutes.

And… DONE!

Now, about those taco shells…

Well, your high-carb peeps can roll with a pre-packaged crunchy taco shell in a pinch, or a regular 8-inch tortilla.

To prepare the tortilla, heat 1t of extra-virgin olive oil in a small pan over medium-high heat and fry tortilla for about one minute per side.

Low-carbers, here’s the tortilla swap for you:

I know it’s been said here before, but I’m such a fan of this little low-carb 8-inch pizza crust goodie. Turns out it masquerades quite nicely as a tortilla too. Fry this in your small pan instead, or ditch the shell idea altogether — use butter lettuce cups to cradle the meat, or make a taco salad by serving the meat on top of a bed of mixed greens.

Scoop your tortilla, low-carb pizza crust, lettuce cup or mixed greens onto a plate and arrange a serving of the taco meat down the middle.

Add your favorite toppings. (Avocado, salsa sans the fruit or added sugar, sour cream, shredded cheddar, green onions, olives and cilantro are my faves.)

Carefully fold the tortilla or low-carb pizza crust in half. Prepare your fingers or your fork for a lettuce cup or taco salad if you went that route. Now grab a couple napkins and settle into your yum fest!

3. Pan-Fried Burgers

When you’re on the hunt for easy-peasy yet satiating low-carb vittles, a burger couldn’t be a better choice.

Here’s a juicy low-carb tip for this classic comfort food option. In case you didn’t know, breadcrumbs aren’t a requirement for entrée. (Haha. I’m here all week, folks.)

Seriously, you don’t need breadcrumbs to make a good burger. You need good meat, sea salt and pepper to make a good burger.

The next time you schedule these bad boys in your weekly lineup, head on over to your local butcher or market and pick up a few time-saving pounds of fresh burger patties (I try to use organic, grass-fed as much as possible). Freeze any extras so you’ll always have this super quick low-carb dinner solution on hand.

Add 1T of extra-virgin olive oil to a large grill or cast-iron pan and heat over medium-high heat. While the pan is heating up, here’s all the burger prep you’ll need:

Season to taste both sides of each patty with sea salt and black pepper. Put a thumb print in the center of each burger to help with swelling as it cooks.

I’m a medium to medium-well kinda chick when I make these, so four minutes per side gives me exactly what I’m hoping for. Adjust cooking time as needed for your desired level of doneness.

Top the burger with your favorite cheese slice in the last minute of cooking and cover with a lid to expedite the melt. Boom. Hard part’s over.

What happens next will vary if you have family members like I do that are not yet prepared to ditch the bun. Serve the burger to your higher-carb guests on their bun of choice.

You, low-carber, will choose another adventure…

Go bunless and enjoy fork and knife style, with a side salad and organic fat-based dressing.

Or, wrap it up in an iceberg or butter lettuce bed with a dollop of that dressing.

Or, go open-faced and serve on a slice of your favorite low-carb bread along with any of these toppings you have time for – bacon, avocado slices, tomato, red onion, pickle, fried egg.

4. Low-Carb Spaghetti

Traditional high-carb pasta became way easier for me to set aside once I realized the low-carb impostor options were legit.

That those options also meet the criteria to appear on a super quick low-carb dinner list, make them even more appealing.

Here are my two favorite ways to mock traditional spaghetti on my super quick low-carb dinner table:

Zucchini noodles, aka “zoodles”. These guys are a darling among low-carb aficionados for a reason. They’re nutritious, have 3 net carbs per serving, and when cooked properly, boast the flavor and the texture to perform extremely well as a pasta proxy.

For the ultimate time-saver, buy your zoodles pre-spiralized in the produce section. I will admit though, that I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly you can self-spiral a zucchini with the right gadget. (I use one pre-spiraled package OR two medium-sized spiraled zucchinis to make two servings of zoodles for this dish.)

Shirataki (Miracle) noodles. These are such a convenient low-carb grab to use when I’ve cobbled together some flavor-rich, low-carb-friendly sauce for dinner that needs a low-carb (or in this case, no carb) noodle to hang out with. I prefer the angel hair variety, but feel free to experiment with the other types of noodles available. They’re number one on this list for a reason. 😊 Find them at Whole Foods Market, on Amazon, Thrive Market and some Target stores.

Typically, these come packaged as a single serving. Open and drain two packages of the shirataki noodles (or more if you’re feeding a larger crew) in a colander and rinse well with warm water.

In the interest of time, I use a high-quality, jarred, no-sugar-added marinara sauce instead of homemade. This is one of my favorites.

Heat 2 tsp. of extra-virgin olive oil (or garlic-infused extra-virgin olive oil) in a large pan over medium-high heat. Pour your sauce in the pan, add 1T of Italian seasoning and stir.

Note: If using shirataki noodles for your “pasta”, bring your sauce to a bubble, reduce heat to low, then skip to here).

When the sauce begins to bubble, carefully pile your zoodles in the same pan with the sauce, off to one side. (Don’t worry they’ll definitely cook down.)

Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes, until zoodles are soft or reach your desired consistency. (I’m not a fan of crunchy zoodles in this recipe so I find 5-7 minutes of steam here does the trick.)

Plate the zoodles or shirataki noodles, then add the sauce, and sprinkle about 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella per plate over the hot sauce. (Feel free to use classic spaghetti or angel hair pasta as the noodle of choice for any high-carb diners).

Finish in the microwave (using a plastic plate cover) for an additional 30-60 seconds for the best mozzarella melt.

Try sprinkling a little chopped fresh basil on top before you dig in.

No, neither one of these options will taste exactly like your grandma’s spaghetti. There will be other days to enjoy that. But as quick, easy, nutritious and delicious low-carb dinners go, these are a force to be reckoned with.

5. Herbes de Provence Grilled Chicken Breast

This is one quick low-carb dinner that has truly helped me to make peace with the dreaded blah of a boneless, skinless, chicken breast.

This dish serves up tall amounts of taste on short amounts of time, and that has proven to be a cure-all for me, from several bland offenses of the past.

So, me and the chicken breast are cool now.

The secret to this dish’s success is right there on the marquee. Herbes de provence, a lovely, French-inspired, dry seasoning mixture of thyme, rosemary, basil and lavender (among others), is the undisputed star of this show and bumps up the flavor profile with very minimal effort.

Though it may not be a celebrity in everyone’s kitchen, it’s widely available. If you don’t see it at your local market, try Amazon, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market or Target.

Preheat a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1T of extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil.

Using a meat mallet, pound 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts to about 1/4” thickness to decrease cooking time (or use 1.5 lbs of chicken tenders).

Brush a little extra-virgin olive oil on both sides of the chicken and season both sides with sea salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, season each side of the chicken with 1 tsp. of Herbes de Provence seasoning, gently massaging it into each piece.

Reduce the heat of the pan to medium and cook the chicken for approximately 10 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads the internal temperature at 165F.

Once the chicken is done, let it rest for a few minutes and then sprinkle with the juice of half a lemon.

Serve alongside half an avocado (try it sprinkled with a little olive oil and truffle salt), a couple tomato slices and some steamed broccoli.

Throw in a serving of instant brown rice or baked sweet potato (remember the 5-minute microwave method will come in handy here) for your higher-carb crew.

This dish serves 4, but leftovers repurpose well — think lovely, low-carb lunch!

(Hint: Try some sliced chicken breast over a bed of baby spinach, a few grape tomatoes, and a sprinkling of chopped pecans, topped with and an organic, fat-based, sugar-free dressing.)

I truly hope these simple and super quick low-carb dinners inspire you to embrace your kitchen’s low-carb potential to the fullest, even as you tackle the ever-present evening haste.

Have fun!