Hello! I’m Anjali. I’m a board certified health coach, author, wife, mom and food lover from the SF Bay area (now living in Seattle, WA!); with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun! Learn more about me here and stay for a while!
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Following a low-carb diet while you’re a vegetarian may seem difficult, but not when you have a collection of simple and easy low-carb vegetarian recipes at your fingertips. Here you’ll find healthy, delicious, and satisfying recipes made with wholesome ingredients!
If you are going low carb, and also are vegetarian, you may find it more difficult than those that are omnivores. That’s because most low-carb recipes use animal protein as the main ingredient. In addition, many vegetarian foods use starchy vegetables and grains to bulk up their recipes. However, there are plenty of low-carb, high protein vegetarian alternatives that are satisfying, tasty and filling!
You are in the right place for finding delicious low-carb recipes. In this collection of delicious recipes, you’ll find high protein low carb recipes that use ingredients like avocadoes, eggs, cheese, nuts, nut butter, and more to create drool-worthy recipes.
These 30 low-carb vegetarian recipes will help jump-start your weight loss goals with healthy fats and wholesome vegetable-heavy dishes. They’re a great way to introduce low-carb recipes into your daily diet, or provide some recipe inspiration if you’re looking to try to go low-carb once in a while!
Many of these recipes are also suitable for those who follow a vegan diet. Just be aware of those recipes that include cheese, or eggs – you can still turn them into low-carb vegan recipes by using a vegan substitution instead.
You can use these recipes to customize your own meal plans for the month. All of these recipes have less than ~15-20 grams of net carbs, making them a delicious low carb and keto-friendly option for anyone looking to eat a little bit healthier!
When making a hearty salad include leafy greens, non-starchy vegetables, sliced nuts (like pine nuts), and cheese for added crunch, and to give your salad bulk. You’ll find healthy and great foods to satisfy every taste.
These salads have rich avocado, cubed cheese, creamy coconut milk dressings, or vinaigrettes with olive oil on fresh greens! These salads are packed with lots of veggies, are filling enough to make a meal, and are a great option for lunch or dinner!
Tomato Avocado Cucumber Salad
This tomato avocado cucumber salad recipe is super simple. It’s full of fresh veggies, summer tomatoes, chickpeas, feta and spices. No cooking required: just chop your veggies, toss and serve.
Southwestern Quinoa Salad is light, refreshing, sweet, and spicy. Ready in just 20 minutes, it's a great recipe for meal prep or or for a light dinner. Super healthy, packed with protein, totally tasty, gluten free, and vegan friendly!
This simple and quick Lentil and Feta Salad is made with cucumbers, juicy grape tomatoes, red onion, corn, and bell pepper for a high protein, nutrient-packed salad hearty enough to make a meal!
This Superfood Salad is going to be your new favorite dish! It’s filled with broccoli, blueberries, sweet Fuji apples, cabbage, spinach, dried cherries, pine nuts, and a healthy, homemade ranch dressing. Ready in just 15 minutes, it's the perfect healthy lunch or light dinner!
This refreshing Keto Greek Salad is a healthy, low-carb version of a classic Greek salad, but tastes just as delicious as the traditional recipe! It's packed with fresh vegetables, salty olives, tangy feta cheese, and a zesty dressing that's vibrant and flavorful. This is the perfect side dish for a potluck or picnic, but it can also be eaten as an entree for a light lunch or dinner!
If you love fall flavors, then you will absolutely adore this apple walnut salad with dates and brie. Crispy mixed greens are tossed with tart Granny Smith Apples, creamy brie, crunchy walnuts and a tangy apple cider vinaigrette for the perfect side dish or light lunch! Ready in just 15 minutes, delicious and healthy too!
Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Spinach and Chickpeas
This recipe makes cauliflower the star, roasted to perfection and tossed with a warm dressing, along with some chickpeas for protein, spinach for some greens, and kalamata olives for a nice tangy bite.
Appetizers are a delicious way to start your meal. The key to preparing a low carb appetizer is to leave out the bread, and use a vegetables in its place.
These appetizers range from zucchini pizza boats, that use sliced zucchini as the base, topped with mozzarella, and fresh veggies. Instead of chicken wings, you’ll find simple to make buffalo cauliflower bites. Use sliced veggies to enjoy these low carb dips.
Vegetarian Pizza Zucchini Boats
Hollowed-out zucchini is loaded with tangy marinara sauce, perfectly seasoned veggies, and gooey mozzarella cheese to create these tasty, stuffed vegetarian zucchini boats. A healthier alternative to traditional pizza, these pizza zucchini boats are easy to make and packed with flavor! Ready in under 30 minutes, and kid-friendly, it's an easy low-carb dinner idea the whole family can enjoy!
Healthy Kale Dip with Cream Cheese and Smoky Onion
This healthy kale dip made with smoky onion and cheese is packed full of flavor. It's a lightened up sharing dip, perfect for pot lucks, BBQ's and parties!
This cucumber gazpacho is light, refreshing, and so simple to make! Cooling cucumber, honeydew, tomato, and fresh mint come together to create a healthy soup that's easy, quick, both savory and slightly sweet, gluten-free, vegan, and makes for the perfect appetizer or simple side!
This vegan guacamole recipe with edamame is the perfect healthy dip! Low in calories and fat, and easy and quick to make, this tasty edamame guacamole will be the star of your next party!
Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with a Creamy Ricotta Filling
Made with super fresh ingredients straight from the garden, this stuffed zucchini flowers recipe recipe is sure to impress. It works well as an appetizer for guests, or you can even serve it as a light dinner or lunch along with some crusty whole grain bread and a salad.
Spicy, crispy, air fryer buffalo cauliflower is paired with creamy ranch dressing and celery sticks. It's a simple appetizer or snack that's perfect for game day!
Making a low-carb side dish is easy to do! Focus on low-starch vegetables like cauliflower, kale, jicama, eggplant, and cabbage.
Indian Vegetables Recipe
Indian Vegetables or Vegetable Sabji is best described as sautéd veggies with roasted Indian spices to amp up the flavor. It's a delicious side dish, or can be a main meal when served with roti, daal, or spiced yogurt for protein!
These oven baked parmesan kale chips are the perfect guilt-free snack because they have the crunch and flavor of traditional chips but are much healthier for you! Plus, this easy kale chip recipe can be made in your oven – no dehydrator necessary!
Air fryer jicama fries are crispy, easy to make, and the perfect side dish. These jicama fries are a healthy alternative to traditional french fries, but are super flavorful thanks to aromatic spices like fresh rosemary, garlic powder, and fresh thyme. Cut out the splattering oil by using the air fryer instead!
Thai Basil Eggplant is a delicious vegetarian dish made with eggplant, peppers, onions, garlic, and a blend of fresh Asian sauces and spices. This stir-fry is quick and easy to make and can be served as the main dish or on the side.
These delicious, crispy, roasted air fryer carrots are unbelievably easy to make! Make them sweet, savory or spicy based on your preferences. Ready in minutes, this simple air fryer recipe is an easy way to incorporate a great side dish into the rotation for lunch or dinner! The whole family will love these delicious carrots made in the air fryer.
Cauliflower Sabji is an Indian vegetable side dish spiced with curry flavors. It's simple to make, and full of flavor. An excellent way to get a healthy serving of vegetables into your daily diet!
This deliciously spiced Indian cabbage with peas is spiced with cumin seeds, coriander, turmeric. In India it is called sabzi which means "vegetable dish." It's got a bit of a kick from the cayenne pepper, and a nice char on the cabbage gives it a smoky flavor! A delicious traditional Indian side dish!
These healthy deviled eggs made with Greek yogurt are full of flavor and oh so creamy. Transformed with beautiful pastel colors, they make the perfect secretly healthy appetizer for Easter, baby showers, and birthday parties.
Cheesy Baked Asparagus with mozzarella and parmesan is an amazing dish that can be enjoyed as an appetizer or a side dish. Quick, easy and full of freshness and flavor.
Create a low carb meal with rich and thick soups, seasoned spaghetti squash, vegetable tofu skewers, eggs, and more. Use your instant pot, slow cooker, or air fryer to help you simplify mealtime.
Most of these recipes are suitable for those on a keto diet, and are total comfort food. Cauliflower rice when serving main course stir-fries and mixed vegetables both make for low carb and low-calorie meat substitutes. You’ll find an easy dinner idea for each day of the week, guaranteed to become a family favorite!
Spicy Cauliflower Soup with Curry
This Spicy Cauliflower Soup with Curry is topped with crunchy cashews and served with warm naan bread to totally hit the spot! It's vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free — and will be ready in 30 minutes!
This asparagus and leek soup is made from scratch without cream or milk for a lightened up and healthy meal. It takes just 30 minutes to make and is perfect for the whole family to enjoy!
This Curry Spaghetti Squash recipe is wonderfully spicy, delicious, and filling! It's an excellent pasta substitute topped with fire roasted tomatoes, and chickpeas for added protein! It makes a healthy and satisfying dinner for the whole family!
These healthy Tofu Skewers are an easy meal that can be made in under 30 minutes! Each kabob has tofu, peaches, onions, zucchini, and a sweet and salty ginger soy marinade that pulls all the flavors together!
This low calorie omelette recipe has everything you love about this brunch staple; light and fluffy eggs, and plenty of fresh vegetables, but with fewer calories and fat! It's healthy, delicious and perfectly spiced!
This palak tofu recipe is full of spices, creamy and rich, but thanks to light coconut milk and tofu in place of paneer, it’s only about 200 calories for 1/4 of the ENTIRE recipe, and it's gluten-free and vegan friendly too!
Try any of these tips and tricks when trying to make your favorite recipes more suitable for a low carb diet!
Create healthy breakfasts with eggs including healthy omelette, scrambles, or a crustless quiche stuffed with low carb veggies and cheese.
Make pizza using a crust made from cauliflower or sweet potatoes.
Make pasta out of zucchini noodles, butternut squash or sweet potato noodles, and then toss them in this delicious tomato sauce that also happens to be keto-friendly!
Make a burrito using lettuce wraps instead of tortillas.
Make a broccoli stir fry using broccoli, leafy greens and tempeh.
Create low carb bowls with a mixture of your favorite sugar free dressing, non-starchy veggies, and vegetarian friendly protein!
Dessert doesn’t have to be off the table! Thanks to sweeteners like monk fruit and stevia, you can make the majority of your favorite desserts with low carb chocolate, and sugar free substitutes to satisfy your sweet cravings.
❓FAQs
Can You Be A Low Carb Vegetarian? Is plant based keto possible?
Yes absolutely! While those who follow a vegetarian diet do not eat meat, poultry or fish, they do eat other animal products like dairy and eggs.
Additionally, there are quite a few low carb plant based proteins that vegetarians can eat (soy, nuts and seeds primarily). The key is to stay away from all grains and fresh fruit – which are healthy, but both are high in carbs.
Plant based keto will take more discipline and creativity than a traditional keto diet, but between dairy, plant based proteins, and healthy veggies, it is definitely possible!
What foods have little to no carbs?
Other than the obvious foods like meat, poultry and fish, here is a list of our favorite low or no-carb foods: tofu, tempeh, seitan, nuts and nut flours like almond flour and coconut flour, seeds, eggs, all dairy, nutritional yeast, coconut oil, avocados and most fiber-rich veggies and non starchy veggies including asparagus, radishes, artichokes, broccoli, kale and all other leafy greens (bok choy, spinach, lettuce, etc.)
Is vegetarian better than keto?
That depends on who you ask! From a pure health standpoint, a vegetarian or vegan diet (when followed correctly and is free of processed food, fast food, and sugar) is better for long term health than keto, since it’s lower in fat and higher in fiber.
However, a vegetarian or vegan diet high in refined carbs and sugar is not healthier than keto! And a keto diet that’s a bit more balanced and not solely focused on meats and fats can be just as healthy as a vegetarian diet. In the end, it’s all about balance and moderation to make any diet a success.
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These easy, quick, plant-based vegetarian recipes are healthy, made with whole foods, and are filled with protein and fresh ingredients!
Here you’ll find delicious, mouth-watering appetizers, drinks, side dishes, soups, salads, pastas, casseroles, breakfast dishes, snacks and more – all completely vegetarian friendly!
Many of my vegetarian recipes can also be made into vegan dishes with smart swaps and easy alternatives.
So many vegetarian recipes! I really like all the salads here, they all look delicious!
Thanks Biana! The salads really are delicious!
This list is great! We have a family member who started her vegan journey and I’m always looking for delicious new vegan recipe ideas.
Awesome!! I can’t wait to hear how these recipes turn out for you!
So many amazing recipes here! I love deviled eggs, and the air fryer options are amazing!
Thanks so much Katie!! 🙂
What a great roundup to head into the New Year with!
Thanks so much Gina! Enjoy!