Best Italian Dishes for a Low Carb Diet

Okay so we are sticking to this low carb diet and you are being on your best behavior. Buying the right groceries, cooking the right meals, and snacking the right way. This all works when you are in control, but what happens when your friends want to go out/order in Italian? This is the carb heaviest cuisine. 

I would first like to say that you still got this and you can 100% be low carb here. I will also say right away that we are not eating pasta. I mean if this is a cheat meal then by all means but for the sake of this article, let's go over the best dishes to eat. 

Antipasto Meats or Cheeses 

These dishes are usually appetizers and contain 0 to any carbs. Just be aware of what you are dipping these in. If you are eating them cold, you are solid! Also, make sure you confirm that nothing is breaded.

I would calculate 5-15g of carbs for this dish. 

Low Carb Veggies

Anything grilled or steamed in regards to vegetables will be fine to eat on a low carb diet. If you are keto, make sure that these carbs are balanced with meats heavy in fat to not ingest too many carbs at a given time.

Salads

This is easy as long as we stay away from any sugary dressings, croutons or potatoes on the greens. Also, a Caprese Salad works extremely well on a low carb diet.

Soups

Italians a very well known for their incredible soups so this is some good news for us “low carb-ers.” As long as the soup does not have bread in it, we are golden! 

• Seafood soups will provide a ton of protein without the carbs
• Stracciatella is the Italian version of egg drop and low carb 
• This can range from 3g of carbs all the way up to 40g so make sure there is no pasta or potatoes in the soup.
• Italian Wedding Soup is low carb as well 
• This can range from 9g of carbs to 20g.
• Minestrone without pasta is great and replaces the pasta with veggies 
• If there is no pasta, you can see 5g of carbs all the way up to 40g so be careful

Now that we covered the appetizers, what about the main courses? These are where you really feel like you are missing out. I beg to differ with these incredible options:

Grilled or Lightly Breaded Scaloppine 

• If you are really good about the other dishes and have some room for carbs, lightly breaded meat will not do too much harm to your diet. 
• This dish can range from 0g of carbs all the way up to 50g

Grilled Chicken/Veal Parmesan 

• This will require you to make sure the red or tomato sauce is fresh and low in sugar. You can also ask for the sauce on the side
• This dish can range from 10g of carbs all the way up to 45g depending on the sauce

Osso Bucco

• Is veal with veggies in a white wine broth 
• This dish can range from 5g of Carbs all the way up to 25g

Saltimbocca

• Is similar but veal wrapped with prosciutto marinated in wine or oil
• This may be the best dish ranging up to 10g of carbs 

After writing this article, I can promise 2 things: I am starving, and I am in the mood for some Italian. Eating low carb does not mean you have to sacrifice, it just means you have to plan accordingly. 

**All Calorie ranges were taken off of the top 10 most famous dishes on MyFitnessPal** 

Rule of thumb:

 If you get any meat, ask for it to be grilled and never breaded.

 Make sure you confirm that it is homemade tomato sauce - store-bought Italian tomato sauce is loaded with sugar to cheapen the product and save money

 

Looking for other Low Carb Healthy Snacks? Check out these snacks below: