Low-Carb pantry meals

December 1, 2016 4:26 AM

I am in need of some ideas for low-carb meals that can be made from ONLY shelf-stable ingredients.

I am in need of some ideas for low-carb meals that can be made from ONLY shelf-stable ingredients. No ingredients that need to be frozen or refrigerated.

For example, my go-to lunch at work is pork rinds dipped in peanut butter, with a cup of chicken boullion.

The meals need to be truly low carb, so no beans, pasta, brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.

Meals can be suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I am not opposed to odd combinations if they are tasty.

Assume I have access to a can opener, hot water dispenser and microwave but no oven, stovetop or toaster oven.

posted by Serene Empress Dork to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Tuna salad with a low-carb cracker or possibly veggie chips

Sardines with mustard or hot sauce

Soup
posted by bunderful at 5:18 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

You can make a nice dip with almond meal and mayo (eat it with carrot sticks, chives, celery).

Boiled eggs are high protein, low carb, and room-temp safe. You can boil them at home and take them to work. If you don't have a stovetop at home either, you can also boil eggs in an electric kettle.

You can buy jerky in bulk (it lasts forever), chop it and prepare your own single-servings, sprinkling it on anything else you're eating.

I may be a weirdo, but I like tinned tomatoes for salad. Serve them with chopped onion, a generous splash of olive oil and some dessicated parsley, and either tuna or chopped jerky for protein. It's kind of a soupy salad, almost a salsa, eaten with a spoon rather than with a fork.

Also, some meals can be made from ingredients that may not be not long-lived, but definitely safe to eat even when stored without refrigeration for a couple of days.

For instance, broccoli cheese. Make sure you buy hard cheese like parmesan. Chop the broccoli, put it in a bowl, cover it in grated cheese, and microwave it with only a bit of water at the bottom of the bowl, so it will steam the broccoli and melt the cheese.
posted by kandinski at 5:57 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Im eager to see what others can come up with here.

Its not super clear from your restrictions but could you bring things that generally require refrigeration with you so long as they were safe to stay out in ambient temp during the day? I have been buying $2 bunches of asparagus from the corner produce stand on my way in to work and microwaving them wrapped in a damp paper towel in the office kitchen when I need something cheaper and healthier than my usual salad bar lunch.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 6:25 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: My goal here is to have things on hand so if I don't have time to pack a lunch in the morning or stop at the store for dinner, I can grab a couple of items from my pantry or desk drawer that will actually be meal-like when eaten together. So nothing fresh, for purposes of this question. This is meant to be the back-up plan so I always have something on hand. Thanks for asking.

This happens a lot and I get tired of having nothing on hand except pork rinds, nuts and bacon. Also, we do have a fridge at work but they clean it out on the regular and anything left in there gets thrown out, including condiments, frozen dinners and the like. I get tired of taking home half-jars of mayo and open containers of cream, or coming in on Monday to find an empty fridge and my expensive food gone.

I did just realize that I can order mayo packets from Amazon, so that will help.

Still hoping for more ideas.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:35 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

On the shelf-stable-produce note. When I was a vegan for a minute, I would keep avocados around so I could eat one with salt and pepper in case I forgot lunch. I was always delighted on the avocado days. Are avocados carbs? I am too ashamed to google it.
posted by athirstforsalt at 6:37 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I may be a weirdo, but I like tinned tomatoes for salad.

Tomatoes may not count as low carb for some low carbers but I am super confused here because peanut butter is not "truly low carb." If you are OK with tomatoes, though, I would like to point out that you can eat an entire can of artichoke hearts for just 2 more carbs than a can of tomatoes. Salt, pepper, olive oil... delicious.

Similarly, my grocery store sells canned cherry tomatoes, which is sort of neat.

American cheese does not have to be refrigerated. 2g per slice. I mean, if you consider that food (I won't judge you!)
posted by DarlingBri at 6:49 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: No-sugar-added peanut butter in the amount I eat is low enough carbs for my purposes, as is a certain amount of tomatoes.

I'm just trying to head off answers from people who interpret low carb as beans, sweet potatoes and such.

Artichoke hearts is something I would not have thought of :)
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2016

Best answer: I personally am a fan of canned meat, as long as you learn to be somewhat forgiving of the texture. Tuna, of course, but also chicken, turkey, and roast beef. Spam is lightly sweetened, but it's still only 1g/ounce for most varieties (avoid the BBQ or Teriyaki or similar that will have even more). Then there's deviled ham and similar spreads - watch for sugar but many of them are okay - plus Vienna sausages. (Many of these have higher sodium content, but the science is increasingly showing that this is fine as long as you do not have pre-existing organ damage or genetic conditions that damage your sodium-processing functions.) This is what I kept in my desk for emergencies when I worked in an office.

Avocado, if you get good at the timing. You do have to eat the whole thing pretty much in one go, or at least one day, though.

Mayo packets yes, ALSO cream cheese packets. I see them at Costco, and occasionally at grocery stores, in 50-packs. Also ranch. (Maybe you can find someone to split these with? The cream cheese, at least, does go bad after a while, or at least separates creepily in the packet.)

Shirataki noodles are shelf-stable, but they are NOT good plain so you would definitely also want something that would work as a sauce, or boullion cubes, salad dressing, or packets of taco sauce or something. And I prefer to rinse them and then pour hot/boiling water over them to soak for 2-5 minutes, then drain, then dress up - the konnjaku has a bit of a fermenty funk, but it will wash/cook off.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Oh, on the artichoke hearts tip: artichoke bottoms are so much better. Expensive, but better. There's also canned asparagus, mushrooms, hearts of palm (I dunno, they have no flavor really, but do have a vague texture), green beans (and if you live somewhere you can easily find the flat or "Italian" green beans, they're much more tender than the round ones), spinach/greens, and turnips, if you're into that.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:06 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Pork rinds + cream cheese. If you don't want a Costco-sized box of cream cheese packs check the deli/bakery section of your local market or at the 7-11/convenience store.

Pre-cooked bacon is also shelf-stable, but I think once it's opened it needs refrigeration.

Vienna sausages

I actually like the baby food version. Less salty, less canned taste. (1 carb.)
posted by Room 641-A at 7:15 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Tinned smoked trout is delicious (and smells more like bacon than fish, at least if you dispose of tin and oil right away).
posted by wintersweet at 7:33 AM on December 1, 2016 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Mini salamis - the kind that don't need to be refrigerated and are small enough to eat in one sitting.
posted by bunderful at 8:35 AM on December 1, 2016

This is a tough question and now I want to know all of the answers!

I'm not really distinguising between meals and snacks, since snacks can make up a meal.

Here's my contribution:

Hemp hearts. (haven't tried it myself, but it was on the reddit keto thread as an answer to a similar question.)

Roasted Soy nuts (if you do soy)

Coconut manna

Cello Whisps (I get them from Costco, but they're pricey)

Adding coconut oil or butter to afternoon coffee (some people eat the coconut oil straight up)

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Lover's Chocolate Bar (this fits my keto macros in small delicious amounts.)
Quest Bars or the Costco knock-off version (I don't eat them because of a nut allergy. Hubby eats them but only 1/2 at a time.)

Wax covered hard cheese (Apparently, you can even make your own!)

I've read that Laughing Cow cheeses that come in a cardboard circle of wedges do not need to be refrigerated.
posted by vitabellosi at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: More snacks that can also be used as part of larger meals:

Individual packs of olives and pickles. Some fancier markets also have individual packs of fancier olives.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:57 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Dried or cured sausage. I like chorizo because it is spicy and dry. Summer sausage is good too, but greasier.
posted by OrderOctopoda at 9:07 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Smoked oysters! I don't know why I didn't think of this immediately (except that my spouse hates them so I only get to eat them as a treat when shes away).
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:37 AM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

I make cheese crisps at home by setting down wax paper in a pan, and sprinkle shredded mozzarella and cheddar over it, sometimes pepperoni, like putting toppings on a pizza except there is no crust or sauce. Bake in oven a little crispier than I would’ve made a pizza. It is like having a crunchy chip that tastes like pizza. I cut them into squares with a pizza cutter and store them in tupperware in the cupboard for up to a week.
posted by OrderOctopoda at 1:56 PM on December 1, 2016 [2 favorites]