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Low Carb Meals

Low Carb Meals

Looking to reduce your carb intake or throw yourself into a low carb diet? We’ve found Australia’s best low carb meal delivery subscription services and compared providers to help you find the a low carb meal that’s right for you.

By
Rose Fenasse

Written by

Rose Fenasse
Clinical Nutritionist

Rose is a nutritionist who believes nutritional approaches should be flexible and sustainable for the long-term. Rose’s approach to nutrition is evidence-based and integrative, as she understands her scope of practice and sees value in working alongside other health professionals to compliment her clients most effectively. Rose is passionate about ditching diet cultures and focusing on label-free living, whilst educating clients on how to create healthy and flavour-packed meals. She has a comprehensive understanding of shaping nutritional interventions, meal plans, dietary analysis, whilst coaching clients around ditching diet cultures and embracing all foods without the associated emotional fears often seen with dietary changes. Rose stays up to date with current research looking to science and evidence-based nutritional medicine whilst continually studying to broaden her scope.

Edited by
Alex Hamlin

Written by

Alex Hamlin
Certified Nutritionist

Alex Joy Nutrition supports busy individuals with health goals, offering holistic nutrition guidance to reduce stress and foster balanced, healthy habits. Specialising in empowering high achievers, Alex emphasises a preventative and management-focused approach to health. As a clinical nutritionist, Alex provides individuals with tools and education for taking control of their health. She advocates for optimal nutrition as the cornerstone of wellness, employing a food-first approach complemented by holistic treatments. With evidence-based practices, Alex offers personalised guidance to help individuals reach their health goals, prioritising health at the forefront. In health content creation, Alex delivers concise, informative, and engaging material rooted in evidence-based practices, educating, inspiring and guiding others on their wellness journey.

Updated February 22, 2024
Fact checked Fully qualified and expert nutritionists have reviewed and checked this content to ensure it is as accurate as possible at the time of writing.

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What is a Low Carb Meal?

A low carb meal typically highlights protein in their dishes (such as meat, poultry, fish, or eggs) and non-starchy vegetables, with the inclusion of a moderate portion of fat (i.e. avocado, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds etc. Generally speaking you won’t find grains (such as rice, wheat, and corn), starchy vegetables (such as potatoes and sweet potato), or fruits in a low carb meal – although some low carb diets do include berries. 

Mayo Clinic, specifies a low carb or reduced carb diet involves eating no more than 20-57 grams of carbohydrates per day. This would mean a low carb meal will typically contain around 10 grams of carbohydrates or less.

Low Carb vs Keto Diet

Low carb and keto diets are both popular approaches to weight loss and improving health, but they have some key differences:

  1. Carbohydrate Restriction:

    • Low Carb Diet: Generally, a low carb diet involves reducing carbohydrate intake to around 50-150 grams per day, depending on individual needs and goals. The focus is on reducing carbs but not necessarily entering into a state of ketosis.
    • Keto Diet: The keto diet is much stricter in carbohydrate restriction, typically limiting intake to 20-50 grams of net carbs per day. This low level of carbohydrates forces the body into a state of ketosis, where it primarily burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. If you want more tips on how to eat keto diet follow our guide “How to follow a keto diet without cooking“.

  2. Fat Intake:

    • Low Carb Diet: While low carb diets may involve higher fat intake than traditional diets, they don’t emphasise reaching a specific fat intake goal. Fat intake can vary widely among individuals following a low carb approach.
    • Keto Diet: The ketogenic diet is characterised by a high intake of healthy fats, typically comprising about 70-80% of total daily calories. This high fat intake is necessary to maintain ketosis and provide energy in the absence of carbohydrates.

  3. Protein Intake:

    • Low Carb Diet: Protein intake on a low carb diet can vary but is usually moderate. It’s typically recommended to consume enough protein to support muscle maintenance and overall health.
    • Keto Diet: Protein intake on a keto diet is moderate to high, with some recommendations suggesting around 20-25% of total daily calories coming from protein. Consuming too much protein can potentially hinder ketosis, so it’s important to moderate intake.

  4. Health Benefits:

    • Both low carb and keto diets have been associated with various health benefits, including weight loss, improved blood sugar control, and reduced risk factors for heart disease.
    • The ketogenic diet, due to its more strict carbohydrate restriction and induction of ketosis, may offer additional benefits such as increased fat burning, improved mental clarity, and potentially therapeutic effects in certain medical conditions like epilepsy and some neurodegenerative disorders.

  5. Sustainability and Practicality:

    • Low Carb Diet: Low carb diets may be more sustainable for some individuals because they allow for a wider variety of food choices and flexibility in carbohydrate intake. This can make them easier to adhere to in the long term.
    • Keto Diet: The ketogenic diet can be more challenging to maintain due to its strict carbohydrate limits and higher fat intake requirements. It often requires careful meal planning and monitoring to stay in ketosis, which may not be sustainable for everyone.

Ultimately, the choice between a low carb and keto diet depends on individual preferences, health goals, and lifestyle factors. Some people may find success with either approach, while others may prefer one over the other based on their dietary preferences and how their body responds to different macronutrient ratios. Consulting with a healthcare professional or registered dietitian can help determine the most appropriate dietary approach for individual needs.

Will Low Carb Meal Delivery Services Help Me Lose Weight?

A low carb meal for years has been a dieting go-to for those wishing to lose weight. Those who have experienced weight loss can often be equated to a lower calorie meal, high protein sources and satiating use of non-starchy vegetables and healthy fats. You can read about the crucial role macronutrients play in weight loss here.

A low carb meal delivery service can be a helpful way of controlling portions and taking the guesswork out of preparing meals. Often maintaining weight loss can be the hardest element to one’s weight loss journey, arranging meals through a meal delivery system can be an easy way to adhere to a diet and maintain weight loss.

What is the best low carb meal delivery service?

One of the most popular meal delivery services on the low carb scene is Macros for their price range, delivery range and meal options. 

A popular low carb meal kit provider is Marley Spoon offering meals as low as $8.50 per serve. They also offer deliver to most areas within Australia and have a meal option for everyone with regularly updated menu offerings. 

Not sure which meal provider is right for you?

Take our Meal Kit Quiz to work out which low carb meal service is right for you.

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Most popular low carb meal delivery in NSW

Activate Foods – Low Carb: 

Activate Foods offer a low carb range throughout Central Coast, Sydney and Newcastle areas. They offer both fresh and frozen meals catering to a range of dietary restrictions. 

My Muscle Chef – Low Carb Pack:

My Muscle Chef offer high protein, portion controlled meals with a wide menu range for choice. Their low carb meals can be purchased in a pack online or in stores.

Bondi Meal Prep – Low Carb:

Bondi Meal Prep offer fresh prepared meals and meal plans to meet consumers health goals. They currently offer prepared meals with allergen tailoring options available. 

My Muscle Chef meals
Check Out My Muscle Chef!

Most popular low carb meal delivery in Victoria
MACROS – Sculpt Plan:

Macros offer freshly delivered meals designed by in house chefs. They have a large range of regularly updated menu offerings including meals catering to individual health goals.

Be Fit Food – Weight Loss:

The Be Fit Food low carb meals are high in protein and their meal programs provide customers with not only the food,  they include resources and dietitian support throughout their time with Be Fit Food.

macros paleo meals
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Most popular low carb meal delivery in Queensland

Chef Good – Slim & Trim Plan:

Chef Good creates healthy meals with delivery right to your door for the ultimate convenience! They offer a low carb meal pack with a menu of options to choose from. 

A Life Plus – Personalised Meals:

A Life Plus offers an array of menu options for different health goals including the ability to tailor to dietary restrictions. They focus on high quality Australian sourced ingredients and creating delicious meals in house with their pro chefs. They also offer NDIS approved meals. 

Chefgood Everyday Wellness meal delivery
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Most popular low carb meal delivery in other states

Be Fit Food – Weight Loss
Offer low carb meal delivery service to most areas throughout Australia.

My Muscle Chef – Low Carb Pack

Offer low carb meal options both online to most areas within Australia, and also in store. 

Marley Spoon – Reduced-Carb

Marley Spoon is a competitively cheap low carb meal kit offered to most areas throughout Australia. Their reduced carb offerings are popular and are often updated and rotated based on seasonality. 

Dinnerly – Reduced Carb:

Dinnerly is another affordable low carb meal kit service servicing most areas throughout Australia. They have an array of menu options and often update their rotations to keep things fresh and exciting for consumers. 

Vegan Meal Kit
Check Out Dinnerly!

Are there vegan and vegetarian low carb meal plans?

Ready Made Keto Meals-min

The plant-based meal delivery service Soulara offers a ‘Low Cal’ meal option which offers meals lower in carbs than their other meals in their range.

Many of the lower calorie meals offer high protein creating needed satiety in meals and they also offer a filtering option when searching meals which let you specify dietary restrictions. 

What Are the Pros & Cons of Low Carb Meals?

low carb meals pros and cons

Low Carb Pros

  • Promotes high protein and healthy fats - Often a low carb diet hero’s lean animal protein such as fish and poultry, including heart-healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil and avocado. There are also the inclusions for vegetables such as lots of non-starchy, micronutrient abundant vegetables.
  • May assist in weight loss - A low carb diet encourages the inclusion of satiating protein and healthy fats, including non-starchy vegetables, this helps to add volume to meals which keeps you fuller for longer and doesn’t risk high energy density in meals.
  • May assist in short term management of blood sugar levels - Studies suggest a low carb diet may assist in short term control of blood sugar levels in diabetes type 2 - however there is a lack of evidence to suggest a long term benefit of prolonged low carb diets.
  • May assist in controlling appetite - Thanks to the satiating nature of protein and fats a low carb diet if adequately portioned can help you feel fuller for longer and more likely to not over consume due to a controlled appetite.
  • Easier to comply with in comparison to a keto diet- A keto diet is lower in carbs and far higher in fat than a low carb diet, this can result in harder compliance and side-effects (including headaches, nausea and vomiting, AKA the ‘keto flu’), it is less likely to experience theses symptoms on a low carb diet.

Low Carb Cons

  • May experience some digestive issues - When eliminating whole grains, legumes, and starchy fruit and vegetables (high carbohydrates amounts), you’ll be consequently reducing your daily fibre intakes which may cause some By reducing dietary fibre and an array of plant-based foods this can also impact the gut microbiome.
  • Energy and mood fluctuations - You might experience some changes in mood and energy, with the reduction of the body's preferred energy source you may encounter some moodiness, irritability and brain fog, especially at the beginning stages of a low carb diet.
  • May not be appropriate for those following a plant-based diet - Unlike animal protein (besides tofu), most plant-based protein sources such as lentils, beans and chickpeas are high in carbs. This can make achieving adequate protein challenging for those who avoid animal products.
  • Minimal fruit - It’s not uncommon on a low carb diet people avoid fruit, or include small amounts such as lower carb fruits, like berries. Decreasing the diversity of fruit and other plant-based foods in your diet can mean you potentially miss out on the nutrient density they offer including their vitamins, minerals, unique antioxidants and other nutrients they offer.

How to Choose the Best Low Carb Meal Delivery Service

Here are some important factors to consider when looking at your options.

The Amount of Carbs Per Meal

Look at the carbohydrate content in each meal to ensure they meet your requirements. Each meal and meal service will consider low carb or reduced carb meals differently, ensuring you meet your goals with the meals you choose by comparing nutritional panels.

Customisation 

Often enough you may need to tailor meals or have other dietary requirements that need catering to. When looking at low carb meal delivery services check to see if they also cater to other dietary requirements or preferences i.e. dairy free, gluten free etc. This may be especially more challenging for those trying to follow plant based diets or vegan diets, check out our category pages for each of these to see if they offer reduced carb options to your needs.

Quality & Taste

Everyone’s taste preferences are different, but use this to your advantage when choosing meals. Work out whether you would prefer frozen or fresh meals, or which cuisine is more your taste preference. There are so many options out there catering rotating menus with updated flavours regularly.

When checking for quality look to see what the ingredients are, where the ingredients are sourced and if they are fresh. Most providers will specify if the produce they use are locally sourced, if the ingredients are fresh and if they use organic ingredients. Another thing to look out for is who is preparing the meals. Check to see if providers are using qualified chefs and if meals are being designed by dietitians or nutritionists. But, don’t just take our word for it check out customer reviews for feedback!

Pricing and T&Cs

Costs per provider will vary depending on what they offer, it’s worth establishing a budget before committing to a service provider. Most providers will offer a lower cost per meal with higher quantity orders, including lowered or free shipping offers when spending over a certain amount. 

 

Avoid getting stuck with any lock in contracts by reading the fine print and FAQs before signing up to services.

Low Carb Meal Delivery FAQs

A popular Sydney low carb meals services is My Muscle Chef and their low carb packs  They start out from $9.95 per serve and ship most areas throughout Australia.

A popular Sydney low carb meal kit is Dinnerly, they offer their reduced carb meal options from as low as $5.25 per serve and ship to most areas throughout Australia.

If your still unsure of which meal service is right for you check out our Meal Kit Quiz.

Some popular Melbourne low carb meal delivery options include A Life Plus and their peronalised meal options starting from $13.00 serve.

A popular Melbourne meal kit is Dinnerly, offering a reduced carb menu option. These meals start from $5.25 and offer a rotating menu that is regularly updated. 

If your unsure which meal service is right for you check out our Meal Kit Quiz to compare options.

What is healthy for one person, may be unhealthy for another person. 

A low carb diet may help support  health goals such as promoting weight loss, as well as assisting in supporting healthy blood sugar levels including for individuals with type 2 diabetes. However, a low carb diet isn’t suitable for everyone, and may cause more harm than good if followed without guidance. It’s important to always check in with a trusted health professional before making any dietary or lifestyle changes.

No they are quite different, however are understandably confused among consumers. A low carb diet allows for a higher consumption of carbohydrates and protein and is much lower in fat than a keto diet. For more information on keto diets check out our keto providers and draw comparisons to see if a keto diet is right for you. 

Some of the Australia’s best keto meal delivery services include:

Be sure to check out keto providers to compare their range and service options. Whilst comparing prices are important, its also important to compare macronutrient value (i.e., the carb, fat, and protein content) in meals to determine if a service is right for you and your health goals. Take our Meal Kit Quiz to get started! 

Yes, Hellofresh does offer meals that are low carb (under 30g). They have an extensive menu range that is often rotated to add variety and seasonality. They also deliver to most areas in Australia.

Some common foods and drinks that you won’t find on a low carb diet are: 

  • Pastries, sugary foods and sugar sweetened drinks
  • Grains including cereals, bread, pasta, rice, etc. 
  • Legumes, Pulses and Beans
  • Root vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin etc
  • High fibre fruit e.g. bananas, mango, apples, dried fruits etc.
  • Alcohol e.g. beer, wine, champagne etc.
  • Juice

Some common foods and drinks that you can typically eat on a low carb diet are: 

  • Protein sources such as eggs, lean meats (chicken, pork, fish, seafood etc.)
  • Fruits such as berries, avocado, grapefruit, olives etc.
  • Low carb vegetables such as leafy greens, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, sprouts, cucumber, eggplant, mushrooms, green beans etc.
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Dairy such as greek yoghurt, cheese, butter etc.
  • Beverages such as coffee, tea, mineral water etc.

Search and compare wellness and health delivery services in Australia including meal kits, ready to eat meal delivery, vitamin subscriptions and much more at Wellhub. All content and information on this site is provided by qualified Australian nutritionists to ensure accurate representation of all products reviewed. Learn more about our expert team here.