Low Carb Dinner with High Protein Rice Alternative

Low carb dinners that are delicious and quick are hard to come by. This “jambalaya” style rice alternative is the perfect quick low carb, high protein dinner. The best part is you can switch up the recipe to fit whatever veggies and protein you have. Jambalaya is a cajun style rice dish that typically has sausage, onions, and seafood. It is similar to a paella with more of a cajun and creole flavor. For this particular recipe, I used 5 ingredients: Chicken sausage, bell peppers, shrimp, broth, and a chickpea- lentil risoni. Onions and a little bit of okra also go great in this recipe. If you don’t eat a certain type of meat you can substitute it out for anything you prefer. You can even make a vegan variation of this with no meat.

Ingredients:

Low Carb Rice Substitute ( I recommend this rice alternative or RightRice)

Chicken Sausage

Shrimp

Sliced Bell Peppers

Slice Onions

Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and Ole Bay Spice

Steps:

The first step is to bring water or broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Personally, I prefer to add low sodium broth for more flavor but you can also use water as well. Also, please note: the amount of liquid needed will depend on what rice substitute you plan to use.

The second step is to add your rice substitutes into the boiling water. I’m using a chickpea and lentil flour risoni from Trader Joes. One serving is 170 calories and 27 grams of carbs, compared to one serving of brown rice which is 150 calories and 35 grams of carbs. And as an added bonus, it also contains 10 grams of protein per serving.

The next step is to saute your sliced sausage, bell peppers, and onions in a separate pan over medium heat. For this recipe, I added precooked shrimp and chicken sausage as my protein, but you can use whatever you want. Add your spices and then saute the protein and veggies together.

After that, let both of the pans cook until 80% through and then combine everything into one pan. Last, add any additional seasoning, reduce the heat to low, and cover the pan for 5-10 mins. Done! You can serve this low carb dinner alone or with a small side salad for extra veggies.