A Cook's Guide to Low Carb Vegetables
Vegetables do most of the heavy lifting in low carb cooking. They become rice, noodles, taco shells and the bulk of a sheet pan dinner. This guide puts 15 everyday vegetables side by side, with the numbers we use in our recipes and the cooking methods that work best for each one.
The numbers
All values are for the raw vegetable, per 100 g, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy). Net carbs are total carbs minus fiber, rounded to one decimal. For a sense of scale, 100 g is about 1 cup of chopped broccoli or about 3 cups of loose raw spinach.
| Vegetable | Carbs (g) | Fiber (g) | Net carbs (g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kale | 4.42 | 4.1 | 0.3 |
| Romaine lettuce | 3.29 | 2.1 | 1.2 |
| Celery | 2.97 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| Fresh spinach | 3.63 | 2.2 | 1.4 |
| Asparagus | 3.88 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| Zucchini | 3.11 | 1.0 | 2.1 |
| White mushrooms | 3.26 | 1.0 | 2.3 |
| Eggplant | 5.88 | 3.0 | 2.9 |
| Green bell pepper | 4.64 | 1.7 | 2.9 |
| Cauliflower | 4.97 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| Cucumber | 3.63 | 0.5 | 3.1 |
| Green cabbage | 5.80 | 2.5 | 3.3 |
| Red bell pepper | 6.03 | 2.1 | 3.9 |
| Broccoli | 6.64 | 2.6 | 4.0 |
| Green beans | 6.97 | 2.7 | 4.3 |
Keep in mind that these are raw weights. Spinach and mushrooms shrink a lot when cooked, so a cup of cooked spinach holds far more than 100 g of raw leaves.
How to cook each one
Kale
Strip the leaves off the tough center stems. For salads, massage chopped kale with olive oil, lemon juice and salt for a minute until it softens and darkens. For a side, sauté with garlic until wilted, or bake torn leaves at 300°F into chips. Dry it well first or it steams.
Romaine lettuce
Use the sturdy inner leaves as cups for taco meat, egg salad or Caesar chicken. Halve hearts lengthwise, brush with oil and char them cut side down in a hot skillet for a minute. Store washed, dried leaves wrapped in a towel in the crisper.
Celery
Slice thin and add to tuna or egg salad for crunch. Dice it with onion as the base for soups. Fill sticks with cream cheese. Revive limp stalks by standing them in a glass of cold water in the fridge for an hour.
Fresh spinach
Wilt it into eggs, soups and cream sauces in the last minute of cooking. It cooks down to a fraction of its size, so start with a big pile. For egg bakes and stuffed mushrooms, squeeze cooked or thawed frozen spinach dry in a towel so it does not water down the dish.
Asparagus
Snap off the woody ends where they break naturally. Roast at 425°F with oil and salt for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tips crisp. Thin spears cook in half the time. Finish with lemon zest and parmesan.
Zucchini
Spiralize it into noodles, halve it into boats, or cut it into thick half-moons for a sheet pan. It holds a lot of water, so cook it hot and fast with the lid off. Our zucchini noodle guide covers the details.
White mushrooms
Do not crowd the pan. Cook sliced mushrooms in a hot skillet without stirring for a few minutes, until browned on one side, then toss. Salt them at the end. Pop out the stems and stuff the caps with ricotta and spinach for a party snack.
Eggplant
Slice into rounds, salt both sides and let sit 20 minutes, then pat dry. That firms the texture and seasons it. Roast or pan-fry until deep golden and creamy inside. Layer with marinara and mozzarella for parmesan stacks.
Green and red bell peppers
Green peppers are sharper and grassier. Red peppers are sweeter and fruitier. Both are great raw for dipping, sliced into fajitas, or halved and stuffed. Roast strips at 425°F until the edges char. Store whole peppers dry in the crisper.
Cauliflower
Rice it, roast it, mash it, or bake it into a cheesy casserole. For roasting, cut florets with one flat side so they brown well. Our cauliflower rice guide shows two ways to rice it and four ways to cook it.
Cucumber
Slice into thick rounds as crackers for cream cheese and smoked salmon, or cut into spears for dipping. English cucumbers have thin skin and small seeds. Regular cucumbers may have waxed skin, so peel them in stripes or all the way.
Green cabbage
Shred it thin for slaw or egg roll in a bowl. Cut it into wedges and roast at 425°F until the edges blacken. Sauté it in sausage drippings until soft and sweet. A whole head keeps for weeks in the crisper.
Broccoli
Roast florets at 425°F until the tips char, about 20 minutes. Stir-fry with beef and tamari. Simmer with cheddar into soup. Peel the thick stalk and slice it. It is just as good as the florets.
Green beans
Trim the stem ends. Blanch in salted boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, then shock in ice water to keep them bright. Finish in a skillet with butter and garlic, or roast at 425°F until blistered. Toss with bacon and toasted pecans for a holiday side.
Buying and storage tips
- Buy by feel. Look for firm stems, tight florets, glossy skins and no slimy spots.
- Keep it dry. Moisture speeds spoilage. Wash most produce right before using it, not before storing. Leafy greens are the exception if you dry them thoroughly.
- Use the crisper drawer. It holds humidity, which keeps greens and peppers fresh longer.
- Eat delicate things first. Spinach, mushrooms and asparagus fade within days. Cabbage, celery and cauliflower last much longer.
- Frozen counts. Frozen spinach, broccoli, cauliflower rice and green beans are picked and frozen quickly. Cook them straight from frozen in a hot pan with the lid off.
- Cooked vegetables are leftovers. Refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within 3 to 4 days.
What about onions and garlic?
Onions and garlic are higher in carbs per 100 g than the vegetables in the table, but recipes use them in small amounts for flavor. A little goes a long way. Our recipe numbers include every gram of them, so you do not need to skip them.
