7 Day Lazy Keto Meal Plan (Easy Recipes, Budget Friendly)

Discover how easy it can be to eat lazy keto on a budget. This 7-day keto meal plan is filled with simple keto meals. They are easy to prepare. We include a shopping list and recipes to create a week of easy lazy keto meals that won’t break the bank!

Have you been putting off trying to follow a keto diet because you think it’s too expensive? If you do then it’s time to rethink keto. Discover how easy it can be to makes these easy lazy keto recipes on a budget.

Keto is DOES NOT require purchasing grassfed, organic meat.

It’s not buying organics at Wholefoods or some other pricey grocery store.

There is no requirements for purchasing certain brands of food, buying lots of specialty foods or including any type of pre-made keto fast food (those that are ready made to eat).

No matter what people say. None of these things are required to follow a low-carb diet. Doing these things is a personal choice and does not get you into ketosis any quicker if you don’t have them.

The only thing that makes a diet a ketogenic diet is eating a low enough amount of carbs to be in ketosis. End. Of. Story.

And…. the best part is you can easily do this on a budget with these easy recipes.

7 Day Lazy Keto Meal Plan

We are bombarded by messages online all day long. This continues when you get in the stores. There are lots of messages out that that will encourage you to spend more than you plan. But with a little thought before you go shopping, and a little bit of effort to fight off these urges, you can easily make this simple lazy keto meal plan work for you.

The recipes are simple enough that the whole family can enjoy these easy keto meals.

5 Tips To Help You Eat Lazy Keto On A Budget

Staying on budget is not only good for your wallet it’s also good for your waistline! Use these 5 tips to help you stick to your keto budget.

1. Keep your lazy meals simple:

The easiest way to do this is to stick to simple recipes that don’t require exotic, unusual or specialty ingredients.

Delicious and simple meals can easily be created with what you can find in your local grocery store.

As the keto diet becomes more popular many stores are now even stocking some specialty ingredients such as almond flour, pork rinds or keto friendly sweeteners at reasonable prices.

2. Plan Lazy Keto Meals Around Sales Or Seasonal Items:

Plan your meals around the most expensive item in your budget which is likely to be meat.

Each week, or sometimes every other, I start by looking to see what is only sale for meat or another source of protein such as eggs or fish. If chicken legs are on sale that week then there’s a good chance that there will be chicken legs showing up at several meals that week.

Pay attention to seasonal meat sales and stock up if possible. I purchased a freezer just for this reason. The couple of hundred dollars invested was quickly paid back with the savings in meat alone.

Now, when turkeys go on sale at Thanksgiving, corned beef at Saint Patrick’s day, fish during Lent, ham during Easter and steak tips and ground beef for burgers and grilling around the 4th of July, I stock up!

Use this tip below to save money on vegetables.

Fresh spinach, lettuce, leafy greens and other fresh vegetables go down in price during the spring and summer when they are the most abundant. During the winter a head of lettuce can double over the summer prices! Often fresh vegetables and fruits are lower in the spring and summer and during the fall/winter frozen vegetables and fruits are cheaper. Again, watch the sales and plan your meals around what is on sale.

3. Look For Deals:

Check your local stores for coupons or special deals if you have a store membership.

Also keep an eye out for unannounced manager specials. These are often overstocked items that your grocery store is trying to clear out before they expire. I’ve hit sales on bacon for $2 a package and frozen cod and salmon for $2.99 a pound (unheard of in my area). When I run across these types of deals I stock up if I’m able to do so.

Often these special sales are put out first thing in the morning so they can sell them by the end of the day. The best time to go shopping is earlier in the morning. That’s when you are most likely to discover these unannounced sales. There are fewer shoppers in the morning so the chances are better to find these sales.

4. Cook Lazy Keto Meals In Bulk And Freeze:

Batch cooking can help keep a ready made supply of keto meals on hand for those busy days when you don’t have much time. It can also help you to save money especially when combined with sale items.

You can cook in bulk one of two ways:

• Pick one day and prep all your bulk items
• Every time you make a meal double or triple the recipe

Cooking in bulk can also help preserve sale items when they can’t be refrozen.

That super deal I got on bacon….it had already been frozen and thawed so the grocery store, as well as myself, couldn’t refreeze it. But, once it was cooked, it could be frozen again.

In the end I prepped 10 lbs of bacon by cooking it and dividing it up in freezer bags. It was great to be able to pull already cooked bacon out of the freezer to add into dishes. If I had just kept all the packages in the refrigerator they would have gone bad before I could have used it. Cooking and freezing allowed me to use it all.

5. Don’t Stray From Your Shopping List:

Going to the grocery store without a shopping list is never a good idea!

It’s super easy to spend far more money than you planned if you just grab every tasty or interesting item you see. It also keeps you from investing in items that just sit around and never get used. I know I’ve thrown out things that I bought, thought I would use it in a dish, only to never get around to making it. If you want to stay on budget and not waste money then making a shopping list and stick to it!

Why follow a Lazy Keto Diet?

That’s easy…. because I don’t want to make following a keto diet any harder than it has to be and neither do you.

The basis of the traditional keto diet is to reduce your carb intake so you can go into ketosis.

Fat will fuel your body. Either dietary fat or your own body fat (if you have weight to lose). I have to honestly say that I have yet to see someone follow a keto, or any type of low carb diet, and fail to eat enough protein or fat. If you remove the majority of carbs from your diet then all you have left to eat are protein and fat.

Since carbs are what’s controlling being in and out of ketosis that’s the only thing I want to count.

I take the total grams of carbs and subtract off the amount of fiber to get the net carbs. This is what I count in my meals.

But, it’s the cost of protein that drives my budget. This is where I begin my meal planning. I generally plan lunch and dinner to include about 4 to 6 ounces of protein with a smaller portion at breakfast.

Protein is accompanied by low-carb vegetables or green salad as the side dish.

Fat comes in as either a sauce to go with the protein, butter to top vegetables, dressing to go over salad, cheese sprinkled over the food, a bit of avocado…. you get the idea.

Most people are going to be eating at least 2 to 3 meals a day. Possibly with a snack somewhere between lunch and dinner or even after dinner. But since the idea is to control costs I start with the biggest meal of the day which is generally either lunch or dinner.

Once I know what protein is on sale for the week or, that I may have purchased on sale the previous week, I start planning basic meals.

The menu below is sticks to just the basics. You can dress it up or fill it out by adding in items that you enjoy but keep their carb count in mind when adding or changing things.

The menu was created when chicken legs and thighs were on sale. Replace the chicken legs/thighs with chicken breast if you desire.

I have not included beverages on the menu. You can have water, coffee, tea, your favorite no calorie drink, etc. That choice is up to you.

Bacon can be pricey. It can be replaced with any type of store bought low sugar breakfast sausage or you can make your own low sugar and low cost breakfast sausage by using this recipe here.

Snacks were not included. But, if you are hungry between meals and looking for easy keto snacks you can try pork rinds, a small amount of your favorite non-starchy vegetables with a bit of your favorite low carb dip, or even make your own keto cheese chips using parmesan cheese or your favorite type.

Don’t forget to include any carbohydrate intake from snacks into your daily carb total as these were not included in the original menu.

Day 1 Menu

Breakfast:
3 slices bacon or 3 ounces breakfast sausage
2 eggs fried in 1 tablespoon butter

Lunch:

Big Mac Salad

Dinner:
Grilled or Baked Marinated Chicken (try Lemon Herb or Chimichurri marinade)
½ bag steamed broccoli with pat of butter

Day 2 Menu

Breakfast:
2-egg omelet

Lunch:
Taco Salad made with

• 6 ounces lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoon taco seasoning
• 3 cups salad greens
• 1/4 cup onions
• 1/4 green pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 tablespoon salsa
• 1 tablespoon sour cream

Dinner:

Cajun Chicken and Sausage Slow Cooker meal served over cauliflower mashed potatoes or try it over cauliflower rice.

Day 3 Menu

Breakfast:
Chicken salad (made from leftover chicken Day 1 dinner) served on a low carb tortilla with 2 cheese sticks.

I used the net carbs from Mission Low Carb tortillas when calculating the nutrition. It is a brand that is found nation wide. You can easily replace it with your favorite low carb bread or even bread made from Fat Head dough.

Chicken salad made with:

• 4 ounces shredded chicken
• 4 cups Salad Greens
• 2 tablespoons dressing

Lunch:
Lettuce wrapped keto burger with sliced avocado and a side salad

Dinner:
Curry Meatballs served over cauliflower rice

Day 4 Menu

Breakfast:
Egg salad served with a low carb tortilla made with

• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1/4 cup green onion
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Lunch:
Left over curry meatballs, side salad and 2 cheese sticks

Dinner:
Parmesan Meatballs served over spaghetti squash

Day 5 Menu

Breakfast:
Tuna salad with a low carb tortilla wrap made with

• 6 ounces tuna
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon green onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups Salad Greens

Lunch:
Lettuce wrapped keto burger with sliced avocado and a side salad

Dinner:
Italian Chicken Stew with steamed zucchini

Day 6 Menu

Breakfast:
2 egg omelet

Lunch:
Leftover Cajun chicken served over cauliflower mashed potatoes

Dinner:
Leftover Parmesan Meatballs served over spaghetti squash

Day 7 Menu

Breakfast:
Egg salad served with a low carb tortilla wrap

Lunch:
Tuna salad served with a side salad and avocado slices

Dinner:
Left over Italian Chicken Stew with steamed zucchini

The menu below includes some notes on how to put together these easy keto recipes and how to prep some of them to save time in the future.

Want to get an updated version of this easy lazy keto menu featuring tips on how to stick to your budget, how to save money when making your meal plan, money saving shopping tips, complete easy to follow menu, daily carb counts, grocery shopping list and all the recipes in an easy to open PDF file? Then head on over to my Etsy shop and pick up this 7 Day Budget Meal Plan:

Shopping Tips:

The weight of the meat used is included in the menu above but which type/cut of meat you purchase is your choice. Look to see what is on sale. If it’s boneless chicken breasts use that. If there’s a great sale on thighs try those. Same thing with the ground beef. There is no specific percentage of fat that you should use. Just be aware

I look to see what is on sale knowing that I will be draining off a bit more fat from some types than others. In the end, if you start out with at least 6 ounces of raw meat you will end up with 4 ounces or slightly more in cooked meat. The size portion you choose is up to you but, since this is a menu to control costs, the portion size of meat is limited.

When it comes to chicken with the bones you will purchase more as there is going to be a larger amount discarded (bones/skin) then when using boneless chicken.

Please be aware that there will be some leftovers as I’ve rounded up amounts. These can be used as snacks or eaten on days when you feel a bit hungrier.

Some meal prepping tips:

Put the chicken marinating in the Mediterranean Lemon Herb marinade. When ready to cook, cook all of it at once. Store the leftovers in the refrigerator to heat up for the other meals during the week.

Cook all of the bacon or breakfast sausage at the same time. Store the extra in the refrigerator until needed. Leftover bacon (is there really such a thing as left over bacon?) can be added to the keto burger.

Wash and dry all the salad greens at the same time. The type of salad green used is up to you. I stop to see what is on sale that week. Sometimes I purchased heads of Iceberg lettuce and add in some other mixed greens. Other times bagged salad mixes are on sale at a great price and I pick those up. Since you are watching your budget with this menu pick what is on sale for your location.

Salad tip: If the cost of salad greens is too high simply replace some of the salads with a lower cost frozen vegetable, a blend of vegetables or other fresh vegetables that might be on sale. Top with some healthy fats (butter, olive oil, coconut oil etc) to bump up the fat since you aren’t using a salad dressing on it. Depending on the type of vegetable you are using cream cheese can also be used to add a bit of fat to your meal such fresh broccoli topped with a bit of cream cheese.

Cook and prep all the ground beef for the Big Mac and taco salad. Store the left overs for the next use. When you make one salad then divide up the other salad vegetables into other containers so they are ready to go.

Wait to dice up the avocado so it doesn’t turn brown. Check out this page for tips on how to keep your avocados from turning brown.

When you cook the cauliflower for one meal you will save time by cooking all of it. Package the needed servings up for the next meal and turn the remainder into mashed cauliflower. Store in refrigerator until needed.

The Lemon Herb chicken is made on the first day so you will have leftovers to use in other meals during the week. Use it to make chicken salad. Make the tuna, chicken and egg salad at the same time. They use the same basic ingredients and, by making them at the same time, you only have to pull them out of the refrigerator once.

If you liked these simple recipes then you may also like these:

8 Lazy Keto Breakfast Ideas

Easy Keto Dinner Recipes

Unstuffed Egg Roll In A Bowl

I hope that this easy to make 7 day meal plan helps you with your weight loss journey. Leave a message below and let me know if this helped you with planning your meals.

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