Easy Low Fat Meal Ideas for a Gallbladder Diet

If you’re following a gallbladder diet and need low fat or fat free food ideas, these options will give you plenty of inspiration.

These are the foods I ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert while following a gallbladder diet to prevent additional attacks while waiting for surgery.

Collage image featuring several foods that are low-fat or fat-free, suitable for a gallbladder diet.

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If you’ve ever had gallbladder troubles, you know what a pain this little organ can be (literally!).

Having gall stones can lead to blockages that impact the ability of bile to be released from your gallbladder, which is what often causes the pain and discomfort sometimes referred to as a “gallbladder attack.”

Several months ago, I began having intermittent episodes that I suspected were due to my gallbladder. After seeing my primary care provider and having an ultrasound, my suspicions were confirmed–I had gallstones.

For those who have gallstones, one of the ways to prevent additional gallbladder attack episodes is to follow a strict no-fat or low-fat diet.

That’s because fat is what stimulates the gallbladder to release bile, which can often cause a stone to become lodged, triggering that terrible pain.

So decreasing fat intake decreases the gallbladder activity, and hopefully helps to keep any further attacks at bay.

Disclaimer

Although I am a registered nurse, I am not YOUR registered nurse. This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as medical advice or as a substitute for treatment from your health care team. As always, you should seek medical advice and treatment from a trusted professional who is familiar with your health history.

After my diagnosis, I had to wait several weeks before my gallbladder could be surgically removed, and I was determined to stick to an extremely low (or no) fat diet to prevent any further misery during that time.

Not only that, but I knew I would need to maintain the lower fat diet for at least a couple of weeks after my surgery, too, while my body adjusted.

But it didn’t take long to realize just how HARD it was going to be to try to have some sort of balanced diet.

My Google and Pinterest searches for low fat or fat free meals turned up lots of recipes that weren’t actually low fat or fat free.

So I set out to to find a variety of foods and meals that not only met the criteria, but also tasted good.

If you’re in a similar boat and need lower fat foods for yourself or a loved one, I’m sharing some of my favorites–I hope it gives you some inspiration!

Low or No Fat Breakfasts

I am not one to spend much time making breakfast on a regular morning, so I wanted quick and easy options. Skim milk and fresh fruit were staples for making these options happen!

1. Cold Cereal and Berries

My number one breakfast of choice was Special K Red Berries cereal, paired with skim milk and fresh berries. One cup of the cereal only had 0.5 grams of fat, which met my needs.

I used FairLife skim milk, which has more protein than other brands of skim milk, and the cereal provided some protein as well.

I always added either fresh raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries to the cereal as well.

2. Fat Free Yogurt with Berries and Honey

I’ll be honest, I never did find a nonfat yogurt that I really liked, but I’m including this here as another option.

Topping the yogurt with some fresh berries and a drizzle of honey is helpful in covering up the lackluster yogurt taste, in my opinion!

Some varieties of Yoplait Whips yogurt are reduced fat, with about 2.5 grams of fat per container.

After my surgery, when I was gradually adding a little bit of fat back into my diet, I enjoyed these.

Low or No Fat Lunches

Whether you prefer a hearty lunch or a more snack-y lunch, there are some easy options to whip up. You can mix and match these items, depending on how hungry you are!

1. Homemade Soup

I like that homemade soup can be easily tweaked according to what you have on hand or what your preferences are.

In this case, we want to steer clear of creamy or fatty soups. In general, here’s an approximation of what I used:

1 quart (4 cups) fat-free chicken broth
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground sage
salt and pepper (to taste)
1/3 cup orzo pasta (mine only had 1 gram of fat per 1/3 cup dry pasta)
15-oz can of navy beans, drained and rinsed
optional: additional frozen veggies, like peas, green beans, etc.

I most often cooked everything in the Instant Pot at high pressure for 4 minutes, followed by a 10-minute natural release and then a quick release.

However, you could also just simmer everything in a pot on the stove until the veggies are tender!

Of course, you can customize this and add some diced or shredded boneless chicken breast, rice instead of orzo, etc.

Additional soup recipes you can make are:

Vegetable Orzo Soup (just saute the veggies in a little bit of water instead of olive oil)
Broccoli Soup (again, just saute the onions in a bit of water instead of olive oil)
Crock Pot Carrot Soup (skip the heavy cream at the end)

vegetable soup that's low fat, served in a white bowl.

2. Toasted English Muffin or Bagel with Jam

I would purchase the Great Value brand English muffins from Walmart, which only have 1 gram of fat per muffin.

Since butter and cream cheese are off the table, I just toasted the split English muffin and spread jam on top.

Some bagels are low in fat, too–I purchased some that were 1.5 grams of fat per bagel. Just be sure to check, because some bagel brands have more fat than others.

3. Fruit

I quickly learned that fruit was going to be one of my best friends during these weeks of low fat eating.

Luckily, I already love and eat quite a bit of fruit, so that was easy to maintain.

Fresh apples, oranges, pears, grapes, and berries are regular staples in our home.

I also kept canned and jarred fruit on hand, such as applesauce, sliced peaches, apricot halves, and pineapple chunks.

4. Pretzels

Sometimes you just want something crunchy, but potato chips and even most crackers were too high in fat.

Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps were a great option, because they are fat free, but still provide that salty crunch.

I would eat them on their own or dip them in jam, since hummus was higher in fat than I was comfortable with.

5. Deli Turkey Meat

Sliced turkey is a great low-fat protein option to incorporate into your lunch.

I most often bought the Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Mesquite Smoked turkey breast, which only had 1 gram of fat in a 2-ounce serving.

You can eat it plain, roll it up in a lettuce leaf with pickles, or make a sandwich with an English muffin or low fat hamburger bun.

Low or No Fat Dinner Ideas

Finding heartier meals for dinner was a bit of a challenge at first, but I did come up with some options I could put into a rotation, relying on lean proteins quite a bit.

For veggies, I had to find ways to cook them that didn’t involve roasting with fat, but where they would still have some flavor.

1. Chicken and Wild Rice

This is one of those easy convenience meals that was perfect for a busy night.

In general, here’s what I used:

6-ounce box Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice (the whole package only has 2 grams of fat)
1 or 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces and sprinkled with salt and pepper
Water as called for on the package instructions

Combine the rice, seasonings, and water in a large skillet, then place the chicken pieces evenly throughout the skillet.

Bring to a boil, then place a lid on the skillet and bring the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through.

This can be customized by adding some veggies to the skillet at the beginning of the cook time, such as diced bell peppers or diced carrots, cuts of fresh asparagus, frozen broccoli, or green beans.

2. BBQ Chicken with Baked Potatoes and Baked Beans

Another conundrum I regularly encountered was needing to find ways to cook chicken that didn’t involve marinades (which usually include an oil), but that didn’t result in dried out, bland meat.

Here’s an idea of what you can do:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
9 ounces fat free BBQ sauce (I use half of an 18-ounce bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s)
4 russet potatoes, scrubbed and pierced with a fork
15.8-ounce can baked beans (I use Bush’s Bluey baked beans, which are meatless and fat free)
Optional: canned green beans or fresh fruit

Add boneless skinless chicken breasts to a slow cooker and top with BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or until cooked through. Shred the chicken with two forks, stirring it into the sauce.

Bake the potatoes on a baking sheet at 425F for about 45-60 minutes, or until cooked through and tender.

Serve the chicken over a baked potato (since we can’t use butter or cheese!), and top with extra sauce if you want.

Add a side of baked beans and some canned green beans or fresh fruit.

3. Taco Bowls

For these bowls, you can make Instant Pot spanish rice or Instant Pot yellow rice, omitting the vegetable oil from the recipes.

Then cook some canned chili beans, adding seasoning to taste.

Layer the rice and beans in a bowl with plenty of chopped or shredded lettuce, plus some salsa or diced tomatoes, and/or some cooked corn (from a can or frozen).

Drizzle everything with some fat free taco sauce, then enjoy!

Note: I would often cook some ground beef with taco seasoning for my family to eat with this meal.

4. Lentil Sloppy Joes

Follow this recipe for Instant Pot lentil sloppy Joes, but leave out the oil. You can cook the veggies in a little bit of water instead.

You can serve it over white rice or on a low-fat hamburger bun.

low-fat lentil sloppy joe sandwich served on a white plate.

5. Grilled Chicken Kebabs with Rice Pilaf

Cut up a couple of raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite-size chunks.

Then cut up some veggies of your choice, such as bell peppers, red onion, zucchini, and yellow squash.

Arrange the pieces on skewers. Give them a light spritz with Pam nonstick spray (I use the olive oil variety).

Then sprinkle the chicken and veggies with seasonings, such as salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Or use a seasoning blend, like Magic Seasoning Blend or Lawry’s Total Seasoning.

Grill those until the chicken is cooked through and veggies are soft.

While those are grilling, cook up a box of Rice-a-Roni Rice Pilaf, skipping the butter called for on the package. Just toast the rice in the skillet for a minute or two before adding the water and proceeding with instructions.

Serve the kebabs and rice together for a tasty, low fat meal!

6. Chicken and Knorr Rice

The chicken flavor variety of Knorr Rice Sides is low fat, especially when you omit the butter called for on the package.

Add diced boneless skinless chicken breast to the pan when you’re cooking the rice on the stove top, according to package directions, and the chicken will cook along with the rice and seasonings.

This is an easy and tasty meal! You’ll want to use two packages of rice if you’re feeding a family. You can also add vegetables during the cooking if you’d like, such as green beans or asparagus.

7. Chicken Rice-a-Roni

You can cook chicken and Rice-a-Roni in your Instant Pot or on the stove, omitting the butter the box instructs you to use.

You can dice the chicken and cook it with the rice, adding some diced bell peppers or other vegetables to round it out a bit.

8. Chicken Pot Roast

For an easy Crock Pot meal, I cut up some potatoes, carrots, and celery into chunks, then placed them in my slow cooker with some boneless skinless chicken breasts.

I mixed a packet of McCormick Slow Cooker Savory Pot Roast seasoning plus a cup of water, then poured that over the chicken and veggies.

Cook on low for about 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies are tender. You can serve this as a stand-alone stew type meal or serve it over white rice.

9. Chicken Cacciatore

I’ve made this Instant Pot chicken cacciatore for years without even realizing it’s already fat-free!

You simply cook some chicken breasts with red peppers, onions, crushed tomatoes, and seasonings, then serve it over some spaghetti.

10. Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

This Instant Pot Hawaiian BBQ chicken cooks chicken breasts in BBQ sauce and crushed pineapple, making a sweet and smoky pulled chicken dish.

You can serve it on low-fat hamburger buns or over a bed of rice to make it a meal.

11. Sweet and Sour Chicken

Another easy dinner idea, this Instant Pot sweet and sour chicken includes peppers, pineapple, and chunks of chicken cooked in a sweet and sour sauce.

Just make sure your sauce is fat free (most versions are). Serve over rice for a simple but filling meal!

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can cook this in a pan on the stove instead.

12. Jerk Chicken and Rice

If you’re a fan of spicier dishes, add this jerk chicken recipe to your meal plan!

Chicken breasts are cooked with jerk seasoning (I buy the Great Value Caribbean Jerk Wing Seasoning Mix from Walmart, which is fat free), along with other flavorful ingredients like brown sugar, red onion, orange juice, pineapple juice, and lime juice.

Serve over some white rice with diced mango on top.

Jerk chicken and white rice topped with diced mango for a low-fat dinner.

13. Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

Teriyaki chicken is easy to serve with white rice and some steamed vegetables, like broccoli or snap peas.

You’ll just want to make sure the variety of teriyaki sauce you buy is fat free, because not all of them are! The Kikkoman brand sauce is fat free.

14. Hawaiian Chicken and Rice

This Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken and rice is similar to a sweet and sour chicken. The sauce is made with brown sugar, pineapple juice, soy sauce, and a few other ingredients to make a flavorful dish.

This is another option that’s great served over some plain white rice.

15. Chicken and Dumplings

If you’re craving some comfort food, make my copycat Cracker Barrel chicken and dumplings!

The dumpling dough does use milk, so you can opt for skim milk or 2% milk to keep the fat low. Use a low fat chicken broth and you’re set!

a pot of low fat chicken and dumplings with a wooden serving spoon in the pot.

Low or No Fat Dessert Ideas

As someone with a massive sweet tooth, this was one area that I knew would be tricky!

Thankfully, I was able to find several options that were either easy to make or easy to pick up at the grocery store.

1. Store-Bought Ideas

Orange Sherbet (the Great Value brand at Walmart is fat free)
Fudge Pops (Mayfield brand Fudge Stix is practically fat free, with just 0.5 grams in three pops)
Raspberry Sorbet (Talenti brand is fat free)
Applesauce with a sprinkle of cinnamon