Gestational diabetes-friendly meals
If you’re looking for ideas and inspiration for gestational diabetes-friendly meals, this post is here to help! Being diagnosed with gestational diabetes doesn’t mean your meals have to be completely different from what you enjoy or what your family eats. It’s all about making small, simple tweaks! With a few adjustments, you can continue eating the meals you love, just optimised to help keep your blood sugar levels stable and healthy.
Think about what you could do with your existing recipes to make them follow the 8 Golden Rules
Whenever possible, try to cook your meals from scratch. This way, you have full control over the ingredients, allowing you to make healthier choices and adjust recipes to suit your needs.
Think about the order you eat your food
Eating your lunch in a specific order can be a simple but effective way to help keep blood sugar levels lower and more stable.
Research suggests that eating vegetables, followed by proteins and fats, and carbs last can reduce the postprandial spike in blood glucose levels! This is maximising the food pairing benefit.
Help with choosing vegetables for gestational diabetes-friendly meals
While vegetables are rich in fibre, vitamins, and minerals, some are better than others when it comes to maintaining stable blood sugar levels. Certain types may need to be limited, and a few might be best avoided altogether.
The vegetables most likely to raise blood sugar levels include peas, sweetcorn, carrots, parsnips, swede, butternut squash, legumes, and beans. On their own, these aren’t usually a problem, but when combined—or served alongside potatoes, sweet potatoes, or other carbohydrate-rich foods—they can make the meal too carb-heavy, making it harder to keep blood sugar levels stable.
Gestational diabetes-friendly meal ideas, hints and tips
This is by no means a complete list, but it offers a starting point with plenty of ideas for delicious gestational diabetes-friendly meals. When made from scratch and adjusted to suit your needs, these dishes can work really well. Some ideas include links to recipes, others are available as free recipes, and a few are part of the optional membership.
Family favourite meals
All the meals I created during my GD pregnancies—and the recipes on this website—are based on family favourites that both adults and children can enjoy. If you’re dealing with allergies, intolerances, or picky eaters, simply tweak the recipes to suit everyone rather than cooking separate meals. You can add extra ingredients to certain plates or leave out elements that don’t work. For fussy eaters, try finely dicing, chopping, or blending vegetables into dishes so they’re less noticeable. If you need gluten-, dairy-, or nut-free meals, choose recipes that fit those requirements, and if needed, add dairy or nuts to your own plate at the end to help balance the carbs.
Here are some of my family’s favourite meals:
Meat & Poultry
Meat and poultry are excellent sources of protein and iron. Pairing them with plenty of green vegetables or salad, along with a small serving of carbohydrates—such as three egg-sized new potatoes or 3–4 tablespoons of rice, pasta, or couscous—can create a well-balanced gestational diabetes-friendly meal. Here are some great meat options to try:
- Steak; beef or venison
- Pork chops or loins
- Gammon steaks or bacon chops
- Lamb cutlets or steaks
- Chicken breast, thighs or drumsticks (avoid breaded or crumbed varieties)
- Duck breast
- Mince: beef, lamb, pork, turkey, chicken
- High meat content sausages (>90% meat content)
Fish
If you eat fish, aim to include two portions of oily fish in your diet each week. Oily fish is packed with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which play a vital role in your baby’s brain, nervous system, and retinal development.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) currently advises pregnant women should eat no more than 2 portions (140g each) of oily fish a week due to the risk of toxins and pollutants.
Oily fish include: salmon, trout, herring, sardines, pilchards, and mackerel. Due to high mercury content in certain fish, pregnant women are advised to avoid consuming marlin, swordfish and shark and to limit consumption of tuna as follows: –
- 2 tuna steaks a week (each weighing about 140g when cooked or 170g when raw), or
- 4 medium-sized cans of tuna a week (about 140g a can when drained)
Raw shellfish should be avoided, but cooked shellfish is safe to consume in pregnancy.
Fish for food pairing
Fish is an excellent source of lean protein, but it doesn’t tend to pair with carbs as effectively as meat. Many women find that their blood sugar levels rise more when eating carbs with fish compared to eating the same carbs with meat. To help balance this, try adding extra protein and healthy fats to the meal when serving carbs alongside fish.
Avocado, olives, olive oil, cream, and mayonnaise are all excellent sources of healthy fats that pair well with fish and can help balance your meal. Why not give this delicious cod traybake a try:
Curries
Curries come in many different styles and flavours, varying greatly from one part of the world to another, so it’s tricky to cover them all in one go. Here, I’ll focus on the most common types of curries typically made in UK households.
Curries can be fantastic gestational diabetes-friendly meals, but there are a few things to keep in mind:
Make them from scratch whenever possible.
Homemade curries are best because you have full control over the ingredients. Ready-made sauces and jars often contain hidden sugars, which can quickly raise blood sugar levels.
Watch out for carb-heavy curries.
Some curries—especially vegetarian or vegan ones—can be very high in carbs but low in protein, making blood sugar management more challenging. Dishes with lentils, chickpeas, or starchy vegetables, like dhal, are popular and a good source of plant-based protein, but they’re also naturally high in carbs. When you add rice or bread on the side, it can easily cause blood sugar spikes.
To make these curries more balanced and tolerable:
-
Add extra fat such as full-fat cream, yoghurt, crème fraîche, or sour cream to the sauce.
-
Boost protein by including tofu or Quorn.
-
Incorporate healthy fats like peanut butter, nuts, or seeds to improve pairing and slow down the impact of carbs.
With a few tweaks, curries can stay flavorful and satisfying while supporting better blood sugar control.
Rice and bread accompaniments
Chapatis and naan bread are high in carbohydrates, so if you choose to include them with your meal, it’s best to have them instead of rice to avoid “double carbing.” Some people find that BFree wraps are a more tolerable option than traditional breads.
If you prefer rice, stick to a small portion—around 3–4 tablespoons of cooked basmati, brown basmati, brown wholegrain, or wild rice. Alternatively, try cauliflower rice as a low-carb substitute. This allows you to enjoy a generous serving of cauliflower rice alongside your curry while still having a bread accompaniment, if you wish.
Cauliflower rice is simple to make at home, but it’s also widely available pre-prepared, either fresh or frozen, for added convenience.
Mexican dishes
Mediterranean dishes
Serve these dishes with Mediterranean roasted vegetables or a big salad
Slow cooker meals
Perfect for busy days when you don’t have much time to cook—just pop everything into the slow cooker, and it’ll be ready and waiting when you get home! Serve with plenty of green veggies and either 3–4 egg-sized potatoes or 3–4 tablespoons of basmati rice, brown rice, or couscous.
Pizzas, burgers and grills
Serve burgers in a wholemeal sandwich thin or a high-protein roll. If you’d like to enjoy a few chips, wedges, or a rosti on the side, try skipping the traditional bun and using grilled halloumi, a portobello mushroom, a lettuce wrap, or simply enjoy the burger ‘naked’ for a lower-carb option.
- GD-Friendly pizza
- Chicken base pizza
- Cauliflower base pizza
- Thin & crispy base pizza smothered in extra toppings
- Homemade burgers served in a wholemeal sandwich thin
- ‘Juicy Lucy’ burgers
- Surf and turf; rump steak, prawns fried with butter and garlic
- Chicken breast in peppercorn sauce
- Ham, egg and chips
- Gammon, egg and sweet potato rosti
- Steak
- Mixed grill
- Bacon chops
GD Wrap Pizza
Salads
- Halloumi salad
- Chicken or tuna pasta salad
- Waldorf salad (minus the grapes!)
- Celeriac remoulade
- Caesar salad
- Greek salad
Roast dinners
Roast dinners can be excellent gestational diabetes-friendly meals, as long as you make smart choices about what you put on your plate. Start by filling your plate with plenty of meat for a good source of protein.
Following our 8 Golden Rules of Eating, bulk up your roast dinner with plenty of non-starchy vegetables, especially green ones like sprouts, cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, green beans, creamed spinach, and our creamy cauliflower cheese made with double cream, cheese, and mustard.
Higher-carb vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, peas, and sweetcorn should be eaten in smaller amounts. Be especially careful with parsnips that have been coated in honey or sweet glazes, as these can cause a quick rise in blood sugar.
Potatoes
As always, be mindful of the amount of potatoes on your plate, as they are a source of carbs. Cooking roast potatoes in duck or goose fat not only makes them taste amazing but also increases the fat content, which helps slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream.
For some, new potatoes may be easier to tolerate, and adding a little butter on top can make them even more blood sugar-friendly. Croquettes, however, are best avoided as they’re made from processed mashed potato coated in breadcrumbs, making them particularly difficult to tolerate.
If you’re serving mashed potato, mix in butter, cream, and cheese to add extra fat and improve pairing. Stick to one type of potato accompaniment to avoid carb overload—choose your favorite and enjoy it in moderation.
For tips on cooking potatoes in goose fat, read more here—but avoid coating them with flour or semolina, as this just adds unnecessary extra carbs.
Lower Carb Yorkshire Puddings
You can enjoy a traditional white flour Yorkshire pudding, but it’s best to make it yourself using plenty of lard or oil in the pan to boost the fat content. Be sure to count it as one of your carb portions on the plate.
Gravy
Most gravy granules contain flour as a thickening agent, which adds extra carbs to your meal. The best GD-friendly option is to make gravy from scratch, so you have full control over the ingredients.
If you prefer to buy pre-made gravy, look for fresh gravies or those made with real meat juices. Always check the labels and choose the option with the lowest total carbs.
Stir Frys
Create your own stir fry sauces rather than using pre-made ones which can be high in sugar. Pack your stir fry with lots of protein (meat, Quorn or tofu), plenty of crisp vegetables and keep noodles minimal
Here’s Elizabeth’s (one of my Facebook group admins) basic stir fry sauce recipe: Soy sauce, Oyster sauce, ginger, garlic, white pepper and just before its done throw in spring onions – the sauce can also be used to marinate the meat
Vegetarian meals
- Garlic crushed pea pasta; frozen peas, chopped garlic, chopped onion, mint – mashed up together, serve with wholemeal pasta and poached eggs
- Homemade Broccoli and Stilton or Cauliflower Cheese soup with 1 slice of good GD bread with cheese
- Cheese & Mediterranean vegetable omelette
- Vegetarian Calzone
- Falafel and hummus
- Quorn Spaghetti bolognese
- Quorn Chilli
- Quorn fajitas with extra cheese
- Cauliflower cheese
- Tofu stir fry
- Spanish Frittata
- Quorn lasagne
- Vegetarian shepherds pie
- Chickpea stew
- Vegetarian sausages
- Nut burgers
- Nut cutlets
- Poached egg, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms and vegetarian sausage
- Tofu & avocado burger with fresh tomato, in grilled halloumi slices
- Buckwheat Galettes filled with fried asparagus, mushrooms and onions
- Aubergine Parmigiana
- Aubergine Mini Pizzas
- Peppers with feta & walnuts
- Courgette fritters
- White cabbage curry
- Saag paneer
- Tofu noodles
- Whole roast cauliflower
Things to watch out for with gestational diabetes meals
- Ready-made jar sauces: These often contain high amounts of added sugar. Whenever possible, make your meals from scratch so you know exactly what’s going into them and can avoid hidden sugars and unnecessary ingredients.
- Table sauces: Sauces like tomato ketchup, brown sauce, and BBQ sauce are surprisingly high in sugar—even the “low-sugar” versions. It’s best to avoid these where possible and instead opt for mayonnaise, creamy dressings, or homemade alternatives.
- Gravy granules and sauce thickeners: Many women find gravies and sauces made with flour or thickeners difficult to tolerate. Instead, make gravy using meat juices and stock cubes, and try natural thickeners like celery, butter beans, lentils, chickpeas, or butternut squash in stews and casseroles.
- Tomatoes: Some women find tomatoes tricky to tolerate, especially when using chopped tinned tomatoes or passata in recipes. Compare labels and choose the options with the lowest total carbs. To help balance the meal, bulk up protein with meat or Quorn, keep starchy carbs to a small portion, and test your tolerance to see what works for you—you won’t know until you try!
- Watch out for double-carbing: It’s easy to double up on carbs without realising it, especially with larger meals. Keep a close eye on the starchy carbohydrates on your plate, and remember that some vegetables, like root veggies, also count as carbs.
- Include a small amount of complex carbs: While low-carb swaps like courgette spaghetti are great for bulking up meals with vegetables, your body (and your baby) still need a small amount of unrefined carbs for energy and to prevent ketosis. Aim to include a little complex carbohydrate alongside plenty of protein and healthy fats.
- Desserts and puddings: Avoid eating dessert immediately after dinner, as your body may struggle to process a large amount of food all at once. Instead, wait about an hour, check your blood sugar levels, and then enjoy dessert as an occasional treat.
Golden Rule No. 8
Rule No. 8 of the 8 Golden Rules is to get moving after meals. A short walk after dinner can really help lower your blood sugar levels. If the weather’s nice, consider an evening stroll. If you can’t get outside, even dancing around the house while clearing away the dinner plates can make a difference.
I created Gestational Diabetes UK as a GD mum, for other mums. My goal is to provide clear, helpful information about gestational diabetes — from diagnosis through to birth and beyond.
You won’t find ads, pop-ups, or affiliate links on my website, and I don’t make money from any products mentioned. All links are shared purely for information.
Gestational Diabetes UK doesn’t sell physical products. Instead, the site is funded through an optional membership, which gives access to extra recipes and meal plans. This support helps keep the main site free for everyone and allows me to keep adding new content and resources.
If you’d like to help support the site and my work, you can find out more about the membership by clicking the link below.
Thanks,
Jo
Founder & Author of Gestational Diabetes UK
