Nope, properly geared front chainrings is the answer to getting low gears (with a decently high gear still) to avoid ridiculous dustbin lid cassettes.
The biggest cassette sprocket I use is a 32T, that's with a 33/50 on my gravel bike, on the touring machine I use a 23T inner c/ring and a 28 cassette, that gets me up a short 14% dig with loaded panniers and I'm almost 100kg.
I do use a 28/48T setup on my retro machine (stronglight 99 cranks) and so I can get away with a 26T big for all the rides I do on that bike as I don't cane it in the slightest.