Meat, vegetables, butter, eggs, cheese, nuts, avocados, and fermented foods provide the core of foods for the keto diet. Eat as many of the keto superfoods as possible to avoid the dirty keto diet.
Table of contents
- You can get a lot of your keto foods at Costco if you have a membership.
- Eating the right kind of foods can possibly prevent and even reverse type 2 diabetes
- I am going to break this keto food list into three groups.
- Shopping for keto foods is definitely one of the difficulties of following the keto diet. Making a keto shopping list before you go will definitely help.
- The Lazy Keto Diet Food List
- The Keto Diet Gold Standard Food list:
- The Everyday Keto Food List:
- The Dirty Keto Food List
- My keto food go-to recipe
- You can switch out the salmon for almost any other meat.
- Salads are you best friend and salad ingredients should be on your keto diet food list.
- The above salad is massive and only contains approximately 12.3 grams net carbohydrates.
- Ingredients for the above keto salad with carbohydrate estimate:
- There is another keto diet food list that I want to discuss.
The Keto Diet requires you to limit food intake that in total do not exceed 30 grams of carbohydrates per day. This will keep your insulin low and keep you in at least a partial state of ketosis in order to burn fat.
This Keto Diet Food List is not all-inclusive, there is an almost infinite variety of foods that are reasonably low carbohydrate and keto-friendly. Most items are on this list are relatively easy to find and all are acceptable keto food items.
You can get a lot of your keto foods at Costco if you have a membership.
If you noticed above I specifically included fermented foods as the core of my keto food list. It is imperative that you focus on improving your digestive health to prevent keto constipation.
Eating the right kind of foods can possibly prevent and even reverse type 2 diabetes
Contrary to popular belief, there is an abundance of deliciously healthy, low carbohydrate food choices available for those that choose the Ketogenic Diet. When explaining the keto diet it’s better to focus on what you can not eat, rather than on what you can eat.
Once you start keto you will be in ketosis and be energizing your body with fat and ketones instead of bread, potatoes, rice and pasta.
I am going to break this keto food list into three groups.
The Gold Standard Group is the cream of the crop foods, immensely healthy and very conducive to good health. The best of the best, but also the most expensive and sometimes harder to find. This is where you will find your organic, free-range, wild-caught, grass-fed keto food products.
Shopping for keto foods is definitely one of the difficulties of following the keto diet. Making a keto shopping list before you go will definitely help.
The Everyday Group is foods that will likely make up the majority of your Ketogenic Diet. This group is keto-friendly and relatively inexpensive, but not quite as supremely healthy as the Gold Standard group. This category is not necessarily grass-fed, pasture-raised or organic.
The Lazy Keto Diet Food List
Lazy Keto or also known as dirty keto foods are is still low carb, but it includes foods that might not be quite as healthy. This is your least expensive Keto Food list and we all eat from this group from time to time.
When eating out it’s very hard not to eat dirty keto because most restaurants cook with cheap, unhealthy “vegetable” oils. They are not really oil from vegetables.
Keto chaffles are borderline dirty keto, but they are so very delicious. Here is an in depth article on Keto chaffles along with a good chaffle recipe.
If you eat too much food from the dirty keto diet food list it could increase oxidation and raise inflammation in the body. Dirty Keto can even contribute to you getting fatty liver disease or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease NAFLD).
You could offset some of the damage by taking powerful antioxidants, but still, it’s best to avoid lazy keto foods if you can.
Above: Grass-fed beef patty, cheese, onions, tomato slice, avocado, bacon, fried egg, seared jalapeno on a bed of lettuce.
The Keto Diet Gold Standard Food list:
- Wild-caught sockeye salmon, trout, mackerel, herring and sardines
- Beef Liver
- Broccoli and alfalfa sprouts
- Natto
- Avocados
- Organic, extra virgin, cold-pressed, olive and avocado oil
- Grass-fed beef
- Free-range, cage-free chicken eggs
- Grass-fed, organic, whole milk kefir
- Organic greens: dandelion, mustard, collard, turnip
- Kimchi, sauerkraut
- Fermented Beet Kvass
- Organic asparagus
- Organic Mushrooms
- Cheese: Gouda, Brie, Jarlsberg, Edam
- Organic cucumber
- Organic red peppers
- Olives and organic cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
- Free-range organic chicken legs, wings, and thighs
- Organic golden flaxseed meal
- Gum acacia and inulin (digestive health)
- Organic Chia seeds and hemp hearts
- Grass-fed ghee
- Organic, virgin, cold-pressed, unrefined coconut oil
- Best keto nuts: Macadamia nuts, pecans and walnuts
- Organic, pure, unsweetened, Cocoa powder
- Raw garlic
- Organic Spinach
- Organic kale
- Himalayan Pink salt, pepper, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, basil, cumin, ginger, parsley
- Organic apple cider vinegar
You might be wondering why fruit is not on this keto food list? Most fruit with the exception of berries is too high in carbohydrates to be an acceptable keto food choice. Here is a complete explanation: Fruit on the keto diet
The Everyday Keto Food List:
- Fish and seafood
- Beef
- Pork
- Lamb
- Chicken (legs, thighs, wings)
- Eggs
- Butter
- Bacon and bacon grease
- Beef tallow
- Keto coffee (Bulletproof)
- Kale
- Spinach
- Avocado
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Green peppers
- Jalapeno peppers
- Lettuce (salad)
- Cabbage
- Cucumber
- Spinach
- Radishes
- Eggplant
- Brussels sprouts
- Red onions
- Cauliflower
- Green beans
- Olives and olive oil
- Coconut oil
- Keto approved nuts: Hazelnuts, Brazil nuts
- Cheese (hard)
- Berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries)
- Lemon water
- Zevia (carbonated water, flavored with stevia)
- Bubly (carbonated water, slightly flavored)
The Dirty Keto Food List
- Keto chaffles
- Lunchmeat
- Sausage
- Hot dogs
- Bacon
- Keto friendly peanut butter
- Pork rinds
- Soft cheese
- Sliced cheese
- Keto snacks (packaged)
- Cream Cheese
- Fat bombs
- Restaurant or fast food
- Vegetable oil (soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, canola, corn, peanut, sesame, rice bran oil)
- Artificial sweeteners: Aspartame, Sucralose, Splenda, Saccharin, Sorbitol, Xylitol
- Blaze keto crust pizza
My keto food go-to recipe
This is one of my favorite everyday Keto Diet recipes. The beauty of this recipe is the versatility. Without a doubt, this is my #1 keto food list recipe.
You can switch out the salmon for almost any other meat.
Pork chops and chicken thighs are an outstanding alternative for the salmon. Also, you can switch out almost any other vegetable for the spinach. Brussel sprouts or broccoli are a good vegetable alternative.
Time needed: 35 minutes.
Salmon and Cream Keto Diet Recipe
- Add 1/4 stick of salted butter in a large frying pan.
Heat and melt the butter, but not hot enough for the butter to start smoking. Sear the salmon in the hot pan, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the salmon and set aside.
- Add to the frying pan: minced garlic, black pepper, chopped onions (to taste) and a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
Skip the red pepper flakes if you don’t like it spicy.
- Cut in half, 1 full cup of cherry tomatoes and add the tomatoes to the pan.
- Add ingredients to the pan:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 1/2 stick of cream cheese and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese or whatever cheese you have available.
- Simmer for about ten minutes until the cream cheese is melted and then put the Salmon back in the pan.
Put as much spinach in the pan as you can and cook the spinach down. Add more spinach if desired and add additional salt and pepper for taste.
- Simmer for about 10 more minutes until sauce thickens and enjoy.
Caution: This keto diet meal is very rich and it won’t take much for you to feel satisfied, so don’t put too much on your plate. Remember, only eat until you are full.
Salads are you best friend and salad ingredients should be on your keto diet food list.
The above salad is massive and only contains approximately 12.3 grams net carbohydrates.
Yes red peppers are a little high in carbohydrates and not really keto friendly (1.75 grams carbohydrates per 1/8 cup). However, they are delicious and are very high in vitamin C and folate.
If you are eating one meal a day (OMAD) the above salad at 12.3 net carbs would easily fit into your ketogenic Diet macronutriet limit.
Onions are also a little high (1.5 grams carbohydrates per 1/8 cup) . I would still recommend onions however because they contain a special carbohydrate called oligofructose which is a prebiotic fiber that can prevent keto constipation and fix your digestive problems.
Ingredients for the above keto salad with carbohydrate estimate:
- Lettuce (1 gram per cup).
- Spinach leaves (1 gram per cup).
- Red onions (1.5 grams per 1/8 cup)
- Red peppers (1.75 grams per 1/8 cup)
- Eggs (.60 per 1 large egg)
- Green and black olives (5 olives .05 net carbs)
- Pepperoni Slices (1.2 grams per 1/4 cup)
- Broccoli florets (3 grams per 1/2 cup)
- Cheese (grated) (.20 grams per 1/8 cup)
- Cherry tomatoes (1.25 grams per 1/4 cup)
- Blue Cheese crumbles (0)
- Grilled chicken (0)
- Mushrooms (.75 per 1/8 cup)
- Bacon crumbles (0)
- Olive oil (dressing) (0)
My other go-to keto diet food is avocado deviled eggs and you can even have them as part of an egg fast if you’re trying to lose weight in a hurry.
There is another keto diet food list that I want to discuss.
This one even exceeds the gold standard list. These foods outlined in this article are considered the ultimate keto superfoods.
I also recommend following the YouTube celebrities Keto Connect for some great keto food recipes.
If you are new to keto be sure and check out this frequently asked questions and keto diet plan for beginners guide.
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