The keto diet is the perfect diet for cheese and meat lovers.
The Keto diet a high-fat, low-carb eating plan designed to induce ketosis. It’s a state where your body uses fat as a primary energy source rather than glycogen.
On the keto diet, rules have it that you limit your carb intake to 5-10% and up fat to 80%.
This means you see far more bacon, avocados, butter, and fatty steaks on the keto menu than any regular diet.
While that may just be fine for meals, but what would you have for snack, you may ask. Well, that’s what we’ll cover in this post.
For keto dieters, snacks can be the most challenging part. Most healthy snacks on the market are too high in carbs and sugar to be Keto.
Conventional energy bars and most fruits are all off limits on the ketogenic diet.
To stay in the state of ketosis, you must limit your carb intake to below 10% of your total calories.
For me, based on the macros from the Keto Calculator, that’s 25 grams of carbs a day at 8% of total calories.
That’s less than meager, considering that’s the amount of carbs in 1 medium-sized apple.
If this puts you completely out of whack on keto snack ideas, take a breath.
We have ample ideas.
In fact, we gathered a list of approved 17 keto snacks that follow all the keto diet rules.
Not only that, they are delicious, easy to put together, and perfect options as grab-n-go.
They are within the keto macros, keep you in the state of ketosis, and bring you satiety.
Most importantly, they’ll keep your body burning fat for energy, getting rid of body fat while at it.
1. Keto Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Didn’t I say keto diet is a cheese lover’s heaven? Well, this low-carb keto cheese cracker snack is here to prove it.
If you are into crunchy snacks, you’d love this too.
The best part is, these cheese crackers are super easy to make and completely fail-proof. All you need is less than 30 minutes and just a few ingredients.
Keto Low-Carb Cheese Crackers Recipe:
- 2 cup cheese of your choice (I like Parmesan but cheddar is also good too!)
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried herb seasonings like thyme, oregano, basil…
Makes 4 servings:
- On the stove top, mix all the ingredients except for the egg and seasonings and herbs in a medium pot. Stir it until the cheese melts and the almond flour is fully mixed with the cheese mixture.
- Remove it from the heat and cool it for 2-3 minutes before adding the egg. You don’t want the egg to cook in the pot but you don’t want to wait until the cheese gets hard.
- Add the egg, salt, and seasonings and mix with the dough while the cheese is still soft and blends.
- Mix it together until all the ingredients are fully combined.
- On a flat oiled pan, place the dough and flatten it to a thin layer. If you are using a rolling pin, put a parchment paper on top of the dough for easy rolling.
- Cut the thinned out dough into small bite-size pieces with a knife or pizza cutter.
- Bake the sheet in the oven at 450 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Flip and bake for another 5-7 minutes on the other side. The baking time may depend on the thickness of your crackers. You may need to bake it for 8-9 minutes per side for the crispiness you are after. Take out the crackers and cool them before enjoying them!
- The original recipe is from isaveatoz.com
Serving size: 1, Calories: 274, Fat: 20.5g, Protein: 19.2g, Carbs: 4.1g, and Fiber: 0.8g
2. Raspberries and Blackberries (3.5-gram carbs/1/4 cup)
For those with more sweet cravings, here are a couple of fruits that are actually allowed on the keto diet.
While most fruits are not allowed on keto for being too high in sugar and carb, but not these berries.
Raspberries and blackberries are two berries low in carbs. Every cup of these berries only amounts to 15 grams of carbs. For every 1/4 cup of raspberries and blackberries combined, you get 3-4 grams of carbs.
You can also add these berries to your Greek yogurt breakfast as I did in the sample keto diet meal plan.
Serving size: 1/4 cup (both berries combined), Calories: 16, Fat: 0.2g, Protein: 0.4g, Carbs: 3.6g, and Fiber: 2g
3. Dark Chocolate
For those with a sweet tooth, here is another snack that saves your cravings while on the ketogenic diet.
It’s dark chocolate.
Yes, chocolate can be a keto-friendly snack as long as it’s dark and with limited sugar.
Cocoa and dark chocolate are a great source of antioxidants known to improve health.
The trick is to stick with unsweetened chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content.
Serving size: 1oz, Calories: 144, Fat: 15.5g, Protein: 4.1g, Carbs: 7.2g, and Fiber: 4.6g
4. Vegetable Sticks with Cottage Cheese Dip
Here is another one for cheese lovers!
Cottage cheese is a high-protein, low-carb cheese with a net carb count of 8 grams per cup. You also get it to makes a perfect dip for veggies like celery sticks, summer cherry tomatoes, or broccoli.
It’s also a perfect pack-n-go snack for school, work, or play. Though the recipe below is plain salt and pepper, you can add herbs and dry seasoning packs to dress it up. Feel free to use cayenne pepper for a bit of heat!
- 1/2 cup of cottage cheese
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch of sea salt
- Pinch of pepper
- 8 celery sticks
Makes 2 Servings:
- Mix the cottage cheese with salt and pepper. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil on top.
- Dip with vegetable sticks of your choice like celery, broccoli, and cucumber.
Serving size: 1, Calories: 114, Fat: 8.1g, Protein: 7.9g, Carbs: 2.6g, and Fiber: 0.3g
5. Beef jerky
If you are out on the go and must pick up something at the store, pick up either nuts or jerky.
The only challenge with beef jerky is that depending on the brands and flavors, they may be high in carbs.
Lower carb brands generally have about 7 grams of carbs per 1 oz of jerky.
Adjust your serving size to fit your carb budget.
Serving size: 1 oz, Calories: 90, Fat: 1.5g, Protein: 11g, Carbs: 7g, and Fiber: 0g
6. String Cheese
This is another one of perfect on the go snack you can have being a keto dieter. Keep a stack in your fridge so you can easily take on with you to work or school.
String cheese contains both fat and protein, which help you stay full and bring satiety.
Organic Valley’s string cheese, for example, contains no carb, 6 grams of fat and 7 grams of protein per one stick. Each unit which weighs 28grams brings you 80 calories, so be sure to account for the calories.
Serving size: 1 stick, Calories: 80, Fat: 5g, Protein: 7g, Carbs: 1g, and Fiber: 0g
7. Hard Boiled Eggs
Just because you need high-fat, low-cal snacks don’t mean you can only eat cheese for snacks.
Eggs have both high protein and fat content without any amount of carb. They bring you satiety and fulfillment, perfect for your weight loss efforts.
You can have one and pair with other items on the list or have two for snacks.
Below are nutritional facts of 1 egg:
Serving size: 1 egg, Calories: 63, Fat: 4.4g, Protein: 5.5g, Carbs: 0.3g, and Fiber: 0g
8. Walnuts
While a vast majority of nuts including walnuts are high in fat and low in carbs, making them a solid keto snack. Walnuts are no exception.
They are heart-healthy and make a perfect combo with dark chocolate.
To be considerate of your calorie cap, stick to one serving size, which is 1/4 cup. That’s about one handful of nuts.
Here are walnut nutritional facts:
Serving size: 1/4 cup, Calories: 193, Fat: 18.4g, Protein: 7.5g, Carbs: 3.1g, and Fiber: 2.1g
9. Pistachios
Though pistachios are part of the nut group, they aren’t like any other nuts. While pistachios are far lower in calories than other nuts, they have been one of the highest in protein. They are also quite high in fat, making them very keto-friendly.
For weight loss, I recommend pistachios in shells. Having to take its shell out slows you down and prevents overeating.
Serving size: 1/2 cup (with shells), Calories: 160, Fat: 14g, Protein: 8g, Carbs: 6g, and Fiber: 3g
10. Sunflower Seeds
Like nuts, seeds make great keto snacks especially sunflower seeds.
They are full of healthy fat and fiber with a moderate amount of protein. In every 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds, you find 7g of carbs.
It’s also super easy to take them on the go and have them when you are hungry.
Serving size: 1/4 cup, Calories: 67, Fat: 5.9g, Protein: 2.4g, Carbs: 2.3g, and Fiber: 1g
11. Avocado
Avocado is a popular fruit on the keto diet. It’s one low-carb fruit high in healthy fats, fiber, and potassium.
You can slice them and eat as is. This is practically what I do on my busiest day.
I treat 1/4 avocado as one serving but feel free to adjust your serving size depending on your needs.
Serving size: 1/4 avocado Calories: 103, Fat: 9.8g, Protein: 1g, Carbs: 4.3g, and Fiber: 3.4g
12. Cucumber and Guacamole
If you find having plain avocado boring, try going an extra mile to make guacamole.
To make simple guacamole, mush one-fourth of avocado with the back of a fork in a cup. Combine it with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chopped cilantro to make guacamole.
Slice one-fourth of cucumber and dip it into the fresh guacamole for low-carb keto snack.
Calories: 125, Fat: 10g, Protein: 1.9g, Carbs: 9.8g, and Fiber: 4.1g
14. Greek Yogurt with Almonds
Greek yogurt is another common item on the ketogenic diet. It’s rich in protein, fat, yet lower in carbs than regular yogurt.
To stay low sugar, choose plain yogurt.
To enjoy, add 2 oz of plain Greek yogurt into a bowl. Sprinkle 0.5 oz of almond slices and sprinkle a dash of cinnamon powder if desired.
Calories: 98, Fat: 7.1g, Protein: 4.5g, Carbs: 5.7g, and Fiber: 2.1g
15. Cheese Crisp
I’m the first one to admit that I can be quite lazy about cooking. If you are anything like me, you’ll love this Keto cheese crisp snack.
It takes 2 ingredients. That’s it.
- 2 slices of sliced cheese (cheddar, Swiss, parmesan, etc)
- 1 pinch of garlic powder
To make cheese crisp, simply cut your sliced cheese into bite-sized pieces. Heat up the oven to 350 degrees. Lay them on an oiled baking pan and bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before enjoying them.
Calories: 114, Fat: 9.3g, Protein: 7g, Carbs: 0.6 g, and Fiber:0g
16. Berry-Lime Popsicles
On a hot summer day, you want keto friendly popsicles ready in your freezer. Well, these are the perfect ones.
They are also super easy to make and take less than 10 minutes.
- 1/2 can coconut cream
- 1/4 cup raspberries
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 6 drops of liquid stevia
Makes 6 pops. 1 per serving.
Direction:
- To make these ice pops, blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour the mixture into the molds and freeze in the freezer overnight. Enjoy one pop at a time!
Calories: 140, Fat: 14.2g, Protein: 1g, Carbs: 3.3g, and Fiber:0g
17. Radish Chips
You can turn countless vegetables into baked chips, but none is as good as these radish chips. You can use radishes in any size, but note that your size of chips depends on your original radish size.
To make these salted radish chips, you need 3 ingredients.
- 8 oz radishes (in any size)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil or avocado oil
- Dash of sea salt
Servings: 2
Directions:
- Use a slicer to slice your radish thin. Heat up the oil in a small-sized pan. Drop your radish slices into the oil to deep-fry.
- When the chips start to brown and curl up, remove them from the oil and place them on a paper towel on a plate. Sprinkle with salt.
Calories: 37, Fat: 0g, Protein: 1.5g, Carbs: 7.5g, Fiber: 3.5g
The Takeaway
I hope this list of keto friendly snacks gives you more keto snack options. All the options are easy to make and delicious.
If you have some favorite keto diet snacks that you don’t see in the list, please share with us in a comment below.
We’ll continue to add more keto snacks to this list so you can have more options to add to your ketogenic diet meal plan.