Ultimate List of Low Carb, Keto Pantry Staples

On keto, it’s important to set yourself up for success. That means clearing out all the old junk sitting in your pantry and filling it with keto pantry staples.

These low carb pantry foods must be shelf-stable or long-lasting in the fridge and be super versatile (and, of course, keto-friendly).

Let’s get right to it so you can start to build your keto shopping list!

Our Keto Pantry Staples

Canned Fish

They are long-lasting, tasty, super healthy and versatile. Our go-to is canned wild-caught sardines from Wild Planet.

You get some really premium taste for low cost. They won’t go stale in your pantry and you can bust them out any time you want some meatiness in your dishes.

Wild Sockeye Salmon works as well (though it’s pricier).

Ideas: Sardine/Salmon salad (avocado mayo, salmon, salt, pepper, mustard) on top of a salad greens.

Note: Of course, you could always go with canned organic chicken breast, but you lose out on that added benefit from fish oil.

Condiments

 Mayonnaise

Avocado mayo is one of the true keto pantry essentials. Keto is all about fat and mayo is an easy way to up your fat intake in foods like dips, aioli, dressings, etc. We like the taste of Sir Kensington’s Avocado Oil Mayo the best.

Avocado Oil

 Great for cooking with its 500 degree F smoke point. And, it has a ton of great fat that’s not made from post-processing of crops like soy. This stuff is super versatile and adds a rich flavor (think fried chicken) to fried and sauteed foods.

Amazon (Wickedly Prime) now makes a really great avocado oil at an attractive price point.

Ghee

Ghee is clarified butter (cookd to remove all the protein and sugar), which makes it shelf-stable (great for no refrigeration). It can be used to add clean, protein-less, carb-less fat into savory and sweet dishes.

Choose a 100% grass-fed brand to up the levels of nutrients like CLA and omega-3. We like 4th & Heart Ghee because of the 100% grass-fed New Zealand cows (better than corn- and soy-fed organic).

MCT Oil

 
The gold standard of supplements. We don’t cook with it (there’s avocado oil for that). This stuff is essential since it can be used in so many things like salad dressing, keto coffee, and as a supplement for quick energy.

The C8 variety, like Brain Octane Oil, is the most efficient at being converted to ketones in your body, so that’s the kind we use.

Low Carb Noodles

 
They last forever and they are already cooked, so you can quickly and easily add them to your dishes.

Best for Asian: WellLean Fettuccine Noodles are extremely low carb and have a good texture due to added oat fiber with konjac flour. This stuff works wonderfully well in stir-fry Thai noodle dishes.

Best for Italian: Soybean noodles have a better bite that’s similar to pasta noodles. Try The Only Bean Brand of Spaghetti Noodle.

Pasta Sauce

 
Our favorite low carb pasta sauce is Due Cellucci Arrabbiatta Sauce at only 1g net carb per serving (6 servings per jar). Add it to your keto pasta noodles and you have yourself a quick and delicious meal. 

Bonus: Mix in some heavy cream or butter to your pasta sauce and make it even more decadent.

Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia nuts are nature’s gift to keto, with a nutrient profile that’s high in monounsaturated fat and low in carbs and protein. Just make sure you get high quality nuts! These Food to Live Macadamia Nuts are our absolute favorites. We used to not like the taste of raw macadamia nuts, but it turns out, if you find the right source, they taste amazing!

It’s better to buy these raw and refrigerate them for maximum freshness. Then, if you prefer, you can roast and season them as desired. If you buy pre-roasted nuts, the oils are much more prone to oxidation (if you’ve ever had stale-tasting nuts, you know exactly what we’re talking about). The point is, if you don’t like macadamia nuts, you may have just not tried them from a good source.

Canned Soup

 
Technically these are boxed, but Kettle & Fire Keto Soups are awesome! We know those classic Campbell’s soup cans are a staple in any pantry, but they are not low carb. Luckily Kettle & Fire has some great options so you can keep any easy source of nutritious, diet-friendly food handy.

They sell a variety pack with the following flavors: Broccoli Cheddar, Spicy Cauliflower, Butter Curry, Mushroom Bisque

Hint: Add some low carb rice— it goes together perfectly with the soup!

Canned Beans

 
Eden Organic Black Soybeans are basically the only naturally low carb bean and they look and taste just like normal black beans. They also happen to be organic, BPA-free and pressure-cooked to reduce your exposure to any anti-nutrients.

Don’t hesitate to add these to your keto pantry and you will always have easy access to refried beans (try using lard and salt) or any recipe that utilizes black beans. 

Broth

Broth is versatile and can be added to cauliflower rice to make risotto (riced cauliflower really absorbs the flavor). Or, you can just take it like a supplement. 

Kettle & Fire is artisan, small-batch and chock full of nutrients.

They also make a Lemongrass Pho flavor which goes extremely well with the low carb noodles from this list. 

Hot Cereal / Oatmeal

HighKey’s Instant Hot Cereal (<–10% off with code CONVENIENTKETO10) is perfect for when you need a quick, yet hearty snack. You just add hot water and stir (or use the microwave) and you are seconds away from a decadent bowl of hot cereal.

Cold Cereal

Your best bet is High Key’s Keto Granola Cereal (<–10% off with code CONVENIENTKETO10) or Sola’s Cereal. They are delicious and can be eaten as cereal with unsweetened nut milk. Or you can also snack on them straight-up.

See our extensive keto cereal review page here.

Macadamia Milk

 
Macadamias are great, but the milk from macadamia nuts is awesome because it gives you a low carb, rich and creamy substitute for dairy milk (including for cereal). 

You can use Milkadamia Unsweetened Macadamia Milk in place of milk in any recipe or use it as a coffee creamer. It’s extremely versatile and does not inject any unwanted flavor into your dishes.

Rice

LIVIVA Shirataki & Oat Fiber Rice is a nice low carb rice substitute. This stuff is perfect for stir-frying or for subbing for rice in any risotto or orzo-based recipe. It is much better than the pure Miracle Noodles/konjac rice due to the addition of the oat fiber. That little tweak is a game changer, along with using lime water as the liquid it is shipped in (i.e., not stinky).

Keto Bread

 

Bread is probably the last thing that comes to mind when thinking about low carb or keto. However, there are plenty of great low carb bread options. Since they come in bulk online, we just toss them in the freezer. They toast back up from frozen really well and they keep for months and months. Bread definitely hits all the criteria for being on this keto pantry list.

Our favorite is SoLo Carb Country White Bread (comes in 3- or 5-packs).

Low Carb Crackers

Exceptional Fiber Scandinavian Crackers are little crispbreads that are only 2g net carbs per big piece of cracker. If you’re new to Scandinavian crispbread, they basically don’t taste like anything at all. They’re definitely not like a Triscuit, for example, which you could easily eat on its own.

However, that means they are a perfect vessel for your creations, like cream cheese with some keto jelly or smoked salmon. And, of course, like the name implies, they are a great source of fiber!

Nut Butter

 

Macadamia Nut Butter

If you’ve never had macadamia nut butter, you are missing out. It’s seriously amazing stuff. F-Bomb makes a good one with only macadamia nuts and sea salt (only the plain is keto-friendly). We eat this stuff by the spoonful or on some toasted keto bread.

Note that not all nut butters areas keto-friendly, so don’t just go out and buy any type of nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, etc.)

Pecan Butter

 
We found some of these Guidry Farms Organic Pecan Butter jars at a local store and fell in love with the taste. Pecan butter has a distinct taste and they lightly roast the nuts to perfection before grinding them. It’s so easy to spoon some out and eat it as a snack. If you mix in some sweetener like stevia or allulose, it essentially becomes like a decadent scoop of pecan pie. 

Jelly/Jam

Good Good Keto Jam is seriously awesome. The flavor is amazing and it stores really well in the fridge. We eat it on crackers or add to sour cream to make a “yogurt.” One of the ingredients is a prebiotic and there is no sugar added (sweetened with erythritol). Literally every person who tries this loves it, so you can’t go wrong.

Low Carb Sweeteners

 Honey Substitute: Allulose syrup from Wholesome is a perfect substitute for honey and it has zero glycemic impact. It doesn’t lose its properties when heated, so we use this in hot drinks that require honey or simple syrup.

White Sugar: Swerve Sweetener is a good sugar replacement for non-heated dishes. Swerve contains oligosaccharides which may break down into sugars when used for baking, so we avoid heating it whenever possible.

Powdered Sugar: Swerve Confectioners is a powdered sugar substitute, which doesn’t generally need to be heated, so you should be safe to use it to top most desserts.

Sugar for Baking: HighKey Monk Fruit/Allulose/Stevia/Erythritol blend is great for baking, as it doesn’t include any inulin/FOS that would break down into sugars during heating. 

Brown Sugar: Swerve Brown Sugar is the only player in this game. Again, it has FOS, so use this in non-heated recipes or where it isn’t exposed to heat for too long.

Flours

 
Almond Flour is the low carb flour substitute king. Pretty much any keto baking recipe is going to call for almond flour. This Blue Diamond Almond Flour is huge value-sized bag and so be sure to store the unused portion in the refrigerator for maximum freshness.

 
A versatile breadcrumb substitute (chicken parm, mozzarella sticks) is Carrington Farms Ground Lupin. This stuff might even work better than real breadcrumbs for breaded recipes, so definitely check it out. It also comes in flour form (Lupina Lupin Flour). Note: Since it is a bean, it is high in protein.

Miscellaneous

 
Chocolate Bars: Lily’s Sweets has the best low carb chocolate bars that are widely available online and in stores.

Chocolate Chips for baking: We like ChocZero chocolate chips (<–10% off with code CONVENIENTKETO) for baking, since they use soluble corn fiber, which isn’t known to be heat-sensitive (i.e., doesn’t break down into sugars).

Matcha: High in nutrients, low in carbs. This is a nice way to inject flavor into Swerve cake mix to switch the flavors up a bit. The Jade Leaf brand is top-notch. 

Cacao Powder: This stuff is so versatile. You can make some really good hot cocoa or just add it to your keto coffee to make it a mocha. Plus, it has tons of polyphenols and antioxidants. Get the good stuff so it isn’t bitter. We like Viva Organics Organic Cacao Powder.

Sugar-Free Soda

 
Say what you will about soda, but sometimes you just need  some sweetness. Stick to stevia-based soda since it doesn’t spike your insulin. The main brand is Zevia Zero Calorie Soda, which figured out a way to temper the bitterness found in most stevia drinks. Definitely worth a try if you have a sweet tooth.

Keto Hacks

• Apple Cider Vinegar helps to control your blood sugar. Take some at the beginning of your meal, diluted or use it with olive oil for an easy salad dressing.
• Acacia Senegal Powder slows gastric emptying to modulate your body’s blood sugar response. It also feeds your good gut bacteria. Take some at the beginning of your meal with at least 8 oz of water.

Other Ideas

• Frozen Meat
  • Self Explanatory
• Frozen Cruciferous Veggies
  • These are the lowest carb and nutrient-packed
  • Easy to throw in a stir-fry plus frozen veggies are flash-frozen at the peak of freshness
  • Think broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, cabbage, Brussels sprouts

And now you’re armed with a list to set you up for success in your keto and/or low carb lifestyle. 

Any other suggestions you think should be on this list? Let us know in the comments!