Top 8 Best Nuts for Keto Snacking (& 2 you should avoid!)

In this post, we are going to highlight the 8 best nuts for keto and tell you about 2 nuts you should definitely watch out for.

Why Nuts?

Nuts are the ultimate food for your keto and low carb toolbox.

• Nuts and seeds are highly portable. You can easily take them almost anywhere.
• Nuts are naturally tasty, filling and are some of the most nutritionally dense foods on earth.
• Seeds and nuts are a triple threat, combining the best of fat and protein content with relatively minimal carbohydrates.
• You don’t have to cook them!

So what are the best nuts for keto?

It depends! The first thing we need to check is the manufacturer and source.

The Brand Difference for the Best Keto Nuts

There is always going to be variation in nutrition across different brands and manufacturers. This is simply due to the differences in sourcing and cultivation methods.

To be safe, always check the nutritional label when purchasing nuts!

In our list, we take this into account. We list out the best keto nuts specifically by the actual brands that we eat.

Watch Out for these 2 nuts!

You are generally pretty safe eating most nuts on keto.

However, pistachios and cashews are definitely not the best nuts to eat on keto. They are on the higher end of net carbs due to the greater amount of natural sugar these nuts contain. And, since they are easy to binge on, the carbs add up really quickly!

Avoid Nut Flours and Nut Butters. Instead, snack on Whole Nuts

Another thing to watch for is nut butter which may contain added sugars to enhance the taste.

Since nuts are so nutritionally and calorically dense, you do have to monitor quantity more closely to ensure you stay within your target macros.

It is very easy to go overboard on nuts when consuming them as a part of a product that uses a nut flour, such as almond flour. We find that it’s a lot easier to eat a half jar of nut butter or a few almond flour cookies versus eating the same amount in the whole nut form.

Therefore, we always recommend that you only snack on whole nuts!

Pro-Tip:

Generally, the fruits with the lowest glycemic load are berries. So why not pair the some of the best keto nuts with the top keto fruits to make the best low carb trail mix in seconds?!

Low Carb Berries (Unsweetened and Dried):

• Golden Berries
  • 3g net carbs per 1/4 cup
  • Tart! And our FAVORITE!
• Mulberries
  • 4g net carbs per 1/4 cup
• Cranberries
  • 3g net carbs per 1/4 cup
• Goji Berries
  • 4g net carbs per 1/4 cup

**If you’re feeling extra adventurous: Cut up and add your favorite low carb and keto chocolate to the trail mix! Check out our article on our favorite keto friendly chocolate options on the market!

Affiliate Note: When you click on some of the links on this page, we may receive a small kickback from Amazon, which in turn helps us keep the lights on. We greatly appreciate your support and hope you discover some awesome keto and low carb products from our site.

The Best Nuts for Keto

#1  Macadamia Nuts

We are NUTTY for Macadamia Nuts, especially Kirkland Signature Macadamia Nuts. To us, they have the best ratio of saltiness-to-nut and the perfect amount of dry roasted flavor.

This brand of macadamia nuts is sourced from tropical locales all around the world, one of which is Australia. In our opinion, Australia is where the best-tasting macadamia nuts are grown.

Macadamia nuts are some of the highest calorie nuts out there and have tons of fat making them one of the best nuts for keto.

Per 1/4 cup (28g), there is an astounding 24g of fat and 2g net carbs which is hard to beat! This is really great for the keto diet and allows you to hit your fat macros easily, especially if you’re struggling to eat fat in other forms.

Likewise, macadamia nuts are low in polyunsaturated fat and chock full of monounsaturated fat. Even more, they are low protein! This is definitely nature’s gift to humanity.

Do note that you can definitely overdo it very quickly, so I would monitor your intake closely. But please indulge! We have a couple of servings of macadamia nuts a day and these are our absolute favorite / best keto snacks.

Pro-Tip #1: We use macadamia nuts to make some awesome low carb white chocolate macadamia nuts. Interested? Check out our recipe here.

Pro-Tip #2: Since there is so much nutrition packed into macadamia nuts, they are great for traveling! These have saved us on some long flights where we didn’t have access to very keto-friendly food.

#2  Pumpkin Seeds

We love Eden Organic Spicy Pumpkin Seeds. They come in convenient little portable packs that you can take anywhere.

The Eden Organic Pumpkin Seeds all have zero net carbs, while other brands generally range from 1-2g net carb per 1/4 cup. This is extremely important to note!

For example, another popular brand of potential pumpkin seeds keto options, Go Raw Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds, actually has a net carb count of 3g per 1/4 cup serving. To be fair, that’s still decent, but can easily add up!

Like other nuts, pumpkin seeds have a generous amount of fat, around 16g per serving!

Also, their Spicy Pumpkin Seed flavor adds a really nice kick with some cayenne pepper and tamari soy sauce (definitely our favorite flavor!).

#3  Raw Walnuts

Walnuts have a very distinct taste and are one of the lowest net carb nuts available. I’m sure some people eat walnuts plain but one of the main reasons they are on the best nuts for keto diet list is because we love to add these to our salads They add both a crunch (missing croutons, anyone?) and a lot of fattiness.

Again, not all brands are created equal. However, the Nut Cravings Raw Walnuts brand has ZERO net carbs per 1/4 cup, so snack away!

Pro-Tip: Our favorite keto hack is adding walnuts to a Caesar salad in lieu of croutons. The flavors complement perfectly and it helps keep you full for a long time.

#4  Pecans

I’ll start by saying that you’re not going to see candied pecans on this list. Sorry!

We like raw or salted pecans the best.

Unsurprisingly, we find that pecans go very well with sweetness. So, we highly recommend adding some of the low carb berries we listed above to the pecans to make a trail/nut mix.

The sweetness complements the unique flavor of the pecan very well and being in Texas, we just had to rep these native keto nuts of ours.

By the way, we found a bulk brand on Amazon that sells Texas-grown halved pecan keto options that come in at only 1g net carb per 1/4 cup with 21g of fat!

#5  Brazil Nuts

Brazil nuts are relatively exotic and we’ve seen them in a lot of organic and natural trail mixes. We find the flavor of these nuts to be pretty neutral, so they can definitely be bolstered by adding some low carb berries.

The stats here are good as well, with the Nut Cravings brand of Brazil Nuts having only 1g net carb per 1/4 cup with 19g of fat.

A quick note on brazil nuts: Brazil nuts are an excellent source of selenium. However, it is such a good source that you can overdo it and have too much selenium in your diet, which can lead to various health side effects.

Basically, enjoy Brazil nuts in moderation!

#6  Almonds

Almonds are the most common nut that we run into in the States, so there’s not much we can say about almonds that you don’t already know.

They are extremely flavorful and come in at only 2g net carbs per 1/4 cup (16g fat). Almonds also characteristically do not have a lot of saturated fat, so you don’t get as much of that fatty taste of other nuts on this list.

They are however, higher in polyunsaturated fat. So if there’s any nut you should moderate intake of, it’s almonds. Between that and how ubiquitous almond flour is, that’s why we don’t list these higher on the best nuts on keto list.

The Blue Diamond Lightly Salted Almonds variety has a great roasted crunch with the perfect amount of salt.

#7  Peanuts

Peanuts are one of those nuts that are highly bingeable. That gives them a bad rep in the low carb and keto worlds. However, if you have good self-control, they are low enough to be on our list and can be enjoyed in moderation.

The Peanut Shop Handcooked Virginia Peanuts have only 4g net carbs per 1/4 cup and 13g of fat.

Note: Most canned peanuts add sugar, so beware!

Pro-Tip: You can limit the number of peanuts you eat by buying the variety with the shell still on.

#8  Sunflower Seeds

You don’t have to be a baseball player to enjoy sunflower seeds. They are actually extremely versatile and tasty. Woodstock Sunflower Seeds keto option comes in at only 2g net carbs per 1/4 cup (15g fat).

Again, like the peanuts above, you can limit the amount you eat by keeping it in the shell, like the classic David Sunflower Seeds.

Okay. That was our list of the best nuts to eat on keto!

What are your favorite nuts to snack on? Did you find anything new that you are going to try? Did we miss any nuts or seeds?

Let us know in the comments below!