Keto is all about high-fat, low carb foods. So naturally, things like bacon, steak and eggs get the spotlight and foods like bread and pasta are kicked to the curb.
But everyday, more and more food companies are releasing keto-friendly versions of your favorite foods in categories that you would never think of as being keto friendly.
We’ve taken some of these popular categories and chosen our absolute favorite product (or two) in each category.
But, what exactly makes these products keto or low carb? They use mainly low glycemic ingredients (meaning they won’t spike your blood glucose levels) and they contain lower amounts of carbohydrates.
Let’s jump right in!
(This post is sponsored by our partner Kalona SuperNatural)
Keto or Low Carb Approved Foods and Brands
Bread: SoLo Carb Bread
Solo Carb is an extremely popular option from a small artisan bakery in Wisconsin. They nailed the texture and taste, making this the go-to bread for many people in the keto world.
Loaves are baked fresh and promptly packaged and sent via expedited shipping.
Tip: Freeze some loaves– they last in the freezer for a long time and work well toasted or thawed from frozen.
Cereal: Catalina Crunch & HighKey “Rice Krispies”
With a texture similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Catalina Crunch is a great lower carb option that also just happens to vegan and free from sugar alcohols. What makes this great is, like the name implies, a true crunch. Our favorite Cinnamon flavor, which is perfectly sweetened with monk fruit extract. The chocolate flavor tastes like the cookie portion of an Oreo.
There is also a really good “Rice Krispies” style option from HighKey Snacks. Made from mainly milk proteins, HighKey pulled of some magic and made some awesome Rice Krispies-style keto cereal. And, yes, you can use some peanut butter to make them into keto Rice Krispies treats.
To eat with both, a good bet is unsweetened nut milk. Our favorite is still Milkadamia’s Vanilla Unsweetened Macadamia Milk, which takes keto cereals to the next level without any sweeteners.
Or, you can try some keto “milk” below!
Dairy Milk: Kalona SuperNatural
Since the taste of dairy is irreplaceable, we use keto friendly heavy cream from Kalona SuperNatural to make our “keto hack milk.” We prefer this small-batch vat pasteurized, organic, pasture-raised heavy cream because it also has zero additives (literally just cream).
Besides the nutritional benefits of this quality of dairy, it’s also perfect for our milk hack.
Take one cup of cold, filtered water (8 oz) and add to it 1 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Sweeten to taste (we use 3 scoops of BetterStevia powder) and blend well using a blender.
It tastes just like milk without all the sugar and is great with cereal!
Oatmeal: HighKey Instant Hot Cereal
The HighKey hot cereal is made from mainly nuts and seeds but cooks to the texture of oatmeal thanks to some added collagen and milk protein isolate. Plus, all it takes is water and a minute or so in the microwave, and you’ve got a piping hot, easy and tasty meal.
The cinnamon variety is our favorite flavor.
Tip: Add some butter and a dash of heavy cream to make this even more decadent.
Cookies: SuperFat / HighKey / Perfect Keto
There are so many awesome keto cookies that it’s difficult to choose, but let’s break it down based on what your cookie style preference might be.
Peanut Butter
SuperFat’s Peanut Butter Cookies are a must try. They are mini cookies and taste just like Hershey’s Peanut Butter Blossoms.
Famous Amos
HighKey came roaring into success with their Famous Amos-style keto mini cookies. They are a spot-on copy cat of Famous Amos cookies, yet keto friendly!
Classic Chocolate Chip
Perfect Keto’s Chocolate Chip nailed the soft, chewy classic chocolate chip cookie. They didn’t skimp on the butter, which helps make them reminiscent of buttery, homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Crackers: Julian Bakery Primal Thin Crackers
Julian Bakery Primal Thin Crackers are low carb and also USDA Organic. It’s important to get a nice crispy texture with crackers and these crackers do the trick. The flavor stays out of the way of whatever you’re eating them with (tuna or egg salad are great options as well as spinach artichoke dip).
Another option for the crunch-crazed is Cheese Whisps, which are made from 100% cheese and are a crispy, salty delight.
Granola Bars: Munk Pack Keto Bars
Munk Pack makes nut bars and also Chewy-style granola bars. They nailed the taste and texture and the bars are low protein compared to most other options. Seriously, these are AMAZING bars that adult kids and real kids can equally enjoy.
Tip: These are great for road trips and hiking expeditions.
Pancakes & Waffles: Birch Benders
We love the Birch Benders keto pancake mix because it tastes good and is no fuss. The texture, like most keto pancakes, is slightly on the eggier side, but it’s super easy to make– just add water and stir and your mix is ready for the griddle.
Birch Benders also makes great keto frozen waffles that are also keto. We eat these with the syrup below for a really nice breakfast. They are available at Target in the freezer aisle and are a quick, tasty keto option.
Syrup: All-u-Lose
The tastiest syrup that doesn’t contain questionable ingredients is All-U-Lose Maple Syrup. It’s made of a natural sugar called allulose that does not get digested by the body. Because it is technically a sugar, you get a true syrupy texture without any added fillers.However, it is keto-friendly because it does not raise your blood glucose levels (and actually acts as a prebiotic to feed a healthy gut!).
Jam/Jelly: Good Good Jam
Good Good Jams hails from Iceland, so they know know how to do fruit preserves the right way. They have raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and apricot– all of which are amazing on some toasted keto bread with butter. If you like buttered toast in the morning, you now how a keto jam to combine with the keto bread from above.
This stuff is a game changer for us!
Tip: If you can find some low carb, unsweetened yogurt, these keto jellies work great to achieve a “fruit on the bottom” type of yogurt.
Stir Fry Noodles: Well Lean Noodles
Well Lean noodles are made of konjac and oat fiber, both of which essentially have no glycemic impact in your body.
They are extremely low carb and low calorie. Their texture makes them perfect in Asian stir-fry dishes (pad thai, chow fun, etc.).
As a bonus, the noodles are organic!
Nut Butter: SuperFat
SuperFat specializes in the nut butter category. They have a ton of unique combinations with other nuts, MCT oil, or even some with probiotics.
The key is that their keto nut butters mainly use macadamia nuts, so they are always low carb and the texture is always creamy. Other nut butters that use peanuts or cashews won’t be as low in carb. Plus their flavor profiles are amazing.
These are awesome portable snacks for the office, road trips, etc.
Buns: Sola Buns
Sola Buns are a fantastic substitute for normal hamburger and hot dog buns. These buns are virtually indistinguishable from normal buns. That’s because keep all the ingredients that make normal hot dog buns soft and chewy (like dough softeners and gluten), but swap out for some lower carb ingredients.
If you need some buns to up your keto grilling game, these are your best bet.
Tortillas: Mama Lupe’s
Mama Lupe’s tortillas are wheat/gluten-based but they add fibers to make them super soft. You can use them as a traditional tortilla (like for quesadillas and soft tacos) or they work great for sandwich wraps as well.
This is an easy way to add some fiber to your diet as well.
Chocolate: Lily’s Chocolate
Lily’s Chocolates are the most widely available chocolate– and for good reason. The taste and flavor are top of class and most of their flavors are very low carb.
If you need a sweet treat at the end of the day, these will be invaluable to keeping your on track with your keto diet.
Brownies: Duncan Hines Keto Brownie Mug Cake
We came across these Brownie Walnut Brownie Mug Cakes from Duncan Hines recently. Just add water and butter (or bonus points for using MCT oil) and you’ll have a hot mug cake brownie in one minute in the microwave.
As you can expect with Duncan Hines, they nailed the flavor and texture. You won’t be able to tell this is keto-friendly!
Cakes: Smart Cakes
Smart Cakes are soft and flavorful, just like normal cakes. They’re widely available and are made up of basically all fiber, but have the texture of a familiar moist, soft cake.
Ice Cream: Enlightened Keto Collection
There are actually a ton of keto ice cream brands out there, but we like Enlightened for its superior taste and texture. All the flavors are done incredibly well, including favorites like butter pecan and mint chocolate.
Plus, they are very low carb and available at many brick and mortar retailers in the U.S.
