Keto Snacks: A Guide to Low-Carb Snacks on the Ketogenic Diet
Dr. Eric Berg
10/17/2024
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Keto vs. Non-Keto
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Keto & Intermittent Fasting
People often shy away from the keto diet because it’s thought to be too restricting. With a few adjustments, you can enjoy just about every food you’re used to on the keto diet.
From keto-friendly crackers to delicious sweet treats, discover 28 easy keto snacks that are just as satisfying as their high-carb counterparts.
What makes a snack keto-friendly?
While snacking isn’t recommended on the keto diet, snack foods can be consumed before, after, or during a meal. Consider a keto snack a dessert or appetizer that helps keep you full between meals.
A keto-friendly snack should be sugar-free and low in carbs. Ideally, keto snacks should be high in healthy fats to keep you fuller longer, especially when adjusting to ketosis.
Healthy keto snacks can also help minimize cravings while on keto.
Check out this video to learn about the numerous keto snacks and treats that won’t kick you out of ketosis.
28 keto snacks and treats
Fat bombs
Packed full of healthy fats, fat bombs are one of the most popular treats of the keto diet. Either sweet or savory, satiating fats like cream cheese and butter make for a delicious treat that will keep you full in between meals.
2. Nutella and Collagen Fat Bombs
Keto crackers and crisps
Cheese crisps are a popular keto version of a cracker. Keto-friendly parmesan cheese crisps give a satisfying crunch without the carbs. Crispy vegetables like zucchini chips are also a great keto snack option.
With ingredients like almond flour, coconut flour, and pork rinds, there are also keto-friendly ways to make a more traditional cracker. Top your keto crackers with your favorite nut butter or a delicious keto-friendly dip!
Sweet snacks
With healthy keto sweeteners and options like sugar-free chocolate chips, there are so many keto snack options to satisfy your sweet tooth.
11. Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
13. Chocolate Avocado Ice Cream
14. Lemon Ricotta Cookie Cakes
15. Lime and Coconut Yogurt Snacks
Try topping your ice cream with homemade whipped cream. You can add a keto-friendly sugar substitute or just enjoy without the sugar!
Keto breads
Thanks to almond flour, bread is not off-limits on keto! Try dipping delicious keto focaccia in olive oil with sea salt and fresh herbs, or enjoy keto cloud bread as a guilt-free snack with 0 net carbs per serving.
18. Keto Cloud Bread
Keto dips
Rich, tasty keto dips pair perfectly with keto cheese crisps, keto crackers, and veggie sticks.
21. Tzatziki Dip
Best keto snacks for entertaining
Impress your friends and family with restaurant-quality, low-carb snack cuisine. These delicious keto snack recipes will make you the star of any celebration and may convince some people to try keto!
24. Keto Marinated Feta Skewers
25. Keto BLT Sticks
27. Keto Crostinis
28. Keto Churros
Other keto snack ideas
Healthy keto snacks don’t always require preparation. There are plenty of healthy foods that make a great keto snack with little to no preparation. Check out these keto-friendly snack ideas:
Hard-boiled eggs
Deli meat (organic and sugar-free)
Celery sticks topped with organic nut butter
Beef jerky (sugar-free)
Seaweed snacks (sugar-free)
Sliced cheese
Half an avocado with sea salt
Pumpkin seeds
Pork rinds
Low-carb fruits like raspberries and blackberries
Cucumber slice topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon
Sugar-free dark chocolate
Should you snack on keto?
The short answer is no, you should not snack on keto. Let’s talk about why.
According to research published in Physiology and Behavior, snacking is associated with a positive energy balance and the promotion of obesity.
Eating causes hunger about 1.5 hours later, especially if you’re consuming carbohydrates. If you continue snacking on keto, you may have issues like high blood sugar and insulin resistance—even if you’re following the keto diet.
Keto works because it normalizes your insulin levels. Frequent meals and snacking spike insulin, greatly reducing the benefits of keto.
“The more frequent the meals, the more insulin you’ll produce, and the less progress you’re going to make—not just with weight loss, but with your overall health,” explains Dr. Berg.
When you spike insulin, the insulin drives your blood sugar down, causing hunger and cravings. Snacking repeats this cycle over and over again.
When you have chronic high insulin levels, you can develop insulin resistance. Symptoms of insulin resistance include urinating several times throughout the night, feeling tired after eating, frequent cravings, sugar cravings, belly fat, vision problems, brain fog, and inflammation.
Keto works best with intermittent fasting. You should not graze or snack while doing intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting combined with keto allows your body to utilize its fat reserve for energy when you’re not eating.
When done correctly, intermittent fasting can get rid of cravings and hunger in between meals and eliminate the need for snacking.
The best time to enjoy keto snacks is with a meal or right around mealtime. Keto snacks and fat bombs can be enjoyed as an appetizer or dessert to avoid spiking insulin.
Watch out for store-bought “keto-friendly” snacks
The health snacks trend is exploding and leads consumers to believe that a snack can be consumed at any time just because it’s keto-friendly. The truth is that keto snacks can be bad for keto.
The key principle of keto and the reason it works so well is because it lowers insulin. The concept of “keto snacks” can be misleading because it causes keto dieters to think that they can consume them anytime just because they’re keto-friendly.
Dr. Berg explains that “the single most important thing you can do for your health is to keep your insulin normalized.” Keto snacks eaten between meals will continue to spike insulin, which is bad for weight loss and your overall health.
The following store-bought keto snacks are among the most popular:
Performance drinks
Beef sticks/beef jerky
Keto crackers
Protein bars
Keto bombs
Keto cookies
Keto ice cream
Keto chocolate
Be sure to keep track of your net carb intake when consuming keto snacks, even if you’re consuming them at the appropriate times.
How to stop snacking on keto
Snacking is one of the biggest root causes of obesity and a major contributor to a weight loss plateau on keto. Having snacks can prevent ketosis and inhibit your body’s ability to run on its own fat reserve.
People snack for various reasons, whether they’re hungry, tired, stressed, bored, or simply because the food is there. Snacking may make you feel better temporarily—but the more you eat, the hungrier you’ll be and the more difficult it will be to lose weight.
Try these tips to help you stop snacking.
1. Do not eat breakfast
Many people are not hungry when they first wake up. If you’re not hungry, don’t eat! Pushing your first meal to lunchtime is a great way to start intermittent fasting and avoid feeling hungry throughout the day.
2. Understand that eating causes hunger
About 1.5 hours after eating, you will feel hungry again. When you decrease your eating frequency, you’ll find that you aren’t as hungry.
3. Do not make junk foods available
Avoid having snacks readily available—if snacks are available, it’s more likely you’ll eat them. Ask family and other members of the household to stop buying junk food or keep snacks out of the pantry.
4. Stay active
Stay active, exercise, and get out of the house. Stay busy to avoid snacking out of boredom.
5. Avoid carbs!
Eating too many carbs will kick you out of ketosis and will significantly increase hunger and cravings between meals.
Key takeaways
When it comes to keto snacks, the frequency and timing of eating are what’s most important. While you shouldn’t snack on keto, keto dieters can enjoy keto-friendly snacks and desserts directly before or after a meal.
Snacking stalls weight loss and spikes insulin, which decreases the numerous benefits of keto. As long as you eat keto snack foods at the appropriate time, they won’t kick you out of ketosis.
FAQ
1. Can I snack on keto?
No, you should not snack on keto, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy keto snack foods. Enjoy keto-friendly snacks before, after, or during your meal. Snacking in between meals can prevent your body from tapping into fat reserves.
2. What snack foods can I eat on keto?
The number of snack foods that are keto-friendly may surprise you. Using low-carb recipes, you can enjoy sweet snacks like cake, cookies, and fat bombs, as well as keto crackers and keto breads. Hard-boiled eggs, celery topped with peanut butter or almond butter, and sliced veggies make for easy keto snacks with little to no prep time.
3. What can I mindlessly snack on while on keto?
You should not mindlessly snack on keto. Keto works because it decreases insulin spikes and allows your body to run on ketones. If you are constantly snacking, you are constantly spiking insulin. This may reduce ketones and inhibit the positive benefits of a keto diet.
4. Is popcorn okay to eat on keto?
There are better options for keto snacks than popcorn. Popcorn has a fairly high glycemic index, which means it turns into sugar in the body very quickly. A one-ounce serving of popcorn has around 18 net carbs. You should keep your carb intake between 20 and 50 grams on keto. Around 95% of popcorn is also made from GMO crops.
5. What is a filling snack that is keto-friendly?
Fat bombs are one of the most filling keto snacks. They’re packed full of healthy fats like butter, cream cheese, and coconut oil, and they can be made sweet or savory. Keto chips with dip, keto breads, keto cakes, and desserts are also very filling.
6. What are the best low-carb snacks?
Keto dieters have so many snack options available! From keto cookies to keto cheese crisps, there’s a keto snack for everyone. This guide is full of easy and delicious keto snack ideas to satisfy any craving.
Sources
Mattes, Richard D. “Snacking: A cause for concern.” Physiology & Behavior, vol. 193, 2018, pp. 279–283, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.02.010.
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