Keto diet recipes: 60 easy ideas for breakfast, dinner, sides and the holidays

The short answer: the best keto diet recipes are simple plates with three parts: a protein, a non-starchy vegetable and a fat. Think sheet-pan chicken thighs with broccoli, burger bowls or a cheesy egg bake.

• On a 2,000-calorie day: about 165 grams of fat, 75 grams of protein and 40 grams of carbohydrate
• 60 recipes in 7 groups, plus Thanksgiving and Christmas swaps
• Keep frozen cauliflower rice and vegetables on hand
• Not for everyone: see who should check with a doctor first
• Next step: Plan it with the Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99).

What are the best keto diet recipes? The best keto diet recipes are simple plates built from three parts: a protein (eggs, chicken, beef, pork or fish), a non-starchy vegetable (broccoli, cauliflower, greens, zucchini or green beans) and a fat (butter, olive oil, cheese or avocado). Think sheet-pan chicken thighs with broccoli, burger bowls, salmon with garlic butter green beans, and a cheesy egg bake for breakfast. Below are 60 easy keto diet recipes in seven groups, a plain keto food list, Thanksgiving and Christmas swaps, and a five-day starter plan you can shop for this week.

To keep it from turning into a nightly scramble, write your picks on the Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99). It has a weekly meal planner, a Dinner Plan & Prep page and a grocery list sorted by aisle, so the low-carb dinners and the regular sides for everyone else land on one page.

I'm Malaysia, a Detroit-raised oldest of three, and I love cooking and just about any cooking show. When a family needs a new way of eating, the hard part usually isn't the recipe. It's remembering what to buy and what to make on a Tuesday. That's what this list is for.

What a keto diet means, in plain numbers

A ketogenic diet cuts carbohydrates low enough that the body starts burning fat for fuel. According to Harvard's Nutrition Source review of the ketogenic diet, there is no single standard version, but most keep total carbs under 50 grams a day, and some go as low as 20 grams.

Those numbers come from the same Harvard review. For a weeknight cook, they boil down to one rule: build the plate around protein and vegetables, add fat for flavor, and leave out the bread, rice, pasta and potatoes.

New to the term? Read what ketosis is and how long it takes before you start cooking.

Keto food list: eat, go easy, skip

Use this table as your grocery filter before you choose recipes.

Harvard's review also notes that keto food lists vary and even conflict from source to source, so treat this as a starting point and read labels.

The full list: 60 keto diet recipes in 7 groups

Pick two or three from each group and you have two weeks of meals without repeating.

Keto breakfasts (9)

1. Spinach and cheddar egg bake, cut into squares for the week
2. Sausage and egg muffin cups
3. Bacon, egg and avocado plate
4. Chia pudding with unsweetened coconut milk and a few raspberries
5. Cream cheese pancakes (eggs plus cream cheese, blended)
6. Mushroom and Swiss omelet
7. Smoked salmon with cream cheese and cucumber
8. Ham and pepper breakfast skillet
9. Greek yogurt with walnuts and cinnamon, if it fits your carbs

For more morning ideas, see our keto breakfast ideas.

Lunches and bowls (8)

1. Burger bowl with lettuce, pickles, cheddar and mustard
2. Chicken salad stuffed avocados
3. Cobb salad with blue cheese dressing
4. Tuna salad lettuce wraps
5. Deli roll-ups with turkey, provolone and pepper strips
6. Egg salad on cucumber rounds
7. Leftover steak salad with olive oil vinaigrette
8. Antipasto bowl with salami, mozzarella, olives and artichokes

Chicken dinners (9)

1. Sheet-pan chicken thighs with broccoli and parmesan
2. Creamy Tuscan chicken with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes
3. Chicken fajita bowls on cauliflower rice
4. Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps with ranch
5. Lemon garlic roast chicken with green beans
6. Chicken parmesan with a crushed pork rind coating
7. Chicken and broccoli alfredo over zucchini noodles
8. Chicken pesto bake with mozzarella
9. Slow cooker salsa chicken in lettuce cups

Beef and pork dinners (9)

1. Taco skillet with cheese, served in lettuce cups
2. No-bean chili (our keto chili page walks through it)
3. Bunless bacon cheeseburgers with a side salad
4. Stuffed bell peppers with beef and cauliflower rice
5. Pork chops with garlic butter and asparagus
6. Zucchini lasagna with ricotta and meat sauce
7. Philly cheesesteak skillet with peppers and onions
8. Meatballs in marinara with roasted cauliflower
9. Egg roll in a bowl (ground pork and coleslaw mix)

Seafood dinners (7)

1. Salmon with garlic butter green beans
2. Shrimp scampi over zucchini noodles
3. Cajun shrimp and sausage skillet
4. Lemon pepper cod with roasted broccoli
5. Tuna-stuffed avocado with chopped celery
6. Garlic shrimp cauliflower fried rice
7. Baked salmon with dill cream sauce and cucumber salad

Sides (9)

1. Cauliflower mash with butter and chives
2. Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon
3. Green beans almondine
4. Cauliflower mac and cheese
5. Garlic sauteed spinach
6. Zucchini fries baked with parmesan
7. Creamed spinach
8. Cauliflower rice with cilantro and lime
9. Cucumber and tomato salad with feta

Snacks and desserts (9)

1. Cheese crisps baked from shredded cheddar
2. Hard-boiled eggs with everything seasoning
3. Celery with almond butter
4. Olives and cubed cheese
5. Pork rinds with guacamole
6. Chocolate avocado mousse sweetened to taste
7. Almond flour butter cookies
8. Whipped cream with a few berries
9. Crustless pumpkin cheesecake cups

Looking for a little more room on carbs? Our low carb meals list is the gentler version of this page.

Keto holiday recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Holiday tables are the hardest part of keto because the classic sides are starches. The fix is to keep the main dish and change the sides, so nobody gets a separate dinner.

Roast turkey and Christmas ham are naturally low in carbs as long as the glaze stays sugar-free, so the main dish works for everyone.

Hosting with a mix of keto and non-keto guests? The Meal Planner & Grocery List: Thanksgiving Edition ($4.99) has a Thanksgiving Day timeline that works backwards from dinnertime and a guest & dish sign-up, so the cauliflower mash gets assigned just like the rolls. Browse more planners on our Holidays page.

Starter version: a 5-day keto dinner plan

Not ready for 60 recipes? Start with these five dinners. They share ingredients, so one shopping trip covers the week.

Starter grocery list: chicken thighs, 2 pounds ground beef, salmon fillets, broccoli, cauliflower rice, green beans, zucchini, romaine, avocado, cheddar, parmesan, heavy cream, butter, eggs, garlic, olive oil, taco seasoning (check for sugar).

Keto pantry staples to keep on hand

A stocked pantry is what makes these recipes fast. With these on the shelf, most dinners above only need a fresh protein and a vegetable.

Write the staples on the pantry inventory page of your planner once, then check it before each shopping trip. That one habit keeps you from buying a third jar of almond butter while running out of eggs.

Keto on a budget: how to keep the grocery bill down

Keto can look expensive because meat, cheese and nuts cost more per pound than rice and pasta. A few habits help:

• Buy chicken thighs and ground beef in family packs and freeze them in dinner-size portions.
• Choose frozen vegetables for weeknights; they are already cut and they don't wilt.
• Use eggs as the protein for one or two dinners a week.
• Buy block cheese and shred it yourself.
• Skip packaged "keto" snacks and bars, which usually cost far more than eggs, cheese or nuts.

How to make keto recipes work on a weeknight

1. Cook proteins in batches. Roast two trays of chicken thighs on Sunday and use them in bowls, salads and alfredo.
2. Keep frozen cauliflower rice and vegetables on hand. They cover the side dish on any night.
3. Season boldly. Garlic, lemon, smoked paprika, everything seasoning and fresh herbs keep simple plates from feeling plain.
4. Read labels on sauces. Ketchup, barbecue sauce and many dressings carry added sugar.
5. Store leftovers safely. The USDA's leftovers guidance says to refrigerate within 2 hours and eat refrigerated leftovers within 3 to 4 days, or freeze them.
6. Cook one base for the whole family. Serve the taco filling over lettuce for keto eaters and in tortillas for everyone else.

Keto vs low carb: which one fits your family?

Keto is the strictest form of low carb. Mayo Clinic's low-carb diet overview says a typical low-carb diet allows 60 to 130 grams of carbs a day, while keto, per Harvard's Nutrition Source, usually stays under 50. Mayo also notes that by 12 or 24 months, the extra weight loss from low-carb diets usually isn't very large. For the stricter all-animal-food version, see our 7-day carnivore diet meal plan and the health risks to know first.

Before you start: who should check with a doctor

Mayo Clinic recommends checking with a healthcare professional before starting any weight-loss diet, especially if you have diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease, and Harvard recommends working with a physician and a dietitian. Harvard also lists possible side effects in the first days or weeks (hunger, fatigue, headaches, constipation) and says a daily variety of allowed foods helps avoid gaps in fiber, B vitamins and minerals. Choosing more fish, olive oil, nuts, avocado and vegetables, and less processed meat, helps. This page is planning help, not medical advice.

If you want protein-forward meals without going fully keto, see these high-protein low-carb dinners.

Plan it, then save the keepers

The Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99) includes a Weekly Meal Planner, a Dinner Plan & Prep page, an aisle-sorted Grocery List, a Monthly Menu, Family Favorites and pantry and freezer inventories, so your keto week is planned before you shop.

When a keto recipe becomes a family favorite, save it in the Family Recipe Binder ($6.99), with a Recipe Index, sections for Breakfast, Mains, Sides, Soups, Desserts and Baking, and printable recipe cards.

Want both plus more family organizers? The Family Life Admin Bundle ($15.99, $23.95 if bought separately) includes the meal planner and the recipe binder. Browse everything on our Printables and Bundles pages, or read how to meal plan step by step.

Your first keto week in five steps

1. Pick five dinners from the starter plan above.
2. Add two breakfasts and two lunches you can repeat.
3. Write them on your meal planner and build one grocery list.
4. Batch-cook two proteins and one vegetable on the weekend.
5. Save the recipes your family asks for again. For a full two-week roadmap, follow our keto diet plan. Fill the gaps between meals with our low-carb snack ideas. Browse the full collection of low carb recipes when planning the rest of the week.