Keto Beginner Meal Plan – guide with the best keto recipes, tips and shopping list to help you getting started on your first week with the low carb ketogenic diet.
Keto Beginner Meal Plan
This Keto Beginner Meal Plan is an introduction to the low carb diet after many years of following the diet myself, while collecting helpful insight and enjoying countless delicious recipes along the way to share with you.
You may be wanting to follow a low-carb diet for weight loss or just to give your body a rest from carbs and sugars for a while. Whatever your goals are, you’re sure to find inspiration and motivation to help you get started.
Important Note – before starting a low carb diet like the keto diet, it’s best to consult with your chosen health professional to examine you to ensure you can enjoy the health benefits without any potential negative side effects.
Keto Beginner Meal Plan Shopping List
Start by stocking your kitchen with low carb high-fat diet friendly foods. To avoid temptation you may wish to donate non keto friendly food that’s currently in your kitchen to a friend, family member or local food bank so that you don’t waste any food that you don’t plan to eat.
In brief, the diet is low in carbs and high in healthy fats, so you’ll want to stock your kitchen and pantry with your choice from the following foods that should be easy to find at your local grocery store.
Healthy Fats – will make up the bulk of your diet. Some of my favorites include coconut oil, butter, olive oil, MCT Oil and avocado oil.
Protein – your protein intake is likely to be similar to a regular diet, you can continue to enjoy protein rich foods such as eggs, tuna, salmon, beef, lamb, chicken, pork and turkey.
With foods such as salami and sausages, be sure to carefully read the nutritional panel to ensure there aren’t any added or hidden carbs or sugars.
Dairy – full fat dairy can be enjoyed in abundance on as part of an easy keto meal plan. Some of my favorite dairy products include heavy cream, sour cream, cream cheese, ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, brie.
You’ll find that full fat milk tends to be too high in sugar to include in a low carb diet, so opt for unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or cashew milk, instead.
Low Carb Vegetables – avoid starchy vegetables to help keep your carb intake down and go for keto friendly vegetables such as avocado, fresh greens, leafy greens such as spinach or kale, broccoli, cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage, mushrooms, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic and radishes.
Fruit – the only fruit you can enjoy on a low-carbohydrate diet are berries, lemons and limes. Choose from a handful of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or any other berry you can find.
Keto Breakfast Ideas
Coming up with breakfast for your keto diet meal plan is easy, you can mix and match fried eggs, scrambled eggs or an omelette and whatever vegetables are in season where you are. (Like in the above pictured easy green shakshuka.)
Here are some ideas for low carb vegetable sides to enjoy with your breakfast that you can put on your grocery list and click through for my full keto food list for beginners:
- Spinach
- Mushrooms
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Radishes
You can also have a number of easy low carb high-fat diet friendly breakfasts without eggs:
- Keto Breakfast Smoothie with yogurt, almond milk, frozen berries and protein powder.
- Chia pudding (like this chocolate one)
- Hot Chocolate (here’s an easy recipe) or bulletproof coffee
- Low Carb Oatmeal
- Dinner leftovers – embrace last night’s leftovers and enjoy them for breakfast!
For more inspiration, here are 30 simple low carb breakfast ideas.
Easy Keto Meals
A little meal planning and meal prep can help you enjoy quick, no fuss lunch and dinners, especially if you have a busy schedule.
You can enjoy any of these low-carb recipes for lunch or dinner. It really depends on your appetite and lifestyle. You may even be following a form of intermittent fasting where you skip a meal while following keto.
So, feel free to pick a few of the below easy recipes to incorporate into your own personalised 7-day keto meal plan, however you see fit.
Broccoli Salad – you can enjoy this no cook meal as an easy make ahead lunch or dinner as it’s loaded with nutritious broccoli and cheesy, creamy goodness.
7 Layer Salad – the easiest way to eat a healthy lunch or even dinner on busy weeknights, because you can prep your meal whenever you have the time and then dinner will be ready and waiting in the fridge for you.
Best Ever Chicken Bake – You can use chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs or your chicken piece of choice in this easy meal.
Yogurt Roasted Chicken – a firm family favorite for easy weeknight dinners. A whole chicken is simply marinated in salt and yogurt then roasted to become crisp on the outside and perfectly tender within.
This chicken also makes brilliant leftovers that you can enjoy in meals for days.
Fried Chicken – crispy, tender chicken in a low carb crumb that makes the perfect comfort food meal.
Paprika Chicken Tray Bake – an easy recipe that combines together chicken, paprika and a selection of keto friendly vegetables. I chose onion, garlic, radish and bell peppers.
The quick dinner is baked in one tray or roasting dish to make washing up a breeze.
Spaghetti Bolognese – with just 3 ingredients, this comfort food meal is so easy to prepare. The three ingredient, basic recipe includes only ground beef, pasta sauce and a low carb spaghetti alternative such as zucchini noodles or cabbage noodles.
Egg Roll In A Bowl – a tasty dish which is made by simply browning ground beef mince in sesame oil, then shredded cabbage is added, along with garlic and tamari or soy sauce and cooked until reduced and sublimely flavorful.
Irish Corned Beef & Cabbage – the tasty recipe was given to me by a local butcher shortly after I moved to Ireland. (A little over 4 years ago – time has flown by scarily fast!)
The tender beef is perfectly balanced by the buttery cabbage and the warming dish is a winter staple for us.
Sausage Casserole – there are only 4 ingredients in this hearty meal that you can make with any low carb friendly sausages you like.
Cheesy Broccoli Casserole – if you’re wanting to enjoy a meat free meal on the keto diet, it’s absolutely possible, which this 4 ingredient broccoli casserole demonstrates deliciously.
Mushroom Stroganoff – another meat free meal, this stroganoff is rich creamy and packed full of flavorful mushrooms.
Broccoli Cheese Soup – a warming, hearty soup makes an easy low carb friendly lunch or dinner that you can make ahead over the weekend when you have time to then enjoy by the bowl full for meals through the week.
Tuna Cauliflower Casserole – there are only 5 ingredients in this keto comfort food meal – cauliflower, tuna, cream, sour cream and grated cheese
2 Minute Zoodles – another tasty tuna dish, this is my take on carb full 2 minutes noodles, with the keto friendly version also coming together in mere minutes when you need to make a speedy low carb lunch or dinner.
Keto Snacks
You may simply be happy to snack on a cup of keto coffee or tea, or pop into a supermarket or convenience store to find a grab and go snack like the above pictured hard boiled egg pack.
Here are ideas to enjoy as easy keto snacks through the week:
- Berries
- Cucumber
- Salami, Jerky, Biltong
- Hot Chocolate
- Cheese
- Dark Chocolate
- Nuts & Seeds
Keto Beginner Meal Plan Desserts
I find that a portion of berries with whipped cream makes the perfect keto friendly dessert to satisfy my sweet tooth.
There is a school of thought that if you’re starting out with keto, aim to skip desserts altogether so that you don’t go from snacking on sugar loaded sweets to snacking on sugar free snacks. Some keto dieters prefer to just break the sugar reliant habit altogether.
The good news is that it’s completely up to you how you’d like to incorporate sweets in your diet. Here are some of the most popular on my blog that get rave reviews from readers, as well as my whole family and all who’ve tried the decadent desserts.
Chocolate Mousse With Cream Cheese – a cheesecake flavored, indulgent chocolate mousse with only 4 ingredients.
Low Carb Cheesecake – an impressive yet easy way to make keto friendly cheesecake that’s low in carbs and naturally high in protein.
Chocolate Truffles – a rich, decadent 3 ingredient dessert that you can make ahead and have ready and waiting in the fridge for you for when sweet cravings strike.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge – combines together creamy peanut butter, chocolate and a little bit of stevia, to create the perfect peanut butter chocolate creamy fudge dessert that’s like a low carb version of peanut butter cups.
Candied Nuts – choose from candied walnuts or almonds for a sweet treat packed with protein and low in sugars.
You can simply enjoy a handful as a speedy dessert or sprinkle crushed nuts over yogurt or low-sugar ice cream.
Ricotta Panna Cotta – a creamy dessert that’s easy to prepare and is low in net carbs and high in protein due to the inclusion of both ricotta cheese and gelatin.
No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies – these easy cookies many yet another make ahead sweet treat that you can enjoy as a tasty, high protein sweet treat with a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate.
Keto Beginner Meal Plan Videos
Here are some videos of example full days of meals, with ideas you can incorporate into your own keto beginner meal plan. Hit play below or click here to watch on YouTube.
More Keto Diet Plan Inspiration
15 Low Carb Foods That Fill You Up – a list and recipes for easy keto meals that will keep you full for hours.
How To Do Lazy Keto – tips to follow a lazy keto diet method without tracking macros/calories.
How To Get Into Ketosis – the steps I take to get into a state of Ketosis, while helping you avoid keto flu.
Keto Budget Meal Plan – tips, recipes and a lot of information for following keto on a budget.
Disclaimer – this post is meant for informational post only and should not be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your health professional before making any dietary changes.
Disclosure – this post contains affiliate links.
