Keto Food List For Beginners

Keto Food List For Beginners – ultimate guide to the best low carb diet friendly foods to add to your grocery shopping list – with a video talking you through the food and easy meal ideas.

This keto food list for beginners will give you ideas for fresh produce and other keto diet food items to pop onto your shopping list to stock your kitchen with to set you up for success.

I’ve been on and off (and back on) the keto diet over the past 6 years and have personally enjoyed tremendous weight loss and other health benefits while enjoying a variety of the best keto foods.

Important Note – Be sure to consult with a Doctor or your chosen health professional before beginning a diet like the Keto diet, to be sure that you’re in the best possible health and stay that way.

Healthy Fats

The majority of a low carb diet is made up of healthy fats including plenty of monounsaturated fats which have numerous health benefits. (Source.)

Some of my favorite oils to include in my own keto meal plan are:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Avocado Oil
MCT Oil

Dairy products – including heavy cream, sour cream, hard cheeses as blocks or grated, parmesan cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and Greek yogurt with stevia to sweeten.

Regarding yogurt, have a look for plain, natural or Greek yogurt. Check the nutrition labels for a whole milk option without added sugar.

Butter – beautiful butter can be used for cooking, making bulletproof coffee or baked into easy low carb friendly desserts.

Protein

Here are ideas for high protein options to include on your low carb grocery list:

Eggs
Grass-Fed Beef – ground beef mince, steak, diced beef, corned beef and organ meats
Lamb – mince, chops, leg
Chicken – whole, legs, breasts, chicken thighs, wings, diced, mince
Turkey – mince, burgers, diced
Pork and Bacon (check ingredients for carb counts and sugars)
Sausages (also check ingredients carefully!)
Salami, pepperoni, meat sticks – as above – check ingredients.
Salmon – fatty fish such as fresh Atlantic salmon, smoked salmon, salmon fillets or canned salmon
Tuna – canned or tuna steaks
Canned – mackerel or sardines
Nuts and Seeds – including almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and flax seeds
Peanut butter and other nut butters

Fruit and Vegetables

Vegetables are the keto-friendly foods that will make up the majority of your carbs on a low carb diet.

I try to include a portion with every meal and rotate through a rainbow of low-carb veggies each week, like in the above pictured easy roast vegetables. Some vegetables like leafy greens have an almost zero carb content and can even potentially aid ketogenic diet weight loss.

Keto Food List For Beginners - vegetables at the grocery store

Here’s the full list of low carb vegetables to add to your shopping list:

Avocado
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Cabbage
Broccoli
Spinach
Celery
Mushrooms
Garlic
Onions
Radishes
Brussels Sprouts
Green Beans
Leafy Greens
Asparagus
Eggplant
Peppers
Tomatoes

On Keto, you’re limited with your fruit choices. You’re allowed berries and citrus in the way of fruit. And, only about a handful a day of fruit to keep your daily carb count down.

Here’s the list of fruit to look out for, make sure you also check in the frozen fruit section to enjoy fruit all year around and budget friendly too:

Lemon
Lime
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Blackberries

If you need a little help with meal planning I suggest Balanced Keto Weekly Meal Plans, where you’ll get weekly Keto Diet Meal Plans delivered straight to your Inbox. Get 7 days of meal planning every week – all done for you! Click here to learn more.

More Keto Food List For Beginners Essentials

Here are even more food items that are low in net carbs that you can stock your kitchen with to create delicious recipes as part of your healthy diet.

Seasoning – salt and black pepper plus your seasonings of choice such as coriander, paprika, oregano, curry powder and turmeric
Apple Cider Vinegar
Soy Sauce or Tamari
Sugar free sauces including mayonnaise and tomato sauce
Coffee or Tea such as Peppermint Tea
Sugar free salad dressings
Almond Flour and Coconut Flour
Unsweetened Almond Milk, Coconut Milk or your milk of choice that’s low in grams of carbs
Sugar free ice cream such as Halo Top
Gelatin
Stevia or your sugar free sweetener of choice
Cocoa powder, cacao powder, sugar free chocolate chips and keto friendly dark chocolate
Vanilla extract, peppermint extract and other flavors to enhance sweet treats

Easy Keto Recipes

Here are some of my favorite ketogenic diet friendly recipes to enjoy for every meal.

Breakfast – For breakfast lately I’ve been having simple cheesy fried eggs with a sauteed vegetable on the side.

Simply cook up any low carb vegetable from the above list and then fry up a portion of grated cheese. Crack a couple of eggs over the cheese then serve with the cooked vegetables. (For more inspiration, here are 30 simple low carb breakfast ideas.)

If you’d prefer a breakfast without eggs then easy options include chia pudding, a breakfast smoothie, or chia jam mixed through keto friendly yogurt.

Keto Food List For Beginners - easy lunch options

Lunches are usually a low-carb diet salad of some kind, my favorites are the above pictured cheesy 4 ingredient broccoli salad or tuna salad.

Dinners – There are plenty of easy keto recipes for dinner that are cheap to make and bring out the best in keto foods.

Our favorites are the above pictured egg roll in a bowl, yogurt roasted chicken, cauliflower mac and cheese, tuna noodle casserole, spaghetti bolognese with cabbage or zucchini noodles, crispy chicken thighs, and my 4 ingredient cheesy broccoli casserole.

Sweet treats can be quick, easy and even budget friendly to whip up on the keto diet and a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth while keeping on plan.

You could make the above pictured chocolate mousse with cream cheese, hot chocolate, chocolate fat bombs, strawberry cheesecake mousse, lemon ricotta mousse or strawberry milkshake.