30 Keto Vegetarian Recipes You'll Actually *Want* to Eat (2024)

FAQs

How many carbs should a vegetarian eat a day on keto? ›

Most vegetarians eat animal products like eggs and dairy but avoid meat and fish. Meanwhile, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat diet that limits carb intake to 20–50 grams per day. This ultra-low-carb intake prompts ketosis, a metabolic state in which your body starts burning fat for fuel instead of glucose ( 1 , 3 ).

Can vegetarians get into ketosis? Yes. These diets are not mutually exclusive and, with proper planning, you can build a high-fat low-carb diet that keeps you in ketosis without eating meat, seafood, or poultry. The main idea is to include protein-packed veggies and pair them with high-quality fats.

A lazy keto diet consists of low-carb foods like meat, fish, full-fat dairy and non-starchy vegetables, but limits high-carb foods such as bread, potatoes, sugary snacks and some fruits. If you've tried the keto before and found it too tedious, lazy keto could be a good compromise.

Dairy: Full-fat plain yogurt and plain cottage cheese (avoid flavored high-sugar varieties), hard cheeses and butter. Eggs: This is arguably the easiest, healthiest and most complete way to get protein if you're eating vegetarian keto. Eggs also give you a nice dose of fat and have practically no carbs whatsoever.

Peanut butter can definitely be part of a keto diet, but it's best to stick to plain options that are free of extra flavors and sweeteners. Almond butter is a good choice, too, and it's slightly lower in carbs. Additionally, you should be mindful of your portion size if you're trying to lose weight.

Plain Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are nutritious, high protein foods. While they contain some carbs, you can eat them in moderation on keto. Both yogurt and cottage cheese have been shown to help decrease appetite and promote feelings of fullness (33, 34 ).

Bananas may be great for muscle recovery, reducing bloat, and calming an upset stomach, but they're on the list of foods you can't eat on the keto diet. With 25g of carbs per 100g serving, bananas are too high in carbs.

Cucumber is another popular salad vegetable. It contains many essential nutrients, including vitamin K. Cucumber is also suitable for the keto diet, as its carb content is just 3.63 g per 100 g. To make the carb content lower, a person can peel the cucumber before eating it.

Net carbs are calculated by taking the total grams of carbohydrate in a food and subtracting the amount of fiber. In this case, popcorn contains 6 grams of carbs per 1 cup serving and 1.2 grams of fiber, bringing the net carbs per serving to 4.8 grams. Yes friends, popcorn is indeed a keto food.

In essence, dirty keto is a variation of the keto diet (a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet) that allows you to consume whatever you want as long as it meets your macro goals. While it still reduces carb intake, it does not pay attention to the nutritional value of the fats and protein consumed.

What is the simplest keto meal? ›

Olives, nuts and charcuterie plates are brilliant keto-friendly nibbles to kick off your meal. Then stick with high protein mains like a chicken Ceasar salad, steak, or grilled fish, and swap out starchy, carb-heavy sides for vegetables if possible.

Sustainability: A lower-carb diet is likely to be more sustainable than a very low-carb, high fat diet such as the ketogenic diet. A low-carb diet provides a more balanced approach to eating and allows for a wider variety of foods overall.

Plenty of low-carb vegetable options include arugula, asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. Those vegetables provide other benefits like reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases, containing antioxidants, and providing filling fiber.

During the Atkins^® induction phase, you'll want to consume 12g to 15g net carbs from vegetables each day. Studies on keto diets generally require participants to consume 20g to 50g of net carbs per day, so that means vegetables will account for approximately half of your total net carb intake.

Choose vegetarian foods that are low in net carbs, and make sure your overall diet has a macro ratio that falls within the parameters of the standard keto macro. That means 55-60 percent fat, 30-35 percent protein and 5-10 percent carbs.

The recommended daily carb intake for ketogenic diets varies depending on individual goals, activity levels, and health status. Generally, it is recommended to keep daily carbs intake under 50 grams. However, some people may need to restrict their daily carb intake to 20-30 grams for optimal ketosis.

Most ketogenic diet guidelines recommend limiting your total carbohydrate intake to 15-30 grams or 5%-10% of your total calorie intake a day. Eating more than 50 grams of carbs may disrupt ketosis. With keto diets, however, carb restrictions vary from person to person.