Keto diet foods — top three mistakes at the grocery store
, medical review by Dr. Bret Scher, MD
Evidence basedHere are three of the most common mistakes people make when buying groceries for a keto diet – and how to avoid them.
1. Highly processed food
Even on a keto diet, it’s possible to buy groceries that are potentially unhealthy. But not if you keep it “real.” Here’s how:
Buy whole food
Whole food has only one ingredient. Examples are meat, seafood, eggs, butter, oils, vegetables, fruit, and nuts.
Want a list? Print our keto food list and bring it with you when you go grocery shopping.
Limit packaged food
Most of the packaged food products you find in grocery stores are ultra-processed.
Fortunately, it’s easy to avoid highly processed food. Here’s how:
- Ignore the obvious
Sometimes the package speaks for itself. If it says anything like “cereal,” “cake,” “cookie,” “bread,” or “chips” — read no further. Walk away. Since these foods are typically high in carbohydrates, they’re not a good choice on a keto diet. - Ignore low carb products
If your store carries low carb versions of pastas, breads and cookies, we generally recommend that you avoid them. Most contain starch and other additives. Some contain sweeteners that may impede your progress. - Ignore “healthy” or “natural” labels
Many highly processed food products are labeled “healthy” or “natural.” Ignore these meaningless terms.Stick with single-ingredient, tasty keto foods as much as possible.
Buy minimally-processed packaged foods
Not all packaged foods are highly processed, but how do you know which to trust? The rule of thumb is to look for products with few ingredients.
Eggs, meat, and fish are great choices even though they’re often packaged.
Some minimally-processed foods are packaged yet keto-friendly. These include butter, cheese, coconut oil, olive oil, cream, nut butters, shredded veggies (like coleslaw), and sour cream.
Some slightly more processed foods may be okay too. Choose no-sugar-added beef jerky, hollandaise, pesto, pizza sauce, salad dressings, sausage, tahini, and tapenade. Be sure to check the ingredients list and carb content, as carbs and additives vary among different brands.
2. Too many carbs
Now that you know how to avoid highly processed food, let’s fix the second keto grocery mistake: too many carbs.
For keto success, we recommend eating less than 20 grams of net carbs per day.
Here’s how to keep carbs from sneaking into your house:
Avoid carb creep
Carbs add up.
The broccoli and carrots you ate for dinner, those strawberries with whipped cream you had for dessert, and the nuts and dark chocolate you enjoyed earlier in the day — they all add up.
Even when eating healthy keto foods, “a little bit of this” and “a little bit of that” might take you out of ketosis. If you’re not getting results on your keto diet, consider these grocery-shopping tips:
- Buy fewer high carb vegetables
Avoid stocking up on on high carb vegetables. Check out our keto vegetables guide for the best options.Our favorite vegetables are very low in carbs. Leafy greens, asparagus, avocado, and zucchini come to mind.You can enjoy other tasty veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and brussels sprouts too, of course. But you may need to be a bit more careful with these since they contain a few more carbs.
- Buy less fruit
On a keto diet, your best bet is to avoid buying any fruit. If you want to eat some occasionally, check out our keto fruits and berries guide for the best options.Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are okay if you keep the serving size small (about 1/2 cup or less). Lemon and lime, in small amounts, work too.Technically, avocados and tomatoes are low-sugar fruits, but for convenience, we group them with vegetables.
- Buy fewer nuts and less dark chocolate
Nuts and dark chocolate (85% cocoa minimum) are keto-friendly in small portions. But because they’re both convenient and delicious, it can be easy to overeat these treats and end up going over your daily carb limit.Check out our keto nuts guide for the best options. For example, choose macadamia nuts or pecans instead of cashews. Take a look at our keto snacks guide to see the amount of carbs in different types of chocolate.Another common slip-up is getting too much almond flour in baked items that are keto friendly only when served in smaller quantities. So keep your eye on portion size and be mindful of how much almond flour you buy — and consume.
- Buy less cream cheese and Greek yogurt
These full fat dairy products can be okay in moderation, but both contain carbohydrates. Cream cheese has 1.5 to 2 grams of carbs per ounce (28 grams), and Greek yogurt has about 5 grams of carbs per 3/4 cup (170 grams). So go easy!
Calculate net carbs
Packaged foods often contain hidden sugars and starches.
As an example, consider the label on the chocolate bar to the left – the Green & Black’s 85% Cacao Bar.
- Check the serving size
First, look at the serving size (circled in red, above). How much chocolate is in one serving? A square? A cup? Half the package? As you can see, the serving size for this chocolate is 40 grams, or 12 small squares. - Check carbs per serving
Second, check the total grams of carbohydrate per serving (circled in blue, above). This chocolate has 14 grams of total carbs per serving. - Calculate net carbs per serving
Third, check the grams of dietary fiber per serving (circled in green, above). Calculate net carbs by subtracting the fiber (green) from the total carbohydrates (blue). This chocolate has 9 grams of net carbs per serving (14 g carbs – 5 g fiber = 9 g net carbs). - Calculate how many net carbs you will eat
Finally, multiply the number of servings you’ll eat by the net carbs per serving.
Let’s say you want to eat six small squares of chocolate (about half a serving, or 20 grams). That’s 4.5 grams of net carbs (0.5 serving * 9 g net carbs).
But if you were to eat the whole chocolate bar (2.5 servings), you would get 22.5 grams of net carbs (2.5 servings * 9 net carbs) — more than an entire day’s worth of carbs on a keto diet.
This chocolate bar, when consumed in small amounts, is a keto-approved treat. But buyer beware — it’s easy to overeat.
Let’s look at the nutrition facts label for another dark chocolate option, Salazon’s Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds:
As you can see, this bar has 13 g of net carbs per serving.
This treat likely contains too many net carbs for many keto lifestyles. After looking at the nutrition facts label and quickly calculating the net carbs, you’ll know to put this bar back on the shelf.
For more information about the nutrition facts label, please check out our guide on how to use the nutrition facts label.
3. Potentially unhealthy ingredients
4. Summary
Avoid these classic mistakes — highly processed food, too many carbs and potentially unhealthy ingredients — and put keto success within reach. With a little practice, it’s easy to load up your cart with a delicious selection of whole food — and some minimally processed keto extras, too.
Now go forth and grocery shop, keto-style!
More
There are two companion guides with more information about ingredients to avoid, and how to decipher food labels:
In addition, check out our main keto foods guide below to understand the basics about keto foods, and our keto diet foods list, for fast and real-food inspired grocery shopping!
For all the keto basics, check out our simple but thorough beginner’s guide to the keto diet:
Practical low carb guides
