Keto coffee is quite a bit healthier than your average breakfast, and it has the calories to match. Commonly used in intermittent fasting, keto butter coffee gives plenty of energy and a great satiated feeling throughout the morning fasting hours.
Now, I want to explain this further. Drinking this coffee will break your fast from the night time, but it will ramp up your metabolism with caffeine and fats. This is to help you get through the fasting process in the 10+ hours ahead.
Personally, I drink 2 cups of this in the morning – fast all day – and eat at 9pm. If you’re only using this for breakfast, and still eating a lunch, then it’s not really intermittent fasting.
Our favorite brew is made with a pour over and goose-neck kettle. I chose the Bonavita Variable Temp Kettle because it’s on the cheaper side for the quality that you can get. If you’re a coffee lover, it’s definitely worth the splurge!
For the pour over, we have an Osaka “Lake Masu” Pour over. It’s really just for the design – I think it looks fantastic. You can easily get a cheap one here that’ll do the same exact thing though. Don’t forget that you’ll most likely need some coffee filters, too.
If you’re not a morning person and just want a quick and easy cup of coffee, you can always consider a Keurig Coffee Maker. I’ve owned numerous in the past and they’re great machines if you want convenience. It doesn’t take up much more room than a regular coffee maker and you can usually get small drawers or stands that will hold the k-cups for you. Plus, you can switch up the flavors with just about any type you want!
Even though k-cups have come a long way on consumer safety and ecological factors, you still might want to grind your own fresh coffee. Luckily, you can grab a small k-cup attachment that lets you brew any coffee you want in it. I actually recommend using freshly ground coffee as it’s healthier for you and tastes better – but I’m a huge sucker at times for the pure convenience of them.
This butter coffee recipe is a great alternative to Starbucks drinks as well.
Main Components Keto Coffee
Coconut Oil or MCT Oil – Coconut oil technically is MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil, well about 65-80% MCT anyway. MCT oil is just more concentrated than coconut oil, but both have been shown to aid in fat loss.
Grass Fed Butter – Cows that have a diet of fresh grass yields butter that has improved consistency and nutritional properties. The increase of fresh grass in the diet proportionally increases the amount of fat content, specifically unsaturated fats, which gives a pleasant firmness. The nutritional quality also increases, it’s loaded with Vitamin K2 and Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Immersion Blender – Go on and try to mix this up with a fork, you’ll be sitting there for 20 minutes and having terrible results. Oil doesn’t mix with water unless you give it some help. You need a blender to be able to force these 2 liquids together, giving you a finished look like a latte – foamy on the top.
Benefits of Butter Coffee
Fat Loss. Plain and simple, the consumption of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) has been shown to lead to greater losses in adipose tissue (fat tissue), in both animals and humans. If you’re looking for an easy, in-depth approach for the ketogenic diet, consider following The Keto Academy!
Eating Fat? Do I even need to explain this one? Eating fat has been shown to lead to greater amounts of energy, more efficient energy usage, and more effective weight loss.
More Energy. Studies have shown that the rapid rate of oxidation in MCFAs (Medium Chain Fatty Acids) leads to an increase in energy expenditure. Primarily, MCFAs are converted into ketones (our best friends), are absorbed differently in the body compared to regular oils, and give us more overall energy.
Heart Attacks? The myth that saturated fat increases the chance of Coronary Heart Disease has been debunked over and over. Recent studies show that saturated fats can actually have a positive effect on your overall heart health.
The Preparation
- 2 cups coffee
- 2 tablespoons grass fed unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons good quality MCT Oil (or coconut oil)
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Optional)
*It’s a simple recipe, but don’t let that fool you. It tastes great, fuels you during the day, and has tons of additional health benefits. If you want to make it 0 net carbs, simply opt out of using the vanilla and heavy cream!
*Ketoproof coffee goes by a lot of names but it is originally adapted from Tibetan and Ethiopian butter coffees that hundreds of years old. Keep in mind that the name has become mainstreamed and is used to describe any cup of coffee with fat in it.
The Execution
1. Brew 2 cups worth of coffee into a large container using your favorite method. Try to choose something large enough (like a measuring jug) to eliminate spilling when we blend it.
2. If you’re using a pour over method, my recommendation is to grind to the size of kosher salt (or a bit smaller). Fill your coffee filter and wet the coffee with a little bit of water, allowing around 30 seconds for it to “bloom”. Then brew normally by pouring the water in a circular motion, carefully making sure the coffee isn’t swimming in water.
3. Grab your butter, MCT oil (or coconut oil), and immersion blender. You can mix this in a regular blender if you want to, but I feel like it’s more hassle than it’s worth to clean in a normal blender.
4. Cut off 2 Tbsp. of grass fed butter. I’m surprised at how few people use the packages markings – just cut into it, they work! I personally prefer salted butter, but many don’t. Feel free to start with unsalted first to test it out.
5. Drop in the butter, add 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, and plunk in the 2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or MCT oil if you’re using it) as well.
6. Last but not least, the 1 Tbsp. of Heavy Cream. This adds a great creaminess to the coffee for a silky texture.
7. Mix it all together with your immersion blender. Usually between 45-60 seconds gets a great frothy cap on the top. Make sure to move the immersion blender up and down to emulsify all of the fat into the coffee. This also aerates the mixture some, adding additional froth. Note: You can do all of this with a normal blender bottle and a blender ball – but the fats won’t be as emulsified, so you may need to shake every few minutes.
8. Watch out when you’re pouring with the froth on top (it can drip down the side), but your ketoproof coffee is finished! Measure it out into your favorite mug and drink away.
I personally drink both of the cups I make, but if you were to drink 1 cup of KPC it would come out to: 260 Calories, 27.7g Fats, 1.05g Net Carbs, and 1.08g Protein.
| Ketoproof Coffee | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 2 cups coffee | 10 | 0 | 1.14 | 0 | 1.14 | 1.49 |
| 2 tablespoons butter | 204 | 23.04 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.02 | 0.24 |
| 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil | 243 | 26.94 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream | 51 | 5.41 | 0.41 | 0 | 0.41 | 0.43 |
| 1 teaspoon vanilla extract | 12 | 0 | 0.53 | 0 | 0.53 | 0 |
| Totals | 520 | 55.39 | 2.1 | 0 | 2.1 | 2.16 |
| Per Serving(/2) | 260 | 27.7 | 1.05 | 0 | 1.05 | 1.08 |
Sources
- The application of medium-chain fatty acids: edible oil with a suppressing effect on body fat accumulation.
- Physiological effects of medium-chain triglycerides: potential agents in the prevention of obesity.
- The linear relationship between the proportion of fresh grass in the cow diet, milk fatty acid composition, and butter properties.
- Conjugated linoleic acid in adipose tissue and risk of myocardial infarction.
- A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary factors and coronary heart disease.
- The questionable role of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in cardiovascular disease.
- Increased concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids in milk and platelet rich plasma of grass-fed cows.
I made my self 2 cups coffee, 2tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons coconaut oil. It taste awful. Gonna try with stevia next time and use fresher coffe beans since the coffe flavor was basically not present.
With some coffee blends I don’t really enjoy the taste. Sometimes I will do 1 tbsp. of butter, 1/2 tbsp. heavy cream and 1/2 tbsp. mct oil (flavorless). It will usually come out a lot better tasting.
I don’t have any MCT oil, but I do have the MCT Oil in Powder form. Could I use that instead? If so, do they measure out the same?
They should measure similarly, but you may need to blend it more so that the powder can dissolve.
Isn’t the coffee cold after all this blending? Do you heat it up again?
No, it only takes a minute or so to make the whole recipe so the coffee is still hot.
If I drink 1 cup at breakfast and 1 cup at lunch will I still get the benefits of intermittent fasting?
Hey Erica,
You should be able to get most of the benefits. The only way to get all of the benefits is by consuming no calories at all while you are fasting.
Can I just brew a pot of coffee and measure out 2 cups for this? If I am fasting till 9pm is it okay to drink this and then drink water and black coffee throughout the day?
Hey Penny,
Yes, you can!
Although it is technically not a fast when you consume calories, you’ll still get the benefits of intermittent fasting if you do what you suggested.
This recipe always grossed me out but I’m getting desperate so I am going to try it. I have no idea why I’m not losing weight because my keto strips are always dark purple and say “large” amount of ketones are in my urine. I’m not exercising, could that be the reason? I guess so. I’m going to start getting really strict with tracking the grams and calories. For breakfast I had a cup of spinach and 3 ounces of cheddar cheese, for lunch 3 slices of bacon with asparagus and zucchini. Hardly any carbs. This is pretty typical but the scale always hovers between 191 and 197. Is there something wrong with me? There must be because I’ve been on this since 8/13/18 without weight loss, and that’s just not the results other people are getting. 🙁
Hey Deirdre,
Getting stricter with your calories may be the key that helps you lose weight. Ketoproof coffee may help (if you are using it to help you eat fewer calories throughout the day), but if you think it’s gross, and you don’t enjoy it, then I recommend trying other strategies to help you maintain a calorie deficit and lose weight.
We recently updated our guide on how to lose weight with the keto diet. You’ll be able to find a ton of helpful info and strategies there that should help you get the results you are looking for:
https://www.ruled.me/how-to-lose-weight-ketogenic-diet/
If you have any questions after reading that article, please let me know. I’m here to help in any way that I can. 🙂
I’m allergic to coffee can I use green tea instead?
Hey Kimberly,
We actually have a Ketoproof green tea recipe that you can use:
https://www.ruled.me/iced-k…
You can have it iced or hot, whatever you prefer.
Tried the coffee for the first time today. It was excellent. It will be my morning go to and see how it helps me towards my weight goals.
You don’t mention sweetener. I’m currently starting a fat fast and was wondering if I could add stevia to sweeten my coffee?
Hey Marcee,
It’s likely better to limit any keto-friendly sweetener consumption as it may increase cravings and hunger. However, as long as you follow the rules for the fast and the stevia extract has no hidden carb-containing ingredients (such as dextrose and maltodextrin), I doubt it’ll be an issue.
I am not a fan of hot coffee. I’ve always preferred it iced. I was thinking about blending it all together, allowing to cool and then put over ice. Anyone tried this? Does the coconut oil and/or butter congeal or would it remain liquid? Thanks!
Hi Craig, I am new to keto diet. I am planning to only drink bpc for breakfast only ( i will still eat lunch and dinner with a calorie budget of 1400~1500kcal). So can you advise how many cups of bpc should i drink? Can i drink this daily? I am using Moccona Continental Gold Coffee (Instant coffee) to make bpc coffee, but i am not a coffee drinker previously so i am confused how many teaspoon or tablespoon to add for 1 cup (8oz) of coffee? Please kindly advise… Thank you very much!
From Singapore~~~ ^_^
1-2 cups of bpc per day is a good starting point for non-coffee drinkers. Yes you can drink this daily, just make sure to include the calories in bpc in your calorie budget.
I recommend checking the label on your coffee container. It’ll should provide suggestions on how much to use per cup. Typically 1 to 2 teaspoons of instant coffee per cup is what is used.
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
The nutritional information label stated 2g per cup, so I supposed I should add one level of teaspoon of coffee powder. I will try 2 teaspoon when I get use to drinking bpc. Thank you Craig! 🙂 Have a nice day!
You’re welcome, Esther. Looks like 1 level teaspoon holds about 2 grams of instant coffee so that sounds good! If you have any other questions, let me know.
Hi Craig,
I am new/beginner on KETO, I started sunday 6/16/19.. I wanted to know was go for snack and if can do any? I feel very hungry at times, please help.
thanks
A.L
Hey there A.L,
I recommend checking out our list of keto snacks (and other info about keto snacking) here:
https://www.ruled.me/keto-s…
If you have any further questions after reading the article, please let me know. 🙂
This is really good, and I love how soft coconut oil/MCT makes my lips feel.
I feel the same way. It’s one of the often-overlooked benefits of ketoproof coffee.
Hi I just signed up… Instead of butter, can we use Ghee?
Yes, you can!
Good luck with your keto journey, Ida. If you need help with anything else, let us know 🙂
I personally don’t like to drink coffee due to its effects on triglyceride levels. Instead of coffee, I’ll usually brew up some tea and throw some ghee into it.
You can definitely do that, too – I make it with tea occasionally as well!
I can tell you that keto coffee has helped me manage my type 1 diabetes better.
Happy to hear it! It’s such a great replacement for high-carb breakfasts.
I recently gave up coffee. I know, it’s crazy. I switched to tea and then quit that last week in an effort to quit smoking cigarettes, again (quit for 5 years). Long story short… It’s been a week and I’m starting to gain weight. I want to implement this coffee (again) but wondering if decaf would work in the same way? Obviously no caffeine but is that truly necessary?
Caffeine has some health benefits (up to a certain amount), but I don’t see an issue with using decaf coffee to make this.
Can i use blender to cook that?
Yes, you can blend it. Be careful with hot liquids in a blender, though.
I vote for a french press to make the coffee. No filters. Much easier to clean. No filters to dispose of.
You can definitely do that – with the coffee itself in this recipe you can make it however you want to, really.
super good. i put the butter and coconut oil in the microwave for 20 seconds to soften before blending.
My coffee in the morning consists of kcup of Pete’s organic dark roast, a teaspoon of Swerve sweetener, tablespoon of organic MTC oil vanilla flavor (Whole Foods), 2 tablespoons of coconut cream, 1 tablespoon of organic heavy cream, 1/2 teaspoons of ground flaxseed. Thoughts?
Sounds delicious to me! What do you use the ground flaxseed for?
Thank you fit sharing this recipe!! It taste great and is a wonderful replacement for my coffee. I’m new to this KETO world and could never understand why I was staying on the heavy side when I only ate one meal a day(dinner) and functioned on mostly coffee and water while at work. Turns out coffee creamer is the devil and is loaded with carbs. I’m also guessing that my body was in starvation mode and storing all my fat. I am having a hard time reaching my calorie intake for the day so this coffee recipe helps a lot. Thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed it, Janice! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
We actually have an article on keto-friendly coffee creamers as well if you’d like to amp up the fat and flavor in your coffee even more:
https://www.ruled.me/have-y…
This recipe is more appealing than most, but I have a question. Since butter is just heavy cream beaten until the fats solidify, why can’t 2T of heavy cream take the place of the butter in the recipe? The milk solids in cream are negligible, and the calorie count is identical….
Good question, Susan! The main reason is that heavy cream adds more net carbs than butter. However, if you don’t mind the additional 1-2 grams of net carbs in your coffee, feel free to make the substitution.
If my meals are planned out on the app- breakfast, lunch & dinner, can I have bulletproof coffee in addition? Or will that put my fat/protein/carb numbers over?
Super sorry for the slow reply. That would alter your macros significantly (mostly because keto coffee is high-fat and high calorie). If you want to have it daily, you can adjust your plan to account for the calories and then skip breakfast (and drink coffee as a meal replacement). If you need help with that, just send me an e-mail!