50+ Healthy Keto Snacks to Help with Ketosis

Updated Oct 19th, 2020 – Written by Craig Clarke

Medical review by Dr. Barton Jennings

One of the most satiating diets is the keto diet. Keto-friendly foods are typically so filling that keto dieters end up eating fewer calories — and, in many cases, fewer meals — throughout the day. This allows them to lose weight sustainably.

However, just because you are following keto doesn’t mean that you are immune to hunger and afternoon energy crashes. If you’re not prepared, and the convenience of processed, carb-dense snacks beckons you, you may very well find yourself with a mouthful of food that makes it even harder for you to achieve your health goals.

This is why it is best to have keto snacks on hand when hunger hits and your willpower is low — or when you need an extra fat-filled energy boost.

To help you stay on track with your snacking, we put together two comprehensive lists of healthy keto options with goal-oriented subcategories that’ll help you find the perfect snack:

Ready-to-Eat Keto Snack List:

Homemade Keto Snack List:

The possibilities are endless, so please let us know in the comments below about your favorite keto snacks to inspire more culinary creations for the keto community. Below the keto snack lists, we’ve included a list of the 10 worst snacks for ketosis as well. By eating the keto-friendly options instead of these popular carb-ridden snacks, you’ll be one step closer to getting the keto weight loss results you want.


The Ready-to-Eat Healthy Keto Snack List

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of keto snack recipes available for you to try — but sometimes life gets in the way. What are you supposed to do if you don’t have time to prep your meals and snacks?

Before you give in and grab an unhealthy snack, try something from our list of ready-to-eat snacks. To help you find what food items will meet your specific needs, we split them up into three subcategories: snacks that mostly consist of fat, snacks that are good sources of both fat and protein, and snacks that are super low in calories.

Ready-to-Eat Keto Snacks That Mostly Consist of Fat

Keto Friendly Snacks That Mostly Consist of Fat

These snacks provide you with a delicious way to fit more fats into your keto diet:

  • Avocados — This is one of the best keto snacks if you need more fat without so much extra protein. Just add a little salt and pepper or mash it up with some mayonnaise, and you’ll be all set to snack.
  • Olives — Being a good source of fat and fiber with minimal carbs and protein, olives are one of the best ready-to-eat keto snacks. Just pick your favorites from an olive bar or get a jar from the store. However, make sure to avoid any products that have added oils or carb-ridden ingredients.
  • Pork Rinds — If you crave something crunchy and salty, have these instead of carb-rich crackers or chips. Many products are low quality and fried with unhealthy oils, so stick with pork rinds that are made with the simplest ingredients (i.e., pork rinds and salt) like these.
  • Macadamia Nuts — Most nuts are littered with inflammatory omega-6 fats, but macadamias are in a league of their own, with high amounts of monounsaturated fat and minimal omega-6 content. Be careful with them though! They can be surprisingly easy to overeat. Look for raw macadamia nuts in small packages for added convenience and portion control.
  • Raw Coconut Butter — This is made from blended coconut meat, and provides us with a delicious way to get plenty of coconut fat without missing out on our favorite coconut flavors. Make sure the coconut butter you find has no added sugar — and, most importantly, don’t overdo it. Coconut butter is packed with calories, which can slow your weight loss.
  • High-Fat Nuts and Nut Butters — Some nuts are fairly high in carbs (such as cashews and pistachios), so it is best to keep your snack portions small. Stay away from any nuts or nut butters that have added carbs, polyunsaturated oils, or vegetable oils. Choose higher fat nuts and nut butters, such as almonds, pecans, and macadamia nuts. You can also make your own nut butter at home by using this recipe. (Feel free to use MCT oil instead of coconut oil for an extra ketone energy boost.)
  • Pre-Made Keto Cookies. If you don’t want to make your own cookies, you can purchase them already made for you – ready to stick in your pocket or purse. They have the same texture of a gooey, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie pulled straight from the oven. Click this link to take a look at the flavors offered.
  • Keto-Friendly Dark Chocolate — If not sweetened with stevia or another low carb sweetener, make sure it’s at least 80% cocoa content or higher, as the carbs can add up quickly. Click this link if you’d like to try some premade keto-friendly chocolate for yourself. You can also make your own by mixing melted coconut oil with cocoa powder and your favorite low carb sweetener(s).
  • Cacao Nibs — These little chunks of cacao bean are the original “chocolate chips.” They are flavorful, healthy, and very low carb. Munch on these piece by piece or have them with nuts, nut butter, or seeds. Be careful though; you can easily overdo these and accumulate calories quick.
  • Pepperoni Slices — Although these are super convenient and keto-friendly, they are highly processed, so it is best to limit them. Try to find organic and hormone-free pepperoni without any added dextrose, maltodextrin, and unhealthy preservatives when possible. These go great when paired with high-fat cheese.
  • High-Fat Cheeses — Although hard cheeses make for a great keto snack, they aren’t the best cheese for increasing your fat intake while minimizing protein. The highest fat cheeses that can serve as great high-fat, low-protein snacks are mascarpone cheese and cream cheese. Feel free to combine them with other snacks from this article, such as pork rinds, pepperoni, and nuts, for a wonderfully tasty keto snack.
  • Beef Pemmican — Pemmican is a delicious paste of dried and pounded meat mixed with melted fat and other ingredients, originally made by North American Indians and later adapted by Arctic explorers. It is an undeniably delicious keto snack if you want something that is filling with hearty, beefy flavors. We recommend getting your pemmican from U.S. Wellness Meats. Opt for the Honey & Cherry-Free Beef Pemmican.
  • MCT Oil Supplements — MCT oil and MCT powder will provide your body with a quick dose of saturated fat that will be rapidly converted to energy-boosting ketones. Follow the recommendations in our article on MCTs to find out how you can add them to your diet.

Ready-to-Eat Snacks That Are a Good Source of Fat and Protein

healthy keto snacks that have protein

These snacks provide you with a great way to fit more fat and protein into your keto diet:

  • Full-Fat Cheese — The most convenient cheeses, like string cheese, cheddar cheese, and cheese wheels, make great keto snacks when you want some quality fat and protein. Make sure they have no added carbs or fillers and are high in fat.
  • Sardines — Keto diet researcher, Dr. Dom D’Agostino, considers canned sardines as an ideal on-the-go keto snack. (Wild Planet is the brand he recommends.) Not only do they provide us with a healthy dose of fat and other nutrients, but they are also zero carb. For some extra fat, purchase the sardines that are canned with olive oil.
  • Peanut Butter — Who can’t get enough of peanut butter? It provides us with a delicious way to curb cravings, meet our protein needs, and increase our healthy fat intake. However, don’t fall for the peanut butter products that have added sugar. The ingredients label should have no more than two ingredients: peanuts and salt.
  • Seeds — Add flaxseeds and/or chia seeds to your nut butters or nut mixes for some extra protein, fat, fiber, and health benefits.
  • Beef Jerky — Make sure the brand you choose is no- or very low-carb with very few added ingredients. Keep in mind, however, that jerky tends to consist of only ~50% calories from fat. If you want a ready-to-eat beef snack that is higher in fat, buy some pemmican instead.
  • Low Carb Bars — There are a plethora of “keto-friendly” on-the-go bars that have hit the store, online and on the shelves. Before you fall for their marketing scheme, investigate the ingredients and calculate the net carbs per bar. Make sure the bar will fit within your calorie and net carb limits for the day. The two most common bars that can be eaten on keto, albeit sparingly, are Quest Bars and :Ratio Keto Bars. Only use bars like these as a last resort if you have no other keto snacks available.
  • Cheese Chips — There are several companies that make cheese chips. The two that I’ve tried so far are Whisps and Moon Cheese, and I think they make for a great keto snack. They are essentially a crunchy version of your favorite cheese with no added carbs and a good source of both fat and protein.

Very Low-Calorie Ready-to-Eat Keto Snacks

Very Low-Calorie Ready-to-Eat Keto Snacks

These snacks will give you the pleasure of eating without all of the extra calories, making them a great option for those of you who want to maximize weight loss and minimize hunger:

  • Cherry Tomatoes — These do have some net carbs so be mindful of how many you are eating.
  • Seaweed Snacks — They make an ideal snack for those who want all the saltiness and crunch of chips without the calories. Make sure there aren’t any added ingredients that contribute unnecessary calories or carbs.
  • Coffee — Drink it black to raise your energy and ketone levels without the extra calories. You can also add heavy cream or MCT oil powder if you need more fat in your diet.
  • Tea — Drink caffeinated (for an extra energy boost) or herbal tea to give you some flavor and fluids without the calories. If you’d like to add more fat, feel free to mix in some heavy cream or MCT oil powder.
  • Sugar-Free, Low-Calorie Jello or Popsicles — Only have these on special occasions because they’re highly processed and relatively useless from a health perspective. Put some sugar-free whipped cream on top if you’d like to add more fat.
  • Bone Broth — Sip on some bone broth when you want something low-calorie and comforting that is also packed with health benefits. To learn more about bone broth’s benefits, how to make it, and where you should purchase it from, check out this article.
  • Kale Chips — One of the most nutrient-dense, low-calorie snacks you can have on keto! Many kale chip products have added sugars, so if you can’t find one that fits within your net carb limit (with your other meals considered), try making them yourself at home using our kale chip recipe.
  • Pickles — Want something satisfyingly sour? Sugar-free pickles will do the trick. These low-calorie snacks can also provide you with some the minerals you need to help curb cravings. If you’d like a little sweetness and spice with the sourness of pickles, try our Fire and Ice Pickle

Homemade Healthy Keto Snack List

Homemade keto snacks are your best choice. Making your food at home is the only way you can truly guarantee that you are eating keto-friendly ingredients that won’t kick you out of ketosis.

The following list of snacks is also great if you want to make something healthy and delicious for an event or party. Once again, we decided to split them up into three categories to help you better determine which ones will help you achieve your goals.

Homemade Keto Snacks That Mostly Consist of Fat

Homemade Keto Snacks That Mostly Consist of Fat

These snacks provide you with a delicious way to fit more fats into your keto diet:

Homemade Keto Snacks That Are a Good Source of Fat and Protein

Homemade Keto Snacks That Are a Good Source of Fat and Protein

These snacks provide you with a great way to fit more fat and protein into your keto diet:

  • Cheese Tacos — Use baked or fried full-fat cheese as the shell and fill it with your favorite keto ingredients. For example, check out these Breakfast Tacos.
  • Keto Cheese Chips — Follow this recipe for a quick and tasty keto snack.
  • Small Low-Carb Sandwiches — Use something grain-free and low-carb as the “bread,” such as cheese, lettuce, collard greens, cucumber, eggplant slices, deli meat, or keto bread.
  • Deli Meat and Cheese Rolls — Simply roll a healthy lunch meat around your favorite full-fat cheese. This works well for a quick snack or party appetizer.
  • Deviled or Hard-Boiled EggsInstant Pot Deviled Eggs, Soy Sauce Marinated Deviled Eggs, and Spiced Bacon Deviled Eggs are some delicious recipes you can try.
  • Keto Pizza — Cold or hot, you can’t go wrong with a slice or two of low-carb pizza. If you’d like to make one of the ten best keto-friendly pizza recipes, check out this recipe round-up.
  • Keto Crackers — When exposed to moisture flaxseeds and chia seeds will start to congeal together, allowing you to bake or dry them into keto crackers. Not sure what I mean? Give these Low Carb Chia Seed Crackers a try.
  • Bacon-Wrapped Anything — Mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, chicken, hot dogs, asparagus, beef, and eggs can all be wrapped in bacon and eaten as snacks.
  • Lettuce Wraps — Wrap your favorite meat and low-carb spices in some lettuce leaves. For example, check out our Spicy Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps and our Salmon Lettuce Cups with Lemony Basil Spread.

Very Low-Calorie Homemade Keto Snacks

For those of you who want to maximize weight loss, these snacks will give you the pleasure of eating without all of the extra calories:

  • Veggie Sticks — Slice your favorite keto-friendly veggies and store in the fridge, so they’re easy to grab and go. You could dip these in homemade guacamole, keto dip, or eat them with full-fat cheeses.
  • Homemade Bone Broth — To get the most out of your bone broth, I recommend making it yourself. For more about bone broth’s benefits and how to make it, check out this article.
  • Homemade Kale Chips — Try our kale chip recipe.
  • Homemade Pickles — If you want a sweet and sour snack with a little spicy kick, try our Fire and Ice Pickle

Customizable Homemade & Easy Keto Snacks

When we put things into categories, there will always be some items that don’t fit nicely into any of them. In this case, there are a handful of keto snacks that are so customizable that they can fit into any category.

  • Salad — You really can’t go wrong with low-carb vegetables, especially with mixed greens as the base. Add some bacon bits, hard-boiled egg, and/or parmesan cheese for extra fat and protein. Use a homemade full-fat keto dressing or something simple like extra virgin olive oil to add even more fat. Need some inspiration? Here are some delicious keto salads you can try: Charred Veggie and Fried Goat Cheese Salad, Crispy Pork Salad, Oven Roasted Caprese Salad, and Spinach Watercress Keto Salad.
  • Leftover Keto Meals — If you have any keto leftovers, try having a smaller portion as a snack the next day. Feel free to mix it with other keto ingredients to add more of what you want from a flavor perspective and what you need from a macronutrient perspective.
  • Stuffed Avocados — Use this creamy and healthy fruit to your advantage. You can pretty much stuff it with any of your favorite keto ingredients. For example, you can bake an avocado with an egg in it, add a savory fat bomb to it, or try our Egg Salad Stuffed Avocado
  • Virtually Any Keto Recipe — Just take a look out our snack recipe catalog. There you will find dozens of keto snacks for every flavor preference that will help you meet your goals. Plus, most of them can be customized to fit your specific macro targets as well.

Top 10 Worst Snacks for the Keto Diet

Top 10 Worst Snacks for the Keto Diet

Unfortunately, the above snacks are not the most common options you’ll find in the store or being served at parties (yet).

As you browse through the grocery store aisles or a typical snack cabinet, you’ll find most of the snacks are low-fat, low-protein, low-fiber, and high in carbs. This is the exact opposite of what you want to eat on keto.

To give you a better idea of what to avoid, here is a list of the worst snacks for ketosis:

  1. Fruit snacks, fruit rollups, and whole fruit — Most fruit and fruit-based snacks are filled with enough sugars to impair ketosis. If you love fruit, try eating a small amount of keto-friendly fruits or making fruit-based keto recipes (like these low-carb fruit rollups).
  2. Chex Mix, trail mix, granola, and other snack mixes — One look at the label of these snack mixes, and you’ll find a minefield of carb-loaded ingredients. Even the “healthy” trail mixes tend to come with sugar-filled dried fruit and high-carb nuts. For a keto option, try making keto-friendly granola.
  3. Pretzels — Being composed of mostly flour and ~85% carbs, pretzels are essentially a saltier version of bread.
  4. Chips — Whether they are made from potatoes (like Lay’s) or corn (such as Fritos, Tostitos, or Doritos), each small serving of chips has enough carbs to slow your progress. To get your chip-fix, stick with keto cheese crisps or pork rinds.
  5. Cereal — Even cereals marketed as being ‘heart-healthy” (like Cheerios and Special K) are far from keto-friendly.  On the keto diet, it is best to make cereal at home.
  6. Crackers — Though snack crackers (such as Triscuits, Ritz, and Cheeze-its) may be accompanied by keto-friendly foods, they are not healthy or low-carb and should be avoided. On keto, you can either skip the crackers or make them yourself with keto-approved recipes.
  7. Flavored yogurt and yogurt-based products — flavored yogurt, yogurt with fruit or granola, and squeezable yogurt products are filled with sugar. Plain, full-fat, sugar-free yogurt is the only suitable option for keto.
  8. Chocolate bars — Milk chocolate, particularly Hershey’s milk chocolate, often contains more sugar and milk than actual cocoa. Even many dark chocolate bars have enough sugar to kick you out of ketosis. To get your chocolate fix, stick with the keto-friendly dark chocolate listed above.
  9. Cookies — From Oreos to ready-to-bake dough, cookies are one of the worst snack and dessert choices for any diet, especially keto. For cookies that are healthy and low in carbs, try the keto cookie options listed above.
  10. Candy — Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms, Kit Kats, and other popular candies are filled with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients. To satisfy your candy cravings on keto, try making one of our keto-fied dessert/candy recipes.

Now that we have a good idea of the best and worst snacks for the keto diet, let’s take a closer look at how to snack for optimal results. (This is especially important because, even with zero-carb snacks, it is still possible to overdo it and slow your weight loss progress.)


The Benefits of Snacking on the Keto Diet

keto snack ideas and the benefits

Although we typically advise against snacking, it is possible to turn these mini-meals into your secret weapon. Here’s how snacks can be beneficial:

  • They can be used to help you meet your fat, protein, fiber, and micronutrient goals.
  • They can prevent you from cheating on your diet when your willpower is low.
  • They help increase your energy levels (and, in many cases, your ketone levels as well).
  • They help keep you satiated until your next meal.

When you snack mindfully — i.e., staying within your macronutrient targets for the day — you will increase your chances of getting the results you want without having to struggle with hunger, cravings, and low energy levels.

On the other hand, if you are consuming as many keto snacks as you want without any limitations, you will likely hit a weight loss plateau or gain weight. This potential downside of snacking is why we tend to advise against it.


The Downsides of Keto Snacking

The Downsides of Keto Snacking

Just because these snacks are low in carbs doesn’t mean you can eat them endlessly. Regardless of what macronutrients (i.e., fat, protein, and carbs) we consume, we will still gain fat if we overeat.

Keto snacks are always a better choice than hyper-palatable, highly-processed snack foods, but it is still possible to gain fat while eating keto-friendly options — especially if you find low carb foods that are easy for you to overeat without noticing.

To help illustrate my point, imagine that you have found an assortment of keto snacks that are absolutely delicious, and they fit perfectly into your lifestyle. You always have them with you, prepared for hunger to strike. On some days, you won’t feel hungry at all, so there will be no need to snack.

On other days, however — due to a variety of factors (e.g., fat loss, stress, lack of sleep) — your appetite will be ravenous. Nothing will seem to satiate you. Cheese, bacon, avocado, peanut butter — nothing will make you feel full.

By the end of the day, you will have eaten enough calories to mitigate all the progress you made throughout the week. Do you see the issue with mindless snacking?

Our brain is well-equipped to prevent weight loss and keep the body energized — but there is no way that it will help you lose that little bit of extra fat you gained when delicious food is available (to learn why this is the case, check out our article on weight loss).

For this reason, I only recommend snacking if you can snack mindfully. What I mean by this is to be aware of what you need to eat on a daily basis to meet your goals and plan out your snacks to help you achieve them.

To help you snack mindfully, plug your info into our keto calculator and use the results to guide your snacking decisions. By doing this, you can avoid the potential downsides of snacking and reap all of the benefits.


Picking Out Your Own Healthy Keto Snacks

Many low-carb snacks (like Atkins products) will impair your ketone production if you aren’t careful. This is because many of these so-called “healthy low-carb” snacks are loaded with protein and unhealthy ingredients that may spike your blood sugar — which both can kick you out of ketosis.

When finding keto-friendly snacks, use these rules to guide you:

  • Stick to whole food-based snacks as much as possible — preferably homemade.
  • Only purchase minimally-processed products without any carb-containing additives or fillers.
  • Aim for snacks that are 60% fat and less than 10% carbs.
  • Use keto-approved recipes when possible.

Putting It All Together — the Do’s and Don’ts of Snacking on Keto

If you could take away one thing from this post, it would be this simple list of do’s and don’ts with keto snacking.

What you shouldn’t do:

  • Rely on heavily processed, convenient foods.
  • Rely solely on your willpower to stick to the keto diet.
  • Ignore the absolute importance of your macronutrient and calorie intake for meeting your goals.
  • Be unprepared when you are on-the-go.

What you should do:

  • Take the time to prep high-quality keto snacks for yourself.
  • Rely on whole foods and healthy ingredients instead of processed “low carb” products.
  • Pick your keto snacks based on how much protein and fat you need to meet your goals.
  • Make sure your snacks fit within your macros.

Printable Keto Snack List

Ready-to-Eat Keto Snacks That Mostly Consist of Fat

  • Avocados
  • Olives
  • Pork Rinds
  • Macadamia Nuts
  • Raw Coconut Butter
  • High-Fat Nuts and Nut Butters
  • Keto-Friendly Dark Chocolate
  • Cacao Nibs
  • Pepperoni Slices
  • High-Fat Cheeses
  • Beef Pemmican
  • MCT Oil Supplements

Ready-to-Eat Snacks That Are a Good Source of Fat and Protein

  • Full-Fat Hard Cheeses
  • Sardines
  • Peanut Butter
  • Seeds
  • Beef Jerky
  • Low Carb Bars
  • Cheese Chips

Very Low-Calorie Ready-to-Eat Keto Snacks

  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • Seaweed snacks
  • Coffee
  • Tea
  • Sugar-Free, Low-Calorie Jello or Popsicles
  • Bone Broth
  • Kale Chips
  • Sugar-free Pickles

Homemade Keto Snacks That Mostly Consist of Fat

  • Homemade Guacamole
  • Bacon
  • Fat Bombs
  • Cheese Dips or Fondues
  • Keto Ice Cream
  • Homemade Keto Popsicles
  • Ketoproof Coffee
  • Iced Ketoproof Green Tea
  • Keto Smoothies and Shakes
  • Keto Chocolate Mousse
  • Keto Cookies

Homemade Keto Snacks That Are a Good Source of Fat and Protein

  • Cheese Tacos
  • Keto Cheese Chips
  • Small Low-Carb Sandwiches
  • Deli Meat and Cheese Rolls
  • Deviled or Hard-Boiled Eggs
  • Keto Pizza
  • Keto Crackers
  • Bacon-Wrapped Keto Foods
  • Lettuce Wraps

Homemade Low-Calorie Snacks

  • Homemade Bone Broth
  • Homemade Kale Chips
  • Homemade Keto-friendly Pickles
  • Veggie Sticks

Customizable Homemade Snacks

  • Keto Salad
  • Leftover Keto Meals
  • Stuffed Avocados

For more homemade keto snack ideas, take a look at our snack recipe catalog.