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.
Hey Gragg,
I haven’t tried this out myself, but I know some people who have used a milk frother successfully. Try it out and let us know if it works for you!
Hey Andrea,
You could definitely turn this into an iced coffee. Try following some of the steps in our recipe for iced keto proof tea as your guide:
https://www.ruled.me/iced-ketoproof-green-tea/
To make a quick cup on the go, you can also try using heavy cream and MCT powder, mix those into coffee, and add ice.
Experiment a bit to see what works best for you and let me know how it goes. 🙂
I was actually wondering about avocado oil myself. Thanks for the awesome recommendation!
Good call! For optimal health, it would probably be best to brew your coffee in a way that limits the exposure of hot water to any plastic.
Can you make a batch of this and store it in the fridge?
Yes, but you may have to blend it up again in the morning.
If this still doesn’t work well, try using fats that stay liquid while they are in the fridge like heavy cream and MCT oil.
is evening primrose bad?
hey guys. love the site, ty for all the advice. been on the keto diet for about 2.5 weeks now. haven’t lost any weight but I think I was way too low on my fats the first week so now I’m trying to correct. My question is, is it more important hit the fat macros or the calorie numbers? do I have to meet the protein numbers as well or is that just a number I have to stay below? I’m finding it difficult to keep track of all 3 and the lack of success is bringing me down. Thanks for the help.
The fat macros don’t have to be hit if you don’t feel that you are hungry. I would never recommend “forcing” yourself to eat fat when you’re not hungry enough to eat it. You should hit your protein levels to keep muscle mass preserved.
We have an article on how to track macros, it may be worth using an app to help you out with it. Try to aim for balanced meals overall with a good portion of fat and protein in each.
You have as 1.14 carbs listed for two cups of coffee. I have never heard of carbs in coffee, everywhere that I have looked online for the nutritional values of coffee, it lists zero carbs. Can you help me figure this out?
I used the USDA values for coffee which are usually a bit more intense in terms of the decimal values of carbs. Most nutrition labels can list 0g carbs if the amount is small enough as per FDA regulation.
Hi everyone. I started the Keto diet about 4 weeks ago and didn’t lose any wait. I finally figured out my Macros and have been following it for the past week. I can’t seemed to reach my Macro goal. I’m always under in Calories, fats, Carbs and protein by quite a bit. i didn’t lose any weight this week but my clothes are a little looser.. This is probably a dumb question but I have to ask anyway — Do I have to be very close to my Macros in order to lose. I try every day to come close but sometime I way off. For example Calories is 1416 and i hover around 800. Protein is 82 and usualy I’m in the 40’s.
Hey Lena,
I understand you are worried about the potential negative effects of soy – and I was too – until I looked at the research. The highest quality evidence I could find shows that soy has no significant effect on male hormone levels:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19524224/
It may even protect against prostate cancer as well.
Here’s a relatively unbiased article that digs into the research for you:
https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/how-much-soy-can-you-really-eat-before-it-affects-your-testosterone-w479484/
The soy milk that they are drinking, however, may contain other unhealthy ingredients, like added sugars, that they should limit.
So, if they are going to drink soy milk, I’d recommend organic unsweetened unflavored soy milk.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know.
Hello,
I was wondering what coffee are you using?
Hey Delina,
It’s best to stay close to your recommended fat and protein intake and try to keep your calorie deficit around 30% or lower. When your calorie deficit is greater than 30%, you will increase your risk of slowing your metabolism down significantly, plateauing sooner, and gaining more weight than you lost if you stop dieting.
To help you meet your fat needs, try implementing some of the suggestions that you’ll find here:
https://www.ruled.me/faq/what-happens-if-i-dont-meet-my-fat-goals/
And to help you meet your protein needs:
https://www.ruled.me/faq/what-happens-if-i-dont-meet-my-protein-goals/
After 3-5 weeks, check your progress and adjust from there. Losing weight at a rate of 1 to 2 pounds per week is what you should be aiming for.
If you have any other questions, please let me know. 🙂
In the photos, I was using a batch from Slate Coffee Roasters in Seattle
Hello,
I recently started my Keto journey; 7/02/18 was the start of my 3rd week and I am already down 11.4lbs! Your website has been heaven sent! All of my recipes are from your site and I have converted a few friends to the Keto Lifestyle! We commonly exchange recipes with each other that we have discovered in the Ruled.me archives! Overall, I’m addicted! I humbly thank you for taking the time to thoroughly explain Keto Living and helping make this journey a smooth transition!
However, aside from my rambling! My question is: I’ve been drinking the Ketoproof Coffee since the start of my keto evolution and, while the frothiness of the coffee if appeasing, I wanted to know if I added a squeeze of “Equal Café Creamers” to the mix, will it impair the effects of the keto coffee and potentially knock me out of my intermittent fasting? I have attached a link (and photo) to the product webpage so you can view the ingredients and nutrition facts:
http://www.equal.com/produc…
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
I look forward to your response!
Thanks!
Hey Josh,
incredible results, Congrats! And thanks for sharing a bit of your story with us! What are some of you and your friend’s fav keto recipes?
It looks like the creamer won’t impair ketone levels or stall weight loss as long as you don’t have any more than 1 tsp per day. If you are tracking net carbs then I recommend counting each 1/2 tsp as 1 gram of net carbs.
If you have any other questions, please let me know. Good luck on your keto journey!
Hey Tyler,
Thanks for your response! I generally only use 1 squirt of the sweetener in my morning coffee; so glad to know it doesn’t have any negative effects!
Hands down, our favorite recipes are are the Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Casserole and the Pepperoni Pizza! My guilty pleasure desserts are the Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes and the Churro Mug Cake! I have a list of plenty other recipes to try!
I will be sure to reach out with any additional questions I might have!
Thanks again,
Josh
The kerrygold you used in the photos is the salted one not the unsalted. The unsalted is silver.
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.
Either would work. I personally enjoy a little bit of salt in it. It’s up to you, really.
Isn’t the coffee cold after all this blending? Do you heat it up again?
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.
No, it only takes a minute or so to make the whole recipe so the coffee is still hot.
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!