Keto Grocery Shopping List

The first question I get when talking about Keto is, “Can I eat this or that?” And I get it. When I first started, removing nearly all carbs and sugar from my diet seemed daunting. So I wanted to know, “What CAN I have?!” Sure, the most keto and healthy thing you could do would be to only eat meat and low carb veggies, but WE’RE HUMAN! We’ve grown up eating certain desserts and snacks and we all have our particular cravings that comfort us after a hard day’s work.

Well, do not fear. You CAN do Keto and still enjoy most of your favorites. You just need to learn what products and ingredients are out there to help you do this.

Keep reading below to learn what foods you should buy and how to read nutrition labels to determine what’s Keto and what’s not.

What You SHOULD NOT Have

Let’s start with the foods and ingredients you should avoid. Keto is a lot simpler than most people think. You can pretty much eat most of the foods you are probably already eating… you just have to cut out some big ticket items and replace them with keto-friendly options.

Let’s keep it simple: Cut out carbs. The big ticket items you should AVOID are:

• bread
• potatoes
• rice
• pasta
• corn
• fruit
• anything with sugar
• anything with wheat 

These items are not keto-friendly (high-glycemic), so in other words, they will raise your blood sugar, stop the fat burning process, and kick you out of ketosis.

How to Read Nutrition Labels

I’ve tried to make the Grocery Shopping List below as complete as possible, but it’s impossible to cover everything. You need to learn how to tell whether something is Keto or not on your own…and this is how…

WHITE BREAD NUTRITION LABEL

This label shows that ONE SLICE of bread packs 24 GRAMS of carbs! This means that if you eat that one slice of bread, you’ve maxed out your daily allowable amount of carbs! … (approx. 25 carbs per day)… And there are a little bit of carbs in many “Keto-friendly” foods that you’ll eat throughout the day, so you cannot afford to eat that slice of bread!

Below you will find replacements or substitutes for these items we just slashed out of your diet, and all the other foods you want to be eating on Keto.

Grocery Shopping List

These are the items you should be buying regularly when you go to the grocery store.

Frozen Cauliflower – Potato and Rice Substitute

Cauliflower is a replacement for potatoes and rice, and I always have 4-6 bags in my freezer. I like to buy the frozen cauliflower florets, because obviously they stay good longer, but also they have less of that “cauliflowery” flavor, which allows you to flavor it however you’d like. For instance, you can follow our Cauliflower Mash recipe, or I recommend buying frozen cauliflower rice and making Keto Fried Rice.

Eggs

Prepare to buy a lot of eggs. First, they are obviously a breakfast staple, but once you start doing intermittent fasting, they can still serve as a great side item for your lunch. Hard boil them and make egg salad (which means you should buy Mayo too).

Also, you need to bake the many Keto recipes that you will soon learn here at Yummee Keto, like Keto Pancakes, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Keto Pizza, and our Bread Recipe! These recipes will help you tremendously to not cheat on Keto… and you will need eggs.

Buy organic, pasture-raised eggs, because eggs from chickens who are fed grain will lack the nutrients you need. You can tell if an egg is good by how rich in color the egg yolk is. If it’s pale, throw them out and go find better eggs.

Meat

Beef, chicken, pork, and fish are all good to go! Try to buy organic where possible, and here is our usual meat shopping list:

• Ground Beef – Buy Grass-Fed beef for highest quality. Grain-fed cows lack nutrition, and remember “you are what your food eats!”
• Salmon – buy Wild-Caught, Atlantic Salmon – nutrient-rich and healthy fats!
• Italian Sausage – great with sauerkraut, which you should buy too because it’s a superfood!
• Bacon – pair it with kale in this crazy delicious recipe!
• Chicken Thighs – fattier cut which provides you more Keto-style energy! And we think they taste better, and once you get going on Keto, you’ll enjoy those fattier cuts for sure! Any other chicken is fine too … just not with any breading. Try our Keto Breaded Chicken Recipe!
• Smithfield Baked Ham – This is one of our favorite items, because it’s so delicious and yields SO MUCH HAM! We bake ours, and then split it up into several large zip-loc bags and freeze it.
• Steak
• Pork Loins

Sugar Alternatives

If you have a sweet tooth, this is the MOST IMPORTANT item to buy, because on Keto, you simply cannot have sugar. So if you’re going to satisfy that sweet tooth, by either baking up a delicious Keto dessert (like our Chocolate Chip Cookies or French Toast Pancakes), or by adding sweetener to your coffee, then you NEED to buy this Keto sweetener now!

Low Carb Pasta

Your best choice here is Pasta Zero. It’s very low carb and once you wash it, it takes on whatever you’re flavoring it with quite nicely. You need to run it under cold water with a colander for about 2 minutes, and keep moving it around. Then throw it on the stovetop for a few minutes. You’ll notice more water will seep out. Drain the water, and wash under cold water again. Repeat this as needed to remove the odd smell, and cook with a little olive oil the last time. After that, add your sauce, whether it be alfredo or a low carb marinara sauce.

We’ve been able to find Pasta Zero at WalMart. You can check your local grocery store or Amazon for “shirataki noodles.”

Pro Tip: There are a lot of “low carb” pastas out there, but if you check the ingredients, they have some form of wheat or cornstarch. Do not buy these.

Green Veggies

Getting greens into your diet is very important as it will help you digest the high fat content you’ll be eating on Keto. Here are the most important greens to keep stocked at all times:

• Kale – a powerhouse of nutrients, read more about why you should be eating Kale regularly, and check out this bacon and kale recipe to make it tasty!
• Salad – main side
• Brussel Sprouts – cook with bacon and make it fatty and delicious!
• Broccoli
• Green Beans
• Asparagus

Dairy

Milk is high in sugar so you cannot have that. The best alternative is unsweetened vanilla almond milk. If you add a little half and half with the almond milk and froth it, it tastes really close to milk!

Here are the forms of dairy I recommend having on hand for recipes, but make sure you limit your dairy intake, because it tends to produce a high inflammatory response:

• Butter – Best form of dairy – Use Grass-Fed butter (Kerry Gold), can put in coffee with MCT oil and blend to make it “bulletproof.”
• Cream Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Half and Half
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Cheese – yes, cheese is fine, but try to buy higher quality cheese, not processed Kraft singles. These are cheeses we have on hand for our recipes:
  • Shredded Mozzarella (for Keto Pizza and Keto Pita Bread)
  • Shredded Parmesan (for Cauliflower Mash)
  • Colby jack – shredded and string cheese

Drinks

• Coffee is high in polyphenols, which helps feed good bacteria that stimulates weight loss. It’s also an antioxidant, which means it reduces oxidative stress that can damage your cells. Buy organic, and for non-rancid coffee, roast your own!
• Black Tea – You can make our Sweet Tea Recipe to enjoy a sweet, southern classic!
• Green Tea – Increases fat burning and suppresses appetite, which is HUGE for Intermittent Fasting.

Condiments/Dressings

• Mustard
• Dijon Mustard (with Apple Cider Vinegar makes a tasty and super healthy salad dressing)
• Mayo
• Ranch Dressing – Our favorite is buttermilk of course
• Caesar Dressing
• Guacamole

Seasoning

• Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
• Lemon Juice – Very healthy for you (balances PH Scale, prevents kidney stones) – add to your water too – fresh squeezed lemon juice is best!
• Black Pepper
• Minced Garlic
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Italian Seasoning

Baking Ingredients

• Vanilla Extract
• Baking Powder
• Cinnamon
• Xanthan Gum
• Lemon Extract 

Fruits and Berries

Yes, fruits were listed above to avoid, but there are a few low in sugar making them acceptable to eat. Generally, berries are good to go…strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Avoid blueberries because they are higher in carbs. One great way to have these is by making a jam like we did in our Raspberry Jam recipe.

Remember, avoid fruit high in sugar, like bananas, apples and oranges.

Go buy:

• Avocado – Keto superfood; high in potassium and healthy fat
• Strawberries – Check out our Strawberry Jam Recipe!
• Raspberries – you can make our jam recipe with raspberries as well!
• Blackberries
• Lemon – great for your body’s acidity level, so drop some lemon juice in your water!
• Coconut

And there you have you have your Keto Grocery Shopping List! Go get these items and explore our Recipes page and revolutionize your Keto experience!