The 13 Best Cookbooks For Delicious Keto Eating
Whether you're looking for a way to get fit and healthy or shed a few extra pounds, a change in eating habits can help jump-start your fitness goals. The keto diet, first introduced in the 1920s as a treatment for epilepsy, has gained popularity for its energy-boosting and slimming results (via Frontiers in Neuroscience). The magic lies in ketosis, a state of the body where the liver produces extra ketones. These ketones replace glucose in the body as an energy source, a swap that some believe produces more efficient use of oxygen in the body. This increased efficiency translates into a boosted metabolism that burns more calories.
But while a Harvard review of studies found that people are seeing positive short-term results, following a keto diet for longer than the month or two needed to boost energy and promote weight loss can be challenging. The strict high-fat, low/no-carb guidelines are especially problematic around celebrations and special occasions. It's hard to resist the sweets, carbs, and familiar comfort foods traditionally served around family and friends.
Whenever you throw in a partner and kids the stress of sticking with a keto diet intensifies. But no worries: Because these 13 keto cookbooks are here to save the day and make shopping, planning, and cooking delicious keto food a whole lot easier.
The Easy 5-Ingredient Ketogenic Diet Cookbook
Not sure where to start, or just need a simple plan to follow? "The Easy 5-Ingredient Ketogenic Diet Cookbook" by Jen Fisch is perfect for keto newbies and those who just want tasty, easy meals without too much prep. Most recipes use five ingredients or fewer (excluding salt and pepper) and can be prepared in just one pot or pan in 30 minutes or less.
Start at the beginning with a comprehensive list of what's allowed on the keto diet, along with some basic ideas for putting together a well-stocked keto pantry. The following seven chapters run through all the major dietary players. From hearty breakfast offerings to main entrees, snacks, desserts, and sauces this cookbook offers well-rounded guidance for those just starting their keto journey.
Helpful appendices include tips for buying organic produce, plus handy measurement conversions and resources for further reading. The simple recipes and easy-to-follow guidelines also make this a great option for those who have struggled to stick with the keto diet in the past.
Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
Suppose your goal is to join the centenarians living their best lives around crystal-clear Mediterranean waters, but you also want to explore the principles of ketogenic living. In that case, this cookbook is a perfect choice. Molly Devine is a registered dietician who focuses on meal planning and functional and integrative nutrition. Her expertise translates into "Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook," filled with mouth-watering meals that are easy to replicate at home. Start your day right with Lemon-Olive Oil Breakfast Cakes with Berry Syrup, or bring the whole family to the table with Flank Steak with Orange-Herb Pistou.
Devine was inspired by the groundbreaking Seven Countries Study results that outlined a heart-healthy diet, along with her own research and practical understanding of nutrition. The opening pages of the cookbook explain how macronutrients work to maintain gut and heart health while decreasing inflammation and burning fat. Nominally about changing diet, this cookbook is an excellent instruction manual for making long-term changes to every aspect of your health.
Not sure how to begin? Use the complete two-week meal plan provided in chapter two, then access the included shopping tips and grocery lists to plan your meals going forward. With 100 recipes from breakfast to dessert, you'll have plenty of variety (and motivation) to keep you going.
The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook: Ketogenic Diet Pressure Cooker Recipes Made Easy & Fast
When the Instant Pot burst onto the culinary scene, families rejoiced. Now it was possible to get slow-cooker flavor in a fraction of the time, mostly hands-off (and with limited culinary skills required). For the set-it-and-forget-it crowd looking for keto recipes with Southeast Asian flair, Urvashi Pitre has created "The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook: Ketogenic Diet Pressure Cooker Recipes Made Easy & Fast." As with most keto cookbooks on this list, the opening chapter outlines the rationale behind a ketogenic diet and how it works. It then provides a basic user manual for the Instant Pot. For those just exploring both the diet and the cooking tool this is a welcome addition to the standard keto cookbook.
The 65 recipes include standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner options but the last chapter — Staples — is where the fun begins! Stock your pantry with recipes for sauces and spice mixes to add variety to your meals. Go beyond the boring with recipes for peanut sauce, tzatziki, garam masala, and more.
A Year of Easy Keto Desserts: 52 Fat Burning, Low-Carb Desserts & Fat Bombs
Fifteen minutes. That's how much time it takes to create many of the sweet-tooth-satisfying, crave-able keto desserts in "A Year of Easy Keto Desserts: 52 Fat Burning, Low-Carb Desserts & Fat Bombs" cookbook by Elizabeth Jane. If sweet treats are your Achilles heel when it comes to sticking with a ketogenic diet, this cookbook can help you stay strong and still indulge in desserts and snacks.
Centered around what's in season (and organized in seasonally-themed chapters), this cookbook guides eaters through a wonderland of treats tailored to not only the weather outside but also the holidays indoors. Sample a sweet and spicy breakfast coffee cake loaf in chilly weather, or cool yourself down with easy no-churn blackberry ice cream bursting with summer's sunshine-y flavor. Allergic to gluten, animal products, or dairy? Many of the recipes are free from those, so you'll avoid common allergens.
Jane also offers helpful tips for stocking your keto baking pantry and choosing kitchen tools to make baking fun and easy. And because eating keto can make for an expensive grocery bill, many treats were developed with a budget in mind.
Southern Keto: 100+ Traditional Food Favorites for a Low-Carb Lifestyle
If your goal is weight loss without sacrificing the foods you love, Natasha Newton has you covered with "Southern Keto: 100+ Traditional Food Favorites for a Low-Carb Lifestyle." This cookbook was inspired by its author's struggle with childhood obesity, sugar addiction, and an eventual diagnosis of Crohn's disease. From these challenging beginnings comes a cookbook filled with encouragement and support as you start your own weight loss journey with ketogenic eating.
Newton begins with a clear explanation of how the body works in ketosis and offers suggestions for tracking carbs, calories, and weight loss. The focus here is not just eating different foods to lose weight; rather, Newton encourages readers to look holistically at what their goals are (and why they want to reach them). The introduction includes sample menus and recommendations for recipe doubling when cooking for a crowd.
Next come the recipes, focusing on a well-stocked pantry easily transformed into traditional Southern dishes. She organizes shopping lists by store availability, recognizing that some readers might have a hard time sourcing certain foods in small towns and rural areas. Look for southern favorites like fried chicken, fried okra, and bundt cakes.
Keto Bread: From Bagels and Buns to Crusts and Muffins, 100 Low-Carb, Keto-Friendly Breads for Every Meal
People may not be able to live on bread alone, but many people going keto miss this type of carb the most. For those grieving the loss of bread on the keto diet, weep no more. "Keto Bread: From Bagels and Buns to Crusts and Muffins, 100 Low-Carb, Keto-Friendly Breads for Every Meal" by Faith Gorsky and Lara Clevenger include recipes for sweet and savory bread, bagels, and muffins that allow your body to remain in a ketonic state. There are more than 100 recipes for every type of bread you can imagine, including muffins and pizza.
With clear directions and mouth-watering photos, the authors guide you through ketogenic baking with a deft hand, sprinkling bits of advice on dealing with the "keto flu," sourcing ingredients, and maintaining a healthy balance while sticking to the diet. If you miss the chewy crunch of an everything bagel dripping with butter enough to ditch the diet altogether, this book's for you!
The Dirty, Lazy, Keto Cookbook: Bend the Rules to Lose the Weight!
If your disciplined keto eating plan is more ambitious than your willpower is strong, this is the cookbook for you. The goal is progress, not perfection, and the authors offer gentle encouragement (plus treats that won't throw you completely off track). The tone of "The Dirty, Lazy, Keto Cookbook: Bend the Rules to Lose the Weight!" is supportive, friendly, and understanding — there's no shaming here for any food choices.
With 100 recipes focused on keto eating as it leads to weight reduction, Stephanie and William Laska take a practical approach to changing the way you eat. They include recipes that focus on easy-to-find, familiar ingredients that are affordable and result in meals that are delicious and uncomplicated.
This cookbook includes chapters on stocking the pantry and meal prep. Recipes are listed with a key to indicate the type of recipe, and they include everything from snacks and bread to main dishes and dessert.
There's something for vegetarians, too, with recipes that eliminate the meat (but may still include eggs or dairy). Sections in the cookbook include not only everyday, budget-friendly basics but also fancier meals to serve when company's coming. Each keto meal has 10 net carbs or less.
Keto for Foodies: The Ultimate Low-Carb Cookbook with Over 125 Mouthwatering Recipes
Foodies getting started with keto eating, rejoice! You don't have to sacrifice restaurant-quality, gourmet meals for your discriminating palate when you change your diet. "Keto for Foodies" delivers on its promise of 5-star, mouthwatering recipes that transform simple ingredients into a keto-friendly dining experience right in your own kitchen.
Author Nicole Downs starts with a simple explanation of the weight-loss journey that led her to keto eating, followed by an outline of what happens to your body when eating keto. She organizes her recipes first by category and then breaks them down into proteins (beef, poultry, pork, and seafood). Full special-occasion menus have their own section, as does a guide to meal prep and keto swaps for popular foods you might miss. Cooking instructions include how to stock a pantry, tips for building up a store of staples, and the net cab measurements of popular keto ingredients.
The recipes in this cookbook are sophisticated enough for special occasions and date nights but also adaptable for families eating together (including the kids). Better yet, Downs provides clear strategies to ease into keto eating, with tricks and tips to combat the "keto flu." Intermittent fasting gets a nod here, too, with ample description of why the two dietary plans work well together.
Two Meals a Day: The Simple, Sustainable Strategy to Lose Fat, Reverse Aging, and Break Free from Diet Frustration Forever
From the New York Times best-selling author Mark Sisson comes an easy-to-follow plan for a lifetime of healthy eating. "Two Meals a Day" combines the principles of intermittent fasting and keto eating to help people transform their ideas about food and make real changes in their lives.
Sisson lays out the research behind why keto in combination with intermittent fasting works the way it does. He rebrands the language of deprivation and turns it on its head with intermittent eating: the idea that two well-designed meals a day followed by a period of fasting and fluid intake, will get the results you are looking for in terms of weight loss and health.
This book focuses on understanding this eating strategy so that readers can have success making long-term changes. It's not a book that offers a quick-fix or temporary diet. The idea is to change the way you eat so you can change your life. The first seven chapters focus on the rationale behind this way of eating. The last sections lay out a 12-day plan to get started, with recipes and answers to questions that pop up when people get started. If you need more info, the authors have provided a jam-packed resource list to further support you on your way.
Keto Copycat Recipes
If you're missing your favorite meals from popular restaurants like Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, and Olive Garden, get ready to learn the secret to cooking delicious menu copycats at home. Anyone on a diet that is even moderately restrictive knows the pain of dining out with friends and having few (if any) choices on the menu. And no one wants to be the person that complains and dictates every restaurant choice around a diet no one else is following.
Enter "Keto CopyCat Recipes" by Elena Harris. Without any fuss and with very little introduction or explanation, Harris jumps into recreating recipes you love and miss. This won't make your life dining out less complicated, but it sure helps the table at home. Miss a sweet treat at breakfast? Try the Dunkin' Donuts copycat Chocolate Glazed Doughnut. Craving Panera Bread's famous broccoli cheddar soup? There's a recipe for that. Hankering for your seafood favorite at Outback? Try Harris's Coconut Crusted Shrimp.
This cookbook is filled with 65 from-scratch recipes made with organic, fresh ingredients. It's a short book that packs a punch and gets straight to the point without too much explanation or backstory. If you've been looking to quickly expand your recipe repertoire and don't need explanations or other information about the keto diet itself, this is a good cookbook for you.
Keto Your Way: A Customizable Approach to a Low-Carb Lifestyle with Over 140 Recipes
When Julie Smith was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), she knew something needed to change. Her extensive research led her to a ketogenic diet, and the change has helped her manage both her weight and the symptoms of PCOS.
In "Keto Your Way," Smith shares everything she's learned about starting and managing the ketogenic lifestyle. As the mother of four active children, her goal is to make this way of eating as simple as possible for busy people. She has provided a clear roadmap to customizing your keto eating with simple tips and tricks for creating a more manageable plan. Choose from 140 keto recipes that can be modified to fit your family, budget, and dietary concerns.
In addition to offering a wide variety of recipes, Smith also outlines the basics of the ketogenic diet and includes sections to support you on it. She talks about things like how to handle alcohol and dining out while eating keto, providing helpful ways to build a support system to keep you going. She even includes a list of keto-friendly snacks for when you are feeling peckish but don't want to cook. Overall, this cookbook is an excellent, encouraging entry point into a keto diet.
New Keto: Dinner in 30: Super Easy and Affordable Recipes for a Healthier Lifestyle
Calling all busy people who want to cook but just don't feel like they have the time or energy at the end of a long day. Don't sacrifice flavor or variety just because you're pressed for time. Michael Silverstein, celebrity chef and participant in seasons 10 and 12 of "Masterchef" has written "New Keto: Dinner in 30: Super Easy and Affordable Recipes for a Healthier Lifestyle" that makes it easy (and budget-friendly) to put together delicious, quick meals when you're in a hurry.
In true-chef-y fashion, this cookbook doesn't lead with philosophical principles of keto or any pros and cons or tips and tricks. It dives right into the food, starting with a section dedicated to beef (Texas Chili-Rubbed Ribeye with Fiery Chipotle Butter, anyone?) before moving into other types of animal proteins like poultry, pork, and seafood. Soups, salads, sides, and sweets get plenty of attention here, with delectable dessert selections like Mike's Midnight Munchie Bars.
All 60 recipes come together in 30 minutes or less. Recipes are rated by the "piece of cake system" (with one piece being the easiest and three requiring more steps and techniques). Symbols on each recipe also indicate any other dietary notes (like if a recipe is gluten-free or dairy-free). Need a "cheat sheet?" The last chapter gives tips and tricks for saving money, selecting the perfect meat, stocking the pantry, and even sharpening your knives.
I Can't Believe It's Keto!: 60 Incredible Low-Carb Recipes for Pizzas, Breads, Lasagnas and More
When it's starting to feel like all keto eating plans taste exactly the same, it's time for a new cookbook. In "I Can't Believe It's Keto!" Leili Malakooti uses the flavors of Persia in many of these 60 keto recipes to expand your repertoire and tastebuds while still staying true to your ketogenic eating plan. Start with chapters on special occasion meals and weeknight favorites before moving through all kinds of delicious dishes, from small bites to breakfast and beyond.
A highlight in this cookbook is the attention paid to the fine art of keto bread baking. There are no fathead doughs with eggs, cheese, and almond flour here. Malakooti turns keto bread baking on its head in a section dedicated to fluffy focaccia, hearty loaves, and crispy pizza crusts that will change the way you think about low-carb bread.
Another beautiful inclusion is a well-rounded dessert selection. If you have a sweet tooth, there's plenty for you here covering a variety of cuisines. Try Persian saffron ice cream, Italian tiramisu, or Greek baklava as a memorable end to a delicious meal.
Malakooti includes the requisite tips and tricks at the end of the book, plus a solid four-page section on how to get the best results from your kitchen. With these tips and the delicious recipes in this book, you'll create ketogenic food you'll be proud to serve to friends and family.