Keto Food List: Net Carbs for 90+ Everyday Foods

The easiest way to eat keto is to know, roughly, what’s in your food. This list covers more than 90 everyday foods with net carbs per 100 g and per typical portion, and a simple verdict for each. Search it, filter by group, or sort by portion to see what actually lands on your plate.

The full keto food list

How to read the verdicts

Every food gets a traffic light, judged on a typical portion against a 20 g daily budget:

• Keto-friendly: up to about 4 g of net carbs per portion. Eat freely.
• In moderation: 4 to 8 g per portion. Fits, but count it.
• Best avoided: more than 8 g per portion. One serving can use half your day.

Portions change everything. Garlic has about 31 g of net carbs per 100 g, but one clove weighs 3 g, so it adds about 1 g. A glass of milk, on the other hand, sounds harmless and carries around 12 g.

Foods to eat freely

• Meat and fish: beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, salmon, sardines, mackerel, tuna, shrimp. Zero or near-zero carbs.
• Eggs: about half a gram each, and endlessly useful.
• Leafy greens: spinach, lettuce, arugula, chard.
• Low-carb vegetables: zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, celery, mushrooms, peppers, cabbage.
• Fats and oils: olive oil, butter, ghee, avocado oil, coconut oil.
• Avocado and olives: high in fat and fiber, low in net carbs.

Foods to eat in moderation

• Berries: raspberries, blackberries and strawberries in half-cup portions.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, chia. Easy to overeat by the handful.
• Dairy: Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream.
• Higher-carb vegetables: onion, carrots, Brussels sprouts, green beans.
• 85% dark chocolate: a couple of squares.

Foods to avoid

• Sugar and sweets: sugar, honey, maple syrup, candy, milk chocolate.
• Grains: bread, pasta, rice, oats, cereal, crackers.
• Starchy vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, peas.
• Most fruit: bananas, grapes, mango, apples, dried fruit.
• Beans and lentils: nutritious, but too starchy for most keto days.
• Sugary drinks: juice, soda, sweet coffee drinks, regular beer.

A simple keto shopping list

1. Eggs, butter, heavy cream, two or three cheeses
2. Chicken thighs, ground beef, salmon or canned fish, bacon
3. Spinach, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, avocados, lemons
4. Olive oil, mayonnaise, mustard, spices
5. Pecans or macadamias, chia seeds, 85% dark chocolate

Test what stuck with a round of Higher or Lower, then learn how to handle the first week in keto flu: symptoms and fixes.

Test yourself

4 questions · +10 XP each

Question 1 of 4

Which has the fewest net carbs per 100 g?

• Cashews
• Pecans
• Pistachios
• Almonds