Keto recipes don’t have to be complicated. Whether you’re trying the Keto diet or are trying to stick to low-carb, here are 5 simple Keto recipes we’re sure you’ll make again and again
You might think that cooking keto is complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.
Healthista sought to find recipes that prove keto can be both delicious and easy.
Bestselling Keto cookbook author Monya Kilian Palmer shares a stunning collection of recipes that are low in carbs, full of flavour but also quick and easy to make from her new book Quick Keto Kitchen.
As well as fresh, light delights there’s a whole chapter of glorious Keto comfort food, while those with a sweet tooth will be thrilled with a versatile range of yummy treats.
With clear instructions and fantastic flavour combinations, Monya has devised every single recipe to make it as fuss-free and delicious as possible.
Keto Recipe #1 Creamy Leek & Camembert Baked Eggs
This very rich bake can easily be stretched to serve four (with a salad on the side), but I have based the macros on two hungry folks. The oozy Camembert can be swapped for Brie, and either chives or parsley will be a great garnish, so use whichever you have at hand.
Pure, cheesy goodness in every mouthful!
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CALORIES 616 | CARBOHYDRATES 6.7G | PROTEIN 26G | FAT 53G
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 250g (9oz) leeks, trimmed and finely sliced (don’t use the very dark green ends – see Tip)
- 60ml (4 tablespoons) double cream
- 60g (2¼oz) soured cream
- 4 large eggs
- 80g (2¾oz) Camembert cheese, broken into pieces
- small handful of fresh chives, snipped
- salt flakes, salt, ground white pepper and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6
2. Melt the butter in a large non-stick frying pan or wok over a medium–high heat. Add the leeks and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring regularly, until they soften.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and add the double cream and soured cream. Season the mixture with salt and white pepper.
4. Cook for a few minutes longer to warm the cream through and reduce a little.
5. Transfer to a suitably sized baking dish and create 4 little holes in the mixture, then crack an egg into each one.
6. Scatter the Camembert evenly over the top.
7. Bake for 20–23 minutes, or until the egg whites are opaque and cooked through. The yolks will set too; this is normal.
8. Serve scattered with salt flakes, black pepper and a scattering of chives.
9. Take to the table as is and get stuck in!
Keto Recipe #2 Easy, Cheesy Pork Chops, with Garlic Beans & Zingy Butter
The title alone should have you smiling! The juices from frying the pork are needed for the zingy butter drizzle here, so if you were considering cooking the chops in the air-fryer, I don’t recommend it in this case.
You can double up the ingredients to serve more, but you’ll need a second tray.
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CALORIES 838 | CARBOHYDRATES 4.5G | PROTEIN 46G | FAT 70G
Ingredients:
- 2 large pork chops (approx. 240g/8½oz each)
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- pinch of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon lard, ghee or coconut oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- 80g (2¾oz) mini fresh mozzarella balls (approx. 10)
- 25g (1oz) unsalted butter
- handful of fresh chives, snipped
- salt flakes, salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the garlic beans:
- 200g (7oz) green beans, trimmed
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed with a garlic press
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
2. Place the green beans in a bowl and add the crushed garlic and olive oil.
3. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to evenly coat. Spread out on the tray and set aside.
4. Season the pork chops on all sides with the cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
5. Melt your chosen fat in a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat.
6. Once very hot, add the pork chops and fry for 1–2 minutes on each side until golden and caramelised (the precise timing may depend on the thickness of your chops).
7. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze the lemon juice over the chops (catch the pips!). Use tongs to transfer the chops to the baking tray, nestling them in among the green beans.
8. Set the pan aside, but don’t clean it; we will use the remaining fat and juices later.
9. Place the mini mozzarella balls on top of the chops, placing around 5 balls on each chop. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 8–10 minutes.
10 About 1 minute before serving, return the pan used to fry the chops to a medium heat. Add the butter, allowing it to melt in and mix with the pan juices.
11. Drizzle this zingy butter over the cooked chops and green beans.
12. Season the whole lot with salt flakes and black pepper, and serve with a generous scattering of chives.
Keto Recipe #3 Spicy Coconut Chicken & Broccoli Bake
This fragrant and creamy chicken and broccoli bake is a must for readers who love a beautiful, coconutty flavour. It also boasts just the right amount of ‘kick’ from the chilli.
I love using diced chicken thighs, as they are far more succulent than chicken breasts. This is refreshing comfort food!
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CALORIES 703 | CARBOHYDRATES 7.4G | PROTEIN 45G | FAT 54G
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
- 1 red chilli, halved lengthways (½ used to infuse, remaining ½ finely chopped to garnish)
- 350g (12oz) broccoli florets, cut into evensized pieces
- 30g (1oz) coconut oil
- 600g (1lb 5oz) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped into 3cm (1¼in) chunks
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 400ml (14fl oz) can full-fat coconut milk
- 100ml (3½fl oz) double cream
- salt flakes, salt, ground white pepper and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
2. Toast the desiccated coconut in a large non-stick frying pan or wok over a medium–high heat. Once golden, set aside.
3. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the broccoli and boil for 3 minutes, then drain in a colander and leave to steam off.
4. Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil in the same pan you used for the toasted coconut over a high heat. Add half the chicken and fry for 2–3 minutes until golden and caramelised on all sides – don’t worry about cooking them through for now.
5. Transfer the chicken to a bowl, leaving the fat in the pan. Repeat with the remaining chicken, leaving all the fat in the pan once more.
6. Once all the chicken is in the bowl, season with salt. There should still be plenty of fat in the pan.
7. With the pan off the heat, add the garlic, which will soften in a few seconds in the residual heat – do not allow it to burn.
8. Stir in the coconut milk, the cream and the red chilli half, then return to a high heat and bring to the boil. Boil for about 10 minutes to allow the mixture to thicken and reduce, stirring and scraping down the sides of the pan from time to time.
9. Pick out and discard the half chilli, then add the drained broccoli and chicken pieces to the pan (including any juices from the chicken bowl).
10. Season with salt and white pepper and mix well to evenly coat.
11. Tip the whole lot into a deep baking dish (like a lasagne dish) and bake in the oven for 20–22 minutes.
12. Serve scattered with the finely chopped red chilli and the toasted coconut. Season with salt flakes and black pepper, if needed.
Keto Recipe #4 Creamy Smoked Paprika Meatballs
Here, I’ve taken the humble meatball up a notch by flavouring both the mince and the creamy sauce with punchy smoked paprika.
In the past, I would fry the meatballs first, but now I just bang a tray of them in the oven, because I am all for simplifying things where I can, and the results are just the same: lovely!
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CALORIES 675 | CARBOHYDRATES 3.9G | PROTEIN 31G | FAT 59G
Ingredients:
- 500g (1lb 2oz) minced beef, 20 per cent fat
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- salt flakes, salt, ground white pepper and freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- juice of ½ lemon
- 200ml (7fl oz) double cream
- 50g (1¾oz) full-fat crème fraîche
To finish:
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- generous handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
2. Combine the beef mince, smoked paprika and garlic powder in a bowl. Season generously with salt and black pepper and mix well to combine.
3. Use a dessertspoon to form the mixture into 20 meatballs (approximately 25g/1oz each).
4. Place the meatballs on the prepared tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake in the oven for 16–17 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 9–10 minutes until the onion has completely softened.
6. Add the smoked paprika and squeeze in the lemon juice (catch the pips!) to deglaze the pan.
7. Reduce the heat to low and add the cream and crème fraîche, stirring well to combine. Allow the sauce to reduce and thicken a little; this will take 4–6 minutes.
8. Season with salt and ground white pepper.
9. Serve the meatballs with the sauce (in whichever way you fancy), and scatter over a generous pinch of cayenne pepper (for a little kick!). I like to pour the meatball tray juices over the whole lot for extra flavour.
10. Season with salt flakes and black pepper, then garnish with parsley to add a fresh element.
Keto Recipe #5 Gut-friendly Blondies, with Pistachios & Cranberries
I love adding inulin to baked goods. Not only is it a great prebiotic, but it adds a chewier texture. Dried cranberries often contain extra sugar, so I chop them smaller to ensure a little goes a long way.
These freeze well, so forgive me that they aren’t ‘speedy’!
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Macros are shown per blondie: CALORIES 223 | CARBOHYDRATES 4.5G | PROTEIN 5.9G | FAT 19G
Ingredients:
- 70g (2½oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
- 2 large eggs
- 2–3 drops of liquid stevia (optional, see page 7)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 150g (5½oz) almond flour
- 90g (3¼oz) powdered erythritol, sifted
- 50g (1¾oz) inulin prebiotic powder
- 30g (1oz) shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
- 20g (¾oz) dried cranberries, chopped very small
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/gas mark 5.
2. Grease the base and sides of a square baking tin (I use my 15cm/6in brownie tin) and line with baking paper.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the cooled melted butter and the eggs.
4. Add the liquid stevia (if using) and the vanilla extract, whisking well to combine.
5. In a second, larger bowl, combine the almond flour, erythritol, inulin and most of the chopped pistachios and cranberries. Pour the wet egg mixture into the almond flour mixture and mix well to combine.
6. Tip into the prepared tin and scatter the remaining pistachios and cranberries on top.
7. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 15 minutes, then remove and reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/150°C fan/340°F/gas mark 3½. Cover the dish with foil (to prevent the top darkening too much) and bake for an additional 10–12 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then use the edges of the baking paper to lift the blondie out of the tin and transfer to a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely before slicing into 9 squares (slicing too soon may cause the blondie to crumble).
9. These are best enjoyed warm or at room temperature, but can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Quick Keto Kitchen by Monya Kilian Palmer is published by Kyle Books, priced £16.99
Also available to purchase on Amazon.
Photography by Maja Smend
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