What foods can I eat on keto?

Keto centers on foods that add almost no carbohydrate, because the pattern keeps total carbohydrate to roughly 20 to 50 grams a day. In practice that means meat and poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, most cheeses and higher-fat dairy, cooking fats and oils, and the lower-carbohydrate vegetables such as spinach, cauliflower, zucchini, and cucumber. On this site, every food carrying the keto tag holds 5 grams or less of total carbohydrate per 100 grams, and the full machine-generated set can be browsed through the keto filter in the foods database.

What fruits can you eat on keto?

Most fruit sits outside a strict keto budget because its natural sugars add up quickly against an allowance of only about 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrate a day. Some fruits often described as keto-friendly elsewhere, such as berries and avocado, are popular low-carbohydrate choices, but on this site they do not clear the 5-gram total-carbohydrate-per-100-grams threshold, because this site counts total carbohydrate rather than net carbs. Anyone following a less strict low-carbohydrate pattern with more room for fruit may find the low-carb-diet guide more useful, and the exact carbohydrate figure for any fruit can be checked on its page in the foods database.

Can I eat cheese and dairy on keto?

Many cheeses and higher-fat dairy products fit comfortably within a ketogenic budget, which is why eggs, cheese, and dairy form one of the main groups on this list. Hard and aged cheeses such as cheddar, parmesan, and swiss, along with mozzarella, feta, heavy cream, and butter, are low enough in carbohydrate to clear this site's keto threshold. Not all dairy qualifies, because milk and sweetened or flavored dairy products carry more carbohydrate, so the exact per-100-gram figure for any specific item is worth checking on its page in the foods database.

Are nuts and seeds keto?

Nuts and seeds are popular on low-carbohydrate diets, but on this site they do not carry the keto tag, because they hold more than 5 grams of total carbohydrate per 100 grams. Other keto lists often include them by counting net carbs, which subtracts fibre, but this site uses total carbohydrate, the figure reported by USDA, and does not use net carbs because the term has no legal or official definition. That is a deliberately stricter standard, not a judgment that nuts and seeds are unhealthy. Their precise carbohydrate, fibre, and fat numbers are listed on each food's page for anyone who wants to weigh them within a personal carbohydrate budget.

Is keto the same as a low-carb diet?

No. Keto is the strictest, ketosis-inducing end of carbohydrate restriction, at roughly 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrate a day, low enough to shift the body into nutritional ketosis. An ordinary low-carbohydrate diet is a broader pattern that reduces carbohydrate, commonly to under about 130 grams a day, without necessarily reaching ketosis, which leaves more room for foods like berries, nuts, and some legumes that a strict keto budget excludes. The food list here reflects the stricter keto end; the wider pattern, and the evidence behind it, is covered in the low-carb-diet guide.

Nutrition

Keto Foods List: What to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet

A practical, sourced list of foods that fit a ketogenic diet, grouped by type: meat and poultry, fish and seafood, eggs and cheese, oils and fats, and low-carb vegetables. Every named food meets this site's total-carbohydrate keto threshold, the list explains what to limit, and it is honest about why the total-carb method excludes some foods that net-carb lists include.

Written by Michael Harley, Independent Health & Nutrition ResearcherLast reviewed: Jun 13, 2026

A ketogenic diet is defined less by a fixed menu than by a carbohydrate ceiling. The classic keto pattern limits carbohydrate to roughly 20 to 50 grams a day, on the order of 5 to 10 percent of energy, which is low enough to push the body into nutritional ketosis. As StatPearls puts it, keto is set by that carbohydrate limit rather than by a single list of permitted foods, with most calories coming from fat and a moderate amount from protein. The why, the evidence for weight loss, the one established medical use, and the safety details are covered in the keto-diet guide; this companion page is the practical food list that the keto-diet guide deliberately leaves out.

Because the budget for carbohydrate is so small, the foods that fit most comfortably are the ones that contribute almost no carbohydrate at all: meat, poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, most cheeses, cooking fats and oils, and the lower-carbohydrate vegetables. The lists below name well-known examples in each of those groups, and every food named here clears this site's keto threshold, explained in the methodology section. This guide is general and educational, not a personalized plan, and the carbohydrate figures for each food live on its own page in the foods database rather than being repeated here.

Meat and poultry

Chicken breast
Chicken thigh (skinless)
Turkey breast (skinless)
Top sirloin (beef)
Ground beef (93% lean)
Pork loin (lean)
Pork tenderloin
Lamb loin (lean only)
Ground bison
Duck meat

Fish and seafood

Atlantic salmon (wild)
Yellowfin tuna
Canned tuna (light, in water)
Atlantic cod
Tilapia
Rainbow trout
Sardines, canned in oil
Atlantic mackerel
Shrimp
Scallops
Blue crab
Oysters

Eggs, cheese, and dairy

Whole egg
Cheddar cheese (sharp)
Mozzarella (whole milk)
Parmesan (hard)
Feta cheese
Swiss cheese
Soft goat cheese
Cottage cheese (lowfat, 1%)
Greek yogurt (low-fat, plain)
Heavy cream
Butter (unsalted)

Oils and fats

Olive oil
Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Canola oil
Ghee (clarified butter)

Low-carb vegetables

Spinach
Kale
Cauliflower
Asparagus
Zucchini
Cucumber (with peel)
Celery
Green bell pepper
White mushroom
Romaine lettuce
Arugula
Bok choy
Swiss chard
Firm tofu

What to limit or avoid

Because keto keeps total carbohydrate to roughly 20 to 50 grams a day, the foods left off the plate are simply the ones that fill that budget fastest. Grains and grain products, including bread, rice, pasta, oats, and flour, are high enough in carbohydrate that even a small portion can use up much of a day's allowance, so they are kept to a minimum or avoided. The same is true of starchy vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and peas, and of legumes such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas, which carry more carbohydrate than the lower-carb vegetables listed above. Most fruit also sits outside a strict keto budget because its natural sugars add up quickly.

Anything with added sugar is the clearest thing to avoid, since sugar is carbohydrate in its most concentrated form. That covers sugar-sweetened drinks and sodas, sweets and desserts, and many packaged snacks. The honest framing is not that these foods are unhealthy in some absolute sense, but that they do not fit within the very small carbohydrate budget that defines a ketogenic diet. The broader, less restrictive low-carbohydrate pattern, which does not require ketosis and leaves more room for whole-food carbohydrate, is covered in the low-carb-diet guide for anyone who finds strict keto hard to sustain.

How this list is decided: total carbs, not net carbs

Every food named on this page is tagged keto automatically, by a rule applied to its USDA macros rather than by editorial opinion. A food earns the keto tag on this site when it contains 5 grams or less of total carbohydrate per 100 grams. That number is Vitals Hub site methodology, not a regulatory or clinical standard: there is no official food-level definition of a keto food, so the cut-off was derived from the diet-level budget of roughly 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrate a day described by StatPearls and Feinman and colleagues, and it is applied consistently to every food in the database.

Two details matter for anyone comparing this list with others. First, this site counts total carbohydrate, the figure reported by USDA, not net carbs. Net carbs, usually defined as total carbohydrate minus fibre and sometimes minus sugar alcohols, has no legal or official definition, so this site does not use it. That makes the threshold here stricter than a net-carb list, and it is why some foods that frequently appear on other keto lists, including avocado, berries, and nuts and seeds, do not clear the 5-gram total-carbohydrate cut-off and are therefore not named above, even though they are popular low-carbohydrate choices. Second, the tag is computed from each food's own per-100-gram carbohydrate value, so the full, exact figures are always one click away. The complete machine-generated set of keto-tagged foods can be browsed in the foods database by opening the keto filter at /{lang}/foods?diet=keto, where each food links to its page with the precise USDA-sourced carbohydrate, protein, and fat numbers behind the tag.

A keto diet is not appropriate for everyone, and several groups should avoid it or only follow it under medical supervision. StatPearls lists the ketogenic diet as contraindicated in people with acute or chronic pancreatitis, liver failure, and certain disorders of fat metabolism, and states that it is not recommended during pregnancy and is contraindicated in those with a history of eating disorders. It also states that people with diabetes who use SGLT2 inhibitors should avoid the ketogenic diet, because the combination raises the risk of a dangerous condition called euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis, a risk corroborated by a published case series. More broadly, anyone taking glucose-lowering medication should have clinical supervision before starting keto, since the diet can lower blood glucose and medication may need adjusting. These are general categories of people who should seek clinical input first, not a diagnosis, and anyone unsure whether keto is safe for their own situation should ask a healthcare professional before starting.

Frequently asked questions

What foods can I eat on keto?: Keto centers on foods that add almost no carbohydrate, because the pattern keeps total carbohydrate to roughly 20 to 50 grams a day. In practice that means meat and poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, most cheeses and higher-fat dairy, cooking fats and oils, and the lower-carbohydrate vegetables such as spinach, cauliflower, zucchini, and cucumber. On this site, every food carrying the keto tag holds 5 grams or less of total carbohydrate per 100 grams, and the full machine-generated set can be browsed through the keto filter in the foods database.
What fruits can you eat on keto?: Most fruit sits outside a strict keto budget because its natural sugars add up quickly against an allowance of only about 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrate a day. Some fruits often described as keto-friendly elsewhere, such as berries and avocado, are popular low-carbohydrate choices, but on this site they do not clear the 5-gram total-carbohydrate-per-100-grams threshold, because this site counts total carbohydrate rather than net carbs. Anyone following a less strict low-carbohydrate pattern with more room for fruit may find the low-carb-diet guide more useful, and the exact carbohydrate figure for any fruit can be checked on its page in the foods database.
Can I eat cheese and dairy on keto?: Many cheeses and higher-fat dairy products fit comfortably within a ketogenic budget, which is why eggs, cheese, and dairy form one of the main groups on this list. Hard and aged cheeses such as cheddar, parmesan, and swiss, along with mozzarella, feta, heavy cream, and butter, are low enough in carbohydrate to clear this site's keto threshold. Not all dairy qualifies, because milk and sweetened or flavored dairy products carry more carbohydrate, so the exact per-100-gram figure for any specific item is worth checking on its page in the foods database.
Are nuts and seeds keto?: Nuts and seeds are popular on low-carbohydrate diets, but on this site they do not carry the keto tag, because they hold more than 5 grams of total carbohydrate per 100 grams. Other keto lists often include them by counting net carbs, which subtracts fibre, but this site uses total carbohydrate, the figure reported by USDA, and does not use net carbs because the term has no legal or official definition. That is a deliberately stricter standard, not a judgment that nuts and seeds are unhealthy. Their precise carbohydrate, fibre, and fat numbers are listed on each food's page for anyone who wants to weigh them within a personal carbohydrate budget.
Is keto the same as a low-carb diet?: No. Keto is the strictest, ketosis-inducing end of carbohydrate restriction, at roughly 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrate a day, low enough to shift the body into nutritional ketosis. An ordinary low-carbohydrate diet is a broader pattern that reduces carbohydrate, commonly to under about 130 grams a day, without necessarily reaching ketosis, which leaves more room for foods like berries, nuts, and some legumes that a strict keto budget excludes. The food list here reflects the stricter keto end; the wider pattern, and the evidence behind it, is covered in the low-carb-diet guide.

References

The Ketogenic Diet: Clinical Applications, Evidence-based Indications, and Implementation (Masood W, Annamaraju P, Khan Suheb MZ, Uppaluri KR; StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf NBK499830) · StatPearls Publishing / National Library of Medicine. Accessed 2026-06-13.
Dietary carbohydrate restriction as the first approach in diabetes management: critical review and evidence base (Feinman RD, Pogozelski WK, Astrup A, et al.), Nutrition 2015;31(1):1-13 (PubMed 25287761) · Nutrition (via PubMed, National Library of Medicine). Accessed 2026-06-13.
Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet v. low-fat diet for long-term weight loss: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (Bueno NB, de Melo ISV, de Oliveira SL, da Rocha Ataide T), Br J Nutr 2013;110(7):1178-1187 (PubMed 23651522) · British Journal of Nutrition (via PubMed, National Library of Medicine). Accessed 2026-06-13.
Diet Review: Ketogenic Diet for Weight Loss (The Nutrition Source) · Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Accessed 2026-06-13.
Ketosis · Cleveland Clinic. Accessed 2026-06-13.
Euglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis Associated With SGLT2 Inhibitors and the Ketogenic Diet (case series), AACE Clinical Case Reports 2020 (PubMed 33851013) · AACE Clinical Case Reports (via PubMed, National Library of Medicine). Accessed 2026-06-13.