The Keto Grocery List I Give Every Patient

Before you spend a dollar at the store, read this

Are you starting the keto diet and wondering which groceries to buy?

Many of my patients have wasted their time and money without thinking through this first. If you’re planning to do keto for more than just a flash in the frying pan, don’t run to the grocery store. I insist that my patients push reset inside their home and remove food before going out and buying some.

Clean your cupboards

I mean it. Carbs are addicting, throw any out before you start. You need your house to be a sanctuary without temptation. On the diet, you’re limited to 20 carbohydrates a day. Many of my old favorite snacks took up most, if not all, of that, so out they went. If it helps, think of this as some spring cleaning. Don’t skip this, it makes everything easier.

Before you listen to any more of my advice, you should know two things about me. Number one, I was raised by a beef and pork farmer from the Midwest. Everyone in the county had a deep freeze filled with quality meats from the neighbors in the county who raised them, so having good meat seems like an obvious part of the ketogenic diet.

Number two, I’m super stingy. I hate throwing away food, and I really hate it when it goes bad, so this list will reflect that. But I still insist that you empty your cupboards, freezer, and fridge before you start.

Salt

First on the list: salt. One of the key issues with starting the ketogenic diet is the dramatic shift in fluids during the first week. This fluid shifts occurs because of the drop in glycogen, this causes you to flush out several salts and minerals. Before you start keto, you should stock up on some good quality salt to replace what you’ll lose in the first week.

The key is to start with high-quality salts and then add the flavors you like. For high-quality salts I like Redmond Salts. When you’re ready to add some flavors onion and garlic salt are some good alternatives. Other seasonings I would recommend include dried onions, black pepper, and some oregano.

I’m kind of a nut about basil. I love the flavor, but I think it tastes disgusting when it’s been dried out, so I buy the plant. It’s the only plant you’ll find in my house. The final two seasonings I’d throw in are some ginger paste and one of those plastic limes or lemons for the juice.

Vegetables

Before we take on vegetables do not go to the produce aisle. It’s filled with a landmine of temptation called fruit! Stay away from that! Head over to the freezer section, and while you’re walking there, honestly ask yourself this question: Do you like vegetables? Actually, like them? If so, great! Pick the green ones.

The purpose of vegetables on the keto diet is to add fat to your gut. It’ll be the carrying agent for fats to your gut without adding too many carbs. Remember, this diet is restricted to 20 carbs per day.

My favorite frozen keto vegetables are Brussels sprouts and spinach. If you wrinkle your nose at that, follow my lead by ordering the spinach dip off the appetizer menu the next time you eat out. I ask for celery instead of bread. It’s great. I soak Brussels sprouts in butter or bacon grease, and then I broil them to a crisp. They’re great. Remember, vegetables are here to help transport fat to your gut.

If you sneak over to the produce aisle, grab a head of cabbage. It lasts for months and doesn’t go bad, but when you don’t know what to cook and you’re tired of frozen vegetables, it’s a great way to get something fresh. I also like to crisp it up, like with the brussels sprouts under the broiler.

The great thing is, if you don’t like vegetables, this diet has all the yummy additions that make them taste wonderful, like butter, salt, cream cheese, and bacon.

If you are in the habit of eating vegetables, buy the vegetables you like, but be careful to look at the carb count. Remember: you’re limited to 20 carbohydrates a day. I don’t eat that many vegetables on the keto diet now, but when I started, I had frozen broccoli, cauliflower, onions, peppers, and kale. The latter is an acquired taste, but you get used to it.

Don’t waste your money on vegetables if you didn’t like them before going keto. You’ve already thrown away a bunch of food. Don’t waste your money on vegetables you don’t like. Start with one vegetable and spend your money on the salt and fat to make it taste good.

Saturated Fat

I want to remind you that this is a high-fat diet, so everything we’re talking about is filled with fat. You need to eat fat. It’s what makes us feel full and acts as an anti-inflammatory. It’s also the source of the missing endocrine and hormonal messes that most of my patients are suffering from. They are chronically inflamed, and fat is the antidote.

I know it goes against what you’ve all grown up believing, but saturated fat is actually an anti-inflammatory, not a villain. Saturated fats are those fats that are hard at room temperature, like butter, coconut oil, and lard. These are great to cook with, an old stand by I’ve already mentioned is bacon grease. If you love the taste of bacon save the grease after you’re done and use it to cook your eggs. They taste great!

Add salt to the fat. Even if you add it to water, swish it around your mouth, and swallow it, the salt will cut through that fatty lining and stimulate your parotid gland to wake up and do its job. That gland, along with several others, are supposed to help your body emulsify the fats and get them into circulation, and if you’ve been on a low-fat diet, it’s going to take a week or two to wake up those organs and let them do their job. Keep eating fat and use salt.

Eggs, Cream and Cheese

Next, buy lots of eggs, but every keto list tells you that. My favorite way of eating eggs after years of this diet is actually to pickle them. You take a boiled egg and you soak it in brine for four to six weeks. It is delicious.

Butter and heavy whipping cream are the staples of this diet. For those of you who are lactose intolerant, remember that lactose is a sugar, and when you buy the fattiest cream, there should be no sugar or lactose in it. Add some full-fat cream cheese, full-fat sour cream, and some mayonnaise. I like the mayonnaise made out of avocado oil.

Grab some block cheese. I recommend the harder ones, and I tell folks to stay away from the shredded cheese. There’s a fine dusting of powder on each shred of cheese that keeps it from clumping, and that powder is often flour or starch, both carbs.

Meats

And then there’s the meat, which seems like the easiest one, but maybe it’s because of where I grew up. You can add bacon, brisket, ribs, salmon, pepperoni, hard salami, and poultry, then cook it in fat. The best advice I can give is to keep it simple. Keto can be a hard transition, so don’t complicate it any more than it is.

Fish

Canned fish can be an exalt source of fat and other nutrients you need on the keto diet. My go to are Sardines in olive oil. They're great because a single can is usually enough to fill me so it stops me from over eating. They're also packed with various nutrients. If you don’t like the taste of sardines try mackerel.

Keto Comfort Food

Carbs are addictive, and they’re addictive for a reason. They comfort us. As I’ve said, I grew up on a farm, and for my whole childhood, we ate ice cream every night, delivered to the farm by the Schwan’s man. It took me over a year and a half to break that habit.

Something that really helped me was freezing avocados that were starting to go bad, since I didn’t want to throw them away, and then mixing those frozen avocados with stevia, cacao powder, and either heavy whipping cream or cream of coconut milk. It was a lifesaver when I was stressed out. It brought me back to my childhood and gave me some easy comfort and a feeling of safety.

Another staple: small bite-sized bits of pork belly. I usually get my pork belly from Costco and cook it all in one go. This would leave me with a big bag of salted pork belly that I could easily snack on for weeks.

Let’s help each other out by sharing some of your comfort foods in the comments below. Share some keto recipes you use to comfort yourself.

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