Some of the most common questions I get asked when people are considering the ketogenic diet is “What can I have for breakfast?” and “Which snacks can I eat?”.

I have compiled a list of breakfast and snack ideas which I have enjoyed since I made my transition to Keto at the start of 2017. I hope these will inspire you.

You might notice, though, that after a while on this diet you will no longer be as hungry as you were before. You will likely be able to start fasting too. Keto has certainly cured my munchies, I no longer need to eat every couple of hours like I used to and fast daily for 14 to 16 hours.

Keto Breakfast Ideas & Keto Snack Ideas

I’ve divided the following into 2 groups: sweet and savoury. Though they can be interchangeable – nobody said you have to eat eggs for breakfast or yogurt as a snack. You can have a roast dinner first thing in the morning if you want to – it’s all up to you. These are just some easy to prepare, but very delicious, meals and snacks I have enjoyed in the morning.

Note that some of these dishes were enjoyed before I started tracking my macros, please ensure that your meals fit your macros. If you need help calculating your macros and setting up a macro tracking app, please check my Getting Started with Keto series.

Savoury Paleo-Ketogenic Breakfast & Snack Ideas

Eggs, Spinach, Mushrooms and Bratwurst

This is a high protein and high fat dish. Fry spinach and mushrooms in coconut oil. Cook egg to your liking (fry, scramble, boil, poach) Prepare Bratwurst according to package instructions.

Eggs, Yogurt bowl, Nuts, Seeds, Berries

This is a high protein and high fat dish. Cook egg to your liking (fry, scramble, boil, poach)

Full fat Greek yogurt topped with nuts and seeds and a couple of berries. Can add tahini or nut butter.

Eggs, Salmon, Avocado, Olives

This is a high protein and high fat dish. Cook egg to your liking (fry, scramble, boil, poach) Serve with smoked salmon, olives and avocado. You can add mayo for dipping or drizzle lemon juice on the salmon.

I also had sun-dried tomatoes here, but these are high in carbs and I have since stopped eating these.

Eggs and bacon

This is a high protein and high fat dish. Cook egg to your liking (fry, scramble, boil, poach) You may top the eggs with unsweetened mustard or mayo. Serve with streaky bacon.

Wilted spinach or mushrooms fried in butter would go well with this too.

Egg and Mayo on Spinach

This is a high fat dish. Boil a few eggs and mash them up with mayo, salt and pepper. Mix spinach with finely sliced onion or sprinkle garlic granules, olive oil and pink salt, top with egg mixture. I added a few capers to this one too!

Boiled eggs will keep in the fridge, with shells in tact, for up to 5 days. So it’s super handy to batch cook and have something nutritious ready to go.

Salami, Avocado, Nuts Snack Platter

This is a high fat dish. This is a delicious and filling snack platter which doesn’t require cooking. Here I have some tomato, but you could use pickles, olives or berries or a spinach salad instead. You could also add cheese to this platter if you are not paleo or dairy-free.

Cheese Crackers and Guacamole

This is a high fat dish. Not Paleo or Dairy-free. Homemade guacamole is always best, but if you use shop bought, check the labels to make sure it’s not full of nasties. Arrange patches of grated cheese on parchment paper in microwave, cook for 1 min or 1 min and 10 seconds if not browned to your liking. Let them cool and enjoy your crispy crackers!

Egg, Salami, Nuts

This is a high fat dish. Fatty salami or chorizo would work well for a no-cook breakfast or snack platter. Eggs can be boiled in advance and stored in fridge for days. Add nuts, berries, cheese, a couple of slices of celery or bell pepper, pickles, olives, etc.

Sweet Paleo-Ketogenic Breakfast & Snack Ideas

Dark Chocolate with Nut Butter or Cream

This is a high fat snack. You are allowed to enjoy dark, unsweetened chocolate with 85% or more cocoa solids. Lindt 90% is my favourite! Dip it into nut butter or extra thick double cream for a quick and easy snack with no prep time.

Seed Pudding with Berries

This is Ideal for breakfast in the warmer months. Seed pudding (also known as Chia pudding) can be prepared in advance and left to soak overnight in the fridge. The seeds soak up the liquid and form a type of porridge or pudding.

I use mixed milled seeds (Linseed, Chia seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, etc) Soak in nut milk of your choice. Add tahini, nut butter, cacao or cinnamon for flavour.

Yogurt or Full Cream with Nuts and Berries

This is Ideal for breakfast in the warmer months. Full-fat Greek yogurt or Fresh Cream topped with berries, nuts and seeds.

Tahini, Nuts and Chocolate

This is a high fat snack. It might seem strange, but I really enjoy this: mixed nuts and dark chocolate (I break up one square of Lindt 90%) drizzled in tahini. I also love blueberries with tahini!

Chocolate Seed Pudding

This is ideal for breakfast in warmer seasons. Same recipe as previous seed pudding, but add cocoa powder to the mixture before soaking overnight.

Top with raspberries, blueberries, etc.

Low Carb Sweeteners

I realise some people might not enjoy their seed pudding without some form of sweetener, so I would suggest using one that doesn’t spike your insulin.

When we eat sugars and carbs, our body produces insulin to remove the sugar from our bloodstream, but insulin also governs fat storage, so our aim is always to avoid spiking our insulin which in turn would spark fat storage. This is why low carb diets work as a long term solution to managing weight – no insulin spikes!

I recommend Erythritol as I don’t like the aftertaste that Stevia has, although Stevia is a very popular sweetener and comes in various forms, including liquid drops. Both of these are natural sweeteners and will not affect your glycaemic index (GI) or insulin levels. It comes down to personal preference.

Please remember to always check your labels and make sure there is no Maltodextrin or any ingredient ending in -ose (Sucrose, Fructose, Dextrose, etc) as these are all sugars.

Unfortunately many “health food” products and even artificial sweeteners sold as weight loss aids are mixed with these sugars. Some of them even score more on the Glycaemic Index than regular sugar does, yet they appear in so-called health foods! Your body will treat them just like regular sugar and they will kick you out of ketosis and restart the fat storage process.

My Favourite Flavoured Sweeteners

It’s made of Sucralose, and before you point out that it ends in -ose, let me explain why this particular sweetener is okay to use on the ketogenic diet – in it’s liquid form only: Sucralose* in its liquid form has no carbs and scores 0 on the GI index which means it won’t spike your insulin production or kick you out of ketosis!

Get your LiquiFLAV here

25% OFF your first order if you buy through this link!

I hope this post has given you some inspiration as to what you could eat for breakfast or snack on throughout the day if you do get hungry between meals.

Generally, once your body fat adapts, you should no longer crave snacks between meals, but should find you remain satiated for longer.

If you have other keto friendly breakfast ideas to add to the list, please do share them in the comments below!

* You might be wondering about Splenda as it is also Sucralose, but in its powdered form, Sucralose is apparently much worse than regular sugar on the GI index, so do beware and stick to the keto approved sweeteners mentioned above as these are not only safe, but readily available too. Ruled.me has a great page all about sweeteners, if you’d like more info.

As of September 2017 I have been on a low histamine ketogenic diet.

The keto part is to manage symptoms of ME/CFS and I have had great improvement from being in ketosis. One of the biggest benefits has been dramatic decrease in chronic pain and no longer being bedridden. I also no longer need to eat breakfast and I fast for 14-16 hours daily. You can read about my keto journey here.

The low histamine part of the diet is due to the fact that my body seems to have trouble managing histamine levels and I had entered a permanent state of allergic reaction including constant itching as well as rashes and hives. By controlling the types of foods and amount of histamine I ingest, I have been able to reduce these reactions dramatically. You can read about how I’ve eliminated my histamine response here.