Keto Diet Menu: Your Guide to Eating Smart and Burning Fat

May 16, 2019
Posted by Shopify API
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Don't kid yourself... almost all of the canned meal plans fail. That’s because they don’t take into account personal dietary needs, lifestyles, or preferences. They just prescribe one meal plan for the masses. But that’s not how we work. Instead, we’ve designed the perfect keto menu diet template. It has the right balance of our food suggestions and, more importantly, yours. It’s fully customizable, can adapt to your lifestyle, and is the only keto meal plan that we’ve seen work long-term.

Having said that, if you're strapped for time, go ahead and try our ready-to-go 7-day Keto Diet Meal Plan for FREE (scroll down to find it).

In this article, you’ll learn:

Creating Your Ultimate Keto Diet Menu

If you really want to succeed with your keto diet, the secret isn’t finding the perfect meal plan. It’s creating one that’s perfect for you.

A custom meal plan will help you manage your cravings while staying in control. It is the key to long-term success with your diet. It’s literally the secret ingredient (see what we did there).

Let’s get one thing straight… A meal plan isn't for everyone. Sticking with the keto diet isn't effortless; it does take some work. But once you commit to it, having a meal plan makes it a lot easier. It gives you control and confidence because you have a plan. You’ll thank yourself later when you crush your late night cravings for French fries by having the perfect keto snack on hand (because you planned for it!).

Buy-In

Give someone a generic seven-day keto meal plan and they’ll be bored or overwhelmed after a week. But show someone the steps to create their own keto diet menu, and they’ll have a diet they can stick to for life.

Research shows that the more you invest in something, the higher you value it. This is called the IKEA Effect [1][2][3]. Asking you to commit just a little of your time to the meal planning is our way of leveraging the IKEA Effect (it’s not that we’re lazy). Plus, not everyone has the same dietary needs. So it’d be silly for us to prescribe one meal plan and call it a day. Instead, let's do this together.

Whether you’re cooking for two, a family (probably), or a bodybuilding champion (unlikely?), this meal plan has you covered.

Step 1: Make a List of What You Already Eat

Start with what you know. This will make the transition to keto as smooth as possible. So, write down everything you eat in a typical day, including beverages.

Your list might look like this:

keto diet menu

Don’t worry if it’s as far from keto as you could possibly get. We’ll address that in the next step.

Step 2: Do a Food Swap

Next, substitute keto foods in place of your old menu. Here’s the example from above, keto-fied:

keto diet menu

Voila!

You have your first day of keto meal planning done. And the best part? You did it your way and can modify it any time you like.

Check out these sample meals (they’re delicious!):

To make coming up with the rest of your meal plans easier, we created a master keto food list. It lists common, non-keto foods and then suggests a keto alternative so you don’t have to spend ages figuring out what substitutions to make. Use the Master Keto Food List to do all the work.

Step 3: Make Your Custom Keto Meal Plan

Unleash the IKEA Effect [4][5][6] and repeat what you just did for six other meals to make your custom 7-day meal plan. Use our blank template to get started and stay organized:

keto diet menu - template Just download the template, print, and start creating (and remember to use the Master Keto Food List to make this easier). Or if you’re feeling open-minded...

Step 4: Let Us Help

Follow our tips for creating your own menu items, or use our 7-day Keto Diet Menu below to start your keto diet today.

Process for Creating Your Own Meals

When creating your own meals, try to include a low-carb base, protein, and fat in all your meals. This approach keeps things simple and manageable. Oh, and don’t forget to up the fat content to reduce and better manage hunger cravings [7].

Here’s our step-by-step process to new keto meals:

Choose your base:

Fresh greens
Zucchini noodles
Sautéed or roasted low-carb vegetables
Cauliflower rice

Add your protein:

Meat
Fish
Eggs
Tofu
Tempeh

Increase the fat:

Avocado
Mayonnaise
Almond butter
Nuts
Olive, avocado, and coconut oil
Lard
Butter or ghee
Olives
Cheese
Heavy cream
Chia and hemp seeds

This is by no means a catch-all process, so feel free to add in your favorite keto-friendly ingredients to create whatever you like, including sweet treats, baked goods, and even smoothies.

What about snacks? Are they allowed on keto? Yes, though you might find you’re not terribly hungry after your main meals.

If you are hungry, feel free to snack on keto foods, but be mindful of calories. No matter what diet you follow, eating more calories than you burn will prevent weight loss. And yes, you can still drink alcohol on keto, but keep it limited because more than one serving can knock you out of ketosis depending on your body weight and activity level. Also, keep in mind your alcohol tolerance will be lower if you're eating a low-carb diet.

Try KetoLogic's 7-Day Keto Meal Plan

Our 7-day keto meal plan is delicious and specially developed to support a keto lifestyle.

7-Day Keto Diet Meal Plan:

Day of the week	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Monday	Breakfast Casserole	Chicken Kale Cesar Salad	Keto Swedish Meatballs	Nutty Chocolate Energy Balls
Tuesday	Mocha Cookies & Cream Smoothie	Keto Swedish Meatballs	Chicken Enchiladas	Nutty Chocolate Energy Balls
Wednesday	Breakfast Casserole	Chicken Enchiladas	Thai Curry with Shrimp	Bacon Deviled Eggs
Thursday	Strawberry Banana Smoothie	Thai Curry with Shrimp	Zucchini Casserole	Dark Chocolate Bark
Friday	Green Egg Omelet	Zucchini Casserole	Chicken Piccata	Dark Chocolate Bark
Saturday	Fluffy Almond Flour Keto Pancakes	Chicken Piccata	Taco Salad	Bulletproof Coffee
Sunday	Fluffy Keto Waffles	Taco Salad	Turkey Pot Pie	Soft Serve Strawberry Ice Cream

Also check out Tim Tebow's 7-day keto meal plan! The former NFL star partnered with us to create some original keto recipes and develop a meal plan that's perfect for keto beginners.

You can also browse KetoLogic’s recipe database and bookmark your favorites. Pull them up whenever you need some new meal ideas.

Ultra-Flexible Keto Diet Suggestion

Still not sure how you can make the keto diet work for your lifestyle or dietary preferences? Here are a few sample menus to inspire you:

Here’s a link to some of the featured recipes:

Paleo-friendly meatloaf with green beans
Vegetarian-friendly green egg omelet or chocolate coconut energy balls
Vegan-friendly guacamole
Minimal cooking options: KetoMeal, Keto Crisps, some keto-friendly fast food.

You’re almost there… One last thing to do. Shopping.

Grocery Shopping for Keto Foods

We'll admit it. We hate grocery shopping.

That’s why we offer you three choices to make your keto grocery shopping easier:

Get the full shopping list for the 7-day keto diet menu.
Get our generic keto shopping list (to grab these keto foods fast). Or,
Get the Master Keto Food List (to take shopping with you).

Option A is straight forward: Buy that stuff and make the top keto meals. Option B provides a quick start to getting keto foods “in your house” now. Option C gives you the most control (works well in the long-term). Most people start with Option A and then move into Option C after two weeks or so.

Remember, following the keto diet doesn’t mean you have to eat foods you don’t like. Whether you’re vegan, paleo, or need daily sweet treats to function, there are keto options for practically everything.

Sticking to Your Keto Diet

Don’t Aim for Perfection

You don’t need to be perfect.

Everyone starts somewhere, and we’re not here to judge. You might be surprised, but the keto community is super welcoming. Don’t believe us? Start a new keto Instagram account and see what happens. You'll be embraced by other keto dieters almost immediately. Better yet, join our KETO 30 Challenge and enjoy the support of KetoLogic’s team of keto coaches as well as other keto newbies like yourself.

Simplify for Success

Simplicity is sustainable (complicated is not).

So keep it simple and start slow. You don’t need to cook extravagant meals every night. Just stick to your meal plan as much as you can. Don’t beat yourself up if you decide to use meal replacement shakes every once in a while because you didn’t prep anything the night before. Consider the meal replacement your safety net. And remember, you can always improve and optimize your diet as you get the hang of things. Keto is a lifestyle and one bad meal (or even one bad day of eating) won't ruin things.

Listen to Your Body

Many people experience side effects when they first start the keto diet, such as the dreaded keto flu. If you’re feeling flu-like symptoms, don’t worry. That’s pretty normal, especially if you’re coming off of a diet that was high in carbs. Some quick fixes might be hydration or supplements like exogenous ketones. But it’s probably a good idea to read the keto flu article to get all of the details.

Measuring your ketones is also a great way to see how your body is responding to what you’re eating. Tracking your ketone levels helps you know that your diet is working. And if you’ve been kicked out of ketosis, take another look at your diet and dial in your carb count. When in doubt, consult the carb counter.

Reassure Yourself

In case you haven’t realized, you’re adopting a new lifestyle, not just a new way of eating. So take the time to reassure yourself and be proud of the positive steps you’re taking to improve your health and wellness.