Recipes
See some of my favourite recipes from around the worldwide web from some of my favourite creators. (All writers credited).
Breakfast
LOW CARB PUMPKIN PANCAKES
These Low Carb Pumpkin Pancakes are soft, thick, fluffy and the perfect breakfast for fall. They’re easy to make with keto, gluten free and paleo friendly ingredients.
LOW CARB PUMPKIN PANCAKES
These Low carb Pumpkin Pancakes are full of cozy warm spices and perfect for fall. They’re sugar free, high in protein and a great way to satisfy that pumpkin spice pancake craving – especially if you’re following a low carb keto diet.
We love that these healthy pumpkin pancakes cook up thick, fluffy and packed with pumpkin flavor. Plus, they’re easy to make requiring just 20 minutes. The pumpkin spice pancake mix comes together in just one bowl and no blender required so there’s less dishes to wash.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
Dry ingredients
- monk fruit sweetener
- super-fine blanched almond flour
- coconut flour
- pumpkin pie spice
- ground cinnamon
- baking powder
Wet ingredients
- eggs – for extra fluffy pancakes, separate the egg whites and whip until stiff peaks then fold into the batter after you add the cinnamon.
- canned or pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- almond milk
- cashew butter, almond butter or any nut or seed butter of your choice (pumpkin butter, sunflower seed butter)
- vanilla extract
HOW TO MAKE LOW CARB PUMPKIN PANCAKES:
- COMBINE THE WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl beat the eggs, then whisk in the pumpkin puree, nut butter and sweetener. Pour in the milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth. For extra fluffy pancakes, separate the egg whites and whip until stiff peaks then fold into the batter after you add the cinnamon.
- ADD DRY INGREDIENTS: Stir in the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and mix until smooth and combined.
- Allow the batter to rest for 3-5 minutes so the leavening agent can activate. If the batter appears too thick, add a splash of almond milk. If too thin, add a bit more flour.
- PREHEAT PAN: Meanwhile, preheat griddle or a large skillet over medium low heat.
MAKE THE PANCAKES: Lightly coat pan with avocado oil spray or melted ghee and drop 1/4 cup sized batter rounds onto the griddle. Cook until the edges begin to turn golden brown and bubbles form on the top, about 3-5 minutes. GENTLY flip and cook another 2-4 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve with sugar free maple syrup, sugar free chocolate chips, chopped nuts, melted butter / ghee or coconut whipped cream, if desired.
Source : https://lifemadeketo.com/pumpkin-pancakes/
Why do people love the Mcgriddle sandwich from the McDonald’s breakfast menu? It’s the blend of sweet and savory. This popular breakfast sandwich puts together two favorite breakfast staples; a thick sausage patty in between two fluffy pancakes. But the original McGriddle comes with 448 calories and 43 g carbs with 16 g being sugar. We can thank McDonald’s for this delicious and inspirational idea for our keto sausage “McGriddle” breakfast sandwich.
We wrapped a savory chicken sausage patty with two sweet proffle buns then added more sweetness with a syrup drizzle. This recipe makes a tasty high protein breakfast! Check out these macros: 246 calories, 36 g protein, 2 g carbs, 9 g fat.
How did we create such a low calorie and low carb meal?
We start with the profffle. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the chaffle but may not be familiar with the proffle. A chaffle is a waffle made primarily of cheese. The issue with cheese is that is comes with high calories. Most chaffle recipes ask for 1 cup of cheese yielding two chaffles. So, once you add the cheese and other popular chaffle ingredients like almond flour and egg you are up to about 300 calories and 12 g carbs just for the breakfast sandwich buns. On the other hand, the proffle is a protein waffle. Using just four ingredients and a waffle maker you get three protein waffles with only 131 calories and 2.1 g carbs! My protein waffles are just as tasty as chaffles and the texture is perfect for making sandwich buns. A key ingredient in the protein waffle is protein powder. The sweetness in the waffle buns comes from using vanilla flavored protein powder so when you follow the protein waffle recipe make sure you use vanilla flavored.
Protein Waffle Sandwich Buns:
Here is the link to my keto protein waffle recipe I use to make the waffle buns.
I use the ever-popular dash mini waffle maker for making waffle sandwich buns. It makes 4” round waffles that the perfect size and thickness for sandwiches. It heats up quickly and within 3 minutes my protein waffle is cooked. In the past I tried using a normal sized waffle maker but the grooves were too deep requiring way more batter for each waffle. If you want to have more of a biscuit breakfast sandwich you gotta try our easy cheesy keto biscuits.
Filling the buns:
McDonald’s McGriddle comes in a variety of filling options. You have just sausage, sausage egg and cheese or bacon egg and cheese. All these filling options all work for our keto version of the Mcgriddle. I use just chicken sausage. It’s delicious and satisfying but most importantly it keeps the calories lower. If your daily macros allow the additional filling options by all means fill it up. To make the sausage patty I simply make a patty out of Isernio’s classic chicken sausage roll. I love Isernio’s products because they do not use sugar, gluten, hormones, preservatives or steroids in their products. Their products are carried in most grocery stores.
Syrup options:
The classic McGriddle is made with maple syrup crystals in the pancake buns. McDonald’s maple syrup crystals can easily be substituted with sugar free maple syrup. I prefer to use a different “syrup” for my breakfast sandwich. I use a liquid tasteless coconut oil blended with ground cinnamon as my syrup. The taste of the oil cinnamon mixture tastes better and sweeter to me. Melted butter with cinnamon would also work. Adding a drop of liquid sweetener to the oil cinnamon syrup will make it even sweeter if that is your taste preference. Whichever “syrup” you prefer to drizzle over your sandwich will taste amazing!
Ingredients
- 1 recipe keto protein waffles
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1 tsp liquid coconut oil melted butter or SF maple syrup can be used
- 1/8 lb chicken sausage I use isernio’s classic chicken sausage
Instructions
- Follow the link to make our keto protein waffles
- form the sausage into a patty
- cook on frying pan until thoroughly cooked
- place the liquid coconut oil and cinnamon into a small bowl and stir
- place the sausage patty onto one protein waffle.
- drizzle the prepared oil syrup over the patty
- place another protein waffle on top of the sausage patty forming a sandwich and enjoy!
- Each sandwich has 2g Net Carbs
Prep Time : 10 mins
Cook Time : 10mins
Total Time : 20 mins
Macros Per Serving:
Lunch
HEALTHY LOW CARB MEXICAN CHICKEN WRAPS
A delicious, flavorful Mexican chicken filling inside a delicious flatbread low in carbs yet extremely satisfying! The Mexican chicken is a flavor lovers dream and are perfect to prep in advance and freeze for grab and go lunches or quick dinners!
Fiesta Chicken Wraps made low carb
Low carb products.
Since moving to America, I’ve been quite amazed at how many food products have ‘low carb’ on their packaging. While I’ve seen protein bars and some beverages include this in their labels, I never would have thought items like cereal, candy and even breads have this too.
From previous experience, I’d tried out a couple of ‘low carb’ cereals before and the kindest critique I can give them is that they reminded me of cardboard.
Actually, cardboard would have been more appetising.
Safe to say, I was not a huge fan. That was okay though- I don’t follow a low carb diet and have no real need to eat low carb at this stage in my life. Saying that, it is a dietary lifestyle I’ve recently started to enjoy experimenting with. Last year, I went vegan for a week, paleo for a week and sugar free for a week to be able to use those times to spark some creativity in the kitchen and learning to swap different ingredients out to be able to fit these lifestyles. I’ve also received quite a number of recipe requests which are just that- Low in carbs yet high in flavor so just for the fun of it, I’ve decided to go low-carb for a full week.
Friends, you have been warned. If I am cranky and evil, blame my grain (Free) brain.
ANYWAY.
When my friends at Flatout sent over a package of a variety of their flatbreads, I didn’t even realise one of them was low carb. It wasn’t until I went to make a breakfast burrito that I noticed that one of them was their ProteinUP Carb Down variety- Boasting half the carbs yet double the protein. I was definitely intrigued, as it certainly didn’t have the consistency of cardboard and actually resembled a standard flatbread.
Friends, I am not one to follow a low carb diet but I must say- I was VERY impressed with it. It had the taste and texture of a standard flatbread and with no artificial aftertaste. In fact, I found the flatbread to be quite delicious sans topping.
Bar one flatbread I ate on it’s own, I used the remaining ones to make an old family favorite recipe (Mexican style chicken) into wraps- Enter- these healthy low carb Mexican chicken wraps!
These healthy low carb Mexican chicken wraps are spicy, sweet and flavorful all in one! It’s the perfect sandwich for anyone to enjoy, low carb or not! The Mexican chicken filling is quick and easy to prepare- Either using store bought plain grilled chicken or as I did, making my pulled tandoori chicken, minus any of the seasonings. I used a unique sauce blend which most likely fails on the ‘Mexican’ part, but trust me, it helped bring out the chipotle salsa flavor- Maple syrup. It really takes the Mexican chicken filling to the next level! These are also perfect to batch cook and freeze- Simply prep them in one go and freeze individually for grab and go lunches, dinners or even a filling snack!
HACK! Long term readers know that I consider cilantro to be edible punishment so omitted it from my life this sandwich. Saying that, when I used to make this Mexican chicken back in Australia (we ate it with tacos or over pasta…don’t ask), my mum and sister would top theirs with this poison herb.
Make these delicious low carb Mexican Chicken Wraps and while you should be wary of products labelled as ‘low carb’, don’t be afraid to give some a shot.
Ingredients
- 4 cooked chicken breasts shredded
- 1 cup salsa of choice I used hot chipotle salsa
- 1 T pure maple syrup can sub for sugar free maple syrup*
- 1/4 cup chopped jalapeno peppers
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 Flatout ProteinUP Carb Down flatbreads
- Jalapeños/salsa/cheese etc optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all your ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
- Spread out your four flatbreads. In the centre of each, add 1/4 of the filling mixture. Add extras (jalapeños/salsa/cheese etc) and roll up.
- If eating immediately, cut each flatbread wrap in half. If prepping to freezer, wrap each one in aluminium foil or in freezer bags individually.
Notes
Dinner
All you keto meat lovers, get ready to gather around the table and sink your teeth into this hearty personal sized Italian meat lovers pizza. Each bite is loaded with meat and spicy Italian flavors. You’ll love the macros in this filling meal… 3g total carbs, 2g net carbs, 22g fat, 36g protein and only 337 calories!!!
I like to use spicy Italian chicken sausage vs Italian pork sausage to keep my calorie count lower, but you can definitely use pork sausage if you prefer. Just don’t forget to adjust your nutrition information if you switch. I really recommend you use a spicy Italian flavor of sausage for this keto Italian meat lovers pizza.
You’ll be missing out on a lot of flavor if you use regular sausage. When buying sausage, be sure to check the ingredients! Sugar is added to many brands out there.
Sizzling crisp bacon is my go-to crust for this recipe. The salty savory flavor and crispy texture of bacon balances perfectly with the other Italian flavors in the pizza. Here’s a fun fact. Did you know that the sizzling sound of frying bacon is used to aide in relaxation and help people fall asleep?
The perfect relaxing ambience for the keto lifestyle…. the sound of frying bacon.
If you prefer your bacon as a topping and not a crust, you can replace the bacon crust with a fat head pizza crust. For the topping I would only use 2 strips of cooked crispy bacon added to the other toppings in the recipe. Fat head pizza crust can be used with any of your favorite toppings. We love using pepperoni, basil and sun-dried tomatoes.
Here is the nutritional information for the fat head pizza crust.
Makes 8 slices. Each slice of crust is 2g total carbs, 1g net carbs, 12g fat, 8g protein and 139 calories.
Either way you make this pizza, you’ll love it!
Prep Time : 15 mins
Cook Time : 25 mins
Total Time : 40 mins
Ingredients
Pizza Dough/Crust
- 5 slices bacon I use applewood smoked natural uncured bacon
Pizza Toppings
- 1/8 tsp red onion diced
- 2 tbsp sugar free pizza sauce
- 2 tbsp mozzarella cheese shredded
- 0.5 oz roma tomatoes sliced, guts removed
- 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 oz hot Italian chicken sausage
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bacon Crust
- Weave bacon slices together to form crust
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until cooked to desired crispiness.
- Remove from the oven and drain off bacon grease.
- Add the toppings and return to the oven one last time for 10 minutes.
- Slice the pizza into 3 pieces.
- Top with crushed red pepper flakes. Serve hot and enjoy!
Macros Per Serving:
Keto dieters listen up: your favorite taco fillings, including steak, are stuffed inside crispy cheddar cheese shells for a beginner recipe that’s easy enough to tackle on a weeknight for one person. This recipe might leave you with a little leftover steak… but who’s complaining about that? Chop it up and add it to a salad the next day. Be sure to look for a taco seasoning that is low in carbs as some brands sneak in sugar. Customize the toppings to your liking, and let the feasting begin.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 New York strip steak
- 1/4 stick butter
- diced tomato, for topping
- sour cream, for topping
- sliced avocado, for topping
- sliced jalapeño, for topping
- lime zest, for topping
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat. Set out four glasses that are similar in height and rest a wooden cooking spoon over each pair of glasses. These suspended spoons will be used to shape the tortillas.
Divide cheese into three mounds on top of lined sheet pan. Use hand to flatten and spread cheese into circles spaced 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or cheese appears lacy and is golden-brown on the edges.
Use a spatula to carefully drape tortillas over suspended spoons to create tortilla shape. Allow to dry and harden.
Meanwhile, sprinkle taco seasoning over both sides of the steak. You may not use the whole packet.
Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. If using a grill pan, melt butter over the top and allow to brown slightly. For medium rare or medium steak, cook for 2-3 minutes. Rotate steak 90 degrees using a fork, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Flip steak with a fork, and repeat process. Remove steak onto a plate and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes, before slicing into thin strips against the grain.
To assemble, fill taco shells with pinch of lettuce, a few strips of steak, a dollop of sour cream, a smattering of diced tomato and avocado, a few thin slices of jalapeño, and a dash of lime zest.
Source : https://www.brit.co/keto-steak-taco-cheese-shell-recipe/
Snacks
Nacho Cheese Crisps
What if I told you you could turn a single slice of cheese into a cracker? Would you believe me? Well, you should! This hack makes a keto-friendly Cheez-It–like cracker, and it couldn’t be easier. Top it with whatever seasoning you want for endless variations! Cajun Seasoning would be delicious!
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 250º and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut each slice of cheese into 9 squares and place in a medium bowl. Add taco seasoning and toss to coat.
Lay cheese slices in an even layer (make sure none are overlapping!) on prepared baking sheet. Bake until crisp and golden, 40 minutes (they will crisp up even more when cooled). Let cool 10 minutes, then remove from parchment paper.
Source : https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a26558540/nacho-cheese-crisps-recipe/