A ketogenic was something that always interested me, but I ruled it out once I went vegan.
While I still have no plans of following a keto diet, I’ve seen that many do without any problem.
To create a vegan ketogenic diet food list, I collected data for about 120 vegan whole foods using the USDA food database.
The results are broken down on this page. There’s 80 foods in total here that I believe could be eaten on a ketogenic diet.
All the nutritional information that I extracted is based off of a typical serving.
Before we get into the lists, one special mention for dark chocolate. It didn’t come up in my research, but it’s a good ketogenic food if you stick to the darkest percentages.
The first 3 sections are simplified lists, the complete data for all the foods in this post is in the final section.
Table of Contents
Vegan Foods That Have Less Than 5 Net Carbohydrates Per Serving
The foods here are the “ideal” ketogenic diet foods.
They have very few carbohydrates, although many don’t have a high amount of calories either (could be a good or bad thing).
| Food | Net Carbs |
|---|---|
| Rapini | 0.11 |
| Kale | 0.16 |
| Watercress | 0.22 |
| Radish | 0.31 |
| Flaxseed | 0.35 |
| Ginger | 0.36 |
| Arugula | 0.43 |
| Water spinach | 0.55 |
| Olive | 0.67 |
| Mustard greens | 0.82 |
| Bok choy | 0.83 |
| Garlic | 0.89 |
| Celery | 0.9 |
| Raspberry | 1.07 |
| Asparagus | 1.27 |
| Bamboo shoot | 1.36 |
| Seaweed (dried) | 1.37 |
| Hemp seeds | 1.4 |
| Collard greens | 2 |
| Pecans | 2.06 |
| Lettuce (red leaf) | 2.09 |
| Turnip greens | 2.12 |
| Green bean | 2.33 |
| Chia seeds | 2.34 |
| Avocado | 2.55 |
| Brazil nut | 2.81 |
| Cabbage | 2.96 |
| Cauliflower | 3.22 |
| Macadamia nut | 3.46 |
| Broccoli | 3.64 |
| Lemon | 3.81 |
| Okra | 4.08 |
| Walnut | 4.12 |
| Cucumber | 4.66 |
| Hazelnut | 4.77 |
| Green bell pepper | 4.81 |
| Spinach | 4.84 |
| Almonds | 4.84 |
| Guava | 4.88 |
| Tomato | 4.88 |
| Carrot | 4.9 |
Not a huge list. It’s not easy to do keto on a vegan diet.
There are a few types of foods here that you should get really familiar with:
- Vegetables (in particular leafy greens) – Rapini, kale, and watercress top the list. There are a few non-leafy vegetables like green beans, avocados, broccoli, and cucumber, among a few others down the list.
- Nuts – Certain types of nuts have very few net carbohydrates. Pecans, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts are low in net carbohydrates and have a decent amount of calories. You can substitute almond flour for wheat flour in many recipes as well.
- Seeds – Hemp seeds and chia seeds are both highly nutritious (great vegan sources of omega 3s), and make this top list.
Vegan Foods That Have Between 5 and 10 Net Carbohydrates Per Serving
These foods are still decent for keto diets, but you probably don’t want to go too crazy with them.
| Food | Net Carbs |
|---|---|
| Lime | 5.16 |
| Peanuts | 5.57 |
| Onion | 5.7 |
| Gourd | 5.74 |
| Coconut meat | 6.22 |
| Blackberry | 6.24 |
| Pine nuts | 6.33 |
| Red bell pepper | 6.49 |
| Plum | 6.64 |
| Zucchini | 6.85 |
| Brussels sprouts | 6.98 |
| Squash | 7.22 |
| Lychee | 7.33 |
| Cantaloupe | 7.42 |
| Beets | 7.96 |
| Artichoke | 8.33 |
| Cranberry | 8.37 |
| Sesame seeds | 8.38 |
| Grapes | 8.47 |
| Chicory root | 9.61 |
| Pineapple | 9.82 |
A few more vegetables like onions, zucchini, brussel sprouts and squash, but also some fruits.
I know that fruit is generally avoided on keto, but these fruits are the best ones to have: plums, blackberries, cranberries, lychee, cantaloupe.
There’s also the first legume (peanuts), and a few more nuts (coconut and pine nuts).
Vegan Foods That Have Between 10 and 20 Net Carbohydrates Per Serving
These foods will depend on how you react to them. As far as I understand, if you’re very active and perhaps a larger person, you can tolerate a one or two of these per day.
| Food | Net Carbs |
|---|---|
| Pistachio nuts | 10.21 |
| Swiss chard | 10.25 |
| Leek | 10.99 |
| Peach | 12.11 |
| Soybeans | 12.29 |
| Peas | 12.65 |
| Vital wheat gluten | 13.19 |
| Nectarine | 13.76 |
| Tangerine | 13.81 |
| Orange | 13.83 |
| Lotus root | 14.21 |
| Apricot | 15.05 |
| Strawberry | 15.34 |
| Eggplant | 15.82 |
| Parsnip | 17.43 |
| Cherry | 19.19 |
| Cashew | 20.29 |
Vital wheat gluten and products made from soybean are some of the best protein sources you’ll find on a keto diet.
There’s also a few more fruits that may be acceptable for you.
The Detailed List of Vegan Ketogenic Foods
If you’d like the complete list of foods, make a copy of this spreadsheet. It contains all the data from above and more.
Most importantly is the serving size column, so that you can see what I took to be a “typical serving size”, which may or may not hold for you.
A vegan ketogenic diet is impressive because it’s not easy to follow. A lot of common vegan staples like oatmeal aren’t keto. Hopefully this keto food list will help you succeed where many have failed.
Good luck.
