Our Best Keto Recipes That Make Sticking to the Keto Diet Easy and Delicious

You can—and should—still eat seafood in your keto diet recipes. Start your day with a real "catch" of this keto breakfast, which features low-carb asparagus for fiber and freshness. Use whole milk or cream instead of low-fat or fat-free milk to round out the macronutrient ratios to more keto-appropriate levels.

Related: Keto Diet Basics: Everything You Need to Know to Start

Trust us, waffles can be among the best keto recipes. They are when the batter starts with eggs and cheese, and calls for just enough flour to hold everything together. Each of these chaffles (translation: cheese waffles) has 250% more fat than carbs, plus they can be dressed up with your favorite fillings and toppings like bacon, chorizo, avocado, cream cheese, hot sauce, and seasonings.

Buy It: Dash Mini Waffle Maker($13, Target)

Your keto-friendly recipe forecast for breakfast: cloudy with a chance of bacon! This speedy option separates the egg whites from the yolks before utilizing them both in different ways for a light-as-air (and light-in-carbs) meal. You'll call for a repeat after one bite of the bacon and blue cheese pairing.

Test Kitchen Tip: Use this whipped egg white technique to make fluffy, keto-friendly cloud bread.

This breakfast casserole also happens to be one of our top-pinned recipes, so it has to be good. Start your day with the ultra-filling combo of sausage, cheese, and fresh veggies. An entire dozen eggs and some heavy cream make the custard-like base for the keto casserole recipe. For an extra boost of protein and healthy fats, top with sliced avocados.

Buy It: 3-Quart Glass Baking Dish with Lid($22, OXO)

For an excellent keto diet recipe come noon, grill salmon on a cedar plank to infuse the filet with flavor. It takes just 10 minutes or so to score a perfect flaky doneness. Top with a simple homemade tomato pesto and an extra drizzle of olive oil, if you please.

Yes, chicken breast is on the leaner side, but with a healthy dose of olive oil and olives, this is a keto recipe you'll make on repeat. (You could also swap in chicken thighs for the breast for a bit more fat.) Add a sprinkle of feta cheese for some extra tang and fat while keeping the carb count to a minimum in this delicious keto salad.

Related: Keto-Friendly Chicken Recipes That Make Wonderful Family Dinners

We're cocoa-nuts about this 30-minute keto diet recipe and its creative crumb coating. Chopped almonds and unsweetened cocoa powder sound like strange partners for salmon. Trust us: It works, and it works well. Plus this low-carb lunch satisfies your chocolate fix without all the sugar.

When you imagine a bowl of soup, chances are you think of something with noodles, rice, dumplings, or perhaps a cheesy toast floating on top. But soup can fall under the keto-friendly recipe umbrella if you infuse the base with cream and skip the carb-heavy mix-ins. Stir in roasted salmon pieces and garnish each bowl with a crispy Parmesan "cracker" to lend a bit more fat.

Related: How to Bake Salmon for Delicious and Healthy Meals in a Snap

No need to wait in line for the microwave at work during the lunchtime rush. This vegetarian keto recipe is at its best chilled. We crown this creamy chilled soup (aka gazpacho) with a healthy drizzle of chili oil for warm flavor on a cold dish. 

Test Kitchen Tip: Top your serving with some shrimp or shredded chicken to make this a full meal

Confused about seeing chickpeas in this keto recipe? We know they're not high in fat or low in carbs. Luckily, the Test Kitchen dreamed up a keto recipe version of the popular party snack that offers a whole 12 grams of fat per tablespoon (and just 2 grams of carbs).

Test Kitchen Tip: Whip up a batch to nosh on over the weekend; this recipe keeps for three days in the fridge. Enjoy it with low-carb veggies—our favorite dunker just so happens to be a keto air-fryer recipe: Air-Fryer Roasted Vegetables.

Yes, we know...keto air-fryer recipes sound silly since the goal is to opt for a high ratio of fat to carbs. But this dish delivers on the flavor and keto-friendly fat front thanks to melted butter that's mixed with the cayenne pepper sauce in the cauliflower coating. Dunk in blue cheese dressing for a game day-inspired snack any day of the year.

With a mere 1 gram of carbs per serving, this keto Instant Pot recipe is the ultimate snack to serve at your next gathering. (In addition to being keto, it's gluten-free and vegetarian, too.) To keep this snack uber-low in carbs, scoop up the garlic- and olive-flavored Instant Pot hot dip with cucumber slices, bell peppers, or broccoli or cauliflower florets.

Buy It: Instant Pot Duo ($90, Target)

Traditional fricassee involves simmering a protein—typically some cut of meat—in a cream sauce. For this keto dinner recipe side, we follow a similar foundation and trade in umami-rich mushrooms and fresh herbs in place of the protein. The result is a high-fat and high-flavor side dish that pairs beautifully with roast chicken, turkey, beef, seafood...or, you know, a fork.

If you agree that everything is better with bacon, then you'll love this savory side dish. This keto recipe is topped with prosciutto, a similar pork product to bacon. It takes just 20 minutes, so this skillet side is the perfect addition to any of our keto dinner recipes.

Avocado. Butter. How can anything that combines those two ingredients in one package be bad? Taste the delicious, fat-forward duo atop this grilled steak recipe. Not all steakhouse entrées fit keto dinner recipe guidelines, but this DIY dish sure does

Related: Experts Answer: How Does the Keto Diet Impact Health?

For a holiday (or for Sunday supper) try this oven-roasted keto dinner recipe. Get a leg up on prep time by slicing pieces prior to cooking. The herb butter-rubbed bird will reach the perfect temp in less than two hours.

Buy It: ThermPro Thermometer($25, Bed Bath & Beyond)

Choose between beef top loin, tenderloin, or ribeye steaks for this protein-packed keto dinner recipe. The hearty steak is accompanied by a rich and spicy pan sauce made from the drippings along with butter, poblano peppers, a splash of tequila, and Mexican crema (it's like sour cream, but with a slightly higher fat content, which is perfect for the keto diet). As if it wasn't indulgent enough, we've topped the low-carb steak recipe with crabmeat for the ultimate surf and turf dinner.

With just 9 grams of carbs, this entire keto dinner recipe is like a main and a side dish all in one. Beef tenderloin shines in all its succulent glory as the entrée, while buttery, garlic-scented cremini mushrooms act as both the side and the sauce. The key to the meat's terrifically tender, restaurant-quality results: searing in a skillet before roasting in the oven to a perfect medium-rare (or your desired doneness).

Related: This Amazing Meat Thermometer Notifies Me When My Meat Is Perfectly Cooked

Had your fill of steak and salmon? Turn to keto chicken dishes like this easy sheet-pan supper. A mix of oil and butter delivers loads of flavor (and plenty of fat for your quota) in this Mediterranean-inspired meal. In place of mashed potatoes or couscous, pair this keto dinner recipe with cauliflower rice mashed with some cream cheese or sour cream

Craving tacos, enchiladas, or burritos, but not all the carbs that come with them? Whip up stuffed peppers instead. Roasted low-carb poblanos act as the shell to hold warmly-spiced shrimp, a speedy skillet succotash, and zippy cilantro-lime vinaigrette. "The dressing made it really sing," says one BH&G home cook who rated this keto-friendly recipe worthy of five stars. 

Test Kitchen Tip: Skip the corn and add diced avocado to the top of each pepper just before serving to move this entrée even more into keto diet recipe territory.