You may be living a low-carb lifestyle to lose weight or to manage your health. No matter what your reasons are for eating low-carb, finding the right snacks is important to your eating plan. It may be challenging at first to come up with tasty snack ideas or to find healthy options at the supermarket. Armed with the right recipes, you can make your own snacks and nosh between meals with confidence.
A good low-carb snack has a maximum of 15 grams of carbs per serving. Many pre-packaged snacks are loaded with sugar, sodium, high fructose corn syrup, artificial ingredients, and unhealthy fats. You should aim to stay within the recommended daily guideline of less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily. When you make your own snacks, you control the ingredients.
Some healthier pre-packaged, low-carb snack ideas are:
- pickled okra
- olives
- roasted chickpeas
- dry roasted edamame
- jerky
Snacking on organic dark chocolate that’s at least 70 percent cacao is a healthier way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Limit your consumption of artificial sweeteners and sugary alcohols, because some may not be low-carb. Some people may also experience digestive side effects from these foods.
Some low carb snacks are easy-to-make without a recipe such as:
- hard boiled eggs
- guacamole with baby carrots
- celery with peanut butter or almond butter
- raw veggies with Greek yogurt ranch dip
- string cheese
- cottage cheese
- nuts
If you’re ready to get cooking in the kitchen, we’ve scoured the internet for some of the best low-carb snack recipes. If you see something that appeals to you, make a large batch. That way you’ll have plenty on hand to tame the munchies when they hit.
This hummus is made from cauliflower instead of chickpeas. It has all the other traditional hummus ingredients, including tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. With the aid of a food processor, this recipe comes together quickly. Try this hummus with raw bell pepper chunks, baby carrots, and celery. It’s also a great mayo alternative on a low-carb wrap. A ¼ cup serving has approximately 3 grams of carbs.
Kale chips are all the rage these days, but many recipes are bland. This recipe takes kale chips from boring to bodacious with chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and avocado oil.
Kale isn’t just low carb; it’s also a great source of fiber, vitamin K, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Keep a close eye on the chips during baking to make sure they don’t burn. Each serving of kale chips has 8 grams of carbs.
This recipe ditches high-carb hot dog buns for a cheesy homemade bagel. The bagel wrap is made from almond flour, coconut flour, and spices. There’s some prep work involved with this recipe, but don’t let that turn you off. Try these bagel dogs for lunch or a light dinner. Each bagel dog has 8 grams of carbs.
This isn’t your grandma’s peanut butter cookie recipe! It’s a blend of natural peanut butter, chopped peanuts, oats, flaxseed, puffed rice cereal, rolled oats, spices, dried apples, and coconut oil. The final touch is a white chocolate glaze. These cookies are a snap to make, since no baking is involved. Each cookie has 10.2 grams of carbs.
Move over high-carb breadsticks made from white flour! There’s a new breadstick in town, and you’ll never believe what it’s made from. This unique recipe combines minced chicken breast, shredded mozzarella cheese, and spices to make high-protein “breadsticks” with only 0.5 grams of carbs each.
For this recipe, spears of asparagus are wrapped in seared turkey meat, doused in barbecue sauce, and baked. The result is a low-carb mouthful of smoky deliciousness. In addition to being low in calories and fat, asparagus is a good source of vitamin A, vitamin K, and folate. Each asparagus spear has just 28 calories and 1 gram of carbs.
This vegan salad can be prepared ahead of time so it’s ready to go when you are. It’s made from fresh kale, avocado, salt, lemon juice, apples, and toasted walnuts. For easy portability, pack the salad in a mason jar, and don’t forget a fork! Each serving has 7 grams of carbs.
A great guacamole recipe should be in every cook’s recipe box. This low-carb version won’t disappoint. Avocados are the star ingredient. Pico de gallo, garlic, sea salt, and fresh lime juice complete the ensemble.
Avocados provide healthy monounsaturated fats which may help reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Each ¼ cup serving of guacamole has just 1.5 grams of carbs.
Don’t wait until you carve your Halloween pumpkin to roast pumpkin seeds. They’re a great year-round snack. Pumpkin seeds are a good source of protein, magnesium, and potassium. Roasting the seeds brings out their nutty taste. This recipe calls for tossing the seeds in olive oil and spices before roasting. A ¼ cup serving has 6 grams of carbs.
