Keto Zucchini Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How much zucchini can you eat on keto? ›

Zucchini is a low-carb vegetable that will easily fit into your daily carb allotment. For one cup of sliced zucchini, there are approximately 2.4g net carbs. In fact, if you really love the veggie, you could eat an entire medium zucchini with about 4g net carbs.

Our true winner is the famously low-carb spaghetti squash, with has just under 8 net carbohydrates per cup. In summary, you shouldn't make any winter squash a regular occurance on your keto-menu, but every so often it's an ingredient you can enjoy while still staying on track.

Cucumber is another popular salad vegetable. It contains many essential nutrients, including vitamin K. Cucumber is also suitable for the keto diet, as its carb content is just 3.63 g per 100 g. To make the carb content lower, a person can peel the cucumber before eating it.

Vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes can be great for the keto diet since they have few carbs. In contrast, carrots, corn, green peas, and white potatoes are not keto-friendly since they contain a lot of starch, a type of carb.

Vegetables with less than 5 grams of net carbs may be eaten relatively freely. It's hard to overeat spinach, zucchini, lettuce, cucumbers, cabbage, asparagus and kale on a keto diet. These are considered keto vegetables.

For each cup of chopped zucchini with skin, you will get 3.9 g total carbs, 2.7 g net carbs, 0.4 g fat, and 1.5 g protein, per the USDA. Plus, that same portion size offers an excellent source of vitamin C, with 22 milligrams (mg) per serving.

Cabbage is a low-carb, vitamin C–rich vegetable that fits well into a keto diet. Enjoy it raw in salads, cooked in main dishes, or fermented to add a pleasant funkiness to meals.

Pumpkin. That's right, this orange-hued vegetable is allowed on ketosis in moderate amounts. “Don't put pumpkin in a fall-only category! Pumpkin puree is low in carbs and a good source of fiber,” says Maggie Michalczyk, MS, RD.

If you're overcome with carb cravings, here's a bit of unfortunate news: pasta is completely off-limits on the keto diet. Even though conventional nutrition tells you complex carbohydrates like whole wheat and whole-grain breads and pasta are “healthy” alternatives, the carbs in pasta are simply too high.

Peanut butter can definitely be part of a keto diet, but it's best to stick to plain options that are free of extra flavors and sweeteners. Almond butter is a good choice, too, and it's slightly lower in carbs. Additionally, you should be mindful of your portion size if you're trying to lose weight.

Can I eat watermelon on keto? ›

Watermelon is also a keto-friendly fruit. Watermelon is full of water and low in carbohydrates compared to many other popular fruits. One cup of diced watermelon contains 11.5 grams of net carbs (the total carbs minus grams of fiber). 4 Fiber per serving is 0.6 grams.

"Tomatoes are keto," says Abby Langer, R.D., author of Good Food, Bad Diet. "They're low in carbs, so they fit perfectly into keto." One whole medium tomato contains roughly 5 grams of carbohydrates, of which 1.5 grams are fiber and 3 grams are sugar.

Yes, it is generally safe to eat two zucchinis a day. Zucchini is a nutritious vegetable that is low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It can aid digestion, stabilize blood sugars, decrease the risk for heart disease, aid weight loss efforts, and help fight infection.

“Even though all vegetables have health value, eating too much of some will likely push you over your carb limit.” Worried about their carb counts, some people avoid veggies altogether when they go keto.

Raw zucchini can also cause gas and bloating, especially if you overdo it. Zucchini is rich in fiber that your gut doesn't digest. When your body doesn't fully break the fiber down, gas can build up and cause bloating and make you pass wind. Eating raw vegetables can cause gas if you have irritable bowel syndrome.

According to the USDA, a 1-cup (cooked) serving of zucchini contains: Calories: 27. Protein: 2 g. Fat: 0 g.