You may have seen your favorite influencer talking about the “keto diet,” but what does it actually mean?
A ketogenic diet (more commonly referred to as “keto”) has grown a strong presence in the dieting community over the last few years, but why is it so popular? One simple answer is: a keto diet allows those following the diet to indulge in delicious fats (like bacon, avocado, and cheese) while still maintaining a calorie deficit due to strictly restricting other food groups such as carbohydrates.
If you are new to the keto diet or want to learn more about it, you’ve come to the right place! Cleveland Kitchen offers many foods and recipes for those that follow a keto meal plan.
Keto Diet For Beginners
What Is A Keto Diet?
A ketogenic diet is an eating plan with a low carb intake and high fat intake. In other words, your carbohydrate consumption is significantly reduced and you eat more healthy fats and an adequate amount of proteins.
There are various types of keto diets, but some noteworthy ones include:
- Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD): This variation of the keto diet involves very low carbohydrates, moderate proteins, and high fats. More specifically, you’ll be eating 70-75% fats, 20% proteins, and 5-10% carbs.
- Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD): With CKD, you have higher-carb refeeds. For example, you can have five days, where you stick to your ketogenic plan. Then, you can eat foods with carbohydrates for the next two days.
- Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD): This diet allows you to eat carbs before or after workouts.
- High Protein Ketogenic Diet: The High Protein Ketogenic Diet is similar to the SKD. The main difference is the High Protein Ketogenic Diet lets you eat more proteins, but your fat intake is slightly lowered. Therefore, you will be consuming 60% fats, 35% proteins, and 5% carbs.
Ketosis
Another element of the keto diet is ketosis. After significantly lowering your carbohydrate intake, your body’s supply of glucose is lowered. Glucose is one of the main sources of energy for your body.
Due to the lack of carbs in you, your body enters a metabolic state called ketosis. During ketosis, your body uses fats as a source of energy –– instead of carbohydrates. Some studies suggest that this state allows you to burn stored fat and also feel less hungry after meals.
The Do’s And Don’ts Of Keto Dieting
To properly follow a keto diet, you will have to limit some of your food options. This meaning you should skip or significantly restrict:
- Sugar
- Grains and starches
- Beans and legumes
- Alcohol
Luckily, the keto diet gives you a wide range of other delicious, natural, and easy-to-make foods to try. Some of our favorite keto options you can indulge include:
- Unprocessed and uncured meat and poultry
- Fish
- Eggs
- Cheese
Another keto-friendly pick is sauerkraut. By fermenting cut cabbage in its own juices with added spices or other vegetables, sauerkraut is infused with delicious flavors, beneficial nutrients, essential vitamins, and gut-boosting bacteria.
Sauerkraut is a definite way to enhance the flavors of your next keto dish. When you are ready to take your meals to the next level, go to our shop to see the latest sauerkrauts that we have.
Also, if you want to learn more about sauerkraut and how it works with your keto diet, read Cleveland Kitchen’s article that answers the question, Is Sauerkraut Keto-Friendly?
Keto Diet Recipes
At Cleveland Kitchen, we offer multiple keto diet meals that can be served during any time of day. So, if you’re looking for a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner recipe, look no further! Here are a few recipes, which taste great and will work with your keto plan.
Spicy Umami Fish Tacos
Our Spicy Umami Fish Tacos bring a plethora of flavors to your taste buds. To make things better, the recipe calls for chili powder, paprika, and chipotle smoked red jalapeño. With these three seasonings, the tacos will have a distinct spiciness that your mouth will never forget.
Instead of using a regular tortilla shell, use a low-carb one or cheese shells. Now you can enjoy your tacos and not worry about the state of your diet.
In order to make the perfect tacos, try adding some of our Miso Jalapeño dressing to the mix. Miso Jalapeño is a bold and flavorful dressing that packs tremendous health benefits in addition to natural probiotics, thanks to a base of fermented veggies. By combining jalapeño, miso, smoked paprika, and our blend of fermented veggies, we have created a super condiment with a satisfying acidity and heat.
Ingredients For Tacos
- 4 small round tortillas (corn for GF, low-carb for Keto)
- ½ lb. cod or any white fish
- 2 bell peppers thinly sliced
- ½ yellow onion thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp. Miso Jalapeño dressing
- ¼ avocado sliced
- 2 Tbsp. cilantro
- 2 Tbsp. canola oil
Ingredients For Seasonings
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp chipotle smoked red jalapeño
How To
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Place fish, thinly sliced peppers, and onions on a baking sheet. Brush oil over fish and peppers. Then, sprinkle all with the seasoning spices.
- Bake both veggies and fish for 30 minutes.
- Stuff low-carb tortillas with fish, bell peppers, onion, Miso Jalapeño, and avocado.
Keto California Sushi Bowls
Do you have plans to spend time with a family member or friend? Consider making Keto California Sushi Bowls to share with them. This keto-friendly dish mixes various salad greens, cauliflower rice, and avocado with other tasty ingredients.
We recommend adding our Gnar Gnar Kraut and Miso Jalapeño Dressing. These ingredients are guaranteed to make a meal that you and your loved one will never forget.
The spicy Gnar Gnar adds a bold and delicious kick to the Keto California Sushi Bowls. Meanwhile, the Miso Jalapeño is an easy way to get delicious and healthy fermented vegetables into your meal. This dressing and marinade pack a mouthwatering punch with fermented cabbage, green peppers, jalapeño, and miso.
Ingredients
- 2 c. cauliflower rice
- 1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- 12 oz. crab meat, real or imitation
- 2 mini cucumbers
- 1/2 c. mixed salad greens
- 2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds, black and white
- 1 sheet nori (seaweed)
- 2 green scallions (optional)
- 1/2 c. Gnar Gnar
- 4 tbsp. Miso Jalapeño Dressing
How To
- Steam cauliflower rice until tender. While still hot, drizzle with rice vinegar and mix.
- Add 1 cup of cauliflower rice and 1/4 cup of mixed greens to each bowl.
- Split the crab meat, cucumbers, avocado, and Gnar Gnar evenly between the bowls.
- Garnish with sesame seeds, scallions, and Miso Jalapeño. Add nori right before serving.
Try Delicious Keto Foods!
Though a keto diet requires you to abstain from certain foods, it has plenty of other delicious meals in store for you.
If you are thinking about trying a keto diet, then it’s time to stock up on condiments that will add flavor to your meals without sacrificing health. At Cleveland Kitchen, our shop has many sauerkrauts, dressings, and other keto-friendly ingredients. Plus, we have several keto-friendly recipes available for you to try with your new diet.