What is the Keto Diet?
Before we discuss if you can eat burgers on the Keto diet, let’s talk about what the diet is. The keto or ketogenic, diet consists of eating low-carbohydrate foods and foods that are rich in good high-fats. This diet is believed to have many health benefits due to its idea of eating low-carbs and more fat thereby changing the metabolic state of your body.
In other words, it is designed to reduce blood sugar and by eating more fat it puts your body into a ketosis state according to healthline.com.
The state of ketosis uses the fat in your body for energy instead of carbohydrates. Eating fewer carbs and more protein and fats (the good ones) will actually make you more full thereby eating fewer calories. This aids in weight loss due to the reduced appetite.
Types of food that are part of the keto diet are protein meats such as beef, poultry, and seafood. Seafood on the diet includes salmon and whitefish as they are known as fatty fish. Beware of some shellfish as they contain carbs that you may not be aware of.
Eat your veggies! However, you want to stay away from the starches such as potatoes, yams, and beans. Substitute mashed cauliflower for potatoes and use spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta. Avocados are a wonderful, creamy fruit and if you don’t like to eat them alone, I haven’t found anything that they don’t taste good on!
Of course, meat and poultry are the main staple in the keto diet, which we will get to soon.
There are various types of keto diets, and as with any diet, always consult your doctor prior to going on a particular eating regimen.
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Are Burgers on the Keto Diet?
Absolutely, burgers are good on the keto diet as they are high in protein and fats, but you need to know how to eat them. Yes, there is a way according to how the diet works.
As we mentioned, meat is the main staple on the diet due to the protein content of meat. Beware that due to the reasoning of eating very little carbs to keep your blood sugar lower, using buns and particular toppings on your burgers won’t work with the diet.
While making your burgers at home you can control what you put into it and on it. You can stuff your burgers with cheese for that creamy texture and use low-carb toppings and condiments. We will talk about that coming up.
Since the point of the keto diet is to have a higher fat intake making your body use the fat you eat along with the fat in your body as energy, you want to choose ground beef with higher fat content. We normally recommend the 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio, which is just fine. You may also want to opt for a lower ratio such as 70/30 or 75/25. Another option is to create your own mix by using different cuts of meat and grinding them yourselves. You can check out how to do that here.
If using chicken or turkey, they are leaner than ground beef. However, the dark meat of both does have a higher fat content so if you prefer the white meat, you can add some of the dark to give it a higher fat ratio when grinding your own.
Also, check the labels on the chicken or turkey burgers you buy at the store. See what the contents of the burgers are, which you should do anyway, to see what they contain. You can also have your butcher grind the burgers for you with the meat you choose to use.
Types of Toppings and Condiments for the Keto Diet
We all like toppings on our burgers! They are what adds to the yummy goodness of the burger. But there are toppings that are higher in carbs that you would want to avoid when following the keto diet.
Here are some suggestions for your toppings:
- Cheese: thank goodness! Yes, cheese is acceptable on the keto diet, but you do still need to be careful about what you choose. You want to use cheeses that are lower in carbs such as yellow cheddar, blue cheese, and goat cheese. I know many of you love the American cheese slices. This wonderful cheese does have a higher carb content, so you want to use it less often than another choice.
- Avocados: these add a great, creamy texture to your burger. Avocados are high on the list of the keto diet as they can improve cholesterol levels, and they contain many vitamins and minerals. While they contain a high level of carbs, which aren’t part of this diet, the majority of the carbs are from fiber, which means the net carbs is much lower.
- Eggs: eggs are big time on the keto diet as they are high in protein and very low in carbs. And putting an over-medium egg on top of a burger is amazing. If you haven’t tried that yet, you really have to do it very soon! You won’t be disappointed when you see that yoke run down the side of the burger. It is a little messy but well worth it. And be sure to add the slice of cheese between the burger and egg.
- Bacon: absolutely! Bacon makes everything better, right? Make your favorite bacon burger, add the egg and cheese, and you have a burger you will love! Do be aware that sugar is also in bacon. So check the label to see how much is actually in what you are buying or opt for a sugar-free brand.
- Traditional Toppings: many of your favorite burger toppings are definitely acceptable. Any type of lettuce, tomatoes, onions that can be eaten raw or sautéed in olive oil, and mushrooms just to name a few.
- Condiments: the traditional condiments such as ketchup and barbeque sauce are high in sugar content. If you want to keep these in your diet, be sure to use those that are low carb, unsweetened. Condiments that are recommended are mayonnaise, mustard, and using salad dressings on your burgers can give them a great new taste.
- Seasonings: we wanted to be sure to mention seasoning your burgers. The go-to salt and pepper always work, but if you opt for adding other seasonings be sure to use those that don’t have sugar added. Believe it or not many season mixes or rubs that you buy at the store do contain added sugar, so be sure to check the label before deciding.
What About the Bun?
You can eat your burgers without buns, but really what is the fun in that?! There are many recipes for keto-friendly buns that will make your burger great. You can check out some recipes we have on our Pinterest site here under the Best Buns for Burgers. You can also buy ready-made buns from many stores and check out some from Amazon shown below.
Some of you may believe that gluten-free buns are good on keto, but actually they are not. Gluten-free bread and buns still contain higher amounts of carbs than you want to eat on the keto diet. There are, however, alternatives such as bulletproof bread or fathead dough that are being used on both diets.
Types of bread, according to Medical News Today, that can be used are wheat-type bread, cloud bread, and eggplant disks.
Other options for your burger bun that you can use are mushroom caps and lettuce as a wrap to your burger if you want to use something other than a traditional keto bun.
If you have ever tried a cauliflower pizza crust, give that a try for your burger bun. You can also use pancakes, yes pancakes, made from almond flour can be a great alternative to bread for your burger.
You don’t have to go without a bun for your burger while on the keto diet. Give some of these alternatives a try.
Conclusion
As you know, the keto diet is made up of high proteins and fats and the question was can you eat burgers on the keto diet? Eating the burgers you love is absolutely approved on the diet. You want to be careful about the bun you choose and the toppings you add.
Your objective on this diet is to eat as low carb as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor to have a great burger. As you can see, there are some great, tasty choices you can add to your burger. And we have just touched on part of them!
Check out the different types of keto buns available and maybe even make your own. There are many choices of easy recipes to try and veggie alternatives such as mushroom caps or even making a lettuce wrap.
Choices available for toppings and condiments are many of the same ones you already use. You just have to use different versions of some of them in order to follow the guidelines of the diet.
Let us know what you do for your burgers on your keto plan. We love to hear your ideas!
Keep lovin’ those burgers!
Below is a Pinterest-friendly photo . . . so you can pin it to your Burger Board!
