These are the best keto holiday recipes to enjoy your keto Thanksgiving or keto Christmas at home.
Download your FREE holiday meal plan with a full keto Thanksgiving menu and a full keto Christmas menu.
Fill your dinner table with delicious keto comfort food, super easy side dishes, sweet keto desserts, sugar-free sauces, and every low-carb alternative you can think of.
When it’s the holiday season you’ll want to enjoy a tasty keto-friendly meal that the whole family will love.
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These keto holiday recipes are absolutely delicious and exactly what you need to keep you on track.
📒 Free keto holiday meal plan
Download your free meal plan with keto Thanksgiving recipes and keto Christmas recipes your whole family will love.
This holiday menu includes:
- Keto Thanksgiving menu
- Keto Christmas menu
- Keto vegetarian Thanksgiving and Christmas menu
How do you stay keto on Christmas?
The holiday season is based on eating comfort food. It can derail your low-carb diet or keto diet.
All the carbs come out at this time of year. Mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread, pumpkin pie, and of course, all those Christmas cookies.
5 top tips to stay keto during the holiday season
It’s super easy to stay on track with your ketogenic diet over the holidays if you follow these 5 simple rules.
- Avoid the high-carb side dishes – make a family favorite low-carb side dish and favorite veggies instead.
- Don’t drink your carbs – don’t drink any drinks with added sugar such as juice, pumpkin pie lattes, sugary soda drinks, flavored milk, or energy drinks.
- Avoid snacking – stand at the other end of the room from the holiday table, or only allow yourself one small snack per hour.
- Always offer to bring keto desserts – by bringing your own keto dessert allows you to enjoy the special occasion (without the sugar).
- If you can’t STOP the splurge, LIMIT the splurge – sometimes you may not have any control over what is served, but you can limit how much you eat and never go back for seconds.
Whether you’re planning a keto Thanksgiving party or a low-carb Christmas day, with these incredibly delicious recipes, you can create your very own low-carb holiday meal plan.
🍾 Keto-friendly drinks
Let’s start off with a few keto recipes for low-carb beverages because that’s often the first thing served during the festivities.
TOP TIP: Avoid sweet cocktails and high-sugar wines. See the carbs in alcohol charts so you can choose alcohol that is low-carb friendly.
A rich and delicious sweet creamy keto hot chocolate recipe served with soft sugar-free marshmallows.
You only need 5 simple ingredients and 5 minutes to make the best sugar-free hot chocolate drink. You can even make it dairy free too.
This sugar-free low-carb eggnog is quick and simple. It’s so deliciously creamy and you can enjoy it with or without brandy. It’s always a crowd-pleaser.
Traditional keto pumpkin pie spice latte is a quick and easy simple recipe. This Starbucks copycat PSL has only 2G net carbs and only costs $1 to make.
Slow cooker low-carb mulled wine – the secret is the slow cooker keeps infusing flavor throughout the festivities! Your friends are sure to come back for seconds.
The BEST sugar-free flavored water recipes. Serve a big pitcher at your keto Christmas party, especially for designated drivers.
You can make your own copycat Starbucks pumpkin spice latte at home PLUS, did you know there are more than 23 keto-friendly drinks at Starbucks with a secret keto Starbucks menu?
🥣 Keto appetizers and starters
For the perfect appetizer, most of these keto recipes can be made ahead for easy meal prep.
This keto vegan pumpkin soup with coconut milk can be made ahead of time and then kept in the refrigerator. Reheat on LOW when your guests arrive and serve them a bowl of warm comfort food on chilly days.
Low-carb prosciutto-wrapped asparagus gives the table such an elegant touch. This simple tasty appetizer is perfect for any low-carb party platter.
Place bacon-wrapped chicken bites on a serving dish with toothpicks and a creamy mustard sauce for a quick and easy snack that adults and children will both love.
Paleo prawn cocktails only need a few simple ingredients, but they look so refreshing and add a nice touch to any holiday table.
Try this super easy keto liver pate. With only 5 ingredients and plenty of flavors, you can serve it with cheese, sliced vegetables, or low-carb crackers.
These are the best crunchy keto cheese crackers made with mozzarella dough. They’re gluten-free and can be made the night before.
Roasted mushrooms stuffed with ground lamb and cheese are the perfect low-carb starter. There’s so much flavor in every bite!
You can cook these salmon mini quiches in your oven or your air fryer. They can be frozen for east Thanksgiving meal prep.
Serve these cream cheese stuffed meatballs with some keto BBQ sauce, and your guests will be coming back for second helpings.
🥖 Easy keto garlic bread recipes
One of the most popular keto holiday recipes is garlic bread. Now you can enjoy delicious homemade warm keto garlic bread or keto dinner rolls without all the carbs.
Every recipe is absolutely delicious and fits into your keto diet.
Dinner during the holidays always tastes nicer with some warm cheese loaf on the side.
You can cook these gluten-free dinner rolls in your oven or air fryer. Keto rolls are handy to serve Thanksgiving leftovers.
Add some leftover keto sausage stuffing and leftover turkey inside with some sugar-free barbecue sauce.
One of the keto holiday recipes you have to make is keto cornbread. It tastes just like the real thing (but without the carbs).
🥗 Low-carb and keto side dishes
Side dishes can make or break a meal. These side dishes are all low-carb or keto, and the perfect tasty addition to the main meal. Green beans might be too high-carb if you are on a keto diet, but you may be able to work them into a lower-carb diet.
Swap your traditional mashed potatoes with this easy mashed cauliflower recipe. Add your own touch of flavor with garlic butter, sour cream, or bacon bits.
Brussels sprouts are a classic holiday side dish. You can enjoy them creamed with garlic or buttery bacon.
A large side dish of baked Brussels sprouts with garlic butter and chopped cooked bacon is delicious any time of year when it’s cold outside.
You can serve your keto turkey with pork keto sausage stuffing or keto cornbread stuffing. Each low-carb recipe is delicious to serve in your holiday feast.
Crunchy keto cornbread filled with fresh herbs is a classic keto side dish.
Creamed spinach is one of those keto holiday recipes that can be served in so many ways. As a dip, as the perfect side dish, as a soup, or even baked with a cheesy crust.
Swap your regular green bean casserole for cheesy baked asparagus instead.
Instead of regular mashed potatoes, serve mashed cauliflower with plenty of flavor using these 4 different ways. Garlic, cheese, mustard, or butter.
Whole roast cauliflower tastes delicious when cooked with butter and your favorite herb flavors.
The easiest way to serve spaghetti squash is to drizzle it with olive oil or butter then season it with salt, cracked pepper, and nutmeg.
Leeks cooked with crushed garlic and cream cheese, can be served as a side dish or pureed with chicken stock into a creamed leek soup.
🍽 Keto holiday mains
The traditional roasted turkey is probably the most popular of all the keto holiday recipes. If you want to learn how to cook a turkey, watch the video and print the convenient cooking schedule!
Crispy cornish hens with delicious low-carb roasted vegetables are the perfect healthy one-pan meal if a whole turkey is too expensive this year
A slow-cooked whole chicken is easy to make for those who do not like the taste of turkey or find turkey meat too dry. Or cook a whole roast chicken and turn the carcass into free chicken bone broth!
Prefer lamb during the holidays? Our roast lamb with sugar-free mint sauce may be the perfect fit.
Turkey can be dry, but pork chops cooked in a creamy garlic butter sauce is moist, tender, and delicious.
🍽 Keto vegetarian mains
The main dish of baked eggplant filled with cauliflower couscous and sour cream is the perfect vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner.
To cater to pescatarians (vegetarians who eat fish), salmon is the perfect dinner choice. The garlic sauce with heavy cream is amazing.
If you have non-meat eater friends coming to your party, salmon quiche or salmon roulade are easy low-carb recipes that you can make ahead for holiday dinners.
While an avocado boat is not one of your usual classic holiday recipes, you can create your own filling that suits the dietary restrictions of your vegetarian guests.
🥫 Keto sauces
The main dishes come to life with the right sauce. The simplest of keto-friendly sauces has to be sour cream, herb butter, or garlic butter. But you might want mint sauce for roast lamb, or a tasty creamy bacon keto mushroom sauce.
The easiest keto recipe has to be herbed butter. You can serve it with low-carb bread, crackers, cauliflower mash, and even on savory mashed pumpkin.
Sweet keto BBQ sauce made with apple cider vinegar (or sugar-free balsamic vinegar), can be served with almost everything during the holiday season.
🎂 Low-carb keto desserts
Now it’s time for the best part of the meal … delicious desserts and sugar-free sweet treats. Always offer to bring a sugar-free dessert to a party. That way, you know there will be a low-carb keto option.
Low-carb chocolate pumpkin pie has the best flavors of chocolate and pumpkin. This keto-friendly dessert has no sugar and is naturally gluten-free. It’s an absolutely delicious recipe to celebrate the holidays.
Good news … you don’t have to stop eating cheesecake on your keto diet, this keto version is made with cream cheese, vanilla extract, and fresh berries. Can be made 1 or 2 days ahead of time.
Keto cinnamon rolls are soft and sweet covered with a cream cheese frosting.
A sugar-free pavlova is a healthy high-protein delicious dessert you can enjoy on your keto lifestyle without any guilt.
Layers of sugar-free chocolate custard and whipped cream with vanilla extract are filling and will stop any sugar cravings.
Discover how easy it is to cook a keto cheesecake in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker).
Low-carb raspberry swirl cake is delicious and easy to make. But, the real win is that it’s only 5g net carbs per serving!
Mini keto lemon cupcakes give you instant portion control for a single serving so you don’t overeat dessert these holidays. You’ll love easy recipes like this that are all made in the blender.
Baked keto New York cheesecake with a sugar-free chocolate ganache is a healthy dessert the whole family will love.
Your holiday menu has to include a sugar-free lemon meringue pie. Make it the night before and serve it hot or cold with whipped cream and slices of lemon.
🎄Keto Christmas recipes
At Christmas, you’ll want to serve something special on your holiday menu. Christmas is that special time of year when being in the kitchen baking with family, creates memories for years to come.
Pretty up the dessert table with low-carb mince pies. These can be served as either small individual tarts or whole pies. Either way, they’re still delicious.
Discover how to make a keto fruit cake without any brown sugar. There are 6 variations to try.
Sweet sugar-free marzipan can be served as individual Christmas puddings, or to decorate your Christmas cake.
🍪 Keto Christmas cookies
The holidays wouldn’t be the same without gingerbread cookies, made with almond flour. They are sugar-free and gluten-free and a healthy recipe for children to enjoy.
A quick and easy keto Christmas recipe for sugar-free shortbread cookies that are buttery and flakey.
Keto holiday FAQ
You can eat protein such as turkey, bacon, and sausage with plenty of low-carb (nonstarchy) vegetables. Just avoid the high-carb side dishes and sugary desserts or candy.
There are 3 ways you can stop overeating at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
1: Use a smaller plate – and fill half your plate with protein, and half with non-starchy vegetables. Eat slowly and enjoy every single bite.
2: Never go back for seconds – make a rule and stick to it.
3: Choose your splurge – you might want to enjoy one of your family’s favorite recipes such as garlic bread, bread stuffing, or a special dessert, just don’t eat all of them. Pick one, and one only.
It’s up to you how much you want to suffer the next day or ruin all the progress you have made while on the keto diet. The holiday season doesn’t need to be all or nothing. You can stick to your keto lifestyle during the holidays, but with a few planned extra carbs, then after the holidays, get straight back on track.
According to the calorie control council of America, the average American consumes 4500 calories at their Thanksgiving dinner. This includes 229g of fat and possibly 500g of carbs!
Yes, low-carb beer and wine may often knock you out of ketosis. Your body will always metabolize alcohol before metabolizing body fat. So if you’re not losing weight, try stopping or cutting back on alcohol for a while and monitor your progress.
You can enjoy plenty of roast turkey, bacon, pork sausage, keto garlic bread, mashed cauliflower with garlic butter, and even a keto Christmas dessert.
If you’ve reached your daily carb limit but are still hungry, always prioritize protein. It will help keep you fuller for longer and keep you away from the party junk food.
Look for snacks with a savory flavor such as pork rinds, prosciutto, ham, and smoked salmon.
Always offer to bring some keto recipes you you know there will be some options on the keto menu that you can enjoy.
Bananas are high-carb fruit so generally avoided in high quantities on the keto diet. However, there is no such thing as an official keto food list, it’s whether a food allows you to get into nutritional ketosis that is more important to consider.
It can be difficult to control your blood sugars during the holiday season, with high-carb foods everywhere.
Whether you are diabetic or on the keto diet, stick to these 3 easy rules.
1: Only choose foods that are low-carb – don’t eat sugary desserts, lots of bread, green beans, and mashed potatoes.
2: Portion control – don’t go back for seconds.
3: Fill up on protein such as turkey, bacon, and sausages.
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Hi Libby, Thankyou sooo much for all the advice and recipes you give. Just starting out on KETO . Your advice is invaluable. Joy.
Hey thanks, Joy for the lovely feedback, How wonderful you are enjoying keto and my recipes and articles. I hope you’re in my FREE Support Group, I’ll see you there.