When following a ketogenic eating plan, food selections, including keto side dishes, are determined by making choices to eat items or combinations of items that are low in carbs, moderate in protein, and high in fat.
Protein is pretty straightforward, so the keto-friendly side dishes are where you can be creative!
Many recipes that do not fit that profile can be modified or substitutions made to achieve the desired daily nutritional intake for keto sides or snacks.
In order to stay in a state of ketosis where your body is burning fat for fuel, the carb intake needs to stay low which is why you will often hear keto side dish ideas also referred to as low carb sides.
The key to meal planning is to choose vegetables and keto dinner sides that are not only low in carbs but high in taste so that you fully enjoy the foods you are eating.
In doing so, highly processed foods and sugars are pretty much automatically dropped out, which is indeed a goal in retraining the taste buds to crave and enjoy more whole foods and keto sides for dinner.
Vegetables or salads will reign supreme when it comes to keto steak dinner sides, with them often having butter, olive oil, certain cheeses, or avocado added for a dose of healthy fats.
Choosing low carb side dish ideas will become second nature and adding cabbage or greens to just about every dish will not require any decision making after a bit of time.
Always remember to read the recipe carefully before starting to make sure that a carb-filled ingredient didn’t sneak in.
To aid you in starting out or maybe if you find yourself in a rut of using the same keto side dishes over and over, this list of 30 low carb sides should get that creativity flowing again!
From crisp Keto Onion Rings to Loaded Cauliflower Casserole (tastes so much like potatoes!) and snack-attack Air Fryer Avocado Fries, you’ll find tasty side dishes here!
Broccoli is a staple in keto side dishes and this recipe pairs it with two types of cheeses and some ranch dressing.
The cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing are blended till smooth with steamed broccoli pieces stirred in.
Transfer to a baking dish with more shredded cheddar on top for a bit of baking!
Coleslaw is an excellent choice for keto sides, especially when summertime comes around!
The dressing is made of mayo, vinegar, heavy cream, Swerve sweetener, salt, pepper, and celery seed.
Fully coat the coleslaw mix and refrigerate for an hour.
Sweet and tangy!
A mini muffin pan helps make some keto-friendly side dishes like these zucchini tots.
They are made of shredded zucchini, salted, moisture squeezed out, and coated with coconut flour.
Then they are mixed into an egg mixture of sharp cheese, onion, and paprika.
Last, spoon into a mini muffin tin and bake.
Perfectly bite size!
Layers and textures come in big for the win with low-carb sides.
This one includes lettuce, red onion, snap peas, hard-boiled eggs, grated cheese, crumbled bacon, and a dressing made of mayo, sour cream, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Other options could be tomatoes or cucumbers.
Low carb side dish ideas do not need to be boring.
This Spanish cauliflower rice side is made with cauliflower rice being added to sauteed onions, a can of tomatoes and/or green chilis, garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder.
Superb!
These mushrooms as keto side dish ideas are velvety rich and utterly delicious!
Sauteed with butter, garlic, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, chicken broth, and heavy cream which makes a lovely sauce.
Stir in bacon at the end, just before serving.
Eggs may be the main course for breakfast but they also make great keto dinner sides!
Boil, shell, cut in half removing yolks.
Then mix the yolks with bacon, mayo, red onions, mustard, chives, salt, pepper, and paprika.
Refrigerate until serving.
Fresh green beans make good keto sides for dinner.
Saute garlic, red pepper flakes, and ginger before adding the green beans for five minutes.
Then add in tamari, rice wine vinegar, and erythritol stirring until sauce thickens and beans are tender.
Stunning.
This salad is a perfect compliment to keto steak dinner sides.
White onion is diced and soaked in vinegar for five minutes before draining.
In a bowl, add diced cucumber, tomatoes, mint, and parsley to the onions.
The whisked lemon juice, salt, and pepper are poured over the veggies.
Chill and let the marinade work its magic.
Believe it or not, bread is a category of keto side dishes.
This cornbread is low carb and so quick to pull together, that you might not believe it!
Combine almond flour, Swerve, baking powder, diced green chilis, shredded cheddar cheese, eggs, salt, and butter.
Pour into an oven-safe dish and bake!
Similar to the zucchini tots, these broccoli fritters are excellent keto sides!
Mix together riced broccoli, sharp cheddar cheese, almond flour, garlic salt, parmesan, and an egg.
Using a cookie scoop, put them on a baking sheet and gently press them to a uniform thickness.
Bake, flipping halfway through.
Bacon-wrapped anything is going to make delicious keto-friendly side dishes!
Here we have bacon-wrapped cabbage.
Simply slice the cabbage head into wedges or chunks.
Wrap each one with bacon, securing it with a toothpick.
Bake in the oven, flipping halfway through.
Gorgeous and tasty!
These zucchini slices are baked with cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan, making them irresistible low-carb sides!
Slice the zucchini, dry with salt, arrange in a dish, cover with a cheese sauce made of cream cheese, butter, garlic, whipping cream, Parmesan, cheddar cheese, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
Sprinkle mozzarella on top of it all before baking!
Luscious!
Here we get two low-carb side dish ideas!
First shaved Brussels sprouts with bacon also include garlic, a shallot, salt, and pepper.
It is sauteed and stirred until Brussels sprouts are tender.
Additional butter can be added.
The broccoli with mushrooms starts with steaming of the broccoli, then garlic, shallot, mushrooms, and butter are added and sauteed together for a bit.
Serve with lemon juice squeezed on top!
Both are excellent low-carb choices.
This is perhaps the most often used among keto side dish ideas since it takes the place of loaded baked potatoes but instead is loaded riced cauliflower.
Just look at these luscious ingredients of cauliflower, cheddar cheese, sour cream, ranch seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, bacon bits, and whipping cream.
Definitely satisfies that potato craving!
Stuffed mushrooms make delicious keto dinner sides.
This recipe fills medium-sized portobello mushroom caps with cooked and dried spinach, artichoke, cream cheese, sour cream, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Before baking, sprinkle them with mozzarella cheese.
Fresh tomatoes and cucumbers are excellent choices for keto sides for dinner.
Dice them up and toss them in a homemade dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Give 20 minutes for flavors to be fully incorporated into each bite.
Light, bright and crave-able!
Beautifully grilled asparagus makes excellent keto steak dinner sides!
Three different methods are explained: on the grill, on skewers, or in an aluminum foil packet.
No matter the method selected, the asparagus is coated in olive oil and topped with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Serve with a squeeze of lemon!
When the meal calls for stuffing, keto side dishes do not disappoint.
Here we have sausage stuffing balls made of ground sausage, almond flour, shredded cheddar, eggs, baking powder, oat fiber, dried onion, oregano, celery salt, and parsley, sage, and garlic powder.
Mix together, form into golf-ball-size balls, bake and serve!
These garlic dinner rolls are fluffy and a coveted recipe for those wanting bread for keto sides.
The surprising part is there are only four main ingredients: mozzarella cheese, eggs, almond flour, and cream cheese which is commonly referred to as “fathead dough” in the keto community.
There are spices too and light garlic butter topping to create a heavenly smell as they come out of the oven!
When you are enjoying a finger-friendly meal, keto-friendly side dishes that also are finger friendly are the best!
How about slices of avocado dipped in a low-carb breading and air-fired?
Sounds glorious, right?
Dust slices with almond flour and seasonings, dip into egg, and dredge through pork rind mixture with garlic powder and cayenne pepper, and air fry.
Lots of flexibility to use your own favorite seasonings!
This hearty salad serves as low-carb sides for just about anything!
Baby spinach, thinly sliced mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, red onion slices, and bacon!
The homemade dressing is bacon grease rendering, red wine vinegar, and dijon mustard made immediately after cooking the bacon.
Oven-fried okra makes for easy low-carb side dish ideas!
Wash and chop okra, toss with salt, and coat with a flour mixture of almond flour, parmesan cheese, pepper, and salt.
Place in a single layer on a dish or pan for baking until crispy, stirring several times.
24. Keto Onion Rings
Similar to the avocado fries listed above, onion rings can be keto side dish ideas, if low carb substitutions are made.
These rings are carefully dipped into the egg wash and coconut flour twice, then egg wash again, and lastly into the pork rind mixture with parmesan cheese.
Baking will result in crispy onion rings, just watch the portions because just like their counterparts, they can be addicting!
Cauliflower can be prepared in so many different ways as keto sides for dinner!
The most popular preparation by far is possibly mashed!
This post gives a detailed explanation of how to make it from fresh cauliflower.
The secret might be in using an immersion blender for the desired consistency!
Butter and salt are the only additional ingredients.
It is nice when keto side dishes are from recipes that were originally low carb like an antipasto salad.
The ingredients are salami, pepperoni, provolone, mozzarella, tomatoes, pepperoncini, olives, bell pepper, and red onion.
The homemade dressing is olive oil, red wine vinegar, Swerve, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.
Dice, combine, chill, serve!
Before you freak out, potatoes are not keto-friendly, but these keto steak dinner sides made of radishes ARE!
Cut the radishes in half, coat in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and rosemary.
Bake, flip, bake some more.
Gorgeous and delicious!
When fall and winter arrive, more diverse keto side dishes come to mind!
Here we have acorn squash baked up with sweet and spicy flavors!
These slices are basted with a mixture of sugar-free maple syrup, turmeric, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
The dusting with cinnamon or nutmeg is genius!
Now, this risotto does take some time, but keto sides are always worth the effort!
Riced cauliflower takes the stage seasoned with butter, sage, rosemary, garlic, mashed butternut squash, salt, and pepper.
It also includes sherry, parmesan, Mascarpone, and nutmeg.
Lots of stirring for a luscious side dish to be proud of!
To round out my list of keto-friendly side dishes, I absolutely had to include this recipe for faux mac and cheese!
Cauliflower, here again, this time cut into bite size pieces, baked, then stirred into a rich mix of heavy cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, gruyere cheese, and Monterey Jack cheese.
Serve immediately with paprika on top to rave reviews!
The bottom line
As is seen by this list of keto side dishes, vegetables rule, whether diced or baked, or blended!
Carefully thought-out seasonings make keto sides all the more enjoyable!
30 BEST Keto Side Dishes 🥘
When going low-carb, you still want good food. Check out these keto-friendly side dishes to add to your entrees!
Ingredients
- Keto Broccoli And Cheese Casserole
- Keto Coleslaw
- Keto Zucchini Tots
- 7 Layer Salad-Ketofied!
- Spanish Cauliflower Rice
- Creamy Garlic Mushrooms With Bacon
- Keto Deviled Egg Salad
- Keto Asian Green Beans
- Mediterranean Cucumber Salad
- Keto Green Chili Cornbread
- Low Carb Broccoli Fritters
- Bacon-Wrapped Cabbage
- Zucchini Au Gratin
- Brussels Sprouts And Broccoli
- Loaded Cauliflower Casserole
- Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Spinach & Artichoke
- Cucumber And Tomato Salad
- Grilled Asparagus
- Keto Sausage Stuffing Balls
- Keto Garlic Dinner Rolls
- Keto Air Fryer Avocado Fries
- Keto Spinach Salad With Hot Bacon Dressing
- Oven-Fried Low Carb Okra
- Keto Onion Rings
- Mashed Cauliflower
- Keto Antipasto Salad
- Baked Keto Potatoes
- Low Carb Maple Spice Roasted Acorn Squash
- Keto Butternut Squash Risotto
- Cauliflower "Mac" And Cheese
Instructions
- Have a look at our list of Keto Side Dishes.
- Choose the dish you want to recreate.
- Start cooking your newly found recipe!
- Share your insights on our Facebook page!