What foods can you eat on keto?

Eat eggs, meat, fatty fish, healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, butter), low-carb vegetables (spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini), hard cheeses, and nuts and seeds. Berries fit in moderation.

What foods should you avoid on keto?

Avoid bread, pasta, rice, grains, sugar, soda, juice, potatoes and starchy vegetables, and most fruit. Skip 'low-fat' packaged foods, which usually add sugar.

Can you eat fruit on keto?

Most fruit is too high in sugar for keto, but berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries) are lower-carb and fit in small portions.

How many carbs are allowed on keto?

Most ketogenic diets keep net carbs under 20–50g per day. Building meals from the 'eat freely' list naturally keeps you near that target.

Keto Food List: What to Eat and Avoid (2026)

A complete keto food list — the proteins, fats, vegetables, and snacks that fit a ketogenic diet, plus the high-carb foods to avoid, in a simple table.

On keto you eat protein, healthy fats, and low-carb vegetables, and avoid grains, sugar, starchy vegetables, and most fruit. The ketogenic diet keeps net carbs very low (usually under 20–50g per day), protein moderate, and fat high enough to keep you satisfied. Here's a working list you can shop from.

Keto foods to eat freely

Category	Examples
Proteins	Eggs, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, salmon, sardines, mackerel
Healthy fats	Olive oil, avocado oil, butter, ghee, avocados
Low-carb vegetables	Spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, asparagus, peppers
Dairy	Hard cheeses, full-fat Greek yogurt (moderate), heavy cream
Nuts & seeds	Almonds, pecans, macadamias, chia, flax

Keto foods to eat in moderation

Berries: strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are lower in sugar than most fruit.
Higher-carb veg: tomatoes, onions, and carrots add up faster than leafy greens.
Sugar alcohols: erythritol and monk fruit are fine; go easy on maltitol.

Keto foods to avoid

Bread, pasta, rice, and most grains
Sugar, soda, juice, and most desserts
Potatoes and other starchy vegetables
Most fruit (bananas, apples, grapes)
"Low-fat" packaged foods, which usually add sugar

The simple plate method

Build each meal around a palm-sized protein, a generous serving of low-carb vegetables, and a thumb or two of added fat. According to Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate, filling half your plate with vegetables is a reliable anchor — on keto, simply choose the low-carb ones. That structure lands most people near their macros without much math.

Key takeaways

Anchor meals on protein + fat + low-carb vegetables.
Berries are the safest fruit; most others are too high in sugar.
Avoid grains, sugar, and starchy vegetables.
Carb tolerance varies, so track your first couple of weeks.

Everyone's carb tolerance is a little different. Logging meals in CarbMeNot shows your net carbs per food in real time, so this list quickly becomes second nature.