A Complete List of Keto-Friendly Chips
Most chips aren’t great for a keto diet, but some have few to no carbs. So, what are the best low-carb chips you can eat?
Head to your local supermarket and you’ll probably be spoiled for choice when it comes to chips.
But can you really snack on potato or tortilla chips while on a keto diet? Aren’t they high in carbohydrates?
And what about the oils in them? Are they healthy?
Discover what makes chips keto-friendly and the best low-carb keto chips you can eat.
What Are Keto-Friendly Chips?
Keto-friendly chips are low in carbohydrates (less than 5–6g net carbs) and high in healthy fats. They are low in saturated fats and don’t have too much sodium or cholesterol.
At the same time, keto chips are free from added sugar and other additives like artificial colorings and flavorings.
Keto-friendly chips include kale chips, almond flour chips, avocado chips, mushroom chips, and pork rinds.
Are tortilla chips keto-friendly?
Chips made from corn or wheat flour are high in carbohydrates. This makes them a poor choice for a low-carb keto diet.
However, you can find keto-friendly tortilla chips made from almond or coconut flour. These have fewer net carbs, so you can count on them as snacks for a low-carb diet.
Best Chips You Can Eat on Keto
Many supermarkets have whole shelves dedicated to chips. But most of these aren’t keto-friendly. What’s worse, eating them regularly could compromise your health. That’s because they’re loaded with saturated fats and sodium while being low in nutrients.
So, what keto chips can you eat?
#1 Low-carb potato chips
Some popular chips have fewer carbs than others, making them better low-carb snacks. For example, one serving (28.3g) of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips has 14g of net carbs and 10g of total fat.
By contrast, a similar serving of Kettle Brand Potato Chips provides “only” 12.5 net carbs. But these chips are still not great for a low-carb keto diet since they have plenty of carbs per serving.
If, despite this, you still want to eat them on a keto diet, stick to a smaller serving of around 14g. That’s half of a regular serving and provides 6–7g of carbs.
But better than reaching for low-carb potato crisps, you can try alternatives like pork rinds, protein chips, or keto chips made with almond flour.
#2 Pork rinds
Never tried them? Baked pork rinds make for some of the crunchiest chips around. Pork rinds are also great for keto. One serving usually has zero carbs and at least 4.5g of fat.
Unlike fried pork skin, baked rinds have fewer fats. Still, they’re rich in pork fat – about one-third of which is saturated fat.
But if you mind your portions, you can enjoy pork rind chips while staying within a healthy saturated fat limit. According to the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, that’s 10% of your total daily calorie intake.
Pork rinds also provide a significant source of protein. For example, Epic BBQ Pork Rinds has 8g of protein per serving (14g).
Pork rinds may be out of the question if you want to follow a vegan keto diet. But for keto dieters who don’t mind eating animal fats, they pack a delicious crunch.
#3 Protein chips
Some chips pack even more protein than pork rinds. For example, one serving of Quest low-carb tortilla chips (32 grams) with chili lime flavor has 19g of protein.
Quest chips, like all protein chips, don’t offer the same high-fat, low-carb ratio as other keto chips. But they’re still low on carbs compared to average chips.
Keto tortilla chips have only around 4g net carbs (total carbs minus dietary fiber). What’s more, these protein chips pack just 1–1.5g of saturated fats.
You can enjoy them as low-carb snacks while sticking to your keto goals. You don’t have to sacrifice flavor, either.
Protein chips come in all the traditional chip flavors, including BBQ, nacho cheese, spicy nacho, pepper jack, and sour cream and onion. You can also find cooler flavors, like chili lime.
#4 Pepperoni chips
Pepperoni is a spicy salami made from cured pork and beef. The spicy, high-fat content of pepperoni makes it a delicious base for keto chips. All the more so since pepperoni chips have zero net carbs.
You may not find pepperoni chips in stores, but you can easily make your own. Grab your favorite pepperoni salami and cut it into thin slices.
Preheat the oven to 400°F and place the pepperoni slices on the rack. Bake them for around 5–6 minutes. Then let them sit for a bit before enjoying their spicy crunch.
But you have to watch out for saturated fats and calories. According to the USDA, a 28g serving of pepperoni has 138 calories and 12g of fat, of which 4.2g are saturated.
#5 Mushroom chips
Mushroom chips can make for some of the most flavorful chips around. And as you may have guessed by now, they’re also keto-friendly.
You may find them in stores, but it’s often easier to bake your own. Portobello or king oyster mushrooms make for great mushroom chips. But you can also try other varieties of mushrooms.
Cut them into slices about ¼ inch thick and bake them on parchment paper in an oven preheated to 300°F.
Add to the flavor by choosing your favorite oil: olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil. Brush this over the slices and sprinkle some sea salt. Take them out of the oven after about 45 minutes or when the slices become golden brown and crispy.
Mushroom chips will usually have more carbs than other keto chips, but they still make for better low-carb chips than potato chips.
#6 Cheese crisps
Cheese crisps are another low-carb option to consider. Some have 1g or less net carbs per serving. This makes them great for a keto diet.
Often made from cheddar, one of the best keto cheeses, they come in a variety of flavors. These include onion and sour cream, garlic and herb, and salt and vinegar.
For example, one 25g serving of the FBOMB Krunch Cheese Crisps provides 13g of fat, 9g of protein, and 1g of carbs. These crisps are also a good source of calcium. The downside to these crisps is that they’re high in saturated fats – 9g per serving.
Look for all-natural crisps and keep an eye on the salt content. Cheese already has salt in it. Too much salt in your diet can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.
Try to eat no more than 1,500mg of sodium a day. One gram of salt has about 40% sodium.
Tip: You can also try homemade cheese crisps by shredding cheddar cheese and baking it in heaps.
#7 Almond flour chips
Next up, how about some plant-based keto chips? Chips made from almond flour are some of the healthiest low-carb chips you can get. They’re also gluten-free.
Take, for example, Hilo Life Almond Flour Tortilla Chips. One 28-gram serving provides 150 calories, 10g of fat, 3g of net carbs, and 9g of protein.
While these tortilla chips have more carbs than other keto-friendly chips, they have only 1g of saturated fat. Try them out.
#8 Kale chips
Talking of healthy crunchy snacks, no list would be complete without kale chips. One serving of 28g has 160 calories, 12g of total fat (1.5g saturated), 5g of protein, and 5 net carbs.
More than being suitable for a keto diet, kale chips have no cholesterol and provide vitamins K and A.
Note that to get the most vitamins out of kale chips, they should be gently dehydrated under low heat. You can bake some kale chips at home, but you’ll lose on vitamins.
#9 Bacon chips
Starting a keto diet? Forget about bacon-flavored chips and go straight for bacon chips. You can make your own at home from thinly cut strips of bacon.
These low-carb chips have less than 1g of carbs per serving while providing around 11 grams of fat.
In other words, they’re great for a low-carb keto diet. Provided you watch your saturated fat intake.
#10 Speciality keto chips
Last but not least, specialty keto chips are any type of low-carb keto chips not already mentioned on this list. They can be made from a mix of ingredients and styled as keto tortilla chips.
They can include lentil chips, seaweed chips, or even tapioca chips. These can have zero carbs or low net carbs. In general, specialty keto chips have less than 3–4g of net carbs per serving.
That’s way lower than the usual tortilla chips, making them keto-friendly.
Worst Chips to Buy on Keto
Popular chips like Lay’s or Ruffles pack around 15 grams of carbs per 28g serving. They’re cooked in unhealthy vegetable oils, are high in saturated fats, and are devoid of nutrients.
Tortilla chips like Doritos are just as bad for someone trying to follow a healthy ketogenic diet.
Chips that are not zero-carb or low-carb are bad for keto and any other low-carb diets. And it’s not just the carbs. Pay attention to saturated fats, sodium levels, and artificial flavors and colorings.
Often, you can make keto chips at home without breaking a sweat and saving money too. You can also more easily control how much unhealthy fat and salt goes into your keto chips.
How to Make Keto-Friendly Chips at Home
Homemade keto chips are easy to make. They can help you follow a ketogenic diet without the unhealthy saturated fats and other compromises that come with store-bought potato or tortilla chips.
One of the best low-carb ingredients for chips is ripe avocados. Here’s a recipe for delicious and keto-friendly nacho cheese avocado chips. These provide around 19 grams of fat and only around 1.5 grams of net carbs per serving.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp chili powder (optional)
- 1 tsp cumin (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil or sunflower oil (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Peel and deseed the avocados and blend until smooth.
- Add in the shredded cheese and the spices to taste.
- Place ½ of a tablespoon of the mixture on the baking sheet and smooth it into a chip shape with the back of the spoon. Make it thin.
- If you use oil, you can spray or coat the avocado slices on both sides with olive oil or another oil of your choice.
- Repeat until you’ve used all the mixture.
- Bake the chips until their edges become crispy (about 15 minutes).
- Flip the chips over and bake them for another 5 minutes.
- Cool the chips on a rack and enjoy them as they are or with a keto-friendly dip like cream cheese with herbs.
FAQs
Potato chips are not keto, but you can buy or make low-carb chips like pork rinds or keto tortilla chips.
Veggie straws are a far cry from zero-carb chips. They often also have added sugar, making them bad for keto.
Eating potato chips on keto isn’t a good idea. They’re high in carbs and often made with unhealthy oils.
Doritos have 18g of carbs per 28g serving, making them a bad choice for any low-carb diet.
A Word From a Nutritionist
The ketogenic diet can help you lose weight by burning fat for energy during ketosis. It can also reduce your blood sugar and insulin levels.
But to get into ketosis, you need to drastically reduce your carb intake while increasing the amount of fat you eat. Regular chips provide fat, but they’re too high in carbs to help.
With potato or tortilla chips as daily snacks, it’s impossible to keep your carb intake below 10% of your total caloric intake as per the standard keto diet.
Turn your attention instead to low-carb, high-fat snacks like cheese crisps, protein chips, kale chips, or pork rinds. But even with these, keep track of your nutrient intake.
Pork rinds or cheese crisps may taste great, but their high saturated fats can undermine your health in the long run.
Conclusion
When following a ketogenic diet, forget about potato or tortilla chips. These snacks pack too many carbs for you to effectively reduce your carb intake and enter ketosis.
Instead, opt for avocado chips, kale chips, and other high-fat, low-carb chips. Not only are these some of the best keto chips, but they’re packed with healthy fats that can support your overall health.