Baked Ham and Cheese Pinwheels (Keto) - The Best Keto Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Is baked ham OK on keto diet? ›

Ham in its natural state is perfectly fine on a keto diet. In fact, it's fairly ideal. It's a meat, so it has no carbs, and it is high in fat. Ham is perfect for driving your body into ketosis.

Some cheeses suit the keto diet better than others. This mainly comes down to their carb and fat content and level of processing. The best keto cheeses include cheddar, Gouda, goat cheese, and blue cheese, while the worst are cottage cheese and low fat and processed varieties.

Cucumber is another popular salad vegetable. It contains many essential nutrients, including vitamin K. Cucumber is also suitable for the keto diet, as its carb content is just 3.63 g per 100 g. To make the carb content lower, a person can peel the cucumber before eating it.

“Zucchini tops my list, as it's low in carbs, has a sweet, mild taste that's easy to like, and is versatile,” Fear says. Eat it raw, roast it, grill it, or try lightly cooked zucchini noodles topped with olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

One that you should avoid on the keto diet is glazed ham. It's a processed meat that is also often cooked with a sugar coating. One serving (about 3.5 oz) contains 7.3 g of net carbs, according to the USDA. If you're looking for ham, go for a traditional sliced deli ham, which has 0 g of carbs per slice, per the USDA.

Total carbs versus keto net carbs

On the keto diet, you are allowed to have no more than 50 grams of net carbs per day – and the fewer, the better! But by focusing on “net” rather than “total” carbs, you won't be denying your body the essential fiber it needs for proper function.

Enjoying cheese is one of the pleasures of the keto diet. But that doesn't mean it's unlimited and unrestricted. Nutritionists say that keto practitioners need to be selective with the cheese varieties they consume while on keto and enjoy them only in moderation to avoid disrupting ketosis and hampering weight loss.

If you are following a low-carb diet or adhering to lazy keto or dirty keto, proponents say you can opt for any variety of butter, including salted, unsalted, clarified, and others.

These are the two body's own energy stores, from which our body draws power for short-term exertion and the maintenance of our basic functions. Consuming too much cheese on a keto diet may lead to excess calorie intake and potential digestive issues. Moderation is key.

Pickles can be keto-friendly as long as they don't contain added sugar. In general, you should select dill or sour pickles but avoid sweet, candied, and bread and butter ones.

Are pickles safe for keto? ›

Luckily, pickles are keto friendly, especially those that are of the dill pickle variety, as sugar is low. “Simply put, sweet pickles are made with sugar which will automatically push the carb count up,” says Hultin. “Dill or salt pickles don't have the added sugar and carbs, naturally,” she says.

Watermelon is also a keto-friendly fruit. Watermelon is full of water and low in carbohydrates compared to many other popular fruits. One cup of diced watermelon contains 11.5 grams of net carbs (the total carbs minus grams of fiber). 4 Fiber per serving is 0.6 grams.

You do not have to limit vegetables if you are on the keto diet or are considering it. Plenty of low-carb vegetable options include arugula, asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes.

Starchy vegetables contain more digestible carbohydrates than fiber and should be limited when you're on the ketogenic diet. These include corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes and beets. Limit high-sugar fruits too, which spike your blood sugar more quickly than berries and have more carbohydrates.

Yes, you can have ham on a keto diet, with some caveats. Sliced deli ham (even honey ham) is typically low in carbs (usually 1-2 grams carbohydrates per serving), so it would fit most keto macros (and be considered dirty keto).

Baked Ham (1 thin slice (approx 4-1/2 in. x 2-1/2 in. x 1/8 in.)) contains 0.2g total carbs, 0.2g net carbs, 1g fat, 4.5g protein, and 29 calories.

Ham isn't usually high in carbohydrates. A 3 ounce serving of cured ham has 1 gram of carbohydrates coming from sugar, specifically, dextrose which is used as a preservative.

Ham is high in protein but low in carbs, fat, and fiber. It's also low in calories when eaten alone.