Keto Christmas Dinner: A Low-Carb Guide to Every Part of the Plate
A keto Christmas dinner is mostly the traditional one: turkey, pigs in blankets (check the sausage label), sprouts, buttery greens and gravy thickened with xanthan gum instead of flour. Skip the roast potatoes, bread sauce and Christmas pudding, or use the low-carb swaps below. A full keto plate can come in at under 10g carbs.
At a glance
- ~9gcarbs on our example keto plate
- ~114gon a traditional plate, before pudding
- 40gin 150g of roast potatoes
- 3.4gin an 80g portion of sprouts
On this page
Christmas dinner is the one meal of the year most people don't want to change. The good news if you eat keto is that you don't have to change much. The centre of the plate, roast turkey with pigs in blankets, is already low in carbs, and so are the sprouts and greens. Most of the carbs hide in a handful of extras: the roast potatoes, the parsnips, the stuffing and bread sauce, the cranberry sauce and the pudding.
This guide goes through every part of a British Christmas dinner, with the carbs in a typical portion and what to do about each one. Where something is high in carbs, we give a simple low-carb swap that still feels like Christmas. If you're planning the baking too, our keto Christmas treats and bakes hub has the mince pies, biscuits and cakes.
Keto Christmas dinner carbs at a glance
Here's how the usual plate adds up. The figures are carbohydrate per typical portion, from the UK government's food composition data (CoFID) or, where CoFID has no entry, from supermarket pack labels.
| Item | Typical portion | Carbs | Keto verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roast turkey | 120g | 0g | Yes |
| Pigs in blankets | 3 (about 60g) | 1.4–5.9g | Yes, check the sausage label |
| Brussels sprouts, boiled | 80g | 3.4g | Yes |
| Carrots, boiled | 80g | 4.8g | Small portion |
| Red cabbage, cooked with apple | 80g | 6.3g | Small portion, or skip the apple and sugar |
| Gravy from granules | 70ml | 3.3g | Make it without flour |
| Cranberry sauce (jar) | 1 tbsp (15g) | 5.6g | Make your own |
| Bread sauce | 45g | 7.0g | Swap the bread |
| Sage and onion stuffing | 50g | 14.7g | Swap the bread |
| Roast parsnips | 80g | 23.0g | Swap, or one small piece |
| Roast potatoes | 150g | 39.6g | Swap |
| Christmas pudding (shop-bought) | 100g | 56.3g | Swap |
| Brandy butter (jar) | 1 tbsp (15g) | 6.0–6.9g | Make your own |
CoFID 2021 figures: turkey, average roasted meat; pork sausages, premium and standard, grilled (the bacon adds no carbs); sprouts and carrots boiled; red cabbage cooked with apple; gravy granules made up with water; homemade bread sauce and sage and onion stuffing; potatoes and parsnips roasted in oil; retail Christmas pudding. Cranberry sauce is from an Ocean Spray jar label (37g per 100g), and brandy butter from Aldi and Sainsbury's labels (40–46g per 100g).
On UK labels and in CoFID, carbohydrate already excludes fibre, so you don't need to take the fibre off again. Our guide to net carbs on UK food labels explains why, and how sweeteners such as erythritol fit in.
Add up a traditional plate with all the trimmings (standard pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, sprouts, red cabbage, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy and bread sauce) and it comes to about 114g of carbs before the pudding. Many people on keto aim for somewhere around 20–50g a day, so the trimmings matter far more than the turkey.
What a keto Christmas plate looks like
| On the plate | Portion | Carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Roast turkey | 120g | 0g |
| Pigs in blankets, made with premium sausages | 3 | 1.4g |
| Brussels sprouts | 80g | 3.4g |
| Cauliflower mash with butter | 100g | 3.6g |
| Buttered curly kale | 80g | 0.8g |
| Gravy thickened with xanthan gum | 70ml | Trace |
| Total | About 9g |
Worked out from CoFID 2021 figures for each ingredient. Your total will vary with the sausages, stock and portion sizes you use.
The safe bits: turkey, sprouts and greens
Turkey and other roast meats
Plain roast turkey has no carbohydrate, whether it's light or dark meat, and the crispy skin is carb-free too. The same goes for roast beef, goose, duck and gammon, as long as there's no sugary glaze. If you're glazing a ham with honey or marmalade, keep the glazed outer slices for everyone else, or brush it with mustard and a little powdered sweetener instead.
Pigs in blankets
The bacon in pigs in blankets has no carbs. The sausage is where they come from, because most British sausages contain rusk or breadcrumbs. CoFID lists standard grilled pork sausages at 9.8g carbs per 100g and premium sausages at 2.3g, so three pigs in blankets range from about 1.4g to 5.9g. Look for chipolatas with a high meat content and check the carbohydrate line on the pack.
Brussels sprouts and green veg
Sprouts are one of the easiest parts of the meal. Boiled sprouts have 4.2g carbs per 100g, so an 80g portion, roughly six to eight sprouts, is about 3.4g. Roast them in butter or toss them with crispy bacon or pancetta. Go easy on chestnuts, though: they have 36.6g carbs per 100g, so three chestnuts (about 20g) add roughly 7g, more than the sprouts themselves.
Other greens are lower still. Boiled curly kale has 1.0g carbs per 100g and spring greens 1.6g, and buttered cabbage, green beans and broccoli all fit in easily.
The tricky bits: potatoes, parsnips and cranberry sauce
Roast potatoes and mash
Roast potatoes are the biggest single source of carbs on the plate, at 26.4g per 100g. A 150g portion, about four pieces, comes to roughly 40g. Mash isn't much better at 15.9g per 100g.
The best swaps are vegetables that roast and mash in a similar way. Raw celeriac has 2.3g carbs per 100g and swede 5.0g, against 19.6g for raw potato. Cut them into chunks, toss them in goose fat or butter with salt and rosemary, and roast at 200°C (180°C fan) for about 40 minutes, turning once, until golden at the edges. For mash, boiled cauliflower has 3.5g carbs per 100g. Steam it well, drain it thoroughly and blend it with butter and a spoonful of cream cheese.
Parsnips and carrots
Roast parsnips concentrate as they cook, reaching 28.8g carbs per 100g, so even an 80g portion is about 23g. If parsnips are a must, have one small piece and fill the rest of the space with roast celeriac. Carrots sit in the middle: 80g of boiled carrots is about 4.8g. Our guide to whether carrots are keto has portion sizes if you want to keep them on the table.
Red cabbage
Plain boiled red cabbage has just 2.3g carbs per 100g, but the classic Christmas version is cooked with apple and sugar, which takes it to 7.9g. Make your own with red cabbage, butter, red wine vinegar, cinnamon and a granulated erythritol sweetener, and leave out the apple.
Cranberry sauce
Jarred cranberry sauce is sweetened with sugar, which is its first ingredient: the Ocean Spray label shows 37g carbs per 100g, about 5.6g in a single tablespoon. Fresh cranberries, by contrast, have just 3.4g carbs per 100g. Simmer 200g of fresh or frozen cranberries with the zest of an orange, 50ml of water and a granulated erythritol sweetener (check the pack for how much to use in place of sugar) for 8–10 minutes, until the berries burst and thicken. It makes about 16 tablespoons at around 0.4g carbs each, not counting the erythritol.
Yorkshire puddings, which some families serve with turkey too, are made with wheat flour and have 25.6g carbs per 100g, so leave them for the other roasts of the year.
Gravy without flour
Gravy granules have 4.7g carbs per 100ml once made up, and a traditional roux uses wheat flour. A flour-free gravy made from the turkey juices and stock has almost none, and a tiny amount of xanthan gum gives it the same body.
- Make the base. Lift the turkey out to rest, then spoon off most of the fat from the roasting tin. Put the tin on the hob, add about 500ml of turkey or chicken stock and scrape up the sticky bits from the bottom.
- Reduce. Simmer for 5–10 minutes to concentrate the flavour. Add a splash of wine if you like, and skip the redcurrant jelly, which is mostly sugar.
- Thicken. Sprinkle a small pinch of xanthan gum over the surface while you whisk hard, then simmer for a minute. Add another pinch only if it needs it.
- Finish. Strain, taste and season, and whisk in a knob of cold butter for a glossy finish.
Xanthan gum is very concentrated. Our product page suggests a small pinch at a time for sauces and gravies, sprinkled in while whisking to avoid lumps. Too much makes gravy slippery rather than glossy, so stop as soon as it coats the back of a spoon. Check your stock cube label too, as some contain wheat flour or sugar.
Stuffing and bread sauce made with low-carb bread
Traditional stuffing and bread sauce are built on white breadcrumbs, which is why homemade sage and onion stuffing has 29.4g carbs per 100g and bread sauce 15.6g. The fix is simple: make the crumbs from a low-carb loaf. Our Low Carb Keto Bread is a multigrain sliced loaf with 2.3g carbs per slice, and a slightly stale slice blitzes into crumbs just like ordinary bread.
Low-carb sage and onion stuffing balls
Makes 10 balls, at under 2g carbs each by our estimate from CoFID and pack figures.
- 4 slices (about 100g) Groovy Keto Low Carb Keto Bread, blitzed into crumbs
- 1 medium onion (about 100g), finely chopped
- 25g butter
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage, or 1 tsp dried
- 1 medium egg, beaten
- 2–3 tbsp hot stock
- Optional: 1 tsp psyllium husk powder for firmer balls
Soften the onion in the butter for 8–10 minutes without browning. Mix it with the crumbs, sage, egg, stock and psyllium if you're using it, season well and leave for 5 minutes. Roll into 10 balls and bake at 190°C (170°C fan) for 20–25 minutes until golden. If you'd like to add sausage meat, choose one with a high meat content and check the label, as the rusk in standard sausage meat adds carbs.
Low-carb bread sauce
Serves 6, at about 3g carbs a serving by our estimate.
Push 6 cloves into half an onion and put it in a pan with 150ml of whole milk, 150ml of double cream and a bay leaf. Bring it just to a simmer, then take it off the heat and leave it to infuse for 20–30 minutes. Lift out the onion and bay, stir in the crumbs from 2 slices of keto bread and cook gently for 3–5 minutes, stirring, until thick. Finish with a knob of butter, a grating of nutmeg, salt and white pepper.
Our Low Carb Keto Bread contains cereals containing gluten (wheat, spelt, rye and barley), soy and sesame seeds, and may contain traces of egg, milk, peanuts, nuts and lupine. Stuffing and bread sauce made with it are not gluten-free and aren't suitable for anyone with coeliac disease. Our xanthan gum and psyllium husk powder are packed in a facility where there may be traces of gluten, nuts, cereals, milk and eggs.
Pudding and afters
A shop-bought Christmas pudding has 56.3g carbs per 100g, most of it from sugar and dried fruit, and a homemade mince pie made the traditional way is 55.5g per 100g. These are the bakes where a keto version makes the biggest difference.
- Keto Christmas pudding: a dark, spiced steamed pudding made with ground almonds, oat fibre and psyllium husk, sweetened with brown erythritol and stevia. It has 4.4g net carbs per serving, makes 8 servings and can be made days ahead and reheated.
- Keto mince pies: a press-in almond pastry with a spiced Bramley apple, cranberry and brown butter filling, at 3.1g net carbs per pie. A batch makes 12.
- Keto Christmas cake: a spiced almond fruit cake with marzipan and white icing, at 5.5g net carbs per slice. Bake it about 2 weeks before you want to serve it.
- Keto mincemeat: a jar of no added sugar mincemeat with 2.8g net carbs per heaped tablespoon, which fills about 25 mince pies.
Brandy butter and cream
Jars of brandy butter have around 40–46g carbs per 100g, nearly all of it sugar. Make your own by beating 100g of softened unsalted butter with about 40g of a sieved powdered sweetener and 2 tablespoons of brandy. Butter and brandy add next to no carbs, so a spoonful has well under 1g, not counting the sweetener. Our guide to icing sugar alternatives explains which powdered sweeteners work best. Pouring double cream, with 1.7g carbs per 100g, is the simplest topping of all.
Boxing Day leftovers
Leftovers are half the fun of Christmas, and most of them work on keto with a couple of small changes.
- Turkey sandwiches. Two slices of keto bread come to 4.6g carbs. Fill them with cold turkey, mayonnaise, a crumbled stuffing ball and a spoonful of homemade cranberry sauce.
- Bubble and squeak. Fry leftover sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower mash in butter with chopped bacon until crisp underneath, in place of the usual potato.
- Bread and butter pudding. Use up the rest of the loaf in our keto bread and butter pudding, baked in a vanilla, orange and cinnamon custard. It has 4.9g net carbs per serving and serves 6.
- Cold cuts and cheese. Leftover turkey, ham, a cheeseboard and a bowl of olives make an easy Boxing Day spread. Most hard cheeses have only a trace of carbs, but chutney is high in sugar, so keep that to a small spoonful.
Our last order date for Christmas delivery is 18 December 2026. Free delivery is on orders over £30. Slices of our keto bread can be frozen, so you can stock up for the stuffing, bread sauce and Boxing Day sandwiches in one order.
Frequently asked questions
Are pigs in blankets keto?
Yes, usually, as long as you check the sausage label. The bacon has no carbs, but many British sausages contain rusk. CoFID lists standard grilled pork sausages at 9.8g carbs per 100g and premium ones at 2.3g, so three pigs in blankets come to roughly 1.4–5.9g. Choose high-meat chipolatas for the lowest figure.
Is stuffing keto?
Traditional stuffing isn't keto, because it's made with white breadcrumbs. Homemade sage and onion stuffing has 29.4g carbs per 100g, so a 50g portion is about 15g. Make the crumbs from a low-carb loaf instead: our stuffing balls made with Groovy Keto Low Carb Keto Bread work out at under 2g carbs each, but they contain gluten.
How do you thicken gravy without flour?
Use a small pinch of xanthan gum instead of flour. Sprinkle it over the hot gravy while you whisk, simmer for a minute, then add another pinch only if it needs it. Xanthan gum is very concentrated, so a little thickens a whole jug, and too much makes gravy slippery rather than glossy.
Are Brussels sprouts keto?
Yes, Brussels sprouts fit easily into a keto Christmas dinner. Boiled sprouts have 4.2g carbs per 100g, so an 80g portion of six to eight sprouts is about 3.4g. Roast them in butter or toss them with crispy bacon, but go easy on chestnuts, which add roughly 7g carbs for just three.
Can you have Christmas pudding on keto?
Not a traditional one. A shop-bought Christmas pudding has 56.3g carbs per 100g, mostly from sugar and dried fruit. A keto version made with ground almonds and a brown erythritol and stevia blend is a different story: our keto Christmas pudding has 4.4g net carbs per serving and can be made days ahead.
Sources
- GOV.UK / Public Health England. Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021. Carbohydrate per 100g for roast turkey, pork sausages, bacon, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts, chestnuts, red cabbage, kale, spring greens, celeriac, swede, cauliflower, onion, milk, double cream, gravy granules, stuffing, bread sauce, Yorkshire pudding, Christmas pudding and mince pies. Portion totals are our own calculations.
- Pack labels, as listed by UK supermarkets in October 2026: Ocean Spray Whole Cranberry Sauce (37g carbohydrate per 100g); Aldi Specially Selected Brandy Butter (39.9g per 100g) and Sainsbury's Brandy Butter (46g per 100g).
- Groovy Keto product pages: Xanthan Gum, Low Carb Keto Bread and Psyllium Husk Powder: usage, nutrition and allergen information.
- Groovy Keto recipe cards: keto Christmas pudding, keto mince pies, keto Christmas cake, keto mincemeat and keto bread and butter pudding: yield and net carbs per serving.
