Keto Snacks UK: Low-Carb Snacks to Buy and Make
The best keto snacks to buy in the UK are everyday supermarket foods with only a trace of carbs, such as cheddar, olives, pork scratchings, boiled eggs and salami, plus lower-carb nuts like Brazils, walnuts, macadamias and almonds. If you want something sweet or ready to grab, keto bars, keto granola and keto dark chocolate buttons sweetened with erythritol and stevia are made for low-carb eating. Most of the snacks below come in at around 3g of net carbs or less per portion, and the table shows the figures for each one.
At a glance
- 2.7gnet carbs per Keto Bar
- 3.1gnet carbs per 30g of Keto Granola
- Tracecarbs in cheddar and olives
- ~14gcarbs in a 25g bag of crisps
On this page
Snacking is where many people find keto hardest in the UK. The meal deal aisle, the office biscuit tin and the petrol station counter are full of crisps, cereal bars and sandwiches. The good news is that plenty of low-carb snacks are easy to find once you know what to look for. This guide is split into two halves: keto snacks to buy, from Groovy Keto and from any supermarket, and keto snacks to make at home.
What makes a snack keto-friendly?
A keto snack is simply one that's low in carbs for the portion you actually eat. Most keto plans keep carbs to around 20g to 50g a day, so a snack with 1g to 3g of carbs is easy to fit in, while one with 15g can use up most of a day's allowance.
When you check a UK label, look at the carbohydrate line. On UK packs, fibre is already listed separately, so you don't need to subtract it. The one thing to watch is polyols, such as erythritol, which are counted inside the carbohydrate figure. Our product pages show both the total carbohydrate and the net carbs with polyols taken off. Our guide Do You Subtract Fibre From Carbs on UK Labels? explains how it works.
Keto snacks to buy in the UK: carbs per portion
Here's how the most popular keto snacks compare. Figures for Groovy Keto products come from the nutrition information on each product page. Figures for supermarket foods are approximate, worked out from McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods dataset (CoFID), and they vary by brand, so always check the pack.
| Snack | Portion | Carbohydrate | Net carbs (minus polyols) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groovy Keto Keto Bar, Salted Caramel or Cocoa Orange | 1 bar | 6g | 2.7g |
| Groovy Keto Keto Granola, Cinnamon | 30g | 5.4g | 3.1g |
| Groovy Keto Keto Granola, Cocoa | 30g | 5.3g | 3.1g |
| Groovy Keto Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons | 1 serving (see pack) | 5.1g | 0.6g |
| Cheddar | 30g | Trace | Trace |
| Green olives in brine | 30g (about 8 to 10) | Trace | Trace |
| Pork scratchings, plain | 25g | Trace | Trace |
| Boiled egg | 1 medium | Trace | Trace |
| Salami | 30g | About 0.2g | About 0.2g |
| Brazil nuts | 30g | About 0.9g | About 0.9g |
| Walnuts | 30g | About 1g | About 1g |
| Macadamia nuts | 30g | About 1.4g | About 1.4g |
| Almonds | 30g | About 1.6g | About 1.6g |
| Pecans | 30g | About 1.7g | About 1.7g |
| Cashews | 30g | About 5.4g | About 5.4g |
| Cucumber sticks | 100g | About 1.2g | About 1.2g |
| Celery sticks | 80g (about 2 sticks) | About 1.1g | About 1.1g |
| Cherry tomatoes | 75g (about 5) | About 2.7g | About 2.7g |
| Avocado | Half (about 70g flesh) | About 1.3g | About 1.3g |
Plain foods like cheese, nuts and vegetables have no polyols added, so their carbohydrate and net carb figures are the same.
Groovy Keto Keto Bars
Our Keto Bars come in two flavours: Salted Caramel, made with almonds, and Cocoa Orange, made with Brazil nuts. Both are sweetened with erythritol and stevia and have 6g of carbohydrate per bar, of which 3.3g is polyols, giving 2.7g of net carbs. They're easy to keep in a bag, desk drawer or glovebox for when the only other option is a cereal bar. If you can't decide, the Keto Bar Variety Box includes both flavours. The bars contain nuts.
Groovy Keto Keto Granola
Keto Granola isn't only for breakfast. It's a crunchy mix of cashews, walnuts, almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, coconut, flaxseed and chia, sweetened with erythritol and stevia. It comes in Cinnamon and Cocoa flavours, each with 3.1g of net carbs per 30g serving and around 12 servings in a 360g pouch. Eat a small handful straight from the pouch, or spoon 30g over full-fat Greek yoghurt for a quick snack pot. If you'd rather bake your own, we have a recipe for crunchy homemade keto granola.
Groovy Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons
For a chocolate fix, our Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons are large 85% cocoa dark chocolate buttons sweetened with erythritol and stevia. A serving has 5.1g of carbohydrate, of which 4.5g is polyols, giving 0.6g of net carbs. Check the pack for the serving size. They're made for snacking as well as melting and baking, so you can eat a few on their own or add them to a homemade trail mix. Browse the full range in our keto chocolate collection.
Supermarket staples
You don't need specialist shops to snack on keto. These are easy to pick up in any UK supermarket or corner shop:
- Cheese. Hard cheeses such as cheddar, red Leicester, Edam and Parmesan contain little or no carbohydrate. Mini cheese snack packs and cheese strings are handy for lunchboxes. See is cheese keto-friendly? for more on which cheeses to pick.
- Olives. Green and black olives in brine or oil are a simple savoury snack. Snack pots of olives are now common in supermarket meal deals.
- Pork scratchings. Plain scratchings are almost all pork rind and fat. Some flavoured versions add sugar or starch to the coating, so check the ingredients.
- Eggs. Boiled eggs are easy to batch-cook at the start of the week, and many supermarkets sell ready-boiled egg pots.
- Cured meats. Salami, chorizo, pepperoni sticks, ham and cooked chicken pieces all work. Jerky and biltong vary a lot: some are marinated in sugar, so check the carbohydrate figure.
- Nuts and seeds. Brazil nuts, walnuts, macadamias, pecans and almonds are the lowest-carb choices. Cashews and pistachios are higher, so keep those portions smaller, and avoid honey-roasted, chocolate-coated or yoghurt-coated nuts.
- Vegetables. Cucumber, celery, radishes and pepper strips are good for dipping into cream cheese, guacamole or full-fat soured cream dips. Cherry tomatoes and carrots are higher in carbs, so treat them as a smaller side.
- Pickles. Gherkins and pickled onions are popular with cheese, but sweet pickles and chutneys are high in sugar. Go for dill pickles or those in plain vinegar and check the label.
Keto snacks on the go
Caught out without a packed snack? In most UK supermarkets and meal deal fridges, look for a cheese snack pack, an olive pot, a boiled egg pot, cooked chicken pieces, a salami or pepperoni snack stick, a bag of plain pork scratchings or a small bag of plain nuts. Pair two of these and you have a low-carb snack without hunting for a specialist shop.
Snacks to watch out for
Some popular UK snacks look harmless but carry a lot of carbs in a small portion. These approximate figures, again from CoFID, show why it's worth checking before you open the bag:
- Potato crisps: about 14g of carbs in a 25g bag. Our guide to keto crisps in the UK covers lower-carb crisps to buy and how to make your own.
- Popcorn: about 12g of carbs in a 20g bowl of salted popcorn. Read is popcorn keto? for portion advice and alternatives.
- Cereal bars with fruit or nuts: about 19g of carbs in a 30g bar.
- Raisins: about 19g of carbs in a 30g box or handful.
- Cream crackers and oatcakes: about 13g to 14g of carbs per 20g.
- Breadsticks: about 15g of carbs per 20g.
Keto crackers: what to buy and what to make
Crackers are one of the hardest snacks to replace on keto, because most are made from wheat, oats or rice. When you shop for keto crackers, look for ones made mainly from cheese, seeds or nuts, and compare the carbohydrate figure per portion rather than per 100g.
Making your own is easy, too. Baked cheese crisps need nothing but grated hard cheese, and seed crackers made with flaxseed and chia keep well in an airtight tin. You'll find both, plus almond flour crackers and salami chips, in the recipe section of our keto crisps guide. Top them with cream cheese, pâté or a slice of cheddar.
Keto snacks to make at home
Homemade snacks give you full control over what goes in. These are quick to make and keep well for a few days.
Fat bombs
Fat bombs are small, rich bites made from ingredients like nut butter, coconut oil, cocoa and cream cheese, set in the fridge or freezer. Make a batch at the weekend and keep them chilled. Try our chocolate almond fat bombs, coconut lemon fat bombs or peanut butter chocolate chip fat bombs.
Cheese and salami crisps
For a salty crunch, bake small piles of grated cheese or thin slices of salami until crisp. Both take less than 15 minutes in the oven. The method is in our keto crisps guide.
Keto trail mix
Mix a handful each of Brazil nuts, pecans and toasted coconut flakes with a few Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons. Weigh it into small pots or bags so a portion is ready to grab.
Yoghurt and granola pots
Spoon full-fat Greek yoghurt into a small jar, add a few raspberries and top with 30g of Keto Granola just before eating so it stays crunchy.
No-cook savoury bites
- Celery boats: fill celery sticks with cream cheese or a no-added-sugar nut butter.
- Cucumber rounds: top thick slices with cream cheese and smoked salmon.
- Roll-ups: wrap slices of ham or turkey around a stick of cheese or a spear of cucumber.
- Devilled eggs: mash boiled egg yolks with mayonnaise and a little mustard, then pipe back into the whites.
- Mini cheese board: a few cubes of cheddar, a handful of olives and some cucumber sticks, just like the board at the top of this page.
Sweet snacks
If you'd rather bake something sweet, from cookies and brownies to mug cakes, our round-up of keto sweet treats has plenty of ideas.
Tips for keto snacking
- Weigh nuts. A 30g handful of almonds is about 1.6g of carbs, but it's easy to eat three times that from an open bag. Portion them into pots in advance.
- Read the carbohydrate line, not the front of the pack. Words like "protein" or "natural" don't tell you how many carbs are inside.
- Check for polyols. Many keto products are sweetened with erythritol. Check whether a "net carbs" figure has taken polyols off, so you can count the way you prefer.
- Keep a backup. A bar, a small bag of nuts or a pouch of granola in your bag means you won't be stuck with the meal deal crisps.
- Plan snacks into your day. Count them in your daily carbs, just like meals.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best keto snacks to buy in the UK?
The easiest keto snacks to buy in the UK are supermarket staples with only a trace of carbs, such as cheddar, olives, pork scratchings, boiled eggs and salami, plus lower-carb nuts like Brazils, walnuts, macadamias and almonds. For something sweet or ready to grab, Groovy Keto Keto Bars, Keto Granola and Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons are made for low-carb eating, with the carbs per portion shown on each product page.
What low-carb snacks can I eat on keto?
Good everyday choices include cheese, olives, eggs, cured meats such as salami, pork scratchings, nuts, cucumber and celery sticks, cherry tomatoes and avocado. Weigh nuts rather than eating from the bag, and check the carbohydrate line on any packaged snack before you buy it.
Are pork scratchings keto?
Plain pork scratchings contain only a trace of carbs, so they suit a keto diet. Some flavoured or coated versions add sugar, rusk or starch to the seasoning, so read the label and stick to plain or simply salted packs.
Which nuts are best for keto?
Brazil nuts, walnuts, macadamias, pecans and almonds are among the lowest in carbs, at roughly 1g to 2g per 30g handful. Cashews and pistachios are higher, so keep those portions smaller, and skip honey-roasted or sugar-coated nuts.
Can you buy keto crackers in the UK?
Yes. Look for crackers made mainly from cheese, seeds or nuts and check the carbohydrate figure per portion, because wheat, oat and rice crackers are high in carbs. You can also make seed crackers or baked cheese crisps at home.
Can you eat crisps on keto?
Ordinary potato crisps are high in carbs, at around 14g in a 25g bag. Keto-friendly crisps made from cheese, protein or vegetables are a better fit, and you can make cheese or salami crisps at home.
Sources
- GOV.UK. McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID). Approximate per-portion figures are calculated from its values per 100g.
- Groovy Keto product pages: Keto Bar Salted Caramel, Keto Bar Cocoa Orange, Keto Granola Cinnamon, Keto Granola Cocoa and Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons: nutrition information.
