The best Trader Joe's keto snacks, plus 2 keto recipes made with just 5 items from Trader Joe's!
We all love Trader Joe’s. Such a friendly store that is filled with amazing ingredients, fresh produce and convenience items for delicious and healthy meals.
Did you know Trader Joe’s has tons of keto friendly ingredients? And keto snacks galore!
Background on the Keto Diet
In case you are new to the keto diet, here are the basic principles:
The keto diet is a popular style of eating for the purpose of weight loss, as well as other health benefits such as improved energy, reducing blood sugar if you have diabetes, less hunger, better brain focus, etc.
When eating keto, it means you are choosing to eat foods that are high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carb. By doing this, your body will switch over to being “fat fueled”, and it will begin to burn fat for fuel rather than carbs. By burning fat for fuel, you will lose weight easily and quickly.
The typical macro goals of keto is to have 75% of your calories come from fat, 20% of your calories come from protein and 5% come from carbs. Around 20-25g net carbs is the most common goal, which is calculated by subtracting the total fiber from total carbs.
Importance of Snacks on the Keto Diet
Having plenty of snacks on hand is one of my top tips to set yourself up for success when doing the keto diet. Especially in the beginning when your body is transitioning over from burning carbs for energy to being fat fueled and burning fat for energy.
When hunger strikes, if you have healthy snacks within reach you’ll fill yourself up and be much less likely to stray and stick to your weight loss goals.
Keto Snacks at Trader Joe's
Here are 17 of my favorite keto foods at Trader Joe's!
1. Chomps meat sticks: Did you know Chomps are available at Trader Joe’s? Chomps is my #1 favorite snack, especially for on-the-go since Chomps travels so well and doesn’t require any refrigeration. It is 0 carbs, has 10-12g of protein, filling and tastes delicious!
2. Mini Bell Peppers: Bell peppers are a great low carb vegetable that are the perfect snacking size. The mini ones have barely any seeds in them. They also travel great!
3. Jicama Sticks: If you’ve never tried jicama before, you must give it a try! It tastes like a sweeter radish with tons of crunch. I love that the jicama is cut in to sticks, perfect for snacking or dipping in to ranch dressing.
4. Celery: Celery sticks are another extremely low carb vegetable. I love celery smothered in almond butter to add better fat macros.
5. Mini Brie Bites: Trader Joe’s has no shortage of cheeses, almost all of which are very keto friendly (avoid any sweetened with honey or with fruit mixed in). One of my favorites are these little mini brie bites. Perfect size for a snack, and tons of great fat macros
6. Organic String Cheese: Nothing like a good old string cheese to take you back to the fun snacks of childhood!
7. New Zealand Organic Sliced Cheddar Cheese: This is my personal favorite of the sliced cheeses. I love to break the slice of cheese in half then wrap some turkey lunch meat around it and eat like a little deli burrito. This is my personal favorite of the sliced cheeses. I love to break the slice of cheese in half then wrap some turkey lunch meat around it and eat like a little deli burrito.
8. Uncured Applewood Smoked Salami: Trader Joe’s has tons of lunch meats that all make great keto snacks. If you haven’t tried their applewood smoked salami you’ve got to give it a try! Delicious, and salami has much higher fat macros than turkey lunch meat. I love that this one is nitrates and nitrite free!
9. Genoa Salame + Provolone Cheese snack pack: For a fun little charcuterie snack, these packs of salami and provolone cheese are delicious.
10. Guacamole to Go: Avocados are one of the highest fat food sources, and perfect for keto. But eating an avocado on the go isn’t very convenient. These little guacamole cups are the perfect solution and size for a snack! I’ve eaten them plain with a spoon, or dip in bell pepper or jicama sticks or celery.
11. Organic Cream Top Plain Yogurt: Of all the yogurts Trader Joe’s carries, this is the best choice for keto. It’s made with whole milk, so great fat macros. Love that it is organic and made with grass fed milk! ¼ cup is the perfect serving size for keto. Enjoy with some berries or some nuts for a little keto parfait!
12. Hard Boiled Peeled Eggs: An egg is the perfect macros for keto. High fat, moderate protein and low carb. For ultimate snacking convenience, Trader Joe’s has hard boiled eggs that are already peeled! Sprinkle on some everything but the bagel seasoning and it’s a great on-the-go no-cook breakfast!
13. Just a Handful of Olives: Did you know olives are packed with fat? Great keto snack! These little packets are the perfect amount, and much more convenient than opening up a can of olives.
14. Coconut Oil Packets: Coconut oil is 0 carbs and TONS of fat. These little packets are great to add to your coffee to make a bulletproof coffee on the go!
15. Oven Baked Cheese Bites: If you’re craving the crunch of a cracker, these oven baked cheese bites are just what you need. Crunchy and made of just cheese, they’re very low carb. I love them by the handful as a snack. They also make a great crouton in a salad, or crunchy topping for a soup!
16. Just A Handful of Dry Roasted + Unsalted Almonds: Nuts are a great snack for keto since they’re so high fat and low carb! Trader Joe’s has tons of nuts to choose from. One of my go-to’s are these little packets of roasted and unsalted almonds. Can’t beat that crunch!
17. Rosemary Marcona Almonds: These rosemary marcona almonds are one of my favorite appetizers to put out and snack on when I want it to feel a bit fancier. The flavor is amazing!
5 Ingredient Keto Recipes from Trader Joe's
Now that you’re prepped on snacks, let me share with you some delicious and super simple keto friendly recipes using just 5 items from Trader Joe’s!
Both of these recipes are minimal effort, have great keto macros, and can be made even if you’re very new to cooking.
5 Ingredient Keto Crispy Verde Chicken Tacos
Chicken thighs are cooked in the instant pot with salsa verde, then shredded and broiled until crispy and caramelized. Served on jicama wraps with sliced avocado and cilantro. Will satisfy all your taco cravings for a fraction of the carbs! Click here for the recipe and video demo!
5 Ingredient Keto Sheet Pan Sausage + Veggies
Chicken sausages, bell pepper, onion and broccoli are all roasted on a sheet pan until tender and caramelized. Just 5 minutes of chopping and the oven does all the work for you! And minimal cleanup! Served with sliced avocado. This is a great meal to double the recipe and have delicious leftovers for lunch the next day! Click here for the recipe and video demo!
Head here to check out other flavors of Chomps that you can pair with some of these snacks and meals.
