Keto Diet Grocery Shopping List for Beginners

woman looking at seafood at a market — Photo: Cavan Images/Getty Images

Real talk: Diving into the keto diet without a plan is a recipe for disaster. You have to be pretty precise about your macro consumption to reach and maintain ketosis, the state in which your body uses fat, not carbs, as fuel. (Even the "lazy keto" approach calls for keeping a close eye on carbs.) Plus, if you skip reading up on the keto diet, you'll be more likely to make a common diet mistake, like consuming too much protein. Drafting up a keto grocery list before you head out means you won't risk coming home with foods that will sabotage your ketosis goals or add up to nutritional imbalances.

Everyone knows bacon and cheese are allowed on the diet, but not only are those not the healthiest keto foods, but it's actually the less-obvious foods that you should be prioritizing, according to Josh Axe, D.N.M, D.C., C.N.S, founder of Ancient Nutrition and author of upcoming book The Collagen Diet. "The somewhat cliché advice to 'shop the perimeter of the grocery store' applies as much to the keto diet as it does to most other healthy diets," says Axe. Focus most of your attention on the produce section and the meat and seafood sections, and supplement with some eggs and cheese, he advises. Axe recommends completely avoiding the center of the grocery store–you can also include nuts, oils, and flour alternatives from the specialty/organic section.

Did you catch that? The produce section can be the main focus, even if you're on the keto diet. Following a "clean keto" diet means incorporating whole foods as opposed to sticking to a "dirty keto" diet of meat, butter, and packaged food. Both approaches can lead to ketosis, but one is superior when it comes to fitting in nutrients and not causing negative health rebound effects. If you want to stay on the clean side, your first step should be to note which types of vegetables and low-sugar fruits belong on a keto diet grocery list.

Your body will thank you. "Many people overlook how important vegetables are on the keto diet because they're too focused on eating meat, oil, and butter," says Axe. "Veggies provide much-needed fiber, vitamins, and minerals that have powerful anti-inflammatory effects. They are needed to add volume to meals, making them more filling, and for supporting digestion, gut health, and more."

All that said, you can't just eat every low-carb food while overlooking portion sizes and the overall macro ratio of your meals. Keto dieters typically eat around 75 percent of calories from fat, 20 percent from protein, and 5 percent from carbohydrates. Note, many keto dieters focus on net carbs–the number of grams of carbs minus the number of grams of fiber–rather than overall carbs. That's because carbs from fiber aren't digestible and thus don't throw off your blood sugar, which would send you out of ketosis. (

Since it's important to map out your macro consumption, your best option is to come up with a keto diet shopping list before setting foot in a grocery store. "It's helpful to look for recipe ideas ahead of time in keto cookbooks, magazines, and online, which can help you to form a flexible meal plan and shopping list," says Axe. "Otherwise, you may head to the grocery store unsure of what to get, only to waste lots of time and money and then come home to feel frustrated." (Consider basing your keto shopping list around this keto meal plan for beginners.)

No need to Google every food individually. Below you'll find your go-to keto grocery list filled with keto-friendly foods along with their net carb counts. For a version you can print and bring to the grocery store, download this keto grocery list PDF.

Keto Beginner Grocery List

Net carb content is listed next to each food.