Store Bought Low Carb Foods

Often when you begin a low carb diet the idea of baking a lot can be a daunting task, so it always helps to have some easy to find low carb foods and snacks that are safe to use on your diet.

Bear in mind that on any diet you must have balance. Eating lots of variety including; vegetables, meats, dairy and cereals is the healthiest way to live. The listings below are to help people with cravings and to provide some easy to access foods for when starting out on a low carb diet.

Although not high nutrition, these are some of the low carb foods I've found on sale that I can snack on or use to make meals a bit more interesting:

Snacks

Low carb foods to snack on are great because on any diet you need some safe to eat munchies along the way. These can be a way to defeat those random cravings for the carby foods you used to love.

Sugar Free Jelly/Jello: 

There is nothing nutritional in jelly, but it does fill a hungry tummy and taste great. With 600mls of most sugar free jellys containing less than 1g of carbs, it is the snack you can always have. If you make it in small pots, it can be a snack that travels with you to work, and although it won't fill you with energy it will fill you up for a while and satiate any desire for sweets and fruits.

To make it more filling and add in some fats and proteins, topping it with whipped cream is a great addition. Also, to add in some vitamins, chopping up some fruit and adding it will raise the carb count, but also the vitamin C. If you use the fruit sparingly you can get your daily vitamin C and make a really tasty dessert.

 

And if you can't be bothered to whip up some cream, this will do the trick. Most creams are low carb, even this one. With only 1-2g of carbs per serving (depending on serving size) it's a quick way to make jelly more filling and tasty, the bonus of fats and proteins joining the dessert with this, makes it worth the couple of grams of carbs it throws into it.

McVities Cheddars:

Although you can't have many, these little cheese crackers have only 1.9g carbs per cracker. If you load it up with some cream cheese or something high fat, then it can make a really filling snack. Be wary of mini-cheddars or the smaller version of these, the carbs go up the smaller they get. Ideally you want the kind in this type of pack, and it will state the carbs per biscuit in the nutritional information. Look for 1.9g of carbs per biscuit to ensure you get the right kind.

This is a treat you won't have often or in bulk, but for those craving crisps and crackers, this is the lowest carb one on the market. Alone it isn't very filling and will leave you wanting more, but loading it up with some high fat topping (cheese, meat or dairy) will make it into a nice snack on a low carb diet that you can just eat one of.

Atkins Chocolate Bars:

Ranging at around 2.5g net carbs per bar the Atkins Endulge range of chocolate bars are great a low carb treat on a low carb diet. If you're missing chocolate and need a snack while on the move, it's a nice treat once in a while. These come in a range of flavours, but my favourite is the coconut one as it tastes just like a Bounty to me.

These do contain polyols. Also don't have these in the first two weeks of your keto diet. They're a one off snack for cravings, not a binge food.




Atkins Day Break Bars:

These are great for a snack or a cereal replacement. At only 2-3g net carbs per bar, they're a filling alternative to the higher carb cereal bars. I really like the chocolate chip one, but they comes in a range of flavours from cranberry to cappuchino.

Again, they do contain polyols, and eating too many won't be good for you, but I've been fine on a couple of them a week. Varied diet is the key to all diets, but these are a great snack while keeping your carbs down.

Atkins Milkshakes:

Again another great low carb treat from Atkins.

The milkshakes only have 1.3g net carbs in a 300ml serving and they're really filling. They don't taste amazing, but I really enjoyed the chocolate one, and it makes a nice quick breakfast on the move.

They come in a range of flavours and are really handy when you need something quick and easy to keep you going until your next meal. Also, they're quite nice as a breakfast or coffee replacement on a morning.

Cavalier Hazelnut and Chocolate Spread:

This is a great replacement for the Nutella addicts out there. It tastes exactly the same.

With only 22g of net carbs per 200ml jar, you can use this without being too wary of it, just don't use the whole jar in one day.

It does contain polyols, so anyone who has problems with those will probably want to avoid it. But if you miss Nutella and want something a bit indulgent, it's a nice treat that works in and with a range of desserts.

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix:

This is a great addition for dips and snacks. The mix itself is very low carb, and you don't use enough in one serving to worry about its carb content. You mix it with sour cream to make the dip, and the flavouring is much like the flavouring used on Cool Doritos chips. So whatever you dip in it will taste like a chips and dips night.

I like to dip cucumber slices in mine, for a very filling and almost no carb snack. If you don't mind adding a few carbs, you can use a low carb tortilla, glaze it in oil and cook it to make your own tortilla chips and dip those instead. This is one of my favourite things to snack on when I'm up to my daily carb limit.

La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Wraps/Nachos:

These are great for those who like a bit of Mexican food or a wrap. Because of all the great high-fat/low-carb sauces and dips, these can add to a great snack or a great meal.

Each wrap only has 3g of carbs in it, and to me these taste just like any other wrap you can buy. If you want nacho chips, simply chop up a wrap with a pizza cutter and throw it in a deep fat fryer until it browns and goes crispy.

The wonderful thing about these is that there are so many foods and sauces you can use with it to make some really exciting meals or snacks. <3

Slim Pasta or Zero Pasta:

This is great for pasta lovers. These no-carb pasta alternatives taste, look and feel just like the real thing. They're actually made from a vegetable, so they're really healthy in terms nutrients too.

I honestly can't tell the difference between these and regular pasta, and they make some wonderful filling meals. Also, it's worth noting that they are faster to cook than normal pasta too. Win-win!

Pickled Onion Space Raiders:

Now most nutritionists will be scowling at this one, but let's be honest, we like some crisps once in a while. These are the lowest carb crisps on the market in the UK. They come in beef and in pickled onion flavour. If you buy the multipack, a 13g bag of these is only 8g of carbs. You can't have the whole 12-pack, but you can sneak one 13g bag of these into a low carb diet as a treat every so often.

For people hankering for a savoury snack, these are the only ones I'd recommend. Every other form of savoury snack on sale is 15g carbs and more, but this is a hidden delight, which doesn't claim anything outrageous in it's marketing and is actually healthier on a low carb diet than any other store bought option, in terms of crisps and snacks--forget the awful 'baked crisps' which have a 30g carb count on each bag and try these little wonders that have only 8g of carbs per bag! Also, they are quite yummy. So my award for the best low carb snack goes to Space Raiders. I hope they bring out more flavours soon. If they tried to make a lower carb snack, I'd sure invest in trying them. But until then, these will do nicely.

Breads

Hovis Nimble Bread:

Making your own low carb bread can get expensive and let's face it, there are some epic disasters before we find one that will work. In the UK there isn't as much choice in low carb breads, but Nimble has been around for years. At 8g carbs per slice, you will be pushing your luck if you're on a keto diet, but that doesn't mean you can't have this.

One slice of cheese on toast for breakfast will have lots of fats and only 8g of carbs, on a 20g a day diet, you can just get away with this. You can also make a half sandwich, especially if you fill it with high fat filling for energy. A giant filling of cheese and salad is fab for this bread, and it tastes great. It's not perfect in terms of low carb, but it tastes like normal bread, it looks like it and it's low enough on the carbs to fit into a low carb diet if you plan your meals around it. People on a 50g carbs a day diet can easily use this bread as normal. Those of us on the 20g a day are more likely to have a half sandwich with double the amount of filling, but as long as you don't mind over-filled sandwiches that's okay too. I give this a 4-star on low carb breads. If the carbs per slice were a little lower then it would be my favourite store bought addition to a low carb diet.

Sara Lee Delightful Bread:

This is marked as coming soon to the UK market. It's a low carb bread that I'm looking forward to trying when I can get hold of some. According to sources of people who use this in the USA, each slice has a carb count of 4.5g per slice (now that's something every low carber can eat normally with). However, the Daily Mail says each serving contains 9g of carbs. I guess I'll have to find out what it is exactly when I get hold of a loaf, but it's certainly looking like a low carb bread option that I'd be interested in trying out.

That's all for now, but more low carb options and recipes coming soon.