When you're following a low carb or Keto Diet, it's not the main dish that's hard to come up with, it's usually figuring out what healthy low carb side dishes you can eat becomes more of the struggle.
Having a variety of go-to low carb and keto side dish recipes is a perfect way to make holidays simple, or to help you come up with sides for family dinners or a summer BBQ. We've included our BEST keto side dishes plus low carb sides from other foodie websites we know you'll love. It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
Keto Side Dish Recipes
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Our list of low carb and keto side dishes includes recipes you can use year-round, including keto side dishes for holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, a special occasion dinner or your next summer party.
Whether you're looking for keto side dishes without cauliflower, keto side dishes for a BBQ, keto side dishes for chicken, or keto side dishes that are not vegetables, you'll find the perfect low carb side dishes from our list of ideas.
The low carb side dish recipes include many recipes from our own site and also keto sides from other low carb recipe sites also.
Keto Sides
Keto Side Dish Salads
Salads seriously make for the BEST keto sides, just pair them with a protein and you have a well rounded meal.
Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad with Bacon
Make an easy shaved Brussel sprouts salad with bacon and a homemade apple cider vinaigrette with a touch of Dijon. The perfect raw Brussel sprouts salad for the holidays! Low carb, keto, and gluten-free.
Keto Broccoli Salad Recipe
This yummy and easy keto broccoli salad is one of the most popular on our site! It's a family favorite at all of our holiday get-togethers and highly rated by readers too. Many of our readers have reported that it makes a fabulous keto side dish for a BBQ or potluck.
This is an easy keto side dish recipe to make substitutions too, for Thanksgiving we used half broccoli and half cauliflower. You can also change the type of nuts, mix in dried low carb fruit, change the type of cheese or use ham instead of bacon.
We shared this first since it's one of our favorite go-to keto sides.
Recipe for Caprese Salad
Caprese salad is a quick and easy Italian salad that's essentially a tomato, basil, mozzarella salad with a light balsamic dressing and seasoning. Make it with sliced cheese and tomatoes OR use mini cheese balls with grape or cherry tomatoes.
A healthy avocado kale salad loaded with veggies and tossed in a light lemon dressing. Whole30, paleo, gluten-free, and low carb.
Bacon Curry Coleslaw (Keto Coleslaw)
You'll love our savory keto coleslaw with bacon and curry, it takes a classic low carb coleslaw recipe and with just a couple additions, makes it perfect for holidays or served with a roast.
When you use pre-cooked bacon and a coleslaw mix, this low carb vegetable side dish comes together in less than 15 minutes.
Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon
Wilted spinach salad is another classic turned low carb side dish recipe that our family often ate at family gatherings.
Feel free to mix in your favorite cheese or even avocado, both would be yummy additions. The spinach wilts once you drizzle the hot bacon dressing over the top. So good!
"Potatoes"
Cauliflower Mashed "Potatoes"
If you're searching for healthy low carb holiday sides, your table might seem incomplete without something that resembles potatoes. Cauliflower makes a great substitute for the classic mashed potatoes. Not only do they make low carbohydrate side dishes but they make the creamiest low carb sides too.
Low Carb Pureed Butternut Squash
We would consider butternut squash a low carb recipe instead of keto, to reduce the carbs even more, combine 50% squash with 50% cauliflower to reduce the carbs even more but still get that traditional squash flavor.
Low Carb "Sweet Potato" Casserole
Recipe by Wholesome Yum
Wholesome Yum's sweet potato casserole tastes just like the real deal but instead of sweet potatoes, she uses a mix of butternut squash and cauliflower. There are only 5 net carbs in each serving!
Stuffings
Keto Thanksgiving Stuffing
With the use of keto bread, you can make a keto friendly stuffing with sausage that tastes just like traditional Thanksgiving stuffing.
Side Dish Casseroles
Low Carb Green Bean Casserole
Brussel Sprouts with Cream Sauce & Bacon
Find the recipe on Whole Lotta Yum
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
Find the baked cauliflower mac and cheese recipe at Whole Lotta Yum
Cauliflower Bacon Au Gratin
Find the recipe at Whole Lotta Yum
Hot Veggie Sides
Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Green Beans
Air fryer bacon wrapped green beans will be your new favorite side when you want something simple yet super impressive! Comes together in just 20 mins!
Broccoli Fritters
Keto broccoli fritters makes for a family friendly unique low carb side dish that can also double as an appetizer. Feel free to make these a little smaller if you want to serve them before dinner.
A dollop of sour cream makes for a tasty addition.
Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash
Cooking spaghetti squash in a pressure cooker is a game changer! Serve it with our garlic parmesan sauce or the sausage alfredo sauce!
Italian Baked Zucchini and Squash
Our Italian baked zucchini and squash recipe seriously makes for the best keto side dish recipe when you're looking for a hot dish in the summer.
Slow Cooker Cabbage with Bacon
Buttery crock pot cabbage with bacon and herbs compliments all of the main dish recipes for your holiday table. Plus a slow cooker not only keeps your valuable stove space open but it enhances the flavors even better than a quick stove-top saute could have done.
Cheesy Roasted Green Beans
Easy 20 minute roasted green beans covered in delicious melted cheese. What gets better than that? The keto green beans make a nice change from the sauce laden green bean casserole with soup mix.
Roasting vegetables truly make the best keto vegetable dishes, roasted vegetables are easy, healthy, fast, and delicious! Serving them with cheese on top makes for the best keto diet sides since the cheese adds extra fat you need for a ketogenic diet.
Roasted Radishes aka Keto "Potatoes"
If you haven't yet tried roasted radishes, you're in for quite the treat! They are seriously the closest thing you can make that' low carb and resembles roasted potatoes. I love to call these keto potatoes.
Roasted radishes are mellow in flavor, slightly sweet, soft on the inside, and crispy on the outside.
Garlic Butter Mushrooms
Most people don't really think to eat mushrooms as healthy low carb sides for dinner. It seems that many add slice mushrooms to a dish like a roast, salad, or casserole.
What we love about this recipe from Ketogasm is that the mushrooms shine all on their own and make the perfect keto side dish for steak, with chicken, or as a keto side dish for Thanksgiving.
Recipe and image by Ketogasm
Asparagus with Brown Butter Hollandaise
Find the recipe at Low Carb Maven
Oven Roasted Broccoli
Oven roasted broccoli is a staple in our home that gets cooked every single week. If only I could get my broccoli hating daughter to give these a try, I know she'd change her opinions!
Cooking roasted vegetables like broccoli at a high temperature carmelizes the vegetables and makes them irresistible.
Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Easy oven roasted Brussel sprouts make for a wonderful side dish, I promise you that even Brussel sprout haters will love this recipe once they eat Brussel sprouts that are cooked right!
The key to the soft insides, crispy outside and carmelized mild taste is cooking these gems at a high temperature.
Soups
Awesome keto sides when you just want a light soup served on the side with protein. We've listed the most popular on our website.
Broccoli Cheese Soup Keto
Hearty and easy broccoli cheese soup (keto, gluten free) that's a stovetop version using fresh broccoli and heavy cream instead of flour or potato. Mix in chicken or sausage for a main dish meal.
Making your own egg drop soup recipe at home is super easy and simple! In under 15 minutes, you can have an authentic bowl of egg drop soup that'll be the best you've ever tasted.
Not only is this low carb egg drop soup, but it's low in calorie, keto-friendly, paleo, Whole 30, gluten-free, and can be vegetarian with a simple adaption. It's essentially a zero carb soup recipe too!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Soup (Crack Chicken Soup)
Delicious and hearty chicken bacon ranch soup, as known as crack chicken soup, takes the soul satisfying flavors of chicken, bacon, and ranch seasoning and combines it into a one bowl dish your favorite won't be able to get enough of!
Not only is the bacon chicken soup gluten free, but it's low carb and keto friendly too.
Keto Pizza Soup Recipe (Crock Pot, Instant Pot)
A simple dump and go recipe for creamy pizza soup that tastes like the real deal! With flavors of a combination pizza, you'll love that this recipe is also low carb, gluten-free, and keto-friendly. Instructions are included for an Instant Pot pressure cooker and a crock-pot.
Keto Chicken Noodle Soup with Zoodles
A low carb keto chicken "noodle" soup recipe with zoodles that cooks in under 30 minutes when you start with a rotisserie chicken. The low carb chicken soup is also paleo and gluten-free. So easy and delicious!
Breads
Low carb bread substitutes make wonderful options if you're looking for keto side dishes that are not vegetables. Whether you want rolls or biscuits, you can still enjoy low carb bread on a keto diet.
Low Carb & Keto Dinner Rolls
Find the recipe on Low Carb Maven
Low Carb Biscuits
Find the recipe on Heart of a Country Home
Cheesy Cauliflower Muffins
Find the recipe on Kirbie's Cravings
No Carb Side Dishes?
If you're looking for no-carb side dishes, you'll want to read our post with 30 no-carb or almost no carb snacks for inspiration.
Our favorite picks to use as no carb sides include certain types of cheeses, olives, pickles, avocado, cheese crisps, pepperoni chips, celery, and others.
It's tough to find no carb side dishes like a salad or hot dish, but adding simple no carb sides like avocado, olives, and cheese with a protein make for a simple keto meal.
MORE Low Carb Holiday Recipes
- 25 days of Keto Christmas Cookies
- Keto Christmas Treats and Candy
- Keto Christmas Desserts
- Keto Thanksgiving Recipes
- Keto Christmas Dinner Menu
- Keto Pumpkin Recipes
- Spiral Ham in Crockpot with no sugar glaze
- Crustless Pumpkin Pie
- Keto Creme Brulee
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