It might at first seem tough to stick to a ketogenic diet during the holidays, but actually, you can find easy keto Christmas dinner recipes that loved ones will never know are low carb.
Whether you're looking for keto Christmas side dishes, main dishes, appetizers, or keto Christmas dessert recipes, our collection of 25 low carb Christmas recipes for a keto Christmas dinner will help you out, plus they're a Whole Lotta Yum!
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Keto Christmas Dinner Recipes
Last year I was able to sneak in numerous Keto Christmas dinner recipes on our holiday table and no one even knew! And even if you aren't hosting, if you're able to bring one or two holiday dishes that are low carb, that'll make it so much easier to have something to eat at holiday gatherings. Scale back our Keto Christmas menu if you're serving a smaller group, below is what I serve when it's probably 10+ people.
Our go-to Keto Christmas menu includes:
- 2-3 easy keto Christmas appetizers
- 2 hot keto side dishes
- 1 keto holiday salad
- 1-2 meat main dishes
- 1 dessert + cookies on the side
Maybe this is controversial, but I still mix in our high-carb favorites for the kids because I'm a sucker for tradition. Yet because I simply feel better cutting out the sugar and carbs, it's made it easier to avoid those other dishes as much as possible (or at least just take a bite instead of piling up the plate.)
I'd love to know what others do around the holidays! Do you try to make a whole keto Christmas dinner or do you add things to mix in with your family holiday favorites as we do?
Keto Christmas Side Dishes
Finding easy keto Christmas side dishes doesn't have to be tough, the issue is that many classic holiday sides are laden with processed sauces like canned soups or are made with flour mixed in as a thickener.
All of the recipes we've included are made without canned soups and high-carb starches, and instead, are swapped with real ingredients like heavy whipping cream, butter, and cheese. Some of the side dish keto Christmas recipes might call for mayo, be sure to check the labels or purchase low-carb mayo that doesn't include sugar.
Our list of side dish Keto Christmas recipes includes both hot dishes and cold sides like our favorite holiday salads.
If you're looking for even more keto Christmas side dishes, be sure to check out our post that's just about low carb keto holiday sides.
Loaded Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
Our loaded cauliflower mashed potatoes can almost pass as your traditional mashed potatoes on a holiday table. You won’t believe how creamy and addictive our recipe is, the consistency is very similar to mashed potatoes since we mix in cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and garlic.
Brussel Sprouts Casserole
Our easy low carb and keto Brussel sprouts casserole has always been one of our most popular recipes. With bacon mixed in, it truly can be a main dish keto casserole too.
What's unique about this version is it roasts the Brussels sprouts FIRST before adding the cheese and cream sauce--doing it this way makes a WORLD of difference!
Keto Broccoli Salad
Here's another keto take on the classic raw broccoli salad. My family always made this with added raisins, since it already has so much flavor and added goodies, it's an easy ingredient to leave out. This is our most popular salad recipe, especially on a holiday table or for a potluck.
Recipe and image by Whole Lotta Yum
Baked Keto "Mac n Cheese" (with cauliflower)
Another popular casserole that works perfect at the holidays too, is our keto cauliflower "mac n cheese," so cheesy, creamy, and delicious!
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.
Crockpot Cabbage with Bacon
Using other kitchen gadgets besides the stove and oven really are such space savers during the holidays. We LOVE our crockpot cabbage and bacon recipe, it'll turn cabbage haters into lovers. I mean it has bacon, everything is better with bacon (and butter 😉
Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
A spinach salad with hot bacon dressing was always one of my favorites growing up, we lightened it up and made it keto-friendly. This is a holiday classic recipe with an addictive hot bacon dressing you'll want to use with other recipes too.
Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad
If you didn’t realize you can eat Brussels sprouts raw, you can! The best way to serve them is thinly sliced and tossed with flavorful ingredients such as bacon, blue cheese, and our apple cider vinaigrette like we did in ourshaved Brussel sprouts salad.
Easy Low Carb Cheese Sauce
This keto-friendly cheese sauce makes holidays simple. Just steam any vegetable of choice and take it to the next level with cheese sauce over the top.
We served this over instant pot steamed broccoli, which has a cook time of 0 minutes!
Asparagus with Brown Butter Hollandaise
Find the recipe at Low Carb Maven
Keto Christmas Main Dishes
Swedish Meatballs
Low carb and keto-friendly Swedish meatballs will be so popular with your family you won't just save it for the holidays! While the meatballs bake it's easy to make a quick cream sauce to serve over the top.
Recipe and image by Whole Lotta Yum
Roasted Herb Turkey Breast
You possibly just had turkey for Thanksgiving as well, but who's counting? Turkey is still super popular at Christmas too! Our easy herb baked turkey breast is super simple and delicious. You won't even need to add gravy is tastes so juicy and flavorful!
Ham with a Keto "Caramel" Glaze
Ham usually seems to be our go to Christmas dinner main course. Buying a precooked applewood smoked spiral sliced ham is not on easy to make, but it's low cost too.
Our keto friendly ham with a sugar free ham savory caramel glaze is a perfect main dish for a simple keto Christmas dinner.
We also have a small boneless glazed air fryer ham if you want to air fry your main dish.
Air fryer Pork Tenderloin
If you have an air fryer and you're serving 2-4 people for your holiday table, we highly recommend our air fryer rosemary pork tenderloin. Many air fryers will hold two tenderloins at a time and your main dish literally cannot get easier than this.
Prime Rib
Prime Rib is like the king or queen of Christmas dinner, truly, it's hard to beat a perfectly cooked prime rib.
Since a prime rib isn't exactly the cheapest cut, I'll often serve it for Christmas when we don't have many guests. It IS worth every penny!
Stuffed Pork Roast
Making a stuffed pork roast is the perfect and easy way to keep the holidays simple yet still get the wow factor from the main course.
And how can you pass up a crowd-pleaser like a cordon bleu stuffed pork roast?
Keto Christmas Desserts
Finding low carb desserts after you've finished your keto Christmas dinner isn't always easy. So much temptation!
Our suggestion is to at least have one keto Christmas dessert option available to make it easier to stick to, whether it be a creme Brule, cheesecake, or a simple keto Christmas cookie.
Keto Creme Brulee
Creme brulee is our go to Christmas dessert and we've been making it for 20+ years now. That's so hard to believe, yet it's only 4 ingredients and is just so impressive to serve!
Our keto creme brulee will surely please your guests and no one will know it's sugar free.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
If you've never tried a flourless chocolate cake you're in for a treat, perfectly fudgy and decadent, our gluten free recipe works great with low carb sweeteners like monk fruit or erythritol.
Keto Christmas Cookies
Just having a variety of Christmas cookies on the table makes the perfect dessert, plus gives people a wide variety of flavors. Our low carb Christmas cookies featured on the plate are:
- keto rum balls
- keto sea salt chocolate covered almonds
- keto peanut butter fudge
- keto chocolate mints
Keto Chocolate Mousse
No one will even know this keto chocolate mousse is missing the sugar. Since it only takes 5 minutes to whip up, it's the perfect easy dessert to serve to gluten-free guests or those not eating sugar. You can either make it with cream cheese or leave it out, your preference. Both are delish!
Keto Whipping Cream
Regardless of what you're serving as a holiday dessert, most likely something will taste even better with a little whipped cream on top. Even better when it's keto whipping cream!
More Keto Dessert Ideas
- Low carb whole baked cheesecake | My Baking Addiction
- Low Carb Panna Cotta with Cranberry Sauce |All Day I Dream of Food
- 18 keto Christmas candy recipes | Whole Lotta Yum
Keto Christmas Appetizers
You don't want to ruin your ketogenic diet before dinner even starts, here's a handful of our favorite keto Christmas appetizers to make things easier on you. All of these can be prepped in advance and served at room temperature, pulled from the fridge last minute, or just popped in oven briefly to re-heat.
These also make fantastic keto appetizers for New Year and other holidays like Thanksgiving too.
Caprese Skewers
You got to love Caprese skewers, not only are the simple, but they're an impressive ketogenic appetizer in all the Christmas colors.
Boursin Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers
Our take on a milder and more crowd-pleasing jalapeno popper. Boursin cheese makes this recipe even easier since it's already flavored. Just stuff, add a sprinkle of cheese, and bake.
Stuffed Mushrooms with Bacon and Cream Cheese
When you are looking for asavory and easy mushroom appetizer, look no further than our stuffed mushrooms with bacon and cream cheese.Filled with a mix ofcream cheese,bacon, and seasoning, these baked mushrooms are the perfect addition to your holiday table.
Low carb charcuterie board
Putting together a keto-friendly charcuterie board is just so impressive! This is actually our favorite appetizer to serve guests.
Really, it also makes for a simple and stylish light dinner too. Maybe not as a holiday meal but maybe on a Friday night with co*cktails.
All but the apple slices on here are keto-friendly, but again, all things in moderation can probably still work with a keto diet. It's easy to swap the fruit with low carb fruits like raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries.
Warm Chili Artichoke Dip
Are you even at a holiday gathering if there isn't at least one type of hot dip on the table? For our family, our go-to keto hot dip recipe is this 15 minute artichoke green chili dip.
Serve with low carb vegetables or keto crackers.
More Appetizer Ideas
- BBQ Bacon Wrapped Smokies –Ruled.me
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms –Snappy Gourmet
More Keto Holiday Recipes You'll Love
- 25 days of Keto Christmas Cookies
- Keto Christmas Treats and Candy
- Keto Cream Cheese Desserts
- 25 Keto Thanksgiving Recipes
- 12 Low carb holiday co*cktails
Be sure to pin our keto Christmas dinner recipes so you can find this post again!!
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