Mac and cheese serves as a warm, melty, and delicious comfort food for many of us, bringing us back to our childhood in every bite. While our younger selves didn’t give too much thought to every bite of mac and cheese, today we might find that mac and cheese feels a bit too heavy or carby to digest. Yet, we don’t have to say goodbye to this amazing comfort food. Low-carb dieters and those on a ketogenic diet can still enjoy mac and cheese in a new form: keto mac and cheese. Here’s why keto mac and cheese is the perfect no-guilt comfort food.
Why you need keto mac and cheese
Traditional mac and cheese noodles or pasta are too high in carbs for a low-carb, high-fat diet such as the keto diet. On average, one cup of mac and cheese contains a hefty 44 grams of carbs. While this can vary depending on the type of mac and cheese, it’s still too many carbs for a low-carb diet, no matter how you make it. Plus, even for those not watching carbs, overeating mac and cheese can leave you feeling tired and sluggish.
Low-carb keto mac and cheese alternatives can be made in a variety of ways, often using cauliflower as a base. Cauliflower serves as a great base because it is low in carbs, high in fiber, and has a very mild taste. The mild taste of cauliflower makes it excellent for absorbing the taste of other ingredients, such as the cheese or bacon you may add to a mac and cheese dish. For those who don’t love cauliflower, other variations of keto mac and cheese include using pre-packaged keto pasta or noodles or using zucchini noodles.
3 ways to make keto mac and cheese
Want to try making keto and mac and cheese for yourself? Give each of these three methods a try to see which variety you like the most.
Using cauliflower
The vast majority of keto mac and cheese recipes you’ll find will use cauliflower as the primary ingredient. Once cooked, cauliflower florets become nice and soft and create a great textured base for your mac and cheese. There are lots of different variations of types of cheeses and toppings you can use in keto mac and cheese, but most recipes will use heavy whipping cream, cheddar, mozzarella, or some form of cream cheese to make the mac and cheese ultra-creamy. We love that this recipe uses bacon and crushed pork rinds as a topping, creating that “baked” mac and cheese effect. Cauliflower mac and cheese can also be prepared in advance and frozen for future use.
Using pre-packaged keto pasta
Cauliflower keto mac and cheese recipes are a great substitute, but it’s fair to want something that resembles traditional mac and cheese a bit more. As the low-carb and keto trend has grown recently, many brands have developed boxed mac and cheese products that are low in carbs.
One example is the Perfect Keto mac and cheese, which is made from a blend of low-carb fibers such as lupin flour, sunflower flour, and soluble tapioca flour. This brand offers keto mac and cheese in yellow cheddar and white cheddar varieties. You’ll cook this mac and cheese similar to other boxed mac and cheese products by cooking the pasta in boiling water and then adding cream, seasoning, or butter.
There are also other brands of pre-packaged keto pasta that can be used for keto mac and cheese recipes, however, many of these contain more carbs than using zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. Carbe Diem elbows contains 16 grams of net carbs per serving, which could be consumed on a keto diet in moderation.
Using zucchini noodles
Like cauliflower, zucchini is a low-carb veggie that is quite mild in taste. While its mild taste makes it a great option to use in a mac and cheese dish, using zucchini noodles will result in a variation of mac and cheese that might take some getting used to. Zucchini noodle mac and cheese is more “inspired” by mac and cheese, so it’s important to go into making this recipe with an open mind. Although it may not taste exactly like Velveeta mac & cheese shells, it’s still a great low-carb creamy comfort food substitution.
Using a combination of spiralized zucchini noodles, butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, sharp cheddar, and seasonings, zucchini keto mac and cheese fits the keto macros perfectly with only 5 grams of net carbs per serving.
