Can You Eat Almond Butter on Keto?

BySam Eames, Certified Nutritionist

If you’re new to the keto diet, finding what foods to eat can be a challenge. And while almonds are generally considered to be healthy, it raises the following question: can you eat almond butter on keto?

Yes, you can eat almond butter on keto in small amounts. Consuming too much almond butter will load you up with carbohydrates and throw your body out of ketosis.

Keto Diet Basics

The Ketogenic diet, commonly called the Keto diet, is a method used to transition the body from burning fat for fuel, instead of burning carbohydrates.

The goal of a Keto diet is to put the body into ketosis, which is the process where the human body breaks down fatty acids.

Eating fat to burn fat sounds like a dream diet to some and possibly too good to be true, but that’s the basic pretense of the Keto diet.

The Keto diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. Typically, it consists of about 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% net carbs.

To stay in ketosis, excess carbs must be avoided, usually keeping them under 25-50 grams per day.

Can You Eat Almond Butter on Keto?

Since almond butter contains low amounts of carbs, it’s considered safe to eat on a Keto diet. There are around 3 grams of carbs per tbsp (16 grams), so it can fit into your daily meal plan.

But eating too much almond butter will break your body out of ketosis. Nut butters have a higher amount of calories per serving size, but those calories come largely from fats.

If those fats are healthy fats, almond butter is a welcome addition to a Keto diet. Keto-friendly almond butter also contains a good amount of fiber that helps to keep the net carbohydrate count low.

Almond butter also provides some key nutrients and minerals, like Vitamin E, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Choline, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, and trace amounts of Selenium.

It’s also packed with tons of macro and micronutrients making it a perfect snack to have before training.

Just be safe and always read the label. Be aware that many almond butter brands add ingredients that don’t fit within the Keto diet meal plan.

Always avoid any almond butter that contains artificial flavors or preservatives. A lot of hidden sugars and carbs lurk inside these ingredients which will put a wrench in achieving ketosis.

What to Look For

To find a good, high-quality nut butter that works well on a Keto diet, look for:

  • Very few ingredients
  • Zero added sugars
  • No fillers or processed ingredients
  • Less than 2 to 3 g of net carbs per serving

Ideally, look for organic almonds. The best choice in almond butter for the Keto diet are those that simply have organic ground raw or roasted nuts as the only ingredient.

Be careful about added oils. While some high-quality almond butter may contain healthy oils like coconut oil or MCT to make it easier to spread, if the almonds are roasted in vegetable oil, it could cause inflammation and harm your health.

Avoid almond butter that contains these oils:

  • Partially or hydrogenated vegetable oils
  • Soybean oil
  • Canola oil
  • Palm oil
  • Sunflower oil


A high-quality almond butter may add healthy ingredients, like vanilla bean, cinnamon, sea salt, stevia, or monk fruit, to give it more flavor without adding sugars.

When you find an almond butter that works on the Keto diet, feel comfortable using that brand to eat by the spoonful or to add into other recipes.

If you don’t want to take the time to read every label, make your own almond butter by simply grinding up roasted or blanched almonds.

Further Reading

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