14 Ways To Eat More Healthy Fat On A Ketogenic Diet

There are loads of better ways to maintain the higher, healthy fat intake you’re going to need to be successful on a ketogenic diet apart from bulletproof coffee and fat bombs.

In this article, I’m going to take you through 14 different ways you can add plenty of healthy fat into your meals and I’ve definitely gone and saved my favourite and the best for last.

1. Prioritize higher, healthy fat proteins

Yes, this article is primarily about fat,however, getting a decent amount of protein should be the focus for each and every meal, and your choice of protein can naturally provide a great source of fat as well.

Take meat for example.

Choose fattier cuts of meat

Opt for chicken thighs rather than chicken breasts. They’re going to be a lot more moist and flavorful because the fat is where a lot of that flavor comes from.

Leave The Skin ON

Don’t forget you can always leave the skin on as well, because that contains a reasonable amount of fat too.

You can choose higher fat versions of meat products such as minced or ground beef. These are often significantly cheaper than their leaner alternatives.

Equally, you could choose other types of meat that are naturally higher in fat such as duck.

Fish

Fish is also a fantastic source of protein. Oily fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, anchovies are really, really nutritious and they’ll also give you a boost of natural, healthy fat that is rich in a omega-3s.

Check the label

Do make sure you always check the labels on tinned fish because sometimes they are packaged in really low quality vegetable or seed oil so just be careful about those.

Eggs

Finally, in the protein rich source of healthy fat, we have eggs!…. any way which you prefer to cook them. Boil them, scrambled them, poach them, make them into an omelet.

2. Cook with fat

You’ve got loads of different options here, either pick your favorite or match the flavor to whatever it is you’re cooking.

Butter

Let’s start with butter. Butter is, of course, very versatile for cooking with, or you can just add it to stuff. It’s really great when you’re out and about, you can just ask for some butter and that’s a great way to boost the fat intake in whatever meal it is that you are eating.

Just make sure that whatever it is you’re getting is actually butter because a lot of restaurants will use cheaper butter blends with oils.

Vegetables are a fantastic base to absorb butter. You can try sauteing vegetables with butter or try something like a Mediterranean vegetable tray bake. This is one of my favorite ways to cook vegetables with butter.

Of course, you can just add a dollop of butter to whatever vegetables you are serving up.

Flavoured Butter

Flavored butters are a fantastic way to add some last-minute flavor into a dish. I like to make them in advance and keep them in ice cube trays that you keep in their freezer, a great way to portion them off, and then you can just defrost them as and when you need them. Some great ones to try

garlic and herb,
chilli, coriander and lime,
basil, parmesan, and tomato.

Your imagination is your only limit when it comes to flavored butters.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is great for cooking with, and it is full of medium chain triglyceride oils. It’s solid at room temperature and it works really well for things like granola. It also has a very high smoke point so it’s really good for cooking at high temperatures. It is perfect to use when cooking dishes like curries or stir fries, adding that coconutty flavor to things.

Ghee

Ghee is a form of clarified butter that originated in ancient India. It’s commonly used in Indian cooking. You can get it from the supermarket or it’s really quite easy to make your own at home. Similarly to coconut oil, you can cook ghee at much higher temperatures than you would be able to with just normal butter. Ghee is a really useful thing to have in your kitchen when you don’t want the added flavour of coconut oil.

Lard/ beef dripping

Lard or beef dripping, and other kinds of animal fats like that make fantastic choices for cooking as well. Unfortunately, these went out of fashion due to the incorrect demonization of saturated fats, but they are making a comeback and they add some fantastic flavor into your dishes as well. It’s amazing how cheaply these can be purchased if you can find them in your local supermarket.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is fantastic for pan cooking at lower temperatures and for drizzling over food that is already cooked in the same way that you would with butter. Olive oil is very versatile. We don’t need to go into any more detail about olive oil, I don’t think.

3. Salad dressings and vinaigrettes

Salad dressings and vinaigrettes are a fantastic way to increase your healthy fat consumption, just be aware that many commercially-prepared ones are either full of sugar or they use really low quality seed oils.

Simple Vinaigrette Recipe

Three parts oil, extra virgin olive oil is great, but avocado oil is also fantastic, flaxseed oil is also very popular
One part of acid, usually vinegar or lemon juice
Season it with salt and pepper
Add fresh herbs of your choice
shake it, mix it, blend it,
Use it to dress your salads generously

The reason that salads typically taste a lot better in restaurants than they do at home is that your average chef is much more comfortable dressing a salad liberally with lots and lots of dressing or vinaigrette.

Your average home cook tends to be a lot more reserved with those kinds of things and the difference is huge. I can’t remember which celebrity chef it was on which TV program that told me this, but honestly, it’s changed the way I look at salads, and because we’re not trying to avoid fat, there is no reason not to dress your salads liberally. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

4. Dairy

Another easy way to add more healthy fat into your diet is with dairy products.

Cream-based sources

These are perfect for replacing the classic higher carb white sources that are made with flour.

pepper sauce,
mushroom sauce,
blue cheese sauce are all absolutely fantastic with steak,

Cream

try some double cream or heavy cream over some berries with a grating of dark chocolate for a dessert.

Sour cream

A fantastic option for adding a bit of coolness to spicy dishes like chilli.

Cheese

Cheese just happens to be one of those foods which goes with just about anything. Grill cheese as a topping on your omelet, on your cottage pie, on your meatball dishes, cheddar, mozzarella, many other cheeses are great for this.

Crumble feta cheese over your salad. Try adding cream cheese or ricotta to an omelet or try a cheese plate instead of dessert, just minus the crackers!

Yogurt

Full fat Greek yogurt is fantastic as a breakfast or as a dessert with some berries and some toasted nuts.

5. Mayonnaise

Now mayonnaise is just an emulsion of egg yolks, oil, with either some vinegar or some lemon juice and a bit of seasoning. You can, of course, add loads of different stuff to the humble mayonnaise to make it a bit more interesting. One of my favorites is harissa.

Commercial brands

Mayonnaise is one of those areas where there’s often a lot of poor quality seed oils involved in their production, so always read the label. Sometimes they’re really tricky because they’ll even say this is made with olive oil, and yes it is made with a small amount of olive oil, but the majority of the oil in there is still this poor quality seed oil.

Make your own

I definitely recommend making your own mayonnaise. It’s way easier than you think. Make sure you use a light in flavor olive oil as extra virgin olive oil will be overpowering. Alternatively, you can use something like avocado oil, but it’s typically a lot more expensive.

If you don’t want to do that, there are some good quality commercial products available from specialist retailers. I will link a few of those in the description down below because there are different ones around the world.

6. Avocado

Avocados are a great addition to salads, in fact, they’re a great addition to quite a lot of meals. One of my favorite breakfasts is avocado, poached eggs, and smoked salmon, definitely a bit of an indulgent breakfast for a weekend there.

They blend really well into smoothies and add a subtle creaminess. Another thing I’d recommend making at home is guacamole, it’s way better than the shop-bought stuff.

Storage

The problem of course, with avocados is storing them. My avocados seem to go from unripe to ripe to ruined within the space of just a few minutes. If anybody has any tips on how I can stop that happening, please do let me know in the comments down below.

7. Olives

We have, of course, covered olive oil, but you will find olives on the menu of many restaurants so it is a great go-to dish to get some extra healthy fat in when you’re eating out.

You can eat them alone, have them instead of breadsticks or nibbles, cook them in stuff, add them to salads, or make your own tapenade. Tapenade is a French dish, which is made from olives, capers, and anchovies. Traditionally, it’s served on bread, but I really like to eat it with cold cuts of leftover meat. Definitely worth looking that one up if you haven’t heard of it.

8. Tahini

Tahini is made from toasted ground sesame seeds and is used in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Asian cuisines. You might be familiar with it as one of the main ingredients in hummus, along with chickpeas, but

unfortunately hummus is too carbohydrate-laden for a ketogenic diet, so why not try baba ganoush instead,

Baba Ganoush

This is a really common popular starter in Middle Eastern cuisine. It is made from roasted aubergines or eggplants, mashed together with olive oil, garlic, tahini, and lemon. It’s absolutely delicious as a dip with cucumber, red peppers, cold cuts of meat, some spiced chicken, absolutely lovely, definitely worth trying.

9. Nuts

Plain nuts; Brazil, pecan, walnuts, macadamia can be added to your salads, used to make your own granola, or just as a snack if you’re really hungry.

Nuts also blend really well. I really like to blend Brazil nuts into smoothies.

Higher carb nuts

Make sure you’re careful with cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, and peanuts as these are much higher in carbohydrate content than the nuts mentioned earlier.

Nut butters

These are also great, just be sure to read the label and avoid any that are made with palm oil or sugar.

Ground almonds/ almond flour

Can be used in place of wheat flour to make keto pancakes, bread or dessert recipes.

10. Pesto and chimichurri

I’ve grouped these two together because they are both olive oil-based marinades or sauces. They’re useful to add flavor to meat dishes, cold cuts, salads.

Making your own is by far the best way. There’s just no comparison in taste. I couldn’t believe just how easy these were to make when I gave it a go.

Pesto

Traditionally consists of garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil, and Parmesan all blended together with olive oil.

Chimichurri

There are different varieties depending on where in the world you go. There are red versions and green versions, but basically, it’s made of finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and red wine vinegar.

11. Seeds

Seeds, like nuts, are a great option for adding into salads, blending into smoothies or mixing into your homemade granola. They are chock-full of other vitamins and minerals as well. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds are popular.

Chia seeds

These are surprisingly high in healthy fat and in fiber, and whilst the carbohydrate content might appear to be quite high, most of that’s fiber so the net carbs are very low, making it a great low carb option.

Chia puddings are a great breakfast option. Soak overnight with almond milk and serve with berries and a sprinkling of chopped nuts and seeds. Just a word of warning, chia seeds for some people can have quite a laxative effect so if it’s your first time consuming them, just go easy with them. But if you struggle with constipation, it may be a really good option for you.

12. Pork rinds

Pork rinds or pork crackling as we tend to call it here in the UK, are one of those snacks that everybody talks about when starting out on a ketogenic diet. They are absolutely fantastic for that.

There are some more interesting ways to use pork rinds too. You can blitz them up and use them as an alternative to breadcrumbs. Try them on chicken breast for a really tasty change.

Just be careful with pork rinds. I guess, there’s a theme developing here. Always read the label because there is often sugar added into these, and frequently MSG gets added into these as well.

13. Coconut

We’ve talked about using coconut oil for cooking already, but full fat coconut cream or coconut milk can be a great addition to homemade curries, particularly at your Thai-style curries.

Why not try adding flaked or shredded coconut, either toasted or untoasted to your chia puddings, to granola, or to yogurt?

14. Classic French sauces

I promised to save the best for last and this is my favourite.

Now I’m not a French chef and I don’t want to offend anybody with my oversimplification of French cuisine, however, there are a number of classic French sauces that are heavily based around butter as their primary ingredient, which are an absolutely delicious way to add some fantastic flavor and healthy fats to your ketogenic diet.

Beurre Noisette

A browned butter sauce which gives it a kind of nutty flavor.

Beurre Blanc

A warm emulsified butter sauce. I particularly like making a lemon version of this to go with fish.

Hollandaise

An emulsion of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice.

But perhaps my favorite sauce of all of these is

Bearnaise sauce

Bearnaise sauce is made from shallot butter and tarragon. It is absolutely fantastic with steak. It is quite a difficult one to make, I have messed it up more than a few times, but for a special occasion, it is well worth the effort.

Summary

Adding fat to your ketogenic diet can not only help you feel full, but can also add a whole load of flavor and additional nutrition as well.

The trick is to eat enough fat so that you’re comfortably full, but not completely stuffed, and hopefully this is going to prevent you from needing to snack between meals.

I hope this article has given you some ideas about how you can use healthy fats to make your ketogenic diet more interesting, more enjoyable and more sustainable, whilst eating plenty of really nutritious real foods.

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