9 Ways to Liven Up a Boring Keto Diet

By Geri 2018-08-22 diet 0 Comments

Many people complain that a keto diet is boring. They eat the same foods day after day – of course they are bored! A boring keto diet is an indication that you need more variety.

If you really do want to stay on a keto diet, and you do not want to be bored with your food, then read on for ways you can introduce more variety. Some are extremely simple, some are a little harder. Some may surprise you! Pick an idea that will work for you and give it a try.

Method #1: Have a variety of flavors

A common cause of a boring keto diet is so many of the flavors are the same. Take a cue from the Japanese and include sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory) flavors in most meals. This is pretty easy to do.

Umami

Some common Keto foods high in umami are hard cheeses such as Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano (for those who tolerate dairy), tomatoes (especially when cooked), mushrooms, (especially when dried), cooked beef, Tamari sauce (gluten-free soy sauce), black olives, asparagus, and sauerkraut (fermented foods are high in umami). Some will question the tamari sauce because of the soy. Since you only use a small amount to flavor dishes, it is fine to use on a keto diet. (There is plenty of disagreement on that point but it works for me.)

Sweet

Sweet foods are not completely out of a keto diet. What you really want to avoid is sugar. Focus on the healthiest sweet foods, such as berries in season. I know people who have been a long time on keto who still use 1 teaspoon a day of sugar in their coffee. I put a very small amount of pickle relish in deviled eggs – it gives a sweet taste but the amount of sugar is almost non-existent. A small amount of sweet potato can also be part of a keto diet.

Bitter

An easy Keto way to get bitter taste is to eat greens, either raw or cooked. Greens that are often cooked include spinach, kale, chard, mustard, dandelion, collard, and beet. Salad greens are typically eaten raw such as arugula (rocket), frisee (chicory), endive, mizuna, escarole, and any of the greens from the cooked list. You could get bitter by putting a tablespoon of aromatic bitters in an 8 ounce glass of water and sip that as a before dinner drink. Bitter foods and drinks stimulate digestion, so are often consumed at the start of a meal.

Sour

Sour can be obtained by including vinegar, lemon, or lime juice in a meat marinade, or by eating pickled vegetables. Braised pork chops in lemon or lime juice brings in a nice sour taste. 2 Tablespoons of lime or lemon juice in 8 ounces of cool water is a refreshing beverage that gives you the sour taste and is a digestive aid.

Salty

Salty flavor is easy to get by seasoning food with salt, tamari, or other salty cooking sauces.

What flavor have you not been including in your boring keto diet? Find a way to get more of that flavor and see if your diet becomes more interesting.

Method #2: Have a variety of textures and temperatures

Another way to get more variety is to have different textures and temperatures in your meals . Soft, crisp, smooth, rough, hot, and cool should all be variations on your diet.

If you always have green salads (cool), try some cooked greens for a change (hot). Instead of braised chicken (soft) try a keto almond crusted chicken (crunch from the almonds). Take sliced almonds, saute a bit in butter and add to a vegetable dish to add some crispness to the soft vegetables. Along with an egg for breakfast (smooth), have some berries (rough).

What textures and temperatures have you not been including in your boring keto diet? Find a way to get more variety of texture and temperatures and see if your diet become more interesting.

Method #3: Make your meals colorful

You might be bored with your keto diet because it is bland in color. Feed your eyes and brain with a mixture of different colored foods – black, red, yellow, green, orange, purple, white, and brown.

Bright colors are more interesting to your brain and tend to stimulate appetite. Make your meals colorful through your selection of food. Meatloaf topped with a savory tomato sauce (brown and red) might be paired with steamed broccoli with a lemon butter sauce (bright green) and radish roses (red and white). That also gives you flavors of umami, salty, sweet, bitter, and sour, temperatures of cold and hot, and textures of soft and crunchy.

See how easy this is? Just a little thought and you can avoid a boring keto diet. What colors are you missing? Find a way to get more variety of colors in your meals.

Method #4: Try different cooking methods

Another way to get more variety in your diet is to switch around your cooking methods. When thinking of food, think about including raw, simmered, fried (including stir-fry), steamed (including braised), and roasted (including grilled) foods.

This one idea is how I come up with meal plans for myself and BH every week. I’ll think about making something with chicken that I already know how to do. It won’t be raw, but I might simmer it in soup, stir-fry with veggies, braise with lemon or orange, or roast with herbs. It is all chicken and all different.

How about cauliflower? I could eat it raw with a dip, simmer in a stew, add it to a stir fry,or steam then serve in a pile with cheese, bacon, and sour cream on top. I do not have a roasted cauliflower recipe, but I’m sure they exist.

colorful meat and vegetable kabobs on a grill

Again, this is a very easy way to avoid a boring keto diet. What cooking methods are you forgetting? Find different ways to cook the same foods to get more variety in your diet.

TIP: If you would like a lot of ideas for easy-to-prepare keto dishes then I highly recommend you check out The Ketosis Cookbook. It has over 370 recipes, so you are sure to find something new to enjoy. Click this link to get your copy: Ketosis Cookbook

When you buy it, send a copy of your receipt to orders@alifeinharmony.me and I will send you my “10 Problems with Generic Meal Plans (and how to fix them)” as a bonus.

2 disclaimers: I have bought the product myself and am using it to get more ideas for my own home cooking and meal plans. Also, I am an affiliate and will earn a commission if you buy through that link. This helps me pay for maintaining this website.

Method #5: Have a variety of environments

Another relatively easy way to get variety is to eat in a variety of environments. Even in your own home you can change the environment or where you eat. You might choose to have an informal meal, get out Grandma’s china for a formal meal, or take food to the backyard for a picnic. Some times it might be quiet when you eat, other times you might have some music playing in the background. Is the lighting bright or soft candlelight?

When you eat out, you could stop at a sit-down restaurant, stop at a fast food place (probably not on keto), or get carry-out to take home. The places you choose to eat, could be a noisy bar, a quiet corner cafe, or anything in between.

This is another easy way to avoid a boring keto diet. Any kinds of changes you can make so that it is not the same thing over and over again will help keep your brain from getting bored. What can you vary in your environment to make keto less boring?

Method #6: Use herbs, spices, and sauces more

Edible flowers with herb and spice seasoning with fresh and dried herbs and spices on an olive wood board and rustic background

Some people are bored because they are eating a lot of plain meat, steamed veggies, and salads. Liven up your boring keto diet by using herbs, spices, sauces, and dressings. On a keto diet you need additional fat, so start thinking of all the forbidden high-fat things you used to have as a treat. Some of them will be good additions to your keto diet.

Add mayonnaise, Hollandaise, and Bearnaise sauces to your veggies or meat. Mix different herbs, spices, or juices into mayonnaise and use it for a sauce over veggies.

Use full-fat salad dressings with healthy oils on your salad.

Try new veggies on your salad, a different kind of lettuce, and fresh herbs. A bit of mint in a green salad is a refreshing surprise. I like to find salad bars and build-your-own salad places for lunch. The places you eat do not offer herbs? Buy some herbs such as sage, rosemary, lavender, cilantro, parsley, basil, mint, or dill. Put a few in a baggie and take with you when you eat salads out to make your salads more interesting.

Use mayonnaise on sandwiches and wraps. Try some of the flavored mayos such as aioli (garlic) or chipotle lime. If you are a mustard fan, try different flavors of mustard.

Add herbs and spices to your vegetables. Try nutmeg in your carrots or add some dill to your green beans.

Using herbs, spices, and sauces is a pretty easy way to avoid a boring keto diet. What will you try adding to your meals this week?

Method #7: Look for variations on your favorite meals

This way of livening up a boring keto diet is a bit more work. You have to do some research online or in cookbooks. But for many, it is really worth it to have their old favorites again, just in keto form.

Clever people have made delicious keto variations on just about anything you can think of. Assume you are craving pizza. Try a search for keto pizza. You will find recipes for it. There are keto recipes for tortillas, pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, bread, pancakes – all kinds of things that you actually do not need grains to produce. Some are quite good, some are not. Look at comments to see what people are saying about the recipe before trying it.

Sometimes you will find that you are disappointed in the new version. It is OK, but all it really does is make you miss the old version. In that situation this is a bad tactic for you to use to liven up your boring keto diet because it will just make it harder to stay on it. If you like the new version though, then it is a win. You get your favorite food in a healthy form.

Method #8: Try a new cuisine

If keto variations of your favorite foods just leave you feeling disappointed, try to liven up your boring keto diet by trying a completely new cuisine. This will involve research either online or in cookbooks. If you really crave variety, the time spent will be worth it. You can try cooking the new cuisine yourself or try it out at a restaurant.

What foods have you never had before? If you try keto versions of those foods, you will have nothing to compare them to, and thus will not be disappointed. You might not like the new food, but it will not disappoint you.

Cuisines that are easier to eat keto include Spanish, French, German, and Italian (not pizza and pasta). Japanese, Chinese, and Thai are very workable on keto – you really do not have to eat rice with this food. American BBQ and grilling are easy to do keto. American steak houses and Japanese steak houses (teppanyaki) have menus that have a lot of keto options. You can eat out or figure out how to make the same meals at home.

What new cuisine will you try to liven up your boring keto diet?

Method #9: Look at keto meal plans for ideas

Sometimes the problem with a boring keto diet is not the individual recipes, it is trying to figure out how to make a day full of meals that are keto. There are quite a number of sample keto meal plans available.

A general meal plan, one not personalized to you, is a fine way to get ideas. It is unlikely to be a perfect fit for you, so you will make adjustments to it. You will adjust for things such as taste, portion sizes, how many people are eating, and availability of ingredients. It might make sense to substitute one meal for another. Sometimes eating out is a better option than cooking a meal. Use it as a starting point for creating your own personalized meal plan.

I covered a lot of information in this article, but if you would like to have an easy way to get a wide variety of easy-to-prepare keto meals then I highly recommend you check out The Ketosis Cookbook. This cookbook comes with over 370 recipes and 12 weeks of meal plans, so you can get a lot of ideas from it. Click this link to get your copy: Ketosis Cookbook