This low carb granola has irresistible crunchy clusters. It is packed with nuts and seeds and high in protein. If you have a cereal craving, try this delicious keto granola recipe for breakfast! You can prep a big batch in only 10 minutes.
We've all heard about just how bad breakfast cereals and granolas are for you. They are high in carbs and full of sugar, no matter how wonderful the health claims on their cartons may sound.
A bowl of Kellogg's and Co will spike your insulin levels, give you a brief energy boost and dump you shortly after, leaving you hungry again for a mid-morning snack. Not a great way to start the day!
Jump to:
A keto granola recipe
Which brings us to the question - is granola a low carb food?
The answer is simple. Absolutely! If you make your own.
This keto granola recipe takes only 10 minutes to prepare. It is jam-packed with flavor and low carb, grain-free, sugar free, gluten-free goodness.
There's not a single grain in sight 🙂
Instead on loading up on carbs for breakfast, you'll be feasting on nutrient-dense nuts, seeds and coconut chips. The recipe is not only low in carbs, but also high in fiber due to a generous portion of flax. Even better, it's also high in protein thanks to a scoop of unflavoured whey protein powder.
Friends, this low carb granola will SUPERCHARGE you.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients I used:
- Nuts: almonds, walnuts, pecans
- Seeds: Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax meal
- Coconut flakes
- Whey protein powder
- Almond butter
- Freeze dried raspberries
- Sweetener - this can be erythritol, monk fruit sweetener, allulose or Swerve
- Vanilla extract
Instructions
This section contains step by step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
1.) Get all your ingredients ready. Then pulse the nuts in a food processor (or blend with a stick blender in a bowl) until you are left with smaller and larger pieces. After that, do the same the pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
2.) Whisk your nuts and seeds, unsweetened coconut chips (I used pre-toasted chips), flaxseed, protein powder, smooth almond butter and some water in a large mixing bowl with a spatula.
3.) See how nice and moist the mixture looks? Now it's time to up the flavor. Stir in granulated sweetener, vanilla extract and freeze dried raspberries.
4.) Pour the low carb granola mix onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and press it down into an even layer.
5.) This is how your uber healthy granola looks after you've baked it for 30 minutes!
6.) See how firm it has become? Crunchy granola clusters coming up!!
7.) Once the granola has cooled down, break it into larger and smaller clusters, however you like it most. Then add another 2 tablespoon of freeze dried raspberries for a burst of colour. There you go - you've got yourself a healthy, grain free breakfast "cereal"!
Recipe NotesÂ
Grain-free granola is filling! That's why I have kept the portion sizes fairly small (a heaped â…“ cup or 50g). Trust me - it is nutrient-dense and wholesome and will keep you going until lunch.
Always check and adjust your sweetener. If you're just starting out on low carb, you may want to add a bit more. Once your taste buds adjust, a little sweetness goes a long way.
When you bake the freeze-dried raspberries in the oven, they lose their vibrant colour but not their taste. I like the berry burst within the clusters but wanted to add a few extra ones afterwards because you eat with your eyes, too 🙂
Check your granola after about 20 minutes of baking! You don't want the edges to burn, which can happen if they're too thinly spread. Turn the baking tray around if necessary (ovens are always hotter at the back) or even remove the outer edges of the granola.
If you feel that the granola at the centre of the baking tray is not browned enough after 30 minutes, place it back into the oven and bake it a bit longer.
Recipe Variations
Change the flavor: If you can't get hold of freeze-dried raspberries (or strawberries), you can leave them out. If you do, I recommend you add a tablespoon of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg or cardamom for extra flavour and an autumn/winter vibe.
Or how about adding sugar free chocolate chips instead? You could get Lily's chocolate chips or use my recipe for homemade keto chocolate chips.
Change the fat: Some low carb granola recipes use coconut oil as a fat. I have chosen the almond butter instead because I feel it adds so much more flavour. But, if you don't have almond butter, you could replace it with coconut oil. Use less though as it is a purer fat. 4 tablespoons should be plenty.
It's also possible to replace the almond butter with peanut butter or any other nut or seed butter!
Use different nuts and seeds: As long as the ratio of wet and dry ingredients stays the same, feel free to change up the nuts and seed to your preferences.
Change the "glue": Ground chia seeds works in place of the flaxseed. I do recommend to use one or the other, because they are the "glue" that helps form the clusters.
Another way to create crispy granola is to use egg white instead of the flax seeds. Depending on the size of the eggs, you'll need 1 to 2.
No whey protein: You can use a dairy-free protein powder or leave it out altogether.
How to serve
We like to eat our granola with unsweetened almond milk or other dairy free milk such as coconut milk or hazelnut milk. It is also delicious with natural Greek yogurt and berries.
You can even use your keto granola as a topping for low carb crumbles. And if you add fiber syrup to the mix, you could also make delicious low carb granola bars with this recipe!
I have calculated one serving size as â…“ cup or 50 grams. Net carbs are 3.7g per serving. This does not include milk, yogurt or berries.
Storage
Once it is fully cooled, fill the granola into an airtight container or mason jar.
It will stay crunchy and fresh for several weeks. Although it probably will be munched up much sooner than that!
More keto cereal recipes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Low Carb Granola
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 150g whole almonds
- 1 cup / 100g walnut halves
- 1 cup / 100g pecans
- ½ cup / 65g pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup / 65g sunflower seeds
- â…“ cup / 40g flaxseed milled
- â…“ cup / 30g whey protein powder unflavoured
- 1 ½ cup / 90g coconut flakes/chips unsweetened
- â…“ cup / 80 g smooth almond butter
- â…“ cup / 80 ml water
- 4 tablespoon freeze dried raspberries
- 2 tablespoon granulated sweetener
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150 Celsius / 300 Fahrenheit
- Pulse the almonds, walnuts and pecans in a food processor until you have a mixture of smaller and larger pieces.
- Repeat the same with the pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
- Empty the nuts and seeds into a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients (only reserve 2 tablespoon of the raspberries for later) and mix with a spatula. The mixture should be sticky. If it's still dry, add another tablespoon of water.
- Press firmly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until you have a flat surface.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until browned. Turn the baking sheet after 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool. Then break into small pieces, mix the remaining 2 tablespoon of freeze dried raspberries and store in an airtight container.
Angelina M Colon-Pack
Can I use something other then the almond butter? Do not really care for almond butter. Thanks'
Katrin
Hi Angelina, you can use peanut butter, a bit of coconut oil or indeed simply leave it out. I actually just made a batch of granola using and forgot the almond butter. It works without - it'll get a little more crumbly though. It's a really versatile recipe, just change it to suit your preferences. 😉
Carolyn
This is the best keto-friendly granola I have tried! I pretty much followed the recipe as written with the following variations:
1. I used collagen peptide protein powder in place of the whey protein
2. I added about 1/4 tsp of salt
3. I stirred the granola about every 15 minutes while it was baking for even browning and a few times while it was cooling. It took about 40-50 minutes total baking time in my oven (including the time I had it out of the oven to stir it). It came out perfect with nice clusters and varying sizes of beautifully toasted of nuts/seeds.
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
Katrin
Hi Carolyn, thanks for detailing all your recipe tweaks! This is always helpful to other readers, and interesting for me 🙂
Lynda Savage
This recipe is so great and flexible. I add MCT oil, butter, nutracleanse, whey protein and just a bit of stevia mixed with xylitol .Then I make plain greek yogurt into vanilla yogurt, have them together and voila! keeps one very regular which I find challenging on the keto diet. Fresh blueberries are a nice add as well. I find of all the keto recipe sites I have the best results here. Thank you Karin.
Neeta
HI katrin
This recipe looks awesome - if I wanted to make it into Granola bars how much fibre syrup should I add please? Thank you so much
Katrin
Good question. I'd say maybe 3-4 tbsp? I would not use the sweetener if you use the fibre syrup. Have a taste and see if it's good. We all have such a different idea of what's just right.
hester
Can I use pea protein instead or is it needed at all in this ? Thanks 🙂
Katrin
YOu can use any kind of protein powder. Or you just leave it out (and use a bit less water, too).
Hester
Hi , Are all nuts and seeds raw from the start or are any roasted to begin with?
thanks!
Katrin
Hi Hester, everything is raw 🙂
Raven Rivera
Has anyone ever tried replacing the almond butter with cacao butter? I have some cacao butter I need to use, plus who doesn’t like a light chocolate in their granola?! Would the consistency still work? I would imagine it would melt being heated, but obviously would cool at some point. Would that change also make it more perishable?
Katrin
Hi, I think cacao butter could work really well. Give it a try! It should not make it more perishable, I would not worry about that.
rini9
Great recipe. Nice and crunchy and a portion is very filling. Thanks 🙂
Susi
This granola is the best... my entire family no longer like the stuff you buy in the shops... It keeps me in the kitchen, because I'm the one that has to make it! It is perfect and I start every day with it... thank you for this recipe - and all the others too... 🙂
Katrin
That's so good to hear Susi!!! My son and I eat it every morning right now.... and he's 15, so you can guess that a batch never lasts long 🙂
Tracey
Hi, I have put the ingredients into my app to count fat, carbs etc and its saying the fat content is to high. I am not great with understanding the nutrient content. If only having 50g though does that mean you are not consuming to much fat?
Katrin
Nuts and seeds are high in fat. Apps like yours are great as a guideline, but I believe you also have to listen to your body and see how you feel. I tend to view my nutrition intake by day, not by meal - it just makes it easier. After a granola in the morning you might want a salad for lunch or a soup, and not another high fat dish. Also, the 50 grams are a guideline. People are interested in the net carb count of one portion, so I average it out. It's a substantial portion that will keep you satiated. But again, a small woman will not need as much food as a tall man, so it's all relative.
If you are worried you're consuming too much fat with 50g of this granola (which is actually not that high), just have a bit less of it. ...... if you follow a Ketogenic diet, around 70% of your calories per day should be coming from fat. This diet is VERY effective for weight loss, as long as you stay away from carbs and sugar.
If you want to read a bit more about fat intake and low carb/Keto diets, check out this link. I hope this helps!