The Simple and Easy Ketogenic Diet Menu – 5 Minute Meal Ideas

Most of us do not want to spend extra time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. Getting out of the kitchen an also help remove the temptation to snack on foods, which is crucial when you are trying to stick with a restrictive diet or lose weight. I created a Simple and Easy Ketogenic diet menu that gets you in and out of the kitchen in less than 20 minutes per day.

<<Check out the Bacon and Butter Free Keto Cookbook>>

Ketogenic Breakfast Ideas

Keep in mind that a ketogenic breakfast should be high in fat, and low in carbohydrates. You can achieve this with the wonderful ingredient of bacon! I cook mine on a skillet, but if you truly are pressed for time, there is a microwave gadget that can microwave your bacon in a minute or two with little clean up. I will admit it was given to me as a Christmas gift and I passed it along to my sister! She actually loves it.

5 Minute Ketogenic Lunches

I tend to make my lunches and take them to work with me. As a teacher, we only have a 30-minute break for lunch, so it isn’t enough time to go out and enjoy a meal out. Taking my lunch not only saves me time, but it helps me stick with the ketogenic diet. It also saves me money because this particular lunch does not cost much. Most of these are salads. Salads are simple, low in carbohydrates, easy to make and easy to pack. Another time saving tip is to chop up a couple heads of lettuce and cucumber to use as the base for your salad.

  • Chicken Salad
  • Tuna Salad
  • Salad with Salmon
  • Tossed salad with Deviled Eggs
  • Lettuce Wraps

Here’s video proof that you can create a tuna salad for your lunch in five minutes. Getting ready for the day has never been easier!

Ketogenic Dinner Ideas

For my ketogenic dinners, I employ my sauteing skills or the use of my wonderful power pressure cooker! I tend to like to chop up some broccoli and chicken for a stir-fry. Chopping foods into smaller pieces and cooking on high heat enables you to cook the meal in about 10 minutes. With the power pressure cooker, you can prepare the roast in five minutes and get it started at the beginning of the day. The power pressure cooker requires you to plan ahead, but the preparation time is greatly reduced.

Ketogenic Snack Ideas

There are times when you didn’t eat enough for breakfast or you got caught up at work and won’t be home at the usual time. These may be times when you want a snack. Most of the time when you are on the ketogenic diet, your hunger is satiated and you don’t crave snacks, so you shouldn’t have to worry about carrying around ketogenic snacks all the time, but occasionally I find it fun to eat these treats. Ketogenic snacks make traveling easier since you never know when you will be eating when you travel.

  • Pepperoni slices
  • Jello cups (not an optimal item, but zero carbohydrates, so it fits into the ketogenic diet)
  • Cheese sticks, cheese cubes
  • Celery and cream cheese
  • Celery and peanut butter
  • Beef Sticks[easyazon_image align=”right” cart=”n” height=”160″ identifier=”B074WK6TBT” locale=”US” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/619tnZZ3TNL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”mcurle08-20″ width=”158″]

Tips for Faster Meal Prep

  1. Get really good at chopping and cutting. My mother taught me how to chop quickly and I don’t spend a lot of time struggling with getting my foods chopped for salads and stir fries.
  2. Keep your knife sharp. This will prevent cuts and struggling with a knife.
  3. Cook on medium to high heat. Lower temperatures slow down the cooking time and increase the time you spend cooking it.
  4. Make use of your kitchen gadgets. I love using my Power Pressure Cooker and my Magic Bullet blender. These are two items that I could live without, but I don’t want to! They make my life so much easier!

Conclusion

As you become more and more familiar with these recipes and the ingredients that are needed in them, you will reduce the time that you spend preparing them. I recommend selecting a few recipes and mastering them. Then when you start your day or are shopping for your meals, it becomes second nature. You know just what to grab and what you want to use.

If you are starting out on the ketogenic diet, start with the simple to make meals. Don’t stress out about the fancy desserts or faux baked goods. These foods require ingredients and techniques to make non-flour items taste like baked goods. Often you will discover that it doesn’t really match what you remember a bread or cake to taste like. Your taste buds will adapt to the new flavors and eventually cravings for sweets will subside.

<<Check Out the FREE Keto Cookbook>>