Are you wondering if corned beef is keto friendly? If so, you’ve come to the right place!
Short answer:
Yes, corned beef is keto friendly! High-quality, grass-fed corned beef contains beneficial fats, proteins, and vitamins and minerals. It’s an excellent source of energy that won’t kick you out of the ketogenic state. Enjoy it in moderation as part of a well-rounded keto diet!
Let’s explore how this popular deli dish fits into your low-carb diet.
What Exactly is Corned Beef?
As a dish, corned beef is quite distinctive, with its pink hue and salty sweet taste. It can be used in many different recipes and dishes including salads.
How’s Corned Beef Processed?
The name would suggest it contains corn but in fact, corned beef is brine conserved meat, and pressed in a can.
The “corn” in its name derives from the type of salt used in curing the meat. Corns of salt is this type of salt, and it has larger grains, much like rock salt. (*)
But that’s not all!
In the British Commonwealth of Nations, corn beef is known as salt beef. This is because the meat is salt-cured. The traditional cooking method involves boiling in brine with spices.
Healthy Elements In Corned Beef
If you’re wondering “is corned beef keto friendly”, we may discover it’s similar to regular meat. Much like fresh meat, corned beef will have some nourishing components.
To list a few:
- Protein
- Iron
- Vitamin B12
- Selenium
- Antioxidants
Iron is an important element in your diet as it helps create and maintain red blood cells. (*)
Corned Beef Nutritious Value
Corned beef may have a lot of nourishing elements but we also like to look at the nutritional value it contains per 100 grams. (*)
The food industry usually adds sugar, additives, and preservatives, so it’s a good idea to check the label.
Corn Beef Metric per 100 g
- Protein 27 g
- Fat 14.9 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Carbs total 0 g
- Sugar 0 g
- Calories 250
Salt Concentration
Corned beef contains a substantial amount of salt which raises a person’s blood pressure. This high concentration of salt can be beneficial if you’re beginning your keto diet.
It balances out electrolytes to prevent and diminish symptoms of what is known as the keto flu. This happens at the beginning of the diet just before achieving ketosis. (*)
Is Corned Beef Keto Friendly?
On the question of is corned beef keto friendly there are some clear guidelines that come with it. The short answer to this question is no, corned beef is not particularly good for a keto diet, especially a strict diet.
The reason!
Corned beef is essentially processed meat, and it may contain a large number of preservatives or additives.
But if you still want to include corned beef into your diet and are not too strict, then you can absolutely have it in moderation.
We believe it may work better as a treat on your cheat day. Accompanied by some other more keto friendly ingredients corned beef is a great treat.
The secret?
Corned beef will offer a suitable amount of protein to maintain ketosis with a low carb intake. But it would be advised that you check the label carefully.
Keto Meal Ideas With Corned Beef
If you choose to integrate corned beef into your diet, we have a few choice recipe recommendations.
Take a look!
1. Pot Corned Beef and Horseradish Sauce Recipe
An ideal dinner recipe that uses corned beef and works great for St. Patrick’s Day. Deliciously spiced with herbs that you can pair with a salad side dish. (*)
Main ingredients:
- Flat cut corned beef
- Onion
- Whole peppercorns
- Chicken broth
- Bay leaves
- Dried thyme
- Water
- Sour cream
- Cream horseradish
- Mayo
This recipe requires a slow cooker and the beauty of it is that you hardly have to do anything to it besides adding the herbs and making a sauce.
2. Keto Corned Beef Hash Recipe
Making corned beef hash is a great way to tackle some leftovers that may be laying in your fridge. Nevertheless, it’s a very easy and fast recipe to try.
The recipe requires:
- 1 pound of cauliflower, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 diced onion
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- pepper
- 6 ounces of chopped corned beef
You will get about 2 servings with this recipe and you can put a fried egg on top to finish off the dish. It’s a tasty low carb lunch dish that you can enjoy.
3. Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup Recipe
Since corned beef is so salty it can be very easy to introduce into a soup, with some added vegetables such as cabbage.
A soup works great to take care of leftover corned beef and is especially nice for colder weather.
Some ingredients to include:
- Onion diced
- Fennel bulb
- Bay leaf
- Celery stalks, diced
- Minced garlic cloves
- Tablespoons butter
- Juice of 1 fresh lemon
- ½ teaspoon pink salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons mustard seed
- Corned beef
- Tablespoons tomato paste
- Babbage
- Turnips, diced small in ¼ cubes
- ½ cup parsley, chopped
Most versions of the soup use potatoes so to make this ketogenic it’s simply a case of not removing the potatoes.
Low carb and delicious, a corned beef soup is a nice addition to a keto diet.
Final thoughts
If you enjoy corned beef then it might be something you wish to work into your keto diet. After questioning is corned beef keto friendly, you may find it’s not the first recommendation for this diet, but you could make it a treat.
There are some nutritious advantages that it brings to the table so by no means feel discouraged. Practice moderation and accompany it with a keto side dish. There are a few recipes you can try that will bring out the flavorful aromas of corned beef.
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