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14-day keto diet meal plan

Keto diet plan for beginners

Are you looking for a keto diet plan? You’ve come to the right place. A keto diet limits carbohydrate intake — in our case, we recommend less than 20 grams of net carbs per day.3 This results in increased fat burning and potential benefits like healthy weight loss and improved metabolic health.4

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Keto diet plan for beginners

Get started

If you are new to keto, make sure to read the advice below before starting a keto diet plan.

Who is a keto diet plan for?

A keto diet plan is for people who want to simplify their lives while getting all the benefits of keto eating: appetite suppression, weight loss, better blood sugar control, and other health improvements.

Keto diet plan basics

On a keto diet plan, your meals contain less than 20 grams of net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) per day. They also provide enough protein to meet your needs and help you feel satisfied.

Following a diet plan can help simplify your keto journey and set you up to succeed, because all of the planning is done for you.

Simplify keto tips

  1. Breakfast: Choose one keto breakfast to eat every day, like scrambled eggs.5Not hungry? Skip breakfast and sip a coffee instead.6 This saves time and money.
  2. Prep your meals: Cook at least two servings for dinner, eat one — and refrigerate the other — for tomorrow’s lunch. Freeze other portions for later. Full meal prep guide.
  3. Try no-cook plates: Sliced deli meats, cheeses, and veggies make an easy lunch. Here are many more.
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Risks

Following a keto diet appears to be safe for most people.7

However, before starting a keto diet plan, make sure to check with your doctor if you take medication for diabetes or high blood pressure. If you’re breastfeeding, you should not follow a keto diet.

Start fresh

Use our kitchen clean-out list to help you make sure your kitchen is keto-friendly before starting your keto diet plan. This can dramatically increase your chances of success.

Avoid keto flu

Drink lots of fluids and get enough salt, especially during the first week of the meal plan, to minimize symptoms of the initial “keto flu.”8 For example, a cup of bouillon daily and salting your food ‘to taste’ really helps.9 Full guide

Disclaimer: While the ketogenic diet has many proven health benefits (e.g. weight loss, reversal of type 2 diabetes) it’s still controversial. Most importantly, there may be a need to adapt pre-existing medications (see above). Discuss any changes in medication and relevant lifestyle changes with your doctor. Full disclaimer

This diet plan is for adults with health issues, including obesity, that could benefit from a keto diet.


Week 1

Here are two weeks of delicious, easy recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And you don’t even need to count carbs! Each week features a variety of keto dishes that will automatically keep you below 20 grams of net carbs per day.

In the first week, you’ll get to feast on some of our all-time most popular keto recipes. Note: If you don’t like certain recipes or don’t have the ingredients on hand, you can always replace them with recipes that fit your preferences. Choose from the recipe links in “Are there different types of meal planning?”.

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Week 2

We hope you really enjoyed the first week. For the second week, we’ve selected even more of our most popular and effective keto recipes.

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Monday

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Tuesday


Shopping lists and more

With shopping lists, your trip to the grocery store doesn’t have to be time-consuming or frustrating. Get all the healthy keto foods you need for the following week or two — and spend less time at the supermarket every month.

Access your shopping list on any device. Using a digital shopping tool can be even more beneficial than old-school pen and paper. You can access your shopping list straight from your smartphone, print it out, or even share it with family and friends when you don’t have the time for grocery shopping yourself.

How to create your own keto meal plan

Can you design your own keto meal plan that suits your unique preferences and lifestyle?
Absolutely!

Once you’ve created your plan, you won’t have to spend time figuring out what to eat every day. Plus, you may be more likely to achieve your weight loss and health goals by planning keto meals in advance.

Save time with a keto meal plan

How can you maximize the amount of time you save when following a keto meal plan? Here are several ideas:

  • Make simple, no-cook meals with foods like hard-boiled eggs (already prepared and waiting in the fridge), canned fish, cheese, cold cuts, and pre-chopped veggies.
  • ​​Cook double portions for dinner. Save time preparing, cooking, and cleaning up by making two dinner servings. Refrigerate half to enjoy for lunch the next day.
  • Use shopping lists. If you don’t have time to make your own shopping list, use our basic keto diet food list. It’s the perfect way to stock up your fridge and pantry with healthy foods. View it on your mobile device while grocery shopping, or print it out beforehand.

How to build your keto plate

At each meal, include the following:

  • A generous portion of protein, such as meat, fish, eggs, or tofu
  • One or more servings of keto vegetables, such as leafy greens, cauliflower, and green beans
  • As much fat, such as olive oil or butter, as needed to prepare food and add flavor
Keto meal planning can be easy, once you know the basics.

Foods to eat on a keto diet plan

There are many delicious foods you can – and should! – include on your keto diet plan:

  • Meat: beef, pork, lamb, and game
  • Poultry: chicken and turkey
  • Seafood: fish and shellfish of all types
  • Eggs
  • Soy: tofu and tempeh
  • Cheese
  • Plain Greek yogurt
  • Non-starchy vegetables: spinach, asparagus, cucumbers, and many others
  • Fats: butter, olive oil, and coconut oil

See the complete list of foods to eat, or add delicious keto recipes to your meal plan. Below you’ll find our latest additions.

New keto meals



Foods to avoid on a keto diet plan

Make sure that your keto diet plan does not include these high-carb foods:

  • Sugary foods, such as cakes, cookies, ice cream, doughnuts, and similar foods
  • Starchy foods, such as bread pasta, rice, potatoes, corn, and beans
  • Sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, sweet tea, punch, and sports drinks
  • Fruit juice, including 100% unsweetened juice
  • Most fruit
See the complete list of foods to avoid 

High-carb substitutes

High-carb substitutes

Don’t worry, there are substitutes for many high-carb classics. Below you’ll find three popular keto recipes for cookies, bread, and pasta.


Are snacks allowed on a keto diet plan?

When you follow a keto diet plan that provides adequate protein and energy at meals, you’re unlikely to need snacks.10 However, if you do become hungry in between meals, feel free to eat a keto-friendly snack, such as:

  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Cheese
  • Cold cuts
  • Macadamia nuts

See our complete guide to the best and worst keto snacks

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What to drink on a keto diet plan

The best keto beverages are carb-free or nearly carb-free. Include these drinks on your keto diet plan:

  • Water: still or sparkling
  • Coffee (black, or with a splash of cream or milk)
  • Tea, black, green, or herbal (unsweetened)
  • Broth: chicken, beef, or vegetable

See our complete guide to the best and worst keto drinks

Keto-friendly beverages

Keto-friendly beverages


Are there different types of keto meal planning?

A keto meal plan can be tailored to fit your food preferences, budget, how often you like to eat, and more. Here are just a few examples of different types of keto meal plans:

1. High-protein keto meal planning

Combining keto with high protein can be a winning strategy for losing weight and improving body composition. See our high-protein keto recipes to choose quick and easy recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.


2. Intermittent fasting and keto meal planning

If you prefer to skip breakfast, that’s fine. Just make sure your lunch and dinner provide enough protein and energy to meet your needs. Here’s a sample day of how to plan keto meals when intermittent fasting:


3. Keto meal planning on a budget

Are you concerned that following a keto diet plan might be too expensive? Good news: A keto meal plan can be affordable — if you make the right food choices. Use our collection of budget-friendly keto recipes to design a meal plan that’s healthy, delicious, and cost-effective.

4. Meal planning for lazy keto days

Yes, elaborate meals cooked from scratch can be wonderful. But sometimes, you need simple meals that can be put together in minutes. Here’s a sample day of a lazy keto meal plan:

5. Family meal planning

How can you plan nutritious meals for your family while staying keto? It’s easy when you choose tasty, easy-to-prepare recipes that both kids and adults will love. Create your meal plan using our collection of low-carb meals for families.


Top keto diet plan questions

How do I get started on the keto diet?
If you are new to a ketogenic diet, read our beginner’s guide and get all your questions answered. Starting a keto diet as a beginner can be challenging on your own. We suggest you start with any of our free 14-day meal plans or choose from among our free keto recipes. For maximum simplicity, sign up for our 2-week Get Started Challenge and get everything prepared for you.

Can I drink alcohol on a keto diet?
Yes. But stick to low-carb alcoholic drinks, like dry wine or sugar-free drinks.
Full keto alcohol guide

Can you eat a vegetarian keto diet plan?
Yes. Especially if you eat eggs and dairy (lacto-ovo vegetarianism), following a keto diet plan is definitely doable. Vegan keto is more challenging, but you can certainly eat a lower-carb vegan diet. Learn more and find inspiration in our collection for vegetarian recipes.

Can you eat a dairy-free keto diet plan?
Sure. It’s not necessary to eat dairy to successfully eat keto (though dairy may help add taste and variety). A dairy-free keto diet can be very effective. Learn more and find dairy-free recipes to tailor your diet plan.

Can I eat fruit when following a keto diet plan?
Sometimes — if you choose low-sugar fruits and keep portions small. The best keto fruits are blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Enjoy about one-half cup of any of these, either alone or with a bit of cream. Delicious! Full guide to keto fruits

14-day keto diet meal plan with recipes and shopping lists - the evidence

This guide is written by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD, Franziska Spritzler, RD and was last updated on November 9, 2022. It was medically reviewed by Dr. Bret Scher, MD on February 11, 2022.

The guide contains scientific references. You can find these in the notes throughout the text, and click the links to read the peer-reviewed scientific papers. When appropriate we include a grading of the strength of the evidence, with a link to our policy on this. Our evidence-based guides are updated at least once per year to reflect and reference the latest science on the topic.

All our evidence-based health guides are written or reviewed by medical doctors who are experts on the topic. To stay unbiased we show no ads, sell no physical products, and take no money from the industry. We're fully funded by the people, via an optional membership. Most information at Diet Doctor is free forever.

Read more about our policies and work with evidence-based guides, nutritional controversies, our editorial team, and our medical review board.

Should you find any inaccuracy in this guide, please email andreas@dietdoctor.com.

  1. Do you worry about eating saturated fats or cholesterol? There’s no good reason to do so. While still a bit controversial, repeated modern systematic reviews find no benefit from avoiding saturated fats, or replacing them with unsaturated fats:

    Here’s a study investigating if eating eggs for breakfast every day has any negative effects on cholesterol levels. They found none, but the egg-eating group reported greater satiety:

  2. It’s often claimed that eating breakfast is good for weight control. That appears to be false:

    Furthermore, reduced hunger is common on a keto diet, so many people find it easy to skip one meal:

    Read more in our guide to time-restricted eating.

  3. Some may be able to reliably remain in ketosis even at higher carb intake levels. For instance, in the study below, healthy volunteers remained consistently in ketosis consuming 50 grams per day.

    Nutrition X 2019: Effects of differing levels of carbohydrate restriction on mood achievement of nutritional ketosis, and symptoms of carbohydrate withdrawal in healthy adults: A randomized clinical trial [randomized trial; moderate evidence]

    However, those who are overweight or have baseline insulin resistance may require a stricter approach, limiting net carbs to 20 grams per day.

    This is based on the clinical experience of low-carb practitioners and was unanimously agreed upon by our low-carb expert panel. You can learn more about our panel here [weak evidence].

  4. Numerous studies demonstrate greater fat loss with a low-carb diet than a low-fat diet.

    Nutrition and Metabolism (London) 2004: Comparison of energy-restricted very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets on weight loss and body composition in overweight men and women [randomized trial; moderate evidence]

    Journal of Nutrition 2015: A lower-carbohydrate, higher-fat diet reduces abdominal and intermuscular fat and increases insulin sensitivity in adults at risk of type 2 diabetes [randomized trial; moderate evidence]

    Nutrition and Metabolism (London) 2020: Effects of weight loss during a very low carbohydrate diet on specific adipose tissue depots and insulin sensitivity in older adults with obesity: a randomized clinical trial [randomized trial; moderate evidence]

  5. Do you worry about eating saturated fats or cholesterol? There’s no good reason to do so. While still a bit controversial, repeated modern systematic reviews find no benefit from avoiding saturated fats, or replacing them with unsaturated fats:

    Here’s a study investigating if eating eggs for breakfast every day has any negative effects on cholesterol levels. They found none, but the egg-eating group reported greater satiety:

  6. It’s often claimed that eating breakfast is good for weight control. That appears to be false:

    Furthermore, reduced hunger is common on a keto diet, so many people find it easy to skip one meal:

    Read more in our guide to time-restricted eating.

  7. The main fear about lower-carb and higher-fat diets has always been a concern about the potential increase in the risk of heart disease. However, interventional studies so far indicate that if anything the risk appears to decrease:

    For more health controversies regarding a keto diet, have a look at this page:

    Low-carb controversies

  8. The “keto flu” is a set of common early side effects like headache, feeling tired, nausea, lack of concentration, brain fog, etc. Learn more

    Nutrition X 2019: Effects of differing levels of carbohydrate restriction on mood achievement of nutritional ketosis, and symptoms of carbohydrate withdrawal in healthy adults: A randomized clinical trial [randomized trial; moderate evidence]

  9. This is mainly based on the consistent experience of experienced clinicians [weak evidence]. But there’s also some support from this study that found only minor increases in side effects, while advising participants to drink bouillon:

    Nutrition & Metabolism 2008: The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus [moderate evidence]

  10. High-qualty research demonstrates that keto diets often reduce feelings of hunger:

    Obesity Reviews 2014: Do ketogenic diets really suppress appetite? A systematic review and meta-analysis [strong evidence]