A Keto Dieter’s Guide to Starbucks Food and Drink

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You don't have to worry about dropping Starbucks from your routine just because you have gone, Keto. You can still get your coffee fix here in a variety of ways. You just have to be careful. Follow this guide for the ins and outs of how Keto affects your favorite Starbucks foods and beverages. Then, you can stay Keto at Starbucks.

 

Basic Drink Orders for Keto at Starbucks

 

Coffee

 

Coffee is the coffee of coffee lovers. If you love coffee, you should not worry about having to give it up. Coffee is absolutely fine on the Keto diet. It has no sugar and is very low calorie. It's what people like to add to their coffee that can sometimes get them in trouble.

However, in this guide you will see that there is always a way. You can work around the problem ingredients to do Keto at Starbucks. Espresso on its own is good for Keto, too. After all, it's just coffee. Americanos are also safe as they are just espresso and water.

In fact, Americanos play a special part in ordering special drinks as you will see. Iced Coffee is also fine for Keto, but here is the first trick. Starbucks automatically puts Classic syrup in iced coffee. In order to avoid the added sugar, you need to order it without Classic syrup.

 

Tea

Tea is also great for Keto at Starbucks. Like coffee, tea without dairy/sugar is completely harmless to your ketosis.  

However, tea is a little more complicated at Starbucks due to its various forms. Simply brewed tea is fine, but as with iced coffee, You have to order your iced teas without classic syrup. Besides regularly brewed teas there are Matcha and Chai which are a little different.

Matcha

Matcha on its own is just fine for Keto, but Matcha is a powder. Whether a Matcha beverage is Keto friendly depends on what you mix it with. Milk would be a bad idea because lactose is a carbohydrate.

 

Chai

 

Chai in tea bag form is just fine for Keto. However, the pre-mixed chai liquid comes already sweetened. So, there's nothing to be done about making those chai lattes and Frappuccinos Keto friendly without substituting with bagged chai.

 

Frills

In short coffee and tea on their own are great Keto beverages, but at Starbucks coffee and tea typically serves as a base to build upon with additional carbs and sugars.  

The main trick to maintaining ketosis while doing Keto at Starbucks is keeping these things in check. This is done by avoiding sugary syrups and milk.

 

Sugar-Free

When you have a Starbucks beverage that includes a flavored syrup always get the sugar free option. However, you should still be careful with it as one pump is roughly equal to 1 carb. 

Some syrups at Starbucks do not come sugar-free, like Classic, Toffee Nut, and Raspberry.

 

Sugar Substitutes

If you prefer to sweeten your drip coffee, refrain from using sugar and try a substitute like stevia which has no calories or carbs. You can also have sugar substitutes in place of syrups in other hot drinks, but you may need to supply your own or add it in yourself when you pick up your order.

 

Heavy Cream

What is the best substitute for milk while doing Keto at Starbucks? The short answer is heavy whipping cream. 1 ounce of heavy cream contains nearly 100 calories, which can be great for your macro target, but at the same time, it's only 1 carbohydrate. This is a nice solution when creaming your coffee, but it can spell disaster if you try filling a venti. That's why you should consider alternatives.

 

Almond/Coconut

Coconut milk might be your best choice, but unsweetened almond milk is good for Keto, too. Like heavy cream, they are high fat and low carb. Coconut milk contains MCTs which burn fat.

 

How to Order a Latte with Heavy Cream

You can use this trick to order a latte with heavy cream. Ask for an Americano, which is espresso and water. Remember to ask for one less shot unless you like the added boost. Americanos are stronger than lattes. Ask them to fill it only 2/3 of the way and add steamed heavy cream. The thick body of the heavy cream balances the water to imitate a latte nicely.  

If you do this with chai remember to ask for the bagged chai tea and not the mix. Add whatever sugar-free syrups, but sauces are out and remember “no whip.” The vanilla in it contains sugar.

 

Food

Food at Starbucks is much more difficult to work out but not impossible. You must know immediately upon entering Starbucks that most of the food is pastries and very sugary treats. Truthfully, you might be happier just snapping your Instagram photo and moving on to a different location for your lunch. However, if you are determined to make it work, there are a few things you can try.

 

Breakfast

Breakfast offers the most options but most of them involve removing bread of some kind. The number one food item for Keto at Starbucks is Sous Vide Egg Bites. They're the perfect grab and go for Keto.  So, it's nice that there is the one option. Specifically, the Egg White and Red Pepper bites are the ones you really want to go for.

The Chicken Chorizo Tortilla ones are not so good, unfortunately, due to the tortilla chips. The Egg White & Red Pepper bites contain 13 grams of protein and 13 grams of carbs.

The next best thing is ordering a Reduced Fat Turkey Bacon and Cage Free Egg White Breakfast Sandwich. But again, you have to remove the bread. Maybe you can give it to a friend.

 

Lunch

For lunch, there is really not much. There are salads but as you look into what they contain, it becomes very difficult. If you eat here, you will need to be more careful about carbs for the rest of the day. That said, the best option for you is probably the Grilled Chicken & Cauliflower Tabbouleh Salad. This salad does have 15 grams of carbs.

 

Snack

For a snack, you might want to share, because it again involves throwing components away. Bistro Boxes have some good stuff in them for Keto, like nuts and cheese. Yet, they also have very sugary fruit that you can't eat. The Protein Box is great because of the egg, nuts, and cheese. However, you will have to toss the apples and grapes along with the bread. Unfortunately, the peanut butter is sweetened with honey, so that's out too.