A colorful, sweet, and crunchy keto friendly cereal recipe! This low carb cereal needs just 6 ingredients and is perfect for an easy make ahead breakfast.
Full ingredients + instructions are on the recipe card at the end. Before you scroll or jump down, don’t miss the useful tips in the post!
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Once you try this keto breakfast cereal recipe, you’ll never go store-bought again! It comes together using common keto pantry staples, it’s sweet, and it has ALL the crunch. Low carb cereal never tasted so good! (And if you don’t have time to make a homemade recipe, I’ll show you where to find the best options to order, too.)
It’s fun to make low carb versions of classic breakfasts (pancakes or bagels, anyone?), but sometimes you need a meal with a little more crunch. This keto friendly cereal fills that craving with lots of sweet flavor and crispy texture.
The best keto cereal needs the best ingredients, so I’m relying on Wholesome Yum Erythritol as the sweetener. It’s the perfect choice for recipes that need sweet taste and a crispy bite, with zero net carbs.
Can You Eat Cereal On Keto?
Conventional, store-bought cereal on keto is a no-go, since every one of them uses some form of white flour, sugar, or artificial ingredients.
But there’s good news: It’s super easy to make low carb breakfast cereal at home, with real ingredients and safe keto sweeteners.
Why You’ll Love This Keto Cereal Recipe
- Nutty, sweet flavor
- Lots of crispy crunch
- Only 15 minutes active prep
- Just 3.3g net carbs per serving
- Delicious with ice cold keto milk!
Low Carb Cereal Ingredients
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for keto friendly cereal, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Almond butter – We use this as a binder for the low carb cereal dough, and believe it or not, it also adds crunch when baked. You can use any nut butter you like, as long as it’s sugar-free and only made with keto friendly nuts.
- Wholesome Yum Erythritol – Adds sweet flavor and helps the keto breakfast cereal stay crunchy. This is one of the rare cases where I don’t recommend allulose-based sweeteners. Erythritol helps the cereal keep its crunch. Use code CEREAL for 10% off your first order of erythritol here. 🙂
- Vanilla extract – Enhances the sweet flavor in this keto diet cereal.
- Egg white – Also helps the healthy low carb cereal recipe hold together. Make sure it’s at room temperature.
- Whey protein powder – Protein powder turns this cereal into keto protein cereal! Use an unflavored powder with no fake ingredients. Check the carb count because some are less pure and the carbs can add up fast in this recipe. I recommend this zero carb whey protein powder.
- Natural powdered food coloring – Makes this keto approved cereal rainbow-colored! Omit if you prefer a more natural look. If you use a different brand, the amount you need may vary, so just add what you need to get the color you want. Keep in mind that most natural colors fade when baked, but this one keeps its color pretty well.
How To Make Keto Cereal
This section shows how to make keto breakfast cereal with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
- Cream wet ingredients and sweetener. Beat the almond butter, sweetener, vanilla, and egg white in a large bowl.
- Add protein. Beat in the protein powder.
- Color. Beat in the food coloring (you can also knead it in if the dough is too stiff). Knead the dough until smooth, then chill for 1 hour.
- Form cereal. Roll the dough into small balls with your fingers and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
FYI: Even after chilling, this dough is sticky. It can help to cover your hands in oil or water to reduce sticking. If the dough starts to warm up and get runny, you may need to chill it again.
- Bake. It’s done when the top feels firm and starts to harden. Cool completely to fully crisp up.
Tips For The Best Keto Cereal
This homemade keto cereal recipe is so easy to prepare, but keep a few tips in mind to make sure it bakes up perfectly:
- Use room temperature ingredients. Otherwise, they won’t blend uniformly.
- Use zero carb protein powder. I mentioned this above, but can’t emphasize this enough. The carbs in this keto cereal can be quite high if your protein powder is not zero carb, so stick to this one.
- Don’t skimp on chilling time. Warm dough will be too sticky to work with.
- Don’t overcook! Cereal won’t fully harden until it cools, but if you bake it too long, it will be rock hard after cooling. Bake just until firm, but not completely solid in the oven.
Low Carb Cereal Variations
- Squares – Instead of rolling into balls, roll the dough into a thin sheet (1/8 inch thick) between two oiled pieces of parchment paper and cut into small squares. This method seems easier, but in my experience it’s actually kind of more work because the dough is very sticky. Feel free to try it though.
- Chocolate – For “keto cocoa puffs” type cereal, replace 2-3 tablespoons of the whey protein powder with cocoa powder.
- Peanut butter – Almond butter makes a more neutral tasting cereal, but if you love peanut butter, swap the almond butter with peanut butter instead.
- Granola – If that’s your cereal preference, use my keto granola recipe.
Storage Instructions
Store low carb cold cereal in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks — no refrigeration needed.
Are There Keto Cereal Brands You Can Buy?
Yes, you can buy keto breakfast cereal! The best low carb cereal is the one you make yourself… but if you just don’t have time, try these options:
- Magic Spoon Cereal – High protein cereal in lots of fun varieties (plus classics like chocolate, frosted, and fruity flavors). Use code WHOLESOMEYUM for free shipping!
- Catalina Crunch Cereal – Made with plant protein! Enjoy these squares in flavors like maple waffle, honey graham, and dark chocolate. (Use code WHOLESOMEYUM_10 for 10% off!)
- The Granola Bakery Keto Granola – This has lots of crunch and uses more natural ingredients.
Serving Suggestions
- Keto friendly milk – Unsweetened almond or coconut milk are great dairy-free options, or you can water down some heavy cream. Learn more about the keto milk options here.
- Berries – One of my fave additions to cereal! Get the full list of keto fruit here.
- Plain – Crunchy keto breakfast cereal makes a great grab-and-go snack on its own.
More Keto Breakfast Cereal Recipes
Need more keto breakfast cereal ideas? Try these recipes, too!
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The Best Low Carb Keto Cereal Recipe
A colorful, sweet, and crunchy keto friendly cereal recipe! This low carb cereal needs just 6 ingredients and is perfect for an easy make ahead breakfast.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the almond butter, sweetener, vanilla, and egg white.
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Beat in protein powder and food coloring, until fairly dry but uniform. Knead the dough with your hands, until it looks and feels more smooth.
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Form the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or until cold.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Method 1 – Use your hands to roll the dough into tiny balls (about 1 cm in diameter) between your fingers. (It can help to cover your hands in oil or water to reduce sticking.) Place onto the lined baking sheet.
Method 2 – Place the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/4 inch (6.3 mm) thickness. Cut up and down, then in the opposite direction, to form 1/2-inch (12.7 mm) squares. Spread out the squares on the lined baking sheet.
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Bake for 5-8 minutes for balls or 4-7 minutes for squares, until cereal starts to harden. It should feel firm if you tap with your fingernail, but won’t be fully hardened until it cools. Remove from the oven and cool completely to crisp up.
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 3/4 cup
Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.
Calories 390
Fat 18.6g
Protein 47.7g
Total Carbs 6.8g
Net Carbs 3.3g
Fiber 3.5g
Sugar 2.8g
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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