One-Pot Keto Cooking: 75 Delicious Low-Carb Meals for the Busy Cook (Page Street Publishing Co, 2020) is one of the best all-around keto cookbooks we’ve come across for one simple reason: each of the 75 recipes requires a handful of extremely common ingredients, is super fast and easy to make (in one pot!), and is flat-out delicious.
If you want to whip up exciting meals every day with the simplest meal prep and clean up, this book can help you do it with ease. What comes with near perfection in a keto cookbook? Read on to find out.
About the Author
Author Charlotte Smythe is behind the food blog Clean Foodie Cravings. Though not specifically a keto blog, it does showcase why Charlotte was qualified to craft a keto cookbook; she knows how to write a great recipe, use “clean” ingredients, and work within specific dietary guidelines. She also has a world of experience; after spending the first 10 years of her life in Liberia (and cooking with her sister frequently), she moved to the U.S. and grew to establish herself as a respected food blogger in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After starting with Whole30 and Paleo, she transitioned to a ketogenic diet, and this book is part of the result. Her vivacious personality and passion for health and tastiness come through in her writing and keto recipes.
What’s Inside
This is a straight-up cookbook. No long stories about a keto journey, weight loss, or other (though Charlotte does have a history of weight struggles, which she discusses on her blog), this book jumps right into keto recipes, which are divided into the following sections:
- 30-Minute Skillet Meals
- No Mess Sheet-Pan Dinners
- Oven to Table
- Comforting Soups and Stews
- Sunny-Side Up (i.e. breakfast)
- Back to Basics (keto staples like cauliflower rice, zoodles from zucchini, and other keto standbys)
Like the title promises, all recipes are easily made using one pot (or one skillet or one sheet tray). They include macros, including total grams of fat, carbs, net carbs, protein, and fiber. But they don’t include any mention of calories, which means you’ll need to calculate them yourself if you’re calorie counting.
Ingredients are familiar and readily available. Think ghee or keto-friendly oil for cooking, some sort of protein, some veggies here and there, and spices. Most recipes call for less than 12 ingredients (many of which are common spices), and there are several that have closer to six ingredients yet still yield exciting, wildly flavorful results.
Additionally, each recipe is accompanied by a beautiful full-page photo, shot by the author herself.
Don’t hope for dessert recipes here. You won’t find them. This book is all about comfort-food keto dinner recipes and breakfast recipes that are as easy to make and as approachable for weeknight dinner and weekend entertaining.
Yet they offer great diversity for your keto diet (and consequently a gluten-free diet as well). Expect yummy recipes for everything from stir-fry to sheet pan meals to keto one-pot meals that are to die for. Think creamy sauces, spicy chicken, juicy pork chops with garlic butter, Parmesan-kissed egg cups (see below), ground-beef meatballs, Mexican enchilada skillet recipes, and so much more.
Try These Recipes from One-Pot Keto Cooking now:
Low-carb Breakfast Egg Cups
Braised Mushroom Short Ribs
Cajun Chicken and Green Beans
What You’ll Learn
At a minimum, you’ll get many new recipes you’ll want to make again and again. But pay attention and you’ll also learn some great skills you can apply to your own recipes, like how to make chicken thigh skin perfectly crispy (see the Cajun chicken recipe above) or how to cook sides alongside anything you’re roasting (also in the Cajun chicken recipe).
What We Like
The recipes are wonderful yet simple. The photos give you a clear idea of what you’re aiming for and are gorgeous and very appetizing.
Room for Improvement
We wish there were calories included in the macros so we could easily know how many calories there are per serving.
We also wish there were weight measurements included in the ingredient list for vegetables. Since a “medium spaghetti squash” or “medium onion” isn’t specific (and both must be eaten in moderation to keep carb macros in check), it leaves the opportunity to miscalculate carbohydrates macros if you don’t recalculate yourself using the actual weight of your ingredient. However, risky-vague vegetable measurements are a rare occurrence within the book, and they’re easily navigated if you know how to calculate macros or aren’t extra strict.
The Final Word
There is every reason to grab this keto cookbook. It’s gorgeous, its recipes are delicious, and it’s so approachable, it’s guaranteed to bring flavorful diversity to your keto meal planning. We are huge fans.
Shop for One-Pot Keto Cooking here.
