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The Ultimate Cheap Keto Grocery List: Fatty Foods on a Skinny Budget

If you’re on a tight budget, shopping for a ketogenic diet can be intimidating. A well-formulated keto diet calls for eliminating cheap processed foods and opting for pricier whole foods like steak, seafood, and dairy. However, there are strategies for shopping that can help you break your carb addiction without breaking the bank. This cheap keto grocery list will help you shop within your budget without sacrificing nutrition. 

Here are our top 10 budget keto staples, their nutritional highlights, and where to buy them.

1. Eggs

Eggs are loaded with all the nutrients needed to create an entire chicken, yet in a cheaper and more nutrient-dense format. 

For instance, at Costco, you can get 60 cage free egg slightly less than $12.00. That’s around $.20 per egg. 

In addition to healthy fats and proteins, just 2 eggs ($.40 cents) provides: 1 

• 20% daily value of vitamin A
• 30% daily value of vitamin D
• 30% daily value of vitamin E
• 36% daily value of vitamin B2
• 30% daily value of vitamin B5
• 100% daily value of vitamin B12

These percentages increase when you can find the best eggs to buy at a good price. These will most often be local pasture-raised eggs. 

2. Ground Beef

Ruminant meats like beef are the caloric core of most carnivore and keto diet food lists. They provide complete proteins, healthy fats, zinc, and B vitamins. 

Less-known meat-specific compounds like taurine, creatine, carnitine, and heme iron, are responsible for a variety of benefits including improved heart health, athletic performance, cognitive and mental health, and reduced inflammation. 7 8 9

These days it’s easier than ever to find cheap grass-fed and pasture-raised varieties, which have the highest amount of vitamin A and E, and the healthiest fat composition. 

With free delivery, you can purchase Organic simple truth 3lb pack for $6.33 per lb. If you want the extra convenience of preformed burgers, you can get 5 lbs of grass-fed beef patties for $5.67 per lb. 

Note: Costco ground beef purchased in person is often significantly cheaper. We’ve seen it for less than $5 per pound

3. Cheap Fatty Cuts of Steak

Some fatty cuts of steak can be surprisingly inexpensive. A grass-fed chuck roast will run you about $8 a pound, and conventional even less. 

A 1lb grass-fed beef chuck roast provides 1072 calories, 81 grams of healthy fats, and 85 grams of complete protein. 

As part of a nutrient-dense whole food, it also provides over 276% your RDV in vitamin B12, and over 130% RDV in vital zinc and selenium.3  

4.*Surprise Contender* Ribeye and New York Strip Steak

Hear us out! While ribeye steak and New York strips are usually considered ultra-premium expensive cuts of steak they’re loaded with fat and micronutrients making them highly satiating so you don’t need to eat all that much in order to meet your nutritional needs. 

With a little effort a weeks worth of ribeye steaks can cost as little as far inferior cuts. With a Sam’s Club membership you can get an entire Choice Angus ribeye roast for around $10 a pound. Butcher it yourself, zip lock it and freeze, and you’ll be eating one of the healthiest foods in the world for the price most burger meats in fancy markets. 

5. Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is one of the best keto cheeses thanks to its abundance of fat, moderate protein, and low-carb profile. 

Though full-fat dairy has been demonized in the past, it’s making a much-deserved comeback. The credit goes to high-quality modern studies. For instance, a review of 16 studies found that eating high-fat dairy can reduce risk of obesity. 1

Another large-scale study found that regular consumption of dairy fat may reduce your risk of heart attack. 2

A budget keto shopping list friendly 3lb bulk tub of Philadelphia cream cheese provides 432 grams of whole food dairy fat, 96 grams of protein, 5,280 calories for less than $10.00. 

6. Grass-Fed Butter

Grass-fed butter from New Zealand cows is one of the healthiest keto fats you can gift your body. And when you buy it in bulk, it’s surprisingly affordable. 

Despite what you’ve heard, butter is good for you. Modern science tells us that there is no link between saturated fat and heart disease. In fact, eating full-fat dairy like butter can actually protect your heart health. 

2lbs of Kirkland grass-fed butter comes in at a reasonable $49.72,  offering 6400 whole food calories, almost exclusively from vitamin-rich fats. 

7. Pork Belly

Pork belly is a fresh, nitrite-free alternative to bacon. Though not as nutrient-dense as red meat and the best cuts of steak, pork belly is a much more affordable source of whole food protein, fat, B vitamins, and selenium. 

You can get free delivery of Swift pork belly at $4.96 lb. If you’re looking for the convenience of a pre-sliced variety, Kirkland Signature sliced pork belly looks and cooks like bacon and comes in at only $6.97 a pound. 

8. Atlantic Mackeral

Atlantic mackerel is one of the fattiest and most nutrient-dense fish you can eat. Fortunately for budget-conscious keto dieters, it’s also one of the least expensive. 

Canned mackerel, like other keto seafood, is an important source of omega-3 fatty acids which, you can’t find in red meats.   One can of Crown Prince mackerel provides 14865 mg of Omega-3’s. 

A 3 oz serving of Atlantic mackerel provides  91% of your RDA in vitamin D per serving, making it one of the world’s best dietary sources. 

9. Beef Liver

One of the least expensive meats, beef liver is also by far the most nutritious.  

Just 3.5 ounces of beef liver provides 263% of vitamin B2, 870% of vitamin A, and an amazing 3500% of vitamin B 12. 

When it comes to protein, we haven’t found another food that comes close to beef liver’s 74.5 grams of protein per dollar. 

Free delivery for fresh beef liver delivered is a ridiculously low $1.79 per pound. 

If you can’t imagine cooking and eating beef liver, you can still get it’s benefits in an affordable convenient desiccated liver supplement form. 

10. Chicken Wings

Chicken wings with the skin on are one of the fattier and, therefore keto-friendlier poultry meats. 

They’re also high in the extremely important yet overlooked nutrient vitamin K2. 

Chicken wings are also an excellent source of B vitamins and selenium, making them one of the healthiest meats to eat. 

A 10lb bag of Kirkland Signature chicken wings at Costco comes out to $4.25 per lb. 

11. Beef Kidney

Beef kidney is another fresh organ meat you can have delivered for only $1.79 lb. 

Like liver, beef kidney is loaded with vitamins and minerals. Standouts include 202% of selenium and 1146% of B12 per 3.5 oz serving. 

If beef kidney feels too intimidating fresh, you can take it in an affordable organ meat supplement form. 

12. Bratwurst

Kirkland Signature Bratwurst delivered for free at $3.00 per lb. makes bratwurst one of the best cheap keto grocery list foods for calories, protein, and fat per dollar. 

Bratwurst is also a good source of zinc, selenium, and B vitamins. 

13. Avocados

Nearly all keto fruits and vegetables are mostly water with very little fat or protien, but avocados are a rare exception. 

A staple for vegetarian keto and vegan keto diets, avocados are high in monounsaturated fats that have been correlated with improved insulin sensitivity and reduced inflammation. [3]

While a single avocado offers 30% of your RDV for potassium–a mineral that can be hard to get on a keto diet. 4

With free delivery, a six pack of avocados from Costco will run you about $10, making it a good option for your budget keto shopping list. 

Strategies for Budget Keto

Aside from focusing on the specific cheap keto grocery list foods above, there are a couple of strategies that will support your budget keto diet. 

Buying in bulk

When it comes to keeping your keto grocery list cheap, quantity is king. 

For example, a half dozen organic eggs can cost up to $8. But 60 eggs can cost as little as $12. Not only are they cheaper, but you’re creating less packaging waste.

As you’ve seen above, many of the cheap keto grocery list options we link to are sourced from warehouse stores that sell exclusively in bulk. 

Combining Keto and Intermittent Fasting

Combining Intermittent fasting and keto can enhance the benefits of both methods, while at the same time eliminating snacking habits that can run up your grocery bill. 

When intermittent fasting on keto, you fuel your body with one or satiating meals per day. Some of the most popular and science-backed intermittent fasting methods include 16/8 fasting, circadian rhythm fasting. There are also women-centered IF strategies you can learn about here. 

Cheap Keto Grocery List: The Takeaway

A cheap keto grocery list doesn’t have to skimp on nutrition. 

A budget keto shopping list focusing on bulk whole animal foods including eggs cheese, butter, beef, pork, and organ meats provides all the nutrients your body needs in near-perfect ratios and in the most bioavailable form.