Mexican Keto Cookbook: Table of Contents

Mornings in the capital start early and hearty. Office workers line up at street stalls and fondas, the small family-run eateries, for chilaquiles in red or green salsa, huevos rancheros, eggs scrambled with chorizo, and cups of café de olla spiced with cinnamon. This chapter brings those big Mexican breakfasts to your table, with the tortillas and sugar swapped out so the flavor stays and the carbs don’t.

Oaxaca is often called the culinary heart of Mexico and the land of seven moles. Its markets overflow with stringy quesillo cheese, smoky chiles, toasted chapulines (grasshoppers) and bottles of mezcal, and every visit begins with a little plate of something to share. The appetizers in this chapter carry that spirit of welcome: small, bold bites made for passing around the table.

Puebla is one of Mexico’s great food cities. Legend says mole poblano was first created in the kitchen of the city’s Santa Rosa convent, and its streets are lined with stands selling antojitos, the “little cravings” Mexicans snack on all day: chalupas, molotes, cemitas and more. This chapter gathers those snacks and rebuilds them for keto, so you can crave something Mexican any time of day.

Jalisco is the homeland of mariachi, tequila and some of Mexico’s most beloved soups and stews. Families gather on weekends over steaming bowls of birria, slow-cooked goat or beef in a rich chile broth, and pozole, the hominy soup served with radishes, lime and oregano. This chapter brings that comfort to your kitchen, with the corn and starch swapped for keto-friendly ingredients.

On weekends, families float the canals on brightly painted wooden boats called trajineras, while mariachis drift by on their own boats and vendors sell grilled corn and snacks from canoes. The chinampas still supply the city with fresh lettuce, herbs and greens. This chapter celebrates that freshness with crisp Mexican salads full of avocado, lime, nopales and fresh herbs.

The Maya cooking of the Yucatán is unlike anything else in Mexico. Meats are rubbed with recado rojo, a paste of achiote, sour orange and spices, then wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked in a pib, an underground pit oven. Pollo pibil and its pork cousin cochinita pibil are the region’s pride. This chapter brings those bright, tangy flavors to chicken and turkey dishes from across Mexico.

The north of Mexico is cattle country, and its kitchen is built around the grill. On weekends, families across Monterrey gather for carne asada, grilling thin cuts of beef and arrachera over mesquite coals and serving them with salsa, grilled onions and guacamole. This chapter brings that big northern love of beef to your table, from taco-spiced skillets to steak with cilantro sauces.

Michoacán is also the home of carnitas, pork slowly simmered in its own fat in giant copper pots until it is tender inside and crisp outside. The town of Quiroga, on the shores of the lake region, is famous across Mexico for them. This chapter celebrates Mexico’s love of pork, from carnitas to chorizo, all naturally at home in a keto kitchen.

The people of ancient Mexico ate mostly from the milpa, the field where corn, beans and squash grow together, along with chiles, tomatoes, amaranth and the prickly pear cactus called nopal. Many of Mexico’s best meatless dishes still come from that tradition. This chapter keeps the squash, chiles, nopales and mushrooms, and swaps the corn and beans for keto-friendly vegetables.

Spanish, African, Caribbean and Indigenous flavors all met in this port, and nowhere is that clearer than in huachinango a la veracruzana, red snapper simmered with tomatoes, olives, capers and pickled chiles. Along the Gulf coast and the Pacific, Mexicans eat seafood with lime, chile and fresh herbs, from ceviche to garlic shrimp. This chapter gathers those coastal favorites, naturally low in carbs and full of flavor.

Guanajuato’s miners ate hearty plates like enchiladas mineras, served with potatoes, carrots, lettuce and crumbled cheese on the side. In every Mexican home, the side dishes are what fill out the table: rice, beans, sautéed vegetables and salsas. This chapter gives you keto versions of those everyday sides, from cilantro cauliflower “rice” to street-style zucchini.

All around it, Mexico City runs on tacos. Taquerías and street stands serve everything from suadero to tacos al pastor, pork marinated in chile and achiote and cooked on a vertical spit called a trompo, a method brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants and their shawarma. This chapter rebuilds the taco for keto with cheese shells, lettuce wraps and almond-coconut tortillas, so the fillings can shine.

The Bajío region around San Miguel is famous for its sweets, above all cajeta, the caramel made from slowly cooked goat’s milk, made famous by the nearby city of Celaya. Across Mexico, desserts are a celebration: silky flan, cinnamon churros, chocolate spiced with chile. This chapter keeps those flavors and swaps the sugar for keto-friendly sweeteners.

Tequila is just the start of Mexico’s drinks. Oaxaca is known for smoky mezcal, and every region has its own aguas frescas, coffees and celebratory cocktails, from the margarita to the paloma. This chapter brings you sugar-free versions of those favorites, so you can toast the end of your journey around Mexico.