When eating low-carb you limit the amount of carbs you eat daily. Can you eat mushrooms on low-carb diets and if so, which ones are the best?
Carbohydrates or carbs in short are one of the three macronutrients. Keeping your carb intake low can offer benefits. You can fit in most types of edible mushrooms on low-carb diets and on top of that they can offer valuable nutrients.
Are mushrooms OK on low-carb diets like keto?
The amounts of carbs in mushrooms per 100 grams vary a lot from type of mushroom to type of mushroom. In general, most edible mushrooms are suited for low-carb diets. You can even fit edible mushrooms into strict low-carb diets like the keto diet.
There may be some food groups like cheese, animal meats, fish, etc. that can offer bigger quantities of nutrients for fewer carbs. But mushrooms can contain specific nutrients that are slightly harder to find in other low-carb foods.
In general it is a good idea to get nutrients from a variety of food groups.
You can eat some of these mushrooms raw but in general, it’s tastier and safer to cook them before eating. After that, you can eat them on the side, as an addition to a salad, in an omelet, as a burger bun replacement, in soup, or even in smoothies if you like.
Below you can find a list of mushrooms ranked from lowest to highest in net carbs, total carbs minus carbs from fiber, per 100 grams.
This ranking does not take into account total calories. If you are interested in a ranking like that you can check out the list of the best mushrooms for weight loss.
Keep in mind that if your goal with eating low-carb is losing weight it is likely OK to go over your carb limit every once in a while if that means being able to consume nutrients that are beneficial for your metabolism and health.
1. Morel mushrooms
Morel mushrooms are another type of wild mushroom. This mushroom is one of the mushrooms that you should definitely cook to avoid an upset stomach. Another thing that really stands out in morel mushrooms is their iron content.
Morel mushrooms are the lowest-carb mushroom on this list and you can definitely fit them into a keto diet.
100 grams of raw morel mushrooms contains (1):
- Net carbs: 2.3 grams
- Calories: 31
- Protein: 3.1 grams
- Carbs: 5.1 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 2.8 grams
- Fat: 0.6 grams
- Iron: 68% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Copper: 31% of the DV
- Manganese: 29% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 19% of the DV
- Zinc: 14% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
2. White mushrooms
White mushrooms, also known as button mushrooms, are one of the most popular types of mushrooms. They are the lowest-calorie mushroom on this list. More fiber would make them even better but even with that in mind white mushrooms are a great mushroom if you are trying to keep your carbohydrate intake low.
100 grams of raw white mushrooms contains (2):
- Net carbs: 2.3 grams
- Calories: 22
- Protein: 3.1 grams
- Carbs: 3.3 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 1 gram
- Fat: 0.3 grams
- Riboflavin: 24% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Niacin: 18% of the DV
- Copper: 16% of the DV
- Vitamin B5: 15% of the DV
- Selenium: 13% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
Like vegetables white mushrooms can be eaten on their own or as a part of a wide variety of dishes including but not limited to soups, salads, and omelets.
3. Chanterelle mushrooms
Chanterelle mushrooms are a type of wild mushroom with a helpful nutrient composition both for keeping your carb intake low and goals like weight loss and health.
One thing that really stands out in chanterelle mushrooms is their large fiber content. This makes chanterelle mushrooms a great low-carb food option to reduce hunger and cravings.
100 grams of raw chanterelle mushrooms contains (3):
- Net carbs: 3.1 grams
- Calories: 32
- Protein: 1.5 grams
- Carbs: 6.9 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 3.8 grams
- Fat: 0.5 grams
- Niacin: 20% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Iron: 19% of the DV
- Copper: 18% of the DV
- Manganese: 14% of the DV
- Potassium: 14% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
4. Cremini mushrooms
Cremini mushrooms are the brown and slightly older version of one of the previous options, white mushrooms. This aging process slightly influences the nutritional content and thus how low-carb friendly they are.
100 grams of raw cremini mushrooms contains (4):
- Net carbs: 3.5 grams
- Calories: 27
- Protein: 2.5 grams
- Carbs: 4.1 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 0.6 grams
- Fat: 0.1 grams
- Selenium: 37% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Riboflavin: 29% of the DV
- Copper: 25% of the DV
- Niacin: 19% of the DV
- Vitamin B5: 15% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
5. Portabello mushrooms
Portabello mushrooms are one of the bigger mushrooms on this list. This makes it so portabello mushrooms can be used as low calorie, low carb, burger buns. A great ingredient swap if you are trying to keep your carb intake low but still want to enjoy a burger.
100 grams of raw portabello mushrooms contains (5):
- Net carbs: 3.6 grams
- Calories: 26
- Protein: 2.5 grams
- Carbs: 5.1 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 1.5 grams
- Fat: 0.2 grams
- Riboflavin: 28% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Niacin: 23% of the DV
- Copper: 20% of the DV
- Selenium: 16% of the DV
- Vitamin B5: 15% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
6. Maitake mushrooms
Maitake mushrooms, also known in a wide variety of names like hen-of-the-woods, ram’s head, and sheep’s head, is the next low-carb mushroom option.
100 grams of raw maitake mushrooms contains (6):
- Net carbs: 4.1 grams
- Calories: 37
- Protein: 1.9 grams
- Carbs: 6.8 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 2.7 grams
- Fat: 0.2 grams
- Niacin: 33% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Riboflavin: 14% of the DV
- Coper: 13% of the DV
- Thiamin: 10% of the DV
- Folate: 7% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
7. Oyster mushrooms
Even though they are slightly lower on this list, oyster mushrooms are a great low-carb food option. Oyster mushrooms are the highest protein mushroom on this list. Besides that they also contain a nice amount of fiber and other valuable nutrients.
100 grams of raw oyster mushrooms contains (7):
- Net carbs: 4.2 grams
- Calories: 43
- Protein: 3.3 grams
- Carbs: 6.5 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 2.3 grams
- Fat: 0.4 grams
- Niacin: 25% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Riboflavin: 21% of the DV
- Vitamin B5: 13% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 12% of the DV
- Potassium: 12% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
8. Shiitake mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms are a popular mushroom option in East-Asian cuisine. This mushroom definitely has the nutritional composition of a good addition to a low-carb diet.
100 grams of raw shiitake mushrooms contains (8):
- Net carbs: 4.3 grams
- Calories: 34
- Protein: 2.2 grams
- Carbs: 6.8 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 2.5 grams
- Fat: 0.5 grams
- Niacin: 19% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Vitamin B5: 15% of the DV
- Vitamin B6: 15% of the DV
- Riboflavin: 13% of the DV
- Manganese: 12% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
9. Enoki mushrooms
Enoki mushrooms are a type of mushroom with a different look depending on whether they are cultivated or found in the wild. Enoki mushrooms are especially popular in Japanese cuisine.
Even though they are the highest in carbs, you could still fit in enoki mushrooms on very low-carb diets like the keto diet.
100 grams of raw enoki mushrooms contains (9):
- Net carbs: 5 grams
- Calories: 44
- Protein: 2.6 grams
- Carbs: 7.7 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 2.7 grams
- Fat: 0.3 grams
- Niacin: 30% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Folate: 13% of the DV
- Thiamin: 12% of the DV
- Vitamin B5: 11% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 11% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
