Animal meat is typically good on keto but you may wonder if shellfish like shrimp are different. Find out whether this food is keto-friendly.
100 grams of cooked shrimp contains 0.2 grams of net carbohydrates. That makes shrimp very keto-friendly.
On top of that, this food is a good source of important nutrients like protein, vitamins, and minerals. In simpler words, shrimp can be a great addition to keto diets.
Something you do want to keep in mind is that certain preparation methods add a lot of carbs.
Recipes like fried shrimp and shrimp cocktails are typically not that keto-friendly.
Besides that, it can be helpful to know that many seafood options are also low in carbs and high in valuable nutrients. If you don’t like shrimp, you have other options too.
How many carbs are there in shrimp?
Ketogenic diets are very low-carb diets which means you want to check the amounts of carbs in shrimp and the other foods you eat.
100 grams of cooked shrimp contain the following amounts of carbs (1):
- Total carbs: 0.2 grams
- Of which fiber: 0 grams
- Net carbs: 0.2 grams
In theory, these 0.2 grams of net carbs in cooked shrimp could be the thing that kicks you out of ketosis.
In practice, this will basically never happen since shrimp are so keto-friendly.
If you get kicked out of ketosis while eating shrimp, the other foods in your diet are likely more responsible.
One cup of cooked shrimp is about 145 grams and contains the following amounts of carbs:
- Total carbs: 0.3 grams
- Of which fiber: 0 grams
- Net carbs: 0.3 grams
It should become clear that you will likely feel too full before shrimp can kick you out of ketosis.
Other nutrients in shrimp
How many carbohydrates are in the foods you eat is important when following a ketogenic diet but looking at the other nutrients in foods like shrimp can be helpful too.
Fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals still influence whether you stay in ketosis and how healthy you will be.
100 grams of cooked shrimp contain the following nutrients (1):
- Calories: 99
- Protein: 20.9 grams
- Carbs: 0 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 0 grams
- Fat: 0.3 grams
- Phosphorus: 24% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Copper: 19% of the DV
- Zinc: 11% of the DV
- Magnesium: 10% of the DV
- Potassium: 7% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
Shrimp are not just low in carbs. They also offer you a variety of valuable nutrients in nice amounts.
Especially the extra protein in shrimp can be helpful for feeling fuller, building muscle, and preserving muscle.
Even if you do not necessarily like the taste of shrimp or other seafood options, it can be worth implementing them into your ketogenic diet anyway for their extra nutrients.
Carbs in shrimp cocktail and is it keto-friendly?
A shrimp cocktail is basically a combination of this seafood and specific sauces.
The exact nutrition details will depend on the recipe but 100 grams of one example shrimp cocktail contains the following amounts of carbs (2):
- Total carbs: 7.9 grams
- Of which fiber: 0 grams
- Net carbs: 7.9 grams
You could be able to eat some of this shrimp cocktail and stay in ketosis.
However, it is still fair to say that store-bought and restaurant shrimp cocktail options are generally not that keto-friendly due to their somewhat higher carb content.
That being said, there are also more keto-friendly shrimp cocktail recipes. With these, this shrimp preparation method can become keto-friendly anyway.
Carbs in fried shrimp and is it keto-friendly?
To get fried shrimp you coat the shrimp, usually with flour, and deep-fry it. This definitely changes the nutrient composition.
More specifically, 100 grams of one example of breaded and fried shrimp contains the following amounts of carbs (3):
- Total carbs: 11.5 grams
- Of which fiber: 0.4 grams
- Net carbs: 11.1 grams
This makes it so fried shrimp is generally not keto-friendly.
That being said, again, there are ways to make the standard recipes more keto-friendly.
You may be able to find or create a type of low-carb fried shrimp that allows you to stay in ketosis.
Can you eat shrimp on a keto diet?
Keto diets are basically ways of eating where you get and stay in ketosis. To do this you have to keep your carbohydrate intake low enough.
A typical recommendation is to get 55%-60% of your calories from fat, 30%-35% from protein, and 5%-10% from carbohydrates.
For most people, this will mean eating a maximum of around 20 to 50 grams of carbs a day.
Boiled shrimp barely contains any carbs so you should definitely be able to eat it on a keto diet.
How much shrimp can you have on keto?
Boiled shrimp only contains around 0.2 grams of net carbs per 100 grams.
Because of this, it is unlikely you will ever eat too much shrimp on keto diets in terms of its carb count.
That being said, you still want to keep in mind that other nutrients still matter for certain goals like losing weight.
Shrimp still tends to be good for weight loss and health but in combination with certain diets, you may want to limit your portions anyway.
With other preparation methods like shrimp cocktails and fried shrimp, you want to figure out how many carbs you can still have this day.
With that, you can estimate how much of these other shrimp recipes you could eat without getting kicked out of ketosis.
Alternatives to shrimp on keto
By now it should be clear that shrimp can be a great addition to keto diets. At the same time, you may not really like its taste or texture.
In that case, you can also consider a variety of other types of animal meats, fish, or other protein sources.
The numbers next to these alternatives are the amounts of net carbs per 100 grams (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9):
- Salmon: 0 grams of net carbs
- Beef: 0 grams of net carbs
- Eggs (hard-boiled): 1.1 grams of net carbs
- Tilapia: 0 grams of net carbs
- Chicken: 0 grams of net carbs
- Tuna: 0 grams of net carbs
Basically all meats (including fish) do not contain carbohydrates but do contain nice amounts of protein and fat.
If you cook them, you likely add tiny amounts of carbs in the form of herbs and spices.
One thing to note is that even though these shrimp alternatives will likely not kick you out of ketosis, you may want to implement portion control anyway.
This could be to avoid eating too many calories and too much protein.
Related posts:
Is boiled shrimp keto-friendly?
100 grams of boiled shrimp only contains around 0.2 grams of net carbs. This is typically very keto-friendly.
Are shrimp high in carbs?
Cooked shrimp only contains around 0.2 grams of carbs per 100 grams. That means shrimp are not high in carbs at all.
