Keto Breakfast Waffles With Pico De Gallo Recipe

One of the most popular diets in modern nutrition is the ketogenic diet. The goal of keto is to reach a state of ketosis, which is when your body begins using fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. The idea, then, is that the fat burned leads to weight loss. It's a reasonable way to temporarily lose weight and a great diet for those with medical conditions like diabetes that need to keep carbohydrate levels balanced. The key to keto, though, is to keep your carbohydrate intake around 5% a day — that's a huge difference from the average 50%. This means little to no breads, pastas, beans, rice, or potatoes (see how we get to 50% so fast?).

Being on keto can greatly reduce what foods you can eat, but it doesn't have to limit your diet completely. This recipe, written with nutritionist coach and developer Michelle McGlinn, suggests a new way to make waffles totally carb-free. Cheesy, fresh, crispy, and filling, this keto waffle recipe is the perfect way to fuel your day. And, on keto, starting the day with a good breakfast can be a game changer.

For the waffles, you'll need almond flour, baking powder, eggs, and cheese. While you can experiment with your favorite types of shredded cheese, we recommend mild cheddar and Monterey Jack, which are savory and neutral flavored. To add some spice, you can swap for pepper Jack, or use sharp cheddar for a more cheesy flavor. From there, you'll just need tomato, cilantro, onion, lime juice, and salt for the pico de gallo salsa. We also recommend picking up sour cream and avocados for added toppings, which will increase your fat intake (a goal in keto) and complete the dish.

Combine the eggs, almond flour, baking powder, and the cheeses in a bowl.

Mix together until a lumpy batter forms.

Spray a standard waffle maker with cooking oil.

Add ½ cup batter to the center of the waffle iron and close the lid.

Cook until the waffle iron indicates doneness and the waffle is browned, about 3–4 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter. 

Repeat with the remaining batter.

To make the pico de gallo, combine the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine.

To serve, top the waffles with sour cream, avocado, and pico de gallo.

Typically a carb-heavy food, waffles become keto-friendly by swapping in almond flour for all-purpose and combining it with eggs, cheese, and baking powder. Almonds are primarily a source of protein and therefore very low in carbohydrates: ¼ cup of almond flour has only 6 grams of carbs compared to 23 grams in the same amount of all-purpose flour. 

For the best chance of reaching ketosis (and to save your carb allowance for other meals), we recommend keeping the recipe as-is or using keto-friendly flours to supplement the eggs and cheese. If you are allergic to nuts, your next best choice is coconut flour, which will have around 18 grams of carbohydrates per ¼ cup. Choose your toppings carefully, too: This savory waffle is easy to pair with salsa, sour cream, and avocado, which are typically high in fat and ideal for ketogenic diets. Where keto waffle toppings get trickier is in syrups, store-bought salsa, and fruit. To maintain ketosis, avoid toppings that may contain added sugars or sneaky carbs.

If you are planning to keep a keto diet, you'll want to invest in almond flour. Almond flour is a good swap for all-purpose flour in many situations and can broaden your keto-friendly options. The problem is that almond flour is expensive, often climbing to over $10 for a relatively small bag — and that's only if your grocery store readily carries it. What may be more accessible to you are almonds, which can be bought in bulk for about the same price as the bag of flour. 

To make almond flour, you'll need a saucepan and a powerful blender or food processor. First, blanch the almonds. Add 2 cups of almonds to a pot of boiling water for about 1 minute, then drain and rinse the almonds with cold water. Squeeze the brown skins off of the almonds (they should come off easily), and let them dry completely. To speed up the drying process, spread the almonds onto a sheet tray and place them in the oven on the warm setting for about 15 minutes. Once completely dry, pulse the almonds in the blender or food processor until sandy. To get a fine powder, spread the flour on a sheet tray and warm it in the oven again to dry (almonds release oil as they blend), then pulse again until fine.