Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
Get It NowProbably the most common question that my readers on a keto diet ask me is for my best keto bread recipe. How on earth do you make one that actually tastes good and has the right texture? Luckily, this happens to be one of my specialties. 😉
I’ve made many keto bread recipes here on Wholesome Yum over the years. (My 2 other faves are low carb bagels and 90 second bread.) But when I want a classic keto friendly white bread for sandwiches, I turn to this one more than any other. It has since become my most popular one of all — and honestly, one of my favorite keto recipes ever — so I also included it in my Easy Keto Carboholics’ Cookbook!
Why You’ll Love My Keto Bread Recipe
- Sturdy enough to be a keto sandwich bread – Many low carb breads are notorious for being dense or crumbly, but not mine, thanks to a special method I’ll show you. (I actually had a sandwich with it the day I took these pictures — see below!)
- Light and fluffy – Complete with a delicate crumb and air pockets! Air pockets are probably my biggest challenge in developing keto bread recipes, and I’m pleased that this one has them. It’s white, soft, and airy bliss.
- Just the right amount of chewiness – A.k.a. like real bread! If air pockets are my #1 challenge, then the chewy factor is definitely #2. This one has that, too!
- Toasts well – I use my toaster with it all the time, though I also like the softness when I don’t. But be aware that toasting might take a bit longer than regular bread.
- No eggy taste – Don’t worry about the amount of egg whites in this recipe. It’s actually the yolks that create an eggy taste, and I’m not using those here.
- Neutral flavor – Like regular white bread, it doesn’t have any particular flavor… which means it goes with anything.
- Keto friendly, but not heavy – Only 82 calories and 1 gram of net carbs per slice, which is so rare for low carb options! I also love that it’s not dense.
- Easy to make – My keto bread needs just 5 simple ingredients (okay, I have a few optional ones, too ;)) and 10 minutes of active prep time. I pop it in the oven and have time to go do something else!
- Naturally gluten-free – Nope, no wheat or grains here. I also have a dairy-free option below if you need it.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section will explain how to choose the best ingredients for my easy keto bread recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
5 Required Ingredients:
- Almond Flour – I always use and highly recommend my Wholesome Yum Super Fine Blanched Almond Flour, because it gives my keto friendly bread the right texture consistently. I’ve been burned so many times with other brands that I made my own! You can try a different one, but using almond meal or a coarser brand can make the bread gritty, or even reminiscent of cornbread. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good substitution option for almond flour in this recipe. (If you can’t have it or don’t want to use any specialty ingredients, you might like my cloud bread recipe instead.)
- Coconut Flour – Blending in a little coconut flour helps improve the texture. Different brands absorb moisture differently, so I use and recommend Wholesome Yum Coconut Flour as well. If you don’t or can’t have it, you can try replacing the 1/4 cup coconut flour with an extra 3/4 cup almond flour (yes, triple the amount).
- Baking Powder – I prefer this clean brand. Make sure it’s fresh, so that it rises well. Don’t confuse it with baking soda, which is different and will leave an aftertaste.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter. If you want to make my recipe for keto bread without dairy (or make this a paleo bread), substitute the same amount of unrefined coconut oil instead. I don’t recommend using oils that are liquid at room temperature, such as olive or avocado oil.
- Egg Whites – You’ll need a lot of these! I’ve made this bread using fresh separated egg whites as well as carton egg whites. Both work, but with the carton option you’ll also need the cream of tartar from the optional list below.
- Sea Salt – Helps balance the flavors.
Need ideas to use up the egg yolks?
I’ve got recipes for those! Try my low carb creme brulee, keto flan, or almond milk ice cream.
Optional Ingredients (Recommended):
While only the 5 ingredients above are absolutely necessary, I’ll go over what each of the optional ones does, so that you can decide whether you want to include them. I usually use them all, but the bread still turned out fine when I’ve run out of some of these.
- Sweetener – This keto bread recipe is not sweet, but I add sweetener to balance out the salt and makes it taste neutral. I use and recommend my Besti sweetener, because it has a clean taste (no aftertaste) and won’t crystallize when you store the bread. But, any sweetener you have should work — use my conversion calculator and read my guide on keto sweeteners to learn more.
- Xanthan Gum – Makes the bread more chewy and more sturdy. I add only 1/4 teaspoon to the entire loaf and it makes a big difference.
- Cream Of Tartar – You’ll find it in the baking aisle. I use it to stabilize the egg whites, helping them form peaks more easily. You can skip it, but then you’ll want to avoid carton egg whites and it’s extra important for your whites to be at room temperature. Cold ones don’t whip as well!
How To Make Keto Bread
This section shows step-by-step photos together with the instructions, to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Combine the dry ingredients and melted butter. Add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, Besti (if using), xanthan gum (if using), and sea salt to a food processor. Pulse until uniform. Add the melted butter and pulse again until crumbly.
- Whip the egg whites. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment to whip the egg whites (and cream of tartar, if using) to stiff peaks. Funny enough, I totally spaced when taking these pictures and used regular beaters! It took me much longer, but now you know — those will still work.
- Add the whites to the food processor. Add half of them (not all of them yet!) and pulse briefly until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, or they will break down.
- Fold together. Use a large spatula to fold the mixture from the food processor into the remaining egg whites very gently, without breaking down the mixture, until no streaks remain. See my tips on this below.
- Bake the keto bread. Gently transfer the mixture to a parchment paper lined loaf pan (I use this one, which is small). Bake until the top is golden first, then tent the top with foil and bake again until the bread is firm and doesn’t make a squishy sound when pressed.
- Let it cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing. This allows the texture inside to set properly.
My Key Recipe Tips
- Beat the egg whites to very stiff peaks. They give the keto bread structure and keep it airy, so if you don’t beat them long enough, your bread will be flat! This is why I use whites at room temperature (they whip more easily) and add cream of tartar (makes the recipe more foolproof). I have 2 rules of thumb you can use to ensure they are stiff enough. One is tilt the bowl — they shouldn’t start to fall out. The second is look for noticeable streaks from your mixer (see my picture above).
- Be careful not to break down the whipped egg whites. This tip is even more important than my last! First, make sure you don’t mix them too long in the food processor. Second, only fold the batter (don’t stir) when incorporating the batter from the food processor with the rest of the whites. It might seem like it doesn’t want to come together it first, but keep folding gently until you don’t have chunks or streaks. Just don’t overdo it!
- This bread does rise, but not a lot. I like to round the top a little upfront so that it doesn’t come out too flat, but don’t expect it to be super tall. Some people have asked me how to make it taller. You can try multiplying my keto bread recipe by 1.5X or 2X, but I find that it takes so long to bake that it’s not worth it. You’d need a lower oven temperature if you go that route.
- The center takes a long time to cook through, and the bread will sink if you remove it too soon. Underbaking is the biggest mistake I see people make with this recipe. The result will be a fallen middle at best, and a wet, gummy center at worst. This is why I tent the top with foil in the middle of baking – to prevent the top from burning. The most common reason that any bread falls is that it needed to bake for longer. That being said, I’ll be brutally honest, sometimes my keto bread falls anyway, despite doing everything else right. Fortunately this isn’t a huge deal because it still tastes amazing – as long as the center is cooked through.
- A toothpick is not a good test for doneness in this recipe. I use this test with most of my baking recipes, but it doesn’t work with this one. Instead, check that it doesn’t make a squishy sound when you press on the center, and the internal temperature should reach at least 200 degrees F.
- Know what to expect. This keto bread is not a crusty baguette like you’d find in Paris. It’s soft, fluffy, and airy… which I think is awesome! But if you’re looking for a crust, my other low carb bread recipe is better for that.
Ways To Use It
I enjoy this keto bread in the same ways that I used to eat regular white bread! Here are a few of my go-to ideas:
- Make a sandwich, of course! My fave is turkey, lettuce, and homemade mayo, pictured below! Sometimes I add a couple strips of crispy bacon.
- Toast it and serve with olive oil, my chimichurri sauce, creamy grass-fed butter, or nut butter. I also use it for avocado toast (can you tell I love them from my logo?).
- Make keto grilled cheese – It makes me feel like a kid again!
- Top it with creamy salad, like my classic egg salad, keto chicken salad, or avocado tuna salad.
- Make French toast by dipping the keto friendly bread in egg beaten with cinnamon and sweetener. (See my full instructions for keto French toast, and you can swap out the bread for this one.)
- Enjoy it on the side with one of my low carb dinner recipes, with a low carb salad for a light meal, or with one of my keto soups for comfort food.
And here’s that sandwich photo I promised. It looks small because I ate more than half before I remembered to take it, ha. But I cut a flat edge and did it anyway — I had to show you the amazing texture of this keto bread!
Storage Instructions
- Store: Unlike most breads that quickly go stale in the fridge, I refrigerate my keto white bread because otherwise it goes bad quickly. It will last up to a week in the refrigerator. I wrap it in parchment paper and keep it in an airtight container, but you can also store it in a parchment paper bag. I recommend slicing it as you need it, rather than all at once.
- Freeze: This keto bread keeps well in the freezer for up to 6 months. In fact, that’s how I store it most often, with parchment paper between slices to prevent sticking. I do recommend slicing it first, so you can just grab a slice (or two) and pop it in the toaster.
FYI: This bread is prone to absorbing moisture.
Unless you are freezing it, I don’t recommend storing the bread in anything that traps moisture, like plastic bags or plastic wrap. Condensation will form if you do this. If it still becomes a little “wet” over time, you can recover it by toasting it in the toaster.
More Keto Bread Recipes
Looking for a different kind of keto bread? Here are some of my other popular ones:
Are you a fan of shortcuts like me?
I’ve created a keto bread mix that’s even easier to make! You can also use it as a base to make my keto yeast bread. (People have asked if you can use yeast with my recipe in this post, but I don’t think it will work, sorry.)
My Tools For This Recipe
- Food Processor – This is the one I use for this bread, and for so many other things every week.
- Hand Mixer – Mine comes with the whisk attachment you’ll need for whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks. (Unless you forget like I did, lol!) I also like the built-in storage for the attachments.
- Loaf Pan – This is the size I use for this keto bread recipe, and it’s on the smaller side. A larger size makes the bread too flat, and I found that if I increased the amount of batter, it took forever to bake.
Keto Bread (Easy, Fluffy, 5 Ingredients)
You'll love this soft, airy keto bread recipe! This easy, gluten-free, keto friendly bread has just 5 ingredients and 1 net carb per slice.
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them.
Basic Ingredients
Optional Ingredients (recommended)
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C). Line an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in (22×11 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper, with extra hanging over the sides for easy removal later.
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Combine the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, Besti, xanthan gum, and sea salt in a large food processor. Pulse until combined.
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Add the melted butter. Pulse, scraping down the sides as needed, until crumbly.
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In a very large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites and cream of tartar (if using), until stiff peaks form. Make sure the bowl is large enough because the whites will expand a lot.
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Add 1/2 of the stiff egg whites to the food processor. Pulse a few times until just combined. Do not over-mix!
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Carefully transfer the mixture from the food processor into the bowl with the egg whites, and gently fold until no streaks remain. Do not stir. Fold gently to keep the mixture as fluffy as possible.
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Transfer the batter to the lined loaf pan and smooth the top. Push the batter toward the center a bit to round the top.
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Bake for about 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Tent the top with aluminum foil and bake for another 30-45 minutes, until the top is firm and does not make a squishy sound when pressed. Internal temperature should be 200 degrees. Cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers (this also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site), or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 slice, 1/2″ thick
- I slightly updated this recipe in June 2018 to reduce baking temperature to 325 degrees, increase cook time, and better describe signs of doneness. These changes reduce the chance of having an undercooked center.
- New photos were added in April 2024.
- Check the post above the recipe card for my crucial tips to make it!
Recipe from my Easy Keto Carboholics’ Cookbook.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
1,268 Comments
Meghan
1The texture of this bread is EVERYTHING. Seriously, I can’t stop eating and I can’t believe how easy it was to make!
Barbara
1I just made this bread and WOW! It came out so good! It was easier than expected too so this will definitely be a go-to recipe from now on!
Penny
1Tried many other breads and this is the lightest one. Tastes great. Very easy to make.
Erica
1This is absolutely the best keto bread recipe on the internet. I bake it every week (usually with cheese on top because why not) and it has really helped curb carb cravings! Makes really good avo toast in the morning, among other things. Thank you so much!
Eljay
0Hi I baked it for 40 minutes and then when I took it out it was about just under 200f in the middle so do I need to put it back in with the foil for 30 ish minutes or will it be ok?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Eljay, If you are worried about over baking I suggest checking the temperature 15 minutes after putting the foil on.
Dnelly
0Hi thanks I want to try this I’m curious would using Aquafaba (Equal amount in egg whites I know 1 tbs is an egg white for example), would it still work or does it have to be actual egg whites due to egg white quality ?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi, I have never tried using aquafaba in this recipe.
Mark123
0Can you replace the food processor with a handheld mixer?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi, I haven’t tried that, so I’m not sure. It might, but I’d be concerned that it might break down the whites too much when adding them.
Sara Wilson
0Will this work with egg whites from carton?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sara, Yes, it does. I have notes about this in the post above.