The 5-Ingredient Keto Cookbook

Chapter 1: Welcome to 5-Ingredient Keto

Let me guess why you picked up this book. You’re not looking for a challenge. You’re looking for a way to eat that doesn’t feel like a second job. You’ve probably tried keto before, or you’re thinking about it, and the first thing you found online was a recipe for “Fathead dough” with six ingredients you’ve never heard of, a list of instructions longer than your grocery receipt, and a note about chilling the dough for two hours. You closed that tab, didn’t you?

That’s exactly why I wrote this book. The keto diet is simple in theory: eat low-carb, moderate protein, and enough fat to keep you full. But somewhere between the theory and your dinner plate, a lot of recipes go off the rails. They call for almond flour, coconut flour, xanthan gum, psyllium husk, erythritol, monk fruit sweetener, and three different kinds of nut butter. You’re supposed to own a spiralizer, a food processor, and a silicone muffin pan for fat bombs. That’s not cooking. That’s a hobby with a grocery budget.

This book takes a different approach. Every recipe uses no more than five main ingredients. That’s it. You can count them on one hand. Salt, pepper, water, and the cooking fat you use (butter, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil) don’t count toward that number. Neither do the spices and herbs that are so basic they’re practically part of your pantry already—garlic powder, paprika, dried oregano. We’re not counting