Keto recipe generator: carbohydrate arithmetic, sauces, and a thermometer
Published: 2026-08-25 · Updated: 2026-08-25 · 6 min read
Ketogenic eating, in the popular kitchen sense, is a tight carbohydrate budget, often 20 to 50 g per day, with fat and protein filling TDEE. It is also a medical diet in epilepsy care, which this app does not manage. Cook EZ can generate dinners that keep starch off the plate if you set the constraint. This guide is the arithmetic (FoodData Central, FDA labels), the cook technique for meat and non-starchy vegetables, and the hidden carbohydrate that ruins a day in one tablespoon of sauce.
Define the carbohydrate budget in grams
"Keto" in a prompt without a number is mush. Write "under 25 g carbohydrate per serving" or "under 40 g net carbs for the whole day, this dinner under 15 g." Net carbs (total carbohydrate minus fiber) is a marketing convention, not an FDA line. The Nutrition Facts label lists total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, total sugars, and added sugars. Log total carbohydrate if you want to match the label. If you subtract fiber, be consistent and know that sugar alcohols on some labels need their own rule.
TDEE from Mifflin-St Jeor (PubMed 2305711) still sets energy. Keto is a split, not a license to ignore calories. The macro calculator can put most of the remainder in fat. That fat should be olive oil, avocado, butter if dairy is allowed, nuts in measured grams. It should not be an infinite cheese pour unless the diary says so.
The Dietary Guidelines pattern is carbohydrate-inclusive. A ketogenic generate is a deviation you chose. Cook EZ will not scold you. It also will not claim a medical outcome. If you have a clinician-set ketogenic protocol, follow that protocol, not a food-app card.
Read the FDA added-sugars line on any bottle that will touch the meat. A "sugar-free" ketchup can still use maltitol or a small amount of sugar. If your budget is 20 g, a glaze is often the whole budget. Generate "dry rub, no glaze" when you are tired of arithmetic.
What lands on the plate
Eggs, fatty fish, poultry, beef, tofu (check the carb on the brand), leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cucumber, avocado, olive oil. Cheese and yogurt if dairy is allowed and the carb fits. Berries in small grams. FoodData Central is how you check cauliflower rice versus leftover jasmine rice. They are not similar foods.
Skip: rice, pasta, bread, most fruit, potatoes, corn, beans and lentils (they can fit a liberal low-carb plan and often will not fit a 20 g day), sugar, honey, most bottled teriyaki. A keto generate that includes honey-garlic glaze failed. Reroll. AI can miss sugar in sauces the same way it misses wheat.
Alcohol: many beers are carbohydrate. Spirits are not a free pass for energy. Log them. They blow TDEE without looking like a potato.
Avocado grams add up. FoodData Central lists avocado as energy-dense fat plus fiber. A whole fruit on top of a fatty salmon dinner can be 300 kcal of extra TDEE. Weigh it once. The macro calculator will show the fat grams. You can still eat it. You should know.
Cook technique when starch is gone
You lost the fond-soaking power of potatoes. Meat juices need a vegetable or a pan sauce without flour. Reduce stock. Mount with butter if dairy is allowed. Use xanthan only if you already cook that way. A generate that thickens with flour or cornstarch is not keto. Edit the step to a reduction.
Maillard still wants a dry surface. Chicken skin in a skillet or air fryer. Salmon presentation side down first. Vegetables tossed in measured oil at 425 °F or 400 °F in the air fryer. Crowding makes steam and sad zucchini water. That water is not carbohydrate. It is still bad texture, and people then add sugary sauce to compensate.
Temperatures: poultry 165 °F, fish 145 °F, leftovers 165 °F, two-hour chill, 3 to 4 days, USDA Keep Food Safe and FSIS. Keto does not change pathogens. A rare chicken thigh is not a macronutrient strategy.
Cauliflower rice in a wet pack weeps. Drain, then cook in a wide pan until some water is gone, then fat and salt. A generate that says "serve over cauliflower rice" without a drain step produces porridge. Add the drain step yourself.
Generating in Cook EZ
Diet or note: ketogenic, plus the gram cap, plus dairy yes or no, plus allergies. Equipment. Time. "Air fryer chicken thighs, broccoli, pan sauce, under 12 g carbohydrate, no honey." Confirm the ingredient list. If rice snuck in, delete it before you cook. If the nutrition panel on the card shows 45 g carbohydrate, the generate failed the constraint. Do not eat it and "start Monday." Reroll.
Cook Mode: probe thermometer step on poultry, timer on the vegetable, keep-awake. Scale fat sauces carefully. Doubling a butter sauce doubles energy fast. The recipe scaler will do the arithmetic. Your TDEE may not want it.
Log from the card. Barcode cheeses and heavy cream (free). FDC for meat and vegetables. The diary plus the macro calculator is the only way to know if "keto week" was 30 g or 90 g of carbohydrate.
Restaurant olive oil "pools" are a plate-photo slider job. Slide fat up. Hidden croutons on a Caesar are carbohydrate. Ask. The generate you do at home can skip croutons. The restaurant will not read your Taste Profile.
Vegetables so the plate is not only meat
A week of eggs and bacon with no vegetable is a carbohydrate strategy and a fiber problem. Broccoli, leafy greens, and salad still exist. The Dietary Guidelines vegetable group did not vanish because you dropped rice. Generate "half the plate non-starchy vegetables" if the first cards are brown and beige.
Cauliflower mash is a technique: steam, drain hard, fat, salt. Watery mash is why people hate it. Drain. A generate should say "drain well." If it does not, add the line.
Pickles and sauerkraut: check added sugar on the FDA label. Some brands are dessert.
Who should not improvise this
People on insulin or certain diabetes medications, pregnant people, people with a history of eating disorders, and anyone on a clinician-prescribed ketogenic epilepsy protocol should not treat a food-app generate as care. Cook EZ will still write a chicken-and-broccoli card if you ask. That card is dinner, not a prescription.
Electrolytes and "keto flu" live on the internet. If you feel unwell, that is a clinician question. The app can log broth. It cannot manage hyponatremia.
If the constraint is really "less sugar and less soda" rather than ketosis, you may want a moderate carbohydrate generate instead. Say that. You will eat beans again. The high-protein guide in this cluster may fit better.
If a generate includes beans "for fiber," it has left a strict 20 g carbohydrate day. Keep beans for a moderate low-carb week. FoodData Central cooked black beans are a carbohydrate food first. The diary will show the grams if you log a cup. Weigh that cup once so the next log is faster.
Salt the chicken thighs. Toss broccoli in a measured tablespoon of oil. Air-fry or roast until the probe reads 165 °F. Mix a pan sauce from the fond and stock, no honey. Log the oil. That is a keto-shaped dinner you can repeat on Thursday without a bakery substitute.
Questions
What do I type to get a keto dinner?
A carbohydrate gram cap, dairy rule, allergies, time, and equipment. Example: "under 10 g carbohydrate, no dairy, 25 minutes, skillet, salmon and greens, no sweet glaze."
Does Cook EZ calculate net carbs?
Treat the card's carbohydrate as a FoodData Central-style total unless you subtract fiber yourself. Match how you log in the diary.
Why did my keto sauce blow the day?
Honey, ketchup, or a bottled marinade. Read the FDA added-sugars line. AI can miss sugar and wheat in sauces. Verify bottles.
Is tofu keto?
Often, in moderate grams, depending on the brand. Barcode the pack. Extra-firm is usually lower water and a clearer protein density.
Sources
Cook it in Cook EZ
Photograph the dish or type the name. The app writes the recipe for your allergies, equipment, and time, then logs the plate if you want the calories.