INTRODUCTION
One food that has become a staple on many keto/low carb diets is cream cheese. Cream cheese is a cow’s milk-based soft cheese that has a mild and slightly sweet taste that also allows cream cheese to be used in many keto or low-carb recipes.
One thing I’ve occasionally missed on a low-carb, keto diet is a warm bagel smeared with cream cheese. While the bagel still doesn’t fit on a low-carb diet, most plain-flavored cream cheeses can be part of a healthy ketogenic diet.
Cream Cheese Nutritional Info
A single one-ounce (30 g) serving of regular cream cheese has about 85 calories, with the majority of the calories coming from the fat content of the cream cheese (about 8 grams of fat or 72 calories), with about 8 calories (2 grams) of protein and just 4 calories, or one gram of carbohydrates.
Flavored cream cheeses, such as honey nut cream cheese will have a higher amount of carbohydrates due to added sugar and other sweeteners.
In the United States, regular cream cheese has to contain at least 33% milkfat. Low-fat cream cheese has a lower fat content since its usually made with 2% or skim milk instead of whole milk.
How is Cream Cheese made?
Traditionally, regular cream cheese is made from a mixture of 50% whole cow’s milk and 50% cream and then lactic acid-producing bacteria culture is added to the mixture. As the milk and cream ferment, curdling starts as the mixture begins to clump together. As the fermentation process continues, the curds are separated from the remaining mixture (mostly whey protein and water at this point). The curd mixture is then pasteurized and stabilizing agents are added to give the cream cheese a standard consistency.
Is Cream Cheese healthy?
In general, plain cream cheese is considered healthy, whether you are on a low-carb/ketogenic diet or a general healthy eating program. Cream cheese typically has minimal or no added sugars since the bacteria use the natural-occurring lactose sugar in the milk to cause the fermentation of the milk-cream mixture.
What are the different kinds of cream cheese?
Depending on where you live, you might have different types of cream cheese. Italian cream cheese, or mascarpone, is made with just cream and is sometimes also called “triple-cream” cheese. Mascarpone has a higher fat content (about 50% fat) compared to American cream cheese made from the 50-50 mixture of cream and cow’s milk.
Double cream cheese is made from milk with a higher fat content than typical cream cheese. There’s also cream cheese made from the milk of other animals, like goat milk cream cheese.
What is the lowest carb cream cheese?
The sugar content of regular plain cream cheese is fairly low, but be sure to check the ingredients and nutrition label to make sure there hasn’t been any sugar added during the manufacturing process.
ANSWER – Is Cream Cheese Keto or Not?
Yes! Regular plain cream cheese is very low in carbohydrates and can be part of a low-carb, ketogenic diet.
Bonus – Keto Cream Cheese Fat Bomb Recipe
If you have a sweet tooth, then this simple Keto Cream Cheese Fat Bomb recipe can satisfy that sweet craving while also being a source of fat for the ketogenic diet.
Keto Cream Cheese Fat Bomb Ingredients
- 1 – 8 ounce block of regular Philadelphia cream cheese
- 1/2 cup of almond butter (you can also try macadamia nut butter if you want a higher fat content)
- 3 tablespoons of Swerve (erythritol) sweetener
- optional – coconut flakes or carob chips
- Parchment paper and baking sheet
Keto Cream Cheese Fat Bomb Recipe Instructions
Let the cream cheese and nut butter warm up to room temperature over about 2 hours.
Once soft, mix the cream cheese and nut butter together in a mixing bowl and then add in the Swerve sweetener and continue to mix until it reached a smooth consistency.
Using a spoon, scoop out balls of the cream cream-nut butter mixture.
(optional) coat the keto fat bomb balls with either the coconut or carob chips and place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the Keto Cream Cheese Fat Bomb balls in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours.
Once the keto cream cheese fat balls are firm, enjoy!
