Thai cuisine is a very rich cuisine but you might be surprised to find out that these rich foods are relatively keto-friendly too. From low-carb veggies and meats to coconut milk, curry, tofu, and fish, these dishes are great for filling up on protein and fats, whilst still indulging in the delightful flavors of Thai cuisine.
However, although these dishes are keto-friendly, there are still some notes you need to take down when ordering at a Thai restaurant if you are low-carb as a lot of dishes are still served up with oyster sauce and added sugars as well as rice or noodles.
That being said, you can easily stay on track at Thai restaurants by simply ordering a meat and vegetable stir-fry and asking the restaurant to avoid adding any brown sauce. You also need to skip the rice and stick to grilled meats.
In this article, we are going to be talking about some of our favorites, and how you go about ordering them to keep the dishes as low carb as possible.
Tom Yum Soup
Tom Yum Soup is also known as hot and sour soup or tom yam and is a soup full of flavor with sour and spicy taste. It is often served with lots of vegetables such as onion, tomato, cauliflower, lime juice, and mushrooms and it is cooked and boiled in the soup, served with a protein source such as shrimp or chicken.
You can also get Tom Yum Noodles which is the soup but with noodles added in. For this reason, you should order the soup version only to stay low carb and on your keto diet.
Garlic Prawns or Shrimp
Garlic prawns/shrimp are a sweet and simple dish from Thai cuisine and are big stir-fried shrimp served with lots of garlic, pepper, and herbs and spices. Since it is already keto-friendly, this means you don’t have to worry about adjusting the order at all.
Thai BBQ Beef
Certain restaurants will have this dish on the menu but not all of them. However, it is a BBQ beef option that consists of grilled beef with sauce and steamed vegetables. It is served on a BBQ hot plate. Although it is not served in every restaurant, it’s worth asking as it is a completely low-carb dish.
Chuchi Chicken
This is a type of curry made with chicken and served with bell peppers, zucchini, lime leaves, celery, and Thai basil. The great thing about this dish is that it is already keto-friendly! So all you need to do is order up and you’re ready to dive in.
Pad Kraprow
This is a popular stir-fry dish and is made in a wok. It is made with chili peppers, basil, lots of jalapenos, bell peppers, plenty of onions, and a brown savory sauce.
You can get it with any protein source such as beef, chicken, pork, seafood, or tofu but with this dish, to keep it keto-friendly, you will need to skip the brown sauce.
This is because it often contains a lot of sugar. You also need to check the protein source is not breaded. Instead, it should be grilled and finally, you need to also order it without the rice, try asking for extra veggies!
Thai Chicken Satay Skewers
Everyone loves a satay skewer and these Thai chicken skewers are a great addition to any main when at a Thai restaurant! They are keto-friendly and are grilled chicken skewers that are cooked either over hot charcoal or on a BBQ and served with some veggies and a delicious peanut sauce.
Pad Kra Tiem
The primary and most important ingredient in pad kra tiem is garlic and the strong-tasting garlic is what it is known for. It is made up of garlic with a choice of seafood, meat, or tofu and with a sweet brown sauce. This is served up on a plate of lettuce.
To make it low-carb, make sure your meat is grilled and hold back the sauce. As we mentioned, the dish is often served on lettuce instead of rice, however, if you find it is filled with rice, ask your server to substitute this out too.
Pad Keaw Wan
This Thai dish is a mixture of basil, bell peppers, bamboo, jalapenos, lime leaves, and a choice of meat, seafood or tofu tossed and served in a delicious green curry paste.
Most Thai green curry pastes are made using lemongrass, onions, red chili peppers, garlic, salt and pepper, a range of spices, and peanut or coconut oil. Sometimes this is replaced with coconut milk and a serving is around 3 grams of carbs.
All you need to do to make this low-carb is make sure the meat is not breaded and hold the curry if you are staying extremely low-carb. You should also hold any rice.
Pad King
Pad King is a popular Thai dish that is known for its strong ginger taste. The main ingredient is ginger and this means it has anti-inflammatory benefits.
The dish is a stir-fry that is loaded with veggies such as onions, mushrooms, chili, and bell peppers as well as a protein source and brown savory sauce.
To keep it low-carb, hold any rice on the side and hold the sugary sauce. Also, make sure your meat is grilled.
Pad Cashew
Pad cashew is another type of stir-fry and is made with seafood or meat, accompanied by water chestnuts, celery, bell peppers, onions, carrots, and cashews tossed in a wok served in a sweet chili sauce.
You can keep this dish low-carb by having grilled over breaded meat and holding the sweet chili sauce.
Pad Prik King
This is a popular stir-fry dish made primarily with red curry paste. This is made with garlic and lemongrass, and red chili peppers. Thai ginger is added, along with lime juice, peanut oil or coconut oil, a dash of coconut milk, and lots of other spices.
Pad Prik King is a great source of anti-inflammatory nutrients and is usually made with a low-carb sauce that is keto-friendly.
You can add this sauce to your meat and veggies as just one tablespoon only has around 3 grams of carbs. However, if you were trying to cut back the carbs, you could ask them to hold this and the dish would still taste great.
The dish is served with bell peppers, green beans, jalapenos, and a source of protein. This is served in red curry paste. Don’t forget to hold the rice if your restaurant serves the dish with rice.
Pad Panang
Panang curry is a popular curry in Thai cuisine and pad panang is a dish that is tossed in this curry paste. It is a mixture of your choice of protein and vegetables. The vegetables are usually fresh basil, jalapenos, bamboo, bell peppers, and lime leaves.
The panang curry paste is made with chili peppers, spices, lemongrass, coconut oil or peanut oil, rice vinegar, and often some coconut milk.
To keep it keto, you could order it as it comes, or ask them to hold the curry sauce to reduce the carbs. Ensure the meat is not breaded either.
Pra Goong/Yum Nua
This is a big ole shrimp salad served with shrimp, onions, cucumber, tomatoes, lemongrass, cilantro, lime, and leaves. These are all tossed together in a big bowl of chili sauce and then served over lettuce. You can also make this dish low-carb by simply skipping the chili sauce.
If you are not a shrimp fan, you can also order this dish with beef. Make sure to hold any rice if the restaurant you go to serves the dish with rice.
Thai Peanut Salad
This Thai peanut salad is common on most Thai restaurant menus. It is usually made with fried tofu, hard-boiled eggs, and lots of low-carb vegetables such as onions, bean sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce.
If you order this dish, it will come in a peanut sauce with rice on the side and so to make this dish low-carb, you should be holding back both of these things. The peanut sauce will come with lots of added sugar and the rice is high in carbs.
Garlic Frog Legs
Although you might think of frog legs as a French delicacy, they are often served in Thai restaurants too. You will find the frog legs served in a very sweet garlic sauce and usually over a thick bed of lettuce.
Frog legs on their own do not contain any carbs in a serving and this makes them a great low-carb food that is keto-friendly. You will need to check however that the frog legs are not breaded.
You can hold back the sweet garlic sauce if you are looking at completely cutting the carbs. If you wanted an alternative, you could ask for the fish sauce which goes well with frog legs but is lower carb.
Final Thoughts
We hope you have enjoyed this article on low-carb choices at Thai restaurants. If you order these dishes with the tweaks we have provided, you can still enjoy a delicious
Thai meal without breaking Ketosis. What’s great about Thai food is a lot of their dishes are already keto-friendly, meaning you won’t even have to make adjustments! Happy dining!
Hi, my name is Anna Kadance and I have been following a keto diet, on and off, for just over two years now. When I first started, I was in a deep depression due to my weight and the fact that I just couldn’t seem to get rid of it.
My body had given me two beautiful children, but now that our family was complete, I wanted to take it back as my own and get my pre-baby body back. I tried diet after diet, exercise program after program - nothing worked!
