Keto Recipes for Summer Cookouts

It’s finally summertime, such as it is here in 2020. And although we’re all staying at home and social distancing (I hope), and the parades and fireworks have been canceled, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate our favorite summer holidays at home with our families. Whether it’s Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day, or just for the heck of it, everyone loves a good cookout. With these recipes, you can have an entire cookout and still stick to your keto diet. And with only 13 net carbs for the entire meal (including dessert!) you even have some room for a White Claw or two!

Keto Smoked Ribs

My husband took one bite of these ribs and declared them to be the best he’s ever had, which is saying something, seeing as we love ribs and have eaten them at a lot of different restaurants. The only difference between his and mine was that he used regular barbecue sauce and I used G. Hughes sugar-free BBQ sauce. There are a ton of different flavors, so shop around and pick the one that sounds best to you. But really, the preparation and dry rub are the key parts. You could honestly eat these ribs without the sauce and I don’t think you’d miss a thing.

The first thing you’ll need to make these is a smoker. Charcoal or electric, it doesn’t matter as long as there’s wood involved. Some people grill or bake their ribs, and that’s fine and all, but the taste of wood smoke is crucial to a really good rack of ribs. And the low and slow cooking makes the texture really nice. The method I use to smoke makes a more toothsome rib, like the barbecue competition guys prefer. If you prefer the meat to fall off the bone, I’ll give instructions for that as well. Your target temperature for these ribs on your smoker is 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Set your smoker for that range, and add your wood according to your smoker’s manufacturer instructions. I like hickory, but applewood would probably work too.

While your smoker gets up to temp, prep your ribs and your rub. This recipe makes two racks of ribs, but you can double this recipe easily, so feel free to make as many as your smoker can hold! You can use either baby backs or spares for this recipe, whatever your personal preference is. You’ll want to flip the ribs over to the bony side and peel off the thin layer of membrane on the back of them. That stuff doesn’t soften up when it’s cooked, so you’ll want to make sure it’s gone in order to make your meat as tender as possible. I use a paper towel to grip it so it doesn’t slip out of my fingers.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to get the ribs seasoned. First, squirt the rib racks with plain yellow mustard. Spread it around so there’s a thin layer of mustard all over the ribs, including the bone side. Some people skip this step, but I like it, as it makes the dry rub stick to the ribs a little better. Speaking of the dry rub, it’s super easy and you can whip it together in just a couple of minutes. This is enough for two racks of ribs, so feel free to scale it up if necessary. All you need to do is grab a small bowl, and add 1/4 cup of Swerve Brown, 2 tablespoons each of guajillo chile powder and paprika, a tablespoon of kosher salt, 2 teaspoons each of onion powder and garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of ground mustard, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cayenne, depending on your preferred level of heat, and 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon and black pepper. Mix all that together, and sprinkle evenly over your ribs, making sure to focus mostly on the meat side but not missing the bone side as well. If your smoker isn’t up to temp, you can leave these on a cutting board in the fridge for up to an hour, to let the rub cure a bit.

Once your smoker is holding steady in the temperature range, quickly place the rib racks in, meat side up. Set a timer for 3 hours. After the three hours is up, grab two large pieces of aluminum foil, enough to wrap up each rack of ribs. Using tongs to move the ribs and heat-proof grilling gloves, quickly wrap each rib rack in the foil. Place them back on the smoker and close it. If you leave an electric smoker open too long, the temperature will drop, and if it’s a charcoal smoker, it might spike up if too much oxygen gets into the coals. Now here’s where the recipe diverges. If you like the kind of ribs where the meat is tender but you can see the imprint of your teeth when you bite into it, leave the ribs wrapped on the smoker for an hour. If you want the meat to fall off the bone when you bite into it, leave them on for two hours. It’s just down to personal preference.

Once the timer goes off, you’re in the home stretch. Quickly take off the foil and put the ribs back on the rack again. Close the smoker and set a timer for an hour. If you want, go out there after 45 minutes and brush on your favorite sugar-free barbecue sauce. Once the hour is complete, use tongs and a grill spatula to carefully remove the ribs to a cutting board large enough to hold them. Be gentle, because they can still fall apart pretty easily even if you only did one hour in the foil. You can serve them immediately, or if you have to transport them, wrap them in foil again, then wrap them in a layer of kitchen towels, put them in a cooler, and top with more towels. They’ll stay hot for a couple of hours that way.

Keto Fauxtato Salad

You know how everyone’s family has that weird Thanksgiving dish that nobody else’s family does? My husband’s family has potato salad on Thanksgiving instead of mashed potatoes. I was pretty shocked when I found that out, since to me, potato salad is a summer thing only. I’ve since learned to make his family’s recipe for potato salad, and occasionally I’ll grab a taste to make sure I’m doing it right. It’s pretty freakin’ good, but it just isn’t Thanksgiving. But for a summer cookout? Absolutely. Of course, the keto diet doesn’t really account for a big pile of potato salad. Enter my newest friend, the rutabaga. A 75% reduction in carbs from potatoes, and if you make it right, it’s almost indistinguishable from actual potato salad. I’ve given it to friends without telling them and they thought it was potatoes.

This recipe does take some effort. I suggest you make it a day ahead of time, as it only gets better after sitting overnight. If you can’t make it the day before, give yourself at least 3-4 hours of cooling time, because nobody wants warm potato salad at their barbecue. You just have to trust me that it’s worth the time and muscle involved.

Start with a large rutabaga, about 2 pounds. Peel it and cut it into 1/2-inch cubes. It’s tough to slice without a really good chef’s knife (the linked one is the one I use), so make sure your knives are sharpened. Once it’s cubed, toss the cubes in your Instant Pot, sprinkle them with about a teaspoon of kosher salt, and pour in chicken or vegetable broth until they are mostly covered, about 2-3 cups. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 4 minutes, and do a quick release when it’s done. Drain the rutabaga cubes in a colander, and put them in a bowl in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally to allow the center to cool more quickly.

While the rutabaga is cooling, prepare the hard-boiled eggs. I use 3-4 of them. My preferred method for hard boiled eggs is to put the eggs in a small saucepan with cold water and about a teaspoon of baking soda. Heat it up to a boil, then turn off the heat completely and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Let it sit for 12 minutes, then pull the eggs out of the water with tongs and put them in a bowl of ice water for ten minutes. Peel them and put them in the fridge to cool along with the rutabaga.

When the rutabaga has completely cooled, pull the bowl out of the fridge. Use a potato masher to mash about 3/4 of the rutabaga, leaving some cubes intact but the majority mashed at least a little bit. Stir in 1 cup of mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 1 tablespoon of honey substitute such as Sukrin Gold fiber syrup, 2 tablespoons of dill pickle relish, 1/2 cup each of diced celery and onion, and a teaspoon or so of salt, plus black pepper to taste. Stir it up and mash it some more if it’s too chunky. Chop the hard-boiled eggs and then stir them in last. You want those in decent size chunks and not mashed up, so make sure the rutabaga is at your desired texture before you put in the eggs. Taste it to make sure there’s enough seasoning, then put it in a sealed container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it.

Keto Red, White and Blue Strawberry Cupcakes

What’s a summer cookout without dessert? Everyone always brings brownies or lemon bars or that strawberry pretzel salad thing. You don’t have to stare forlornly at the dessert table anymore. With these cute summery strawberry cupcakes, you can join in ALL the fun at your barbecue. Make sure you make these ahead of time as well, as buttercream gets gross and melty unless the cupcakes are fully cooled before you put it on. Ever watch Nailed It on Netflix? The reason why everything looks terrible is because they don’t give them enough time to cool their creations before decorating. I made my cupcakes the day before I needed them, and made the buttercream the following morning so I could decorate them.

For the cupcakes, you’ll want to get a 16-ounce container of strawberries from your grocery store or farmer’s market. Rinse them off and cut off the tops, then take the largest 4 and dice them up. Cut the rest in half and put them in a blender until they’re pureed. This should result in about 3/4 cup of puree.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Using a hand mixer, beat in 1/2 cup of granulated Swerve. Add 4 eggs and beat until combined, then add 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree and beat some more. Make sure you save whatever is left over from the strawberry puree for your frosting. Finally, add 1 tablespoon of vanilla and beat until it’s all mixed in.

In a smaller bowl, mix together 1 cup of almond flour (I prefer Anthony’s but whatever brand you use, make sure it’s blanched) and 1/4 cup of coconut flour. Add a teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and toss it together with a fork. Mix 1/3 of the mixture into your wet ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Repeat that twice to mix in the remaining 2/3. Fold in the diced strawberries. Place a dozen cupcake liners into muffin tins and pour the mixture evenly into the liners, filling them about 3/4 of the way. Place the tins into a preheated 350-degree oven and bake for 27-30 minutes, checking the centers with a toothpick to make sure they’re done. Remove from the oven and let them fully cool before frosting them.

To make the frosting, soften two sticks of butter. I prefer salted butter in pretty much everything, but definitely with my buttercream, as it can be cloyingly sweet without the salt. When the butter is soft, beat it in a large mixing bowl until it’s nice and fluffy, then start to add two cups of powdered Swerve, a half cup at a time. Beat it in and scrape down the sides between batches. It’ll be pretty stiff when all is said and done. At that point, add a teaspoon of vanilla and thin the mixture with your remaining strawberry puree until it’s your desired texture. I ended up using about 3 tablespoons. If you run out of strawberry puree and the frosting is still too stiff, you can add some heavy cream a tablespoon at a time until it’s where you want it to be. You can also feel free to add a few drops of red or pink food coloring if you want the frosting to be more vibrantly-colored. I used magenta food coloring in mine. When the frosting is finished, put it in a pastry bag, or a large Ziploc bag with a corner cut off, and decorate the cupcakes to your liking. Top each cupcake with a blueberry, and you have a red, white, and blue treat to celebrate your favorite summer holidays!

Keto Smoked Ribs

A sugar-free recipe for ribs that you can make on your backyard smoker.

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Prep Time 1 hr

Course Main Course

Calories 1326 kcal

Equipment

• Charcoal or electric smoker

Ingredients

  

• 2 racks pork ribs spare or baby back
• yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup Swerve Brown
• 2 tbsp guajillo chile powder
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne powder depending on desired heat level
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar-free barbecue sauce if desired

Instructions

 

• Set your smoker for 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit according to manufacturer instructions, using hickory or applewood.
• Mix together all the dry rub ingredients into a small bowl and set aside.
• While the smoker is reaching the desired temperature, remove your ribs from the refrigerator. Pat them dry with paper towels, then remove the thin membrane from the bone side of the ribs.
• Coat the ribs on both sides in a thin layer of yellow mustard. Sprinkle the dry rub over both sides of each rack, making sure that the majority of the rub is on the meat side of the ribs.
• Place the prepared ribs onto the smoker once the smoker has reached the proper temperature. Smoke for 3 hours.
• Open your smoker, quickly and carefully wrap each rib rack in aluminum foil using tongs and heatproof gloves, then return them to the smoker. Smoke for 1 hour if you want a little resistance to the tooth, or two hours if you want the meat to completely fall off the bone when you bite into them.
• After your desired time is up, quickly remove the foil. Be careful, as the ribs are fragile by this point. Put them back on the smoker for a hour. If you want, you can brush them with barbecue sauce about 45 minutes in.
• Remove from the smoker very carefully with a grill spatula and tongs. Serve immediately, or to transport, wrap the ribs in foil, then wrap them in kitchen towels. Put them in a cooler and top with more towels. This will keep them warm if you need to drive to your cookout.
• Macros per serving, (6 servings) using spare ribs and 6 tablespoons of barbecue sauce for the recipe: 1326 calories, 2 grams net carbs, 71 grams protein, 108 grams fat.

Keyword barbecue, bbq, cookout, keto, low carb, pork, ribs, smoker

Keto Fauxtato Salad

Use rutabaga to make a potato salad substitute that'll fool people into thinking it's the real thing!

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Course Side Dish

Servings 8

Calories 253 kcal

Equipment

• Instant Pot or similar electric pressure cooker

Ingredients

  

• 1 large rutabaga about 2 pounds
• 2-3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 tsp salt divided
• 1/2 cup onion diced
• 1/2 cup celery diced
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp Sukrin Gold fiber syrup or other honey substitute
• 2 tbsp dill pickle relish
• 3 hard boiled eggs coarsely chopped
• black pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Peel and chop your rutabaga into 1/2 inch cubes. Put the cubes in the Instant Pot, sprinkle them with a teaspoon of kosher salt, and mostly cover with broth, about 2-3 cups.
• Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 4 minutes. When it's finished, use a quick release, then drain the rutabaga in a colander. Put the drained rutabaga into a bowl and put the bowl in the fridge for at least 3 hours, until fully cooled. To speed the cooling, stir occasionally.
• When the rutabaga is cooled, remove it from the fridge and mash about 3/4 of it with a potato masher. Add the celery, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, relish, honey substitute, the remaining teaspoon of salt, and some black pepper to taste. Stir it and mash some more until it's your desired texture. Fold in the eggs, then cover and refrigerate until it's time to serve.
• Macros per serving: 253 calories, 8 grams net carbs, 4 grams protein, 24 grams fat.

Keyword barbecue, bbq, cookout, keto, low carb, picnic, potato salad, rutabaga, salad, side dish

Keto Red, White, and Blue Berry Cupcakes

These summery and festive berry cupcakes are perfect for 4th of July cookouts!

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Course Dessert

Servings 12

Calories 302 kcal

Equipment

• Cupcake tins and liners

Ingredients

  

For the cupcakes

• 16 ounces strawberries divided, see recipe instructions
• 1/4 cup butter melted
• 1/2 cup granulated Swerve or similar sweetener
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup butter softened
• 2 cups confectioner's Swerve
• 3-4 tbsp strawberry puree see recipe instructions
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 tbsp heavy cream if necessary
• red or pink food coloring if desired
• 12 blueberries for decoration

Instructions

 

For the Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Wash and cut the tops off the strawberries. Set aside the 4 largest strawberries and dice them, then cut the remaining strawberries in half and puree them in a blender. Set aside 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree for the cupcake batter, then save the remaining puree for the frosting.
• In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the granular Swerve and beat with a hand mixer. Add the eggs, sour cream, 1/2 cup of strawberry puree, and vanilla, and beat until well mixed.
• In a medium bowl, toss together the almond and coconut flour with the baking powder and salt. Add 1/3 of the mixture to the wet ingredients and beat with a hand mixer until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining 2/3 of the dry ingredient mixture, making sure not to overbeat. Fold in the diced strawberries.
• Line 12 cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Pour the batter evenly into the cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 27-30 minutes, testing the centers with a toothpick to make sure they're cooked through. When finished, remove from the oven and let cool completely before handling or frosting.

For the Strawberry Buttercream

• Soften the butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the confectioner's Swerve, 1/2 cup at a time. The mixture will be very stiff.
• Add the vanilla and strawberry puree, one tablespoon at a time, until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. If you've used all your puree and it's still a little thick, you can add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream to thin it out. Add the food coloring, if desired, once you've reached the desired consistency.
• To decorate the cupcakes, use a pastry bag and tip, or put the frosting in a gallon Ziploc bag and cut the corner off. Top each cupcake with a blueberry for garnish.
• Macros per serving: 302 calories, 3 grams net carbs, 5 grams protein, 27 grams fat.

Keyword berry, cupcakes, dessert, keto, low carb, strawberry

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