Is Kani Salad Keto? This is another one of those, ‘yes’ and ‘no’, answers, sorry. Kani salad has evolved over the years with different eateries having a different take on the ingredients used. You also need to be wary of the quality of the crab that they are using in the salad. With a bit of planning ahead and asking for a couple of substitutions, you can eat kani salad out, and you can definitely make a keto friendly version at home.
What Is Kani Salad?
Kani salad is a popular Japanese salad that is typically served as an appetizer. It is essentially a salad comprised of raw cucumber, crab, and mayonnaise-based dressing.
The crab often served with kani salad in restaurants is imitation crab.
A kani salad can be light and refreshing or served with a little bit of a kick when you add some spicy sauce to the dressing.
Some people will also add mango or other vegetables to bulk up their kani salad, or top it with some crunchy tempura or tobiko.
A Keto-Cap (aka A Keto Recap!)
If you’re new to keto and want a bit more information, check out our keto beginners guide.
As a quick summary, if you need it, the keto (also known as the ketogenic diet) is a low-carb, high-fat diet.
The whole concept of the keto diet is that your body transitions from burning glucose, in simple terms, sugars or carbohydrates, to burning fat as its primary fuel source.
For a keto diet, people will restrict their macros to eating;
- 70% of their calories from fat
- 25% from protein
- 5% from carbohydrates
Sticking to these macros for a period of time will put your body into a state of ketosis. Ketosis is when your body has transitioned from burning carbohydrates as its primary fuel source to burning fat for fuel. It is at this point that you will start to see and feel the benefits of the keto diet.
There are a lot of new terms and abbreviations that you may come across, sometimes it can feel like a new language that you need to learn. In order to help you out and keep you on the right track, we have created a keto terms and keto abbreviations guide, bookmark these to make your keto journey easier.
Some people can be put off the keto diet because of the side effects, however, these are only short-lived and the health benefits of keto far outweigh the side effects.
One of the main benefits which attract people to the keto diet is that it can cause significant reductions in insulin levels (by up to 75%) and blood sugar levels, which can be attractive to those that struggle with diabetes, amongst other health complaints.
What Is The Nutritional Value Of Kani Salad?
The nutritional content of kani salad will vary depending on the recipe you follow, as well as the recipe followed at the restaurant you might be dining at.
When looking at a serving of a traditional kani salad using imitation crab, you are looking at the following approximate nutritional values:
- Carbs: 10 grams
- Fiber: 0 grams
- Fat: 7 grams
- Calories: 130 calories
A kani salad can be a refreshing salad that does not boast a lot of calories, and the ingredients offer a good source of Vitamin A and potassium.
What Are The Net Carbs Of A Kani Salad?
Once again, carb content could vary slightly when it comes to a kani salad, as can other nutritional values. However, you’re looking at around 10 to 20 net carbs per serving or more for a kani salad.
However, if you are making your own salad with keto friendly mayo, raw cucumber, a small amountof shredded carrot, and crab, it can be relatively low carb and keto friendly.
Some people will add panko breadcrumbs to their kani salad, if you want to do this, you can either use keto breadcrumbs or crushed pork rinds.
Is Kani Salad Keto?
A kani salad is not a very keto friendly salad option if bought in a store / restaurant. Imitation crab is the culprit for the salad’s high carb content.
This can make ordering a kani salad in a restaurant very difficult when you are watching your carbs, as you never really know what is in the imitation crab. The best thing to do is to ring ahead and ask what they are using.
However, if you are making this at home with fresh crab, you will be fine.
What Is The Best Keto Alternative To Kani Salad?
You can actually tweak some of the ingredients of a kani salad to enjoy it in a more keto friendly fashion.
For example, if you can opt for real crab instead of imitation crab, you’ll have a much healthier serving of fish that contains little to no carbs.
Being careful of the mayonnaise you use for your dressing can also lower a kani salad’s carb content. Search for a mayonnaise with an avocado oil base, or try a keto friendly yogurt instead.
The dressing is usually made with mayonnaise, vinegar or rice vinegar, and a little bit of sriracha or spicy sauce.
Staying hydrated on the keto diet is really important, for more on how much water you should be drinking, check out our guide to staying hydrated on the keto diet.
If you’re planning on dehydrating yourself(!) and drinking alcohol on the keto diet, check out our ultimate guide to drinking alcohol on a keto diet. Also, you may be interested in, how to recover from a cheat day.
Summary: Is Kani Salad Keto?
Yes, Kani salad can be made keto friendly, as long as the crab that is being used is fresh and not imitation and that ‘extra’ ingredients are not added such as mango, kani salad can be made very keto friendly, especially if you are making this delicious dish at home.
