3-Ingredient 1-Minute Keto Snack + 3 Variations

Nuts make quick and easy keto snacks. However, sometimes, you want to add some kick and variation to the same old boring thing. Then, why not try this easy-peasy 3-Ingredient 1-Minute Keto Snack, which is also easy to vary and tune according to what you have in your pantry!

This makes a great party snack, or, if you get surprise guests, whip up a delicious batch for them for a quick and easy keto grub! Don’t forget to serve these keto snacks with low-carb cocktails, too. What would be a better way to entertain? During holidays, fill a beautiful glass jar with these nuts and give as a healthy and delicious gift (hint: the sweet variation is especially wonderful for the holidays!)

UPDATE: Since the recipe plugin I use doesn’t let me to write more than one recipe to the page (that’s why there is the print button missing), you will find these recipes as a .pdf file in the end of the blog post. Like that you can just download the document and easily print the recipes!

Tips for making the 3-Ingredient 1-Minute Keto Snack

These are soooo easy and quick to make you will be surprised, once you try them. First, take your favorite raw nuts, preferably those that are low in carbs, like Brazil nuts, macadamias, hazelnuts (blanched hazelnuts are the best), pecans, and almonds. By the way, it seems to be surprisingly difficult to find a nut mix without cashews. Cashews must be cheap, so that’s why the food industry adds them everywhere… I don’t use cashews, because they are so high in carbs. Luckily, I found one nut mix from the nearest large grocery store without cashews.

One thing still before we get into action: if you don’t have a microwave oven, you can naturally use a regular oven to bake the seasoned nuts. I didn’t experiment this recipe with regular oven, though, but if I did use regular oven, I would use maybe 400 °F (200 °C), check after 10 minutes how the nuts are doing and increase the baing time as needed.

And below is that mixture of pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, and macadamias I found.

Just pour the nut mix into a freezer bag.

Add the oil…

…and the spices you prefer (here I use barbecue seasoning)…

…and some salt if the spice mix doesn’t contain salt (like my BBQ spice mix didn’t, so here comes unrefined sea salt):

Close the bag tightly.

Toss well.

Spread on a microwave-proof plate into an even layer.

Nuke on high for 15 seconds. Adjust the time according to your microwave oven. Check the nuts after first 15 seconds and add more time if needed. The nuts should get a slight golden color, but they shouldn’t get brown or burned.

Ready! The flavors get deeper if you let the snack cool down properly.

Aaaaand here is the recipe (finally!). By the way, I haven’t added nutritional info to these recipes because the macros highly depend on the chosen nuts. To get a snack as low in carbs as possible, be sure to choose very low-carb nuts like mentioned earlier in this post.

 

3-Ingredient 1-Minute Keto Snack 7 oz = 200 g mixed nuts 2 teaspoons light olive oil 1 teaspoon barbecue seasoning (or your favorite seasoning mix to taste) 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) unrefined sea salt   Directions Place all ingredients into a freezer bag. Close the bag tightly. Toss well to let the spices cover the nuts properly. Spread the mixture on a microwave-proof plate into an even layer. Nuke, uncovered, on high for 15 seconds. Check; and continue in 15 second spans if the nuts are not done. They should get golden, but not burned. Let cool down and serve.

My keto snack experiments

I was in our summer cottage (photo below with all the wonderful clean food that we were enjoying there!) when I did some extensive keto snack testing.

 

 

Originally, I was craving spicy and salty nuts as my keto snack. I had a great low-carb nut mix (without cashews!), and I wanted to give it a kick. More flavor and plenty of salt, so to say. I knew if I mixed spices and nuts, the spices wouldn’t stick to the nuts, but would fall off. Therefore, I thought heating nuts would release oils from the nuts and make the spices stick better.

I poured the nuts into a freezer bag, added barbecue seasoning and salt. I closed the bag and tossed it well. Next, I spread the contents of the bag on a plate and placed it in the microwave (I didn’t want to heat the regular oven, just because for the nuts). I nuked the seasoned nuts on high for 15 seconds and excitedly checked the result.

Absolutely nothing had changed! The nuts looked just like before putting them in the microwave. I nuked them for another 15 seconds. And another 15 seconds. And another 30 seconds. Still nothing. The nuts were hot, but the spices didn’t stick on the nuts; they fell off. What a disappointment!

Maybe, if I added oil, the spices would finally stick? But which oil? Coconut oil might not be the best for this savory snack because of its characteristic sweet taste. Also extra virgin olive oil might be too strong. Well, light olive oil must be the best option. Later, I might try melted butter, or even better: ghee.

Again, I poured nuts, spices, salt, and the light olive oil into a freezer bag and tossed well. This time, the nuts needed 45 seconds to become hot and fragrant, colored beautifully with the spices that finally stuck to the surface of the nuts and didn’t fall off. The microwave oven in the summer cottage is not powerful, just max. 700 W, so it needed time to get a perfect result. (At home, with 1000 W microwave oven, it took 30 seconds to get the perfect result.)

Lesson learnt, using oil is a must to make the spices stick to the surface. Moreover, oil makes the snack even more scrumptious!

Below is a photo of that first successful experiment I made in our summer cottage.

 

 

Well, to be honest, the progress photos in this post are taken also in the summer cottage. When I returned home, I had no time to take photos, and soon, we left again back to the summer cottage. Here we are now, and while the others went shopping, I utilized the silent moment to take food photos and to write this blog post. I also had (a rare!) moment to sit down and relax. Mashed fresh blackcurrants with a few drops of lemon stevia and dry sparkling wine (cava in this case) make a wonderful summer drink. (Hint: a paper muffin liner works perfectly as coaster!) I collect cookbooks in different languages, and here is my latest purchase from Germany. Great inspiration! This spicy 3-Ingredient 1-Minute Keto Snack was a perfect companion with the ice-cold, refreshing summer drink.

 

 

 

Tips for variation (and more recipces for delicious keto snacks!)

You can imagine how easy it is to get variation with this snack. Just change the nuts in the mix or change the spices. Use whatever you happen to have on hand or choose your absolute favorite spice combo. From oils and fats, you can choose light olive oil, melted extra virgin coconut oil, or ghee (melted butter is also okay). Light olive oil and ghee have the most neutral taste. If you like the strong flavor of extra virgin olive oil, by all means use that.

You can even make sweet snacks: just use a natural sweetener — like erythritol — and coconut oil (it has a naturally sweetish flavor) and spices that go well with sweet flavors. Light olive oil is a good option for fat, but coconut oil is an especially palatable choice for sweet keto snacks. For spices with sweet snacks, my favorites are Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla extract, cloves, cardamom, and pumpkin spice. Below is a variation for a 5-Ingredient 1-Minute Cinnamon Bun Keto Snack (here, in Finland, we use also cardamom in cinnamon buns, so for me, it’s a must. If you don’t like cardamom, just leave it out).

 

 

5-Ingredient 1-Minute Cinnamon Bun Keto Snack 7 oz = 200 g mixed nuts 1 tablespoon melted organic extra virgin coconut oil 2 tablespoons Sukrin Gold 1/2 teaspoon ground organic Ceylon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground organic cardamom   Directions Place all ingredients into a freezer bag. Close the bag tightly. Toss well to let the seasonings cover the nuts properly. Spread the mixture on a microwave-proof plate into an even layer. Nuke, uncovered, on high for 15 seconds. Check; and continue in 15 second spans if the nuts are not done. They should get golden, but not burned. Let cool down and serve.

Here is another savory variation. This beauty is bursting with brisk lemon and elegant rosemary flavors. An absolute must for any cocktail party! Pecans, macadamias, and walnuts are the best nuts for this keto snack variation. I love to add salt to my version, but you can leave it out. Use fresh rosemary, as dried rosemary doesn’t give much flavor (tested and tried!)

 

 

5-Ingredient 1-Minute Lemon Rosemary Keto Snack 7 oz = 200 g mixed nuts 1 tablespoon light olive oil OR ghee 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel from organic lemon (only the yellow part), packed 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, very finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) unrefined sea salt   Directions Place all ingredients into a freezer bag. Close the bag tightly. Toss well to let the seasonings cover the nuts properly. Spread the mixture on a microwave-proof plate into an even layer. Nuke, uncovered, on high for 15 seconds. Check; and continue in 15 second spans if the nuts are not done. They should get golden, but not burned. Let cool down and serve.

And now, the ultimate keto snack variation. Are you ready? Ta-dah! Here comes a seriously addictive 5-Ingredient 1-Minute Pizza-Flavored Keto Snack. If you are craving pizza, why wait any longer? Take this recipe, and in one minute, you’ve got pizza-flavored keto snack, oozing those delicious pizza flavors (and delicious fat!). If you are able to wait, this snack tastes best after a few hours, when the flavors have got deeper. Well, it does taste even better on the next day.

Pecans are an especially good choice for this pizza-flavored variation, maybe because the crinkles on the pecans gather so nicely all the spices and seasonings. Powdered tomato is an absolute must in this delicious-beyond-belief variation. If you cannot find powdered tomato from your regular grocery store, it’s easy to order online. And if you don’t have pizza seasoning, simply use 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon onion powder. Parmesan adds a final touch and cheesy taste, but you can leave it out if you cannot tolerate dairy. Easy-peasy!

 

 

5-Ingredient 1-Minute Pizza-Flavored Keto Snack 7 oz = 200 g mixed nuts 1 tablespoon light olive oil OR ghee 2 teaspoons pizza seasoning 1 tablespoon organic powdered tomato 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) unrefined sea salt (Optional: 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan)   Directions Place all ingredients into a freezer bag. Close the bag tightly. Toss well to let the seasonings cover the nuts properly. Spread the mixture on a microwave-proof plate into an even layer. Nuke, uncovered, on high for 15 seconds. Check; and continue in 15 second spans if the nuts are not done. They should get golden, but not burned (especially the cheese if you use it). Let cool down and serve.

I’m sure you’ll love this 3-Ingredient 1-Minute Keto Snack and the variations. If you tried it, which variation above was your favorite? Or if you used your own spice combo, which spices did you find the best? Tell below in the comment field, what are your favorite keto snacks!

 

Download the recipe pdf here. (right click + download)