IHOP is very tricky for those on keto. Almost nothing is safe here. For instance, they put PANCAKE BATTER in their freaking omelettes. Let’s go over some IHOP low carb options.
Omelettes – Buyer Beware!
Normally an omelette is a go to option for someone on the keto diet. Somehow their bacon temptation omelette has 15 net carbs. Their avocado, bacon & cheese omelette has 10 net carbs. What is the deal here?
Well, we got some inside information from Reddit that they put pancake batter in their omelettes. Fortunately, you can request “real eggs” when you order an omelette. What an insane that you have to watch out for restaurants putting pancake batter in your omelette.
So when you look at the IHOP nutrition information it says that when you create your own omelette, you start with seven net carbs. This means you must make sure to tell them you want “real eggs.”
Once you get the real egg situation sorted out, these omelettes have some bang for your buck.
Bacon Temptation Omelette – 1,080 calories, 10 net carbs, 85 g fat, 64 g protein
Avocado, Bacon & Cheese Omelette – 870 calories, 5 net carbs, 68 g fat, 52 g protein
Colorado Omelette – 1150 calories, 13 net carbs, 86 g fat, 77 g protein
Corned Beef Hash & Cheese Omelette – 970 calories, 20 net carbs, 71 g fat, 57 g protein
These are estimations. Lowering the egg portion of the omelette from 7 g carbs to 2 g carbs. Should be pretty accurate. You can also check out the omelette nutrition option here.
Bacon, Eggs, Sausage – Stick to the Basics!
Now you can just order an order of eggs and sausage or bacon. An order of eggs (fried, boiled, poached, scrambled) contains 1-2 carbs (1 for fried, boiled, poached and 2 for scrambled). Bacon or sausage contains one carb per order. So you can double up on all three items and you are looking at six to eight carbs and a pretty filling breakfast. Not cost-efficient, but you’ll maintain ketosis.
Salads – Proceed With Caution
There is one incredible option on the salads portion of the menu
Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad
This mega-salad has 10 net carbs, 1,080 calories, 85 g fat, 67 g protein. Add avocado (recommended) for another 1 net carb, 80 calories, 7 fat g and 1 protein g. Ka-boom!
Then a house salad is 3 net carbs, 25 calories, 0 g fat, 1 g protein. The Side Caesar Salad is 12 net carbs. Not a good option. Not much bang for your buck. But if you must have your Caesar then go for it.
On to the dressings:
There are some land mines in there. Basically avoid the usual suspects. French or Catalina (22 net carbs), Honey Balsamic (16 net carbs), Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette (14 net carbs), Creamy Italian (12 net carbs), Honey Mustard (13 net carbs). Basically stick with blue cheese (1 net carb), ranch (2 net carbs), Reduced Fat Italian (1 net carb).
The Rest of the Menu
As far as the rest of the menu goes. Meh. You can do a burger with no bun or any of the sandwiches with no bun. None of the sides are suitable. All potatoes or fruit based. So if you want to pay $12 for a ground beef patty or piece of chicken, that is a low carb option, but I’m not going to suggest that. There is no way to find the nutrition information for this, but you can rest assured these are decent keto options, as long as they are not breaded or have any sweet condiments on it. Their honey mustard is loaded with sugar and has 12 net carbs. Two net carbs in ranch. 22 net carbs in an order of wings. IHOP is a freaking minefield.
You have a few options. A salad, omelette, side orders of eggs, sausage, bacon. Or you could even do a bunless burger with a side salad. You knew there woudn’t be a ton of options, though. It is the International House of PANCAKES.
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