Comprehensive Guide to Keto Sweetener Substitutions

The one thing that you may miss the most when you first start the keto diet is the sweets. Fortunately, just because you are cutting out the carbs doesn’t mean you have to leave the sweetness behind as well. To satisfy your sweet tooth, all you really need are the right low carb sweeteners — sugar is no longer necessary.

Although it is rare to find a keto-friendly sweetener that emulates all of the properties of sugar, there are a handful of low carb sweeteners that you can use to make most of your favorite sugar-laden recipes into keto heaven.

However, there is one problem. Each sweetener that you use on keto will typically have slightly different tastes, varying degrees of sweetness, and different properties that can make baking and cooking with them a bit more complicated and confusing (especially when you don’t have the sweeteners that your keto recipes call for).

For this reason, we decided to put together a comprehensive guide on keto sweetener substitutions. By using our recommendations this guide, you will be able to satisfy your sweet tooth regardless of what low carb sweeteners use.

Maintaining the Ideal Ratio of Wet to Dry Ingredients

People often ask if they can replace a highly concentrated sweetener with a granular one, or vice versa. In general, it is best to stick with the sweeteners that the recipe calls for or a sweetener that is similar to it.

The problem with swapping highly concentrated for granular and vice versa is that the end result may not have the same texture or consistency. It could fall apart or be too dense, be too dry or too wet, etc.

However, if you have no other options, here are some simple suggestions for how you can adjust the recipe:

• When using a concentrated sweetener instead of a granular sweetener: you will need to subtract some liquid or add more dry ingredients (e.g., a keto flour like almond or coconut) until you get the right consistency. You may need to use a bit extra concentrated sweetener to make up for the additional dry ingredients you use.
• When using a granular sweetener instead of a concentrated sweetener: for every 1 cup of granular sweetener, add around 1/4 cup of liquid to the recipe slowly and stop when you reach the right consistency. This will be helpful for when you are using granular low carb sweeteners like erythritol or Swerve in place of liquid stevia or sucralose.

Getting the Right Level of Sweetness

Different sugar substitutes have different levels of sweetness so you can’t replace one with another in the same quantity. If you do, your keto recipe could be too sweet, not sweet enough, or have an awful aftertaste.

For example, powdered stevia extract is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar and erythritol is about 60 – 80% as sweet as sugar. Some stevia sweeteners can have a bitter aftertaste while erythritol tends to leave a unique cooling feeling in the mouth after it is eaten. Combining the two, however, tends to remove the aftertaste and emulate sugar pretty well.

Below, we will provide you with a sweetener conversion chart and substitution suggestions that will help you get the right texture, taste, and level of sweetness. In each section, there will be a link to take you back up to the chart so you can compare different sweeteners that you may want to use.