Mardi Gras as we know it here in the United States is celebrated in Louisiana, and we most often think of Fat Tuesday in New Orleans. Everything is decorated with green, gold, and purple. You can, of course, celebrate Mardi Gras and keep it keto. We’ve rounded up keto recipes for traditional favorites like King Cake, gumbo, and jambalaya. We also included recipes that feature green, gold, and purple, cajun flavors, or seafood. So make sure you indulge just a bit!
1. Fiesta Slaw
This lovely fiesta slaw can be decoarted for Mardi Gras by switching yellow bell peppers in for the red. Then you’ll have a green, gold, and purple salad. The creamy avocado and lime dressing is spiced with chile, cumin, and cilantro. This is one of my favorite salads!
2. Mardi Gras King Cake
The king cake is a really traditional part of the Mardi Gras celebration. This keto recipe will show you how to make a low-carb king cake plus how to decorate it with a cream cheese frosting and colored erythritol.
3. Spicy Sausage and Cabbage Skillet Melt
This is a fantastic family style skillet meal. Choose a spicy sausage to really pack a punch. The cabbage adds a lot of crunch and the dish is topped off with melty cheese. This is a great option to include in a dinner spread because it’s so easy to make.
4. Creamy Cajun Chicken and Cabbage
Here’s another skillet dish idea: this time featuring chicken and cabbage braised in a cajun creamy sauce. The ingredient list is so simple that this is something you can easily whip up with stuff you may already have. Plus, it only takes 10 minutes to create.
5. Hot Sausage and Pepper Soup
The hot sausage and pepper soup is a delicious combination of spicy and savory. The second it hits your mouth, the savory notes of the Italian sausage combined with cumin take over. It is slowly offset by the rich fats that simmer into the beef stock.
6. Andouille Sausage and Cajun Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
These sausage and cajun shrimp wraps are low carb and big on flavor. These lettuce wraps are put together with smoked Andouille chicken sausage, rock shrimp, onions, garlic, red pepper, and Cajun spices. Plus they can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes.
7. Cajun Salmon Cakes
We make these cajun salmon cakes regularly because of how easy they are. I like to use spicy pork rinds to enhance the Cajun flavor of these cakes, but if you don’t like things too spicy then regular pork rinds work just as well. The salmon mixture can easily be divided into smaller portions, to make lunch-sized cakes or even as an easy and elegant Mardi Gras appetizer.
8. Cajun Hasselback Chicken
Hasselback chicken is an easy way to spice up a plain chicken breast or add more fat by stuffing it with things like cheese. This Cajun version uses plenty of seasoning, bell peppers, and provolone to create a flavorful main dish.
9. Low Carb Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
I don’t know about you but I love having a nice big pancake breakfast the morning of Mardi Gras just to kick things off in the right direction. Since I’m trying to keep things keto I will be using this pancake recipe. The secret ingredient is ricotta!
10. Keto Cajun Deviled Eggs
These deviled eggs are stuffed with a little round of smoked Andouille sausage, and the egg yolks are flavored with Cajun seasoning. It’s then topped off with some sauerkraut.
11. Zingy Lemon Fish
I guarantee this pan-fried lemon fish will be the best you’ve ever tried! This fish has a lovely golden crust with a zingy lemon flavor which you just can’t beat on a nice piece of fresh fish. It packs a punch and has loads of flavor! Try this recipe with any type of fish.
12. Low Carb Jambalaya with Chicken, Shrimp and Sausage
This low-carb jambalaya with chicken, shrimp, and sausage is a healthful and nutritious twist on the New Orleans classic but made with cauliflower “rice.” This recipe includes a ton of tips for getting your cauliflower rice just right.
13. Blackened Tilapia Fish Tacos
These fish tacos really bring a ton of flavor with them. They’re really filling (since they have quite a lot of fish in) and they’re just perfect for serving up at parties. The fish is blackened with chili powder and paprika, then served up on homemade tortillas with guacamole.
14. Creole Crawfish Monica
Crawfish Monica is a favorite in New Orleans. This recipe replaces pasta with zucchini noodles and blankets it with crawfish cooked in a cream sauce. You can replace the seafood in Crawfish Monica with shrimp if you cannot find crawfish affordably in your area.
15. Easy Baked Keto Fish Sticks
For a seafood option that is kid-friendly – try these baked keto fish sticks. These are the perfect finger food and are easily paired with other side dishes from this list.
16. Keto Gelatin Rum Shots
These keto gelatin shots are all of the party but without any of the sugar. You can use any kind of low-carb rum but clear will give you shots like the above photo, and dark rum will give you brown toned gelatin. Serve with whipped cream and berries to create a sundae.
17. Pan Fried Catfish With A Crawfish Cream Sauce
Of course, we need to try a catfish recipe! This catfish fillet is served with a creamy crawfish sauce. The crawfish can be found pre-peeled and frozen.
18. Maple Shrimp Salad
This maple shrimp salad is a sweet and savory dish that can be served as an entrée or as a side salad for dinner. It’s a fast recipe that uses pre-cooked shrimp to save time, so if you’re not confident with cooking seafood than this may be the recipe to try.
19. Cajun Sausage & Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
These sausage and cream cheese stuffed mushrooms will make the perfect appetizer for your party. This recipe makes about 20 mushrooms, which sounds like a lot but they won’t last long.
20. Hot Louisiana Shrimp Dip
This hot shrimp dip is great for serving a crowd. Serve with pork rinds, keto tortillas turned into chips, or slathered over keto bread. These shrimp are cooked with traditional Creole flavors, cream cheese, sour cream, green onions, and bell peppers.
21. Creamy Crab Zucchini Casserole
Continuing our seafood theme for Mardi Gras, is this creamy crab zucchini casserole. While chunks of crab are the star of the dish, the creamy sauce flavored with hints of onion and the traditional Old Bay seasoning play a delightful supporting role. Zucchini noodles, or zoodles, provide the backdrop for recipe. The whole thing is topped off with a layer of melted cheese.
22. Roasted Squash + Parmesan
This vegetable side dish is such a fun spin on the Mardi Gras color scheme. Yellow and green squash, plus purple onions are roasted beautifully under a layer of cheese. Serve this with one of the main dish recipes from this list for a well-rounded meal.
23. Seared Scallops in a Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce
These scallops are seared in butter and cajun seasoning, before getting served with this luxurious cream sauce. The sauce features heavy cream, mustard, and a zip of lemon. You’ll love serving these seared scallops along with a nice salad.
24. Crab Cake Stuffed Mushrooms
This crab cake recipe is stuffed into portobello mushrooms. You’ll love the easy preparation and filling, plus you can use any kind of cooked and flaked fish to create these too. Remix the recipe even further by adding plenty of cajun seasoning.
25. Low Carb Gumbo Recipe
If there’s one dish you make for Mardi Gras then this would probably be it! This low-carb gumbo recipe is packed with sausage and shrimp. It uses a chicken broth base with arrowroot for thickening.
