Food gifts are always popular for the holidays. Unfortunately, traditional gourmet gift baskets aren't as popular as they once were. There is so much feasting between Thanksgiving and New Year's that a basket of typical high-calorie, starch- and sugar-laden holiday treats can be an unwelcome way to pack on even more unwanted pounds. Recipients may give away the high-calorie, high-carb items in the gift baskets they receive (or eat them and feel bad afterward).
Fortunately, as more and more people are choosing to eat low carb, savvy manufacturers are creating an ever-increasing array of delicious foods that consumers can indulge in without negatively affecting their health or piling on the pounds. A gourmet gift basket filled with tempting low carb treats they can indulge in guilt-free is a present everyone can enjoy.
You can customize the contents of each gift basket to suit the recipient's taste, preferences, and dietary restrictions by choosing sugar-free, keto-friendly, gluten-free, or dairy-free products.
Have fun picking out the perfect low carb goodies for your holiday gourmet gift baskets!
The first thing you'll need to do is to choose your low carb gourmet treats. Then, you'll pick a suitable basket or another container to fill with the items you've chosen.
From luscious chocolates and caramels to festive cookies, savory meat sticks, high-protein pasta, low-carb baking mixes, and more, you'll find recommendations here to delight everyone on your holiday gift list.
Festive (and Guilt-Free) Sweet Treats
If your gift recipient has a sweet tooth, the holidays are the time to indulge!
Chocolates for Connoisseurs
My favorite low carb chocolates hands-down are made by ChocZero and The Good Chocolate. Both these companies have extremely high standards for quality, flavor, and mouthfeel. Everyone on your list, regardless of dietary requirements or preferences, will love these luxurious, gourmet chocolate treats!
The ChocZero Royal Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles are absolutely divine. Silky milk chocolate sweetened with monk fruit enrobes a hazelnut center and crushed gluten-free cookies. No one would ever believe there's no sugar in these fabulous truffles!
Each truffle is wrapped in elegant metallic gold foil and nestled into its own depression in the custom-molded inserts in the clear, hard plastic presentation box beautifully designed for gift-giving to even the most discerning recipient.
These are no-added-sugar masterpieces from a truly talented chocolatier. A perfect pick that's also gluten-free and keto-friendly.
(Bonus: They also contain healthy prebiotic fiber to support gut health and help you feel full longer!) I'm so excited that ChocZero will be introducing additional flavors of truffles in the coming months!
I wrote an in-depth product review of The Good Chocolate bars that explains in detail all the reasons I love this company's terrific chocolates.
Although their products aren't inexpensive, this is a luxury product that any chocolate connoisseur would appreciate.
They have an excellent variety of flavors including some unusual gourmet options, such as Dark Chocolate with Ginger and Dark Chocolate with Coconut & Turmeric (which sounds weird but is absolutely delicious!).
I also love their Signature Dark Chocolate, Salted Dark Chocolate with Roasted Almonds, Dark Chocolate with Himalayan & Sea Salt, and Milk Chocolate bars.
I highly recommend adding an assortment to your low carb gourmet gift baskets so your gift recipient can find his or her favorites. For example, The Good Chocolate Keto Chocolate Bar Variety Pack includes one bar of each of the above flavors except the Dark Chocolate with Coconut & Turmeric.
Another terrific option for people who love Snickers bars but not all the sugar they contain is the new ChocZero Rhea candy bars. These are positively decadent! I defy anyone who tries them to guess that they don't contain any added sugars.
This is a real, good old-fashioned candy bar that tastes like that famous childhood favorite but contains no added sugars.
Each Rhea bar is yummy nougat topped with loads of chopped peanuts embedded in gooey caramel, and then the whole bar is enrobed in a coating of decadent milk chocolate.
An interesting tidbit: The Rhea in the name is ChocZero's wonderful Chief Growth Officer, who not only leads the brand's excellent marketing (which is both principled and transparent) but also is actively engaged with customers.
I really love this company, its products, and its people! It's no wonder they are growing so quickly and have such a loyal following.
ChocZero Chocolate Keto Bark is one of the brand's most popular products, and for good reason. It comes in a wide range of delicious flavor choices, with new flavors introduced from time to time and some occasionally retired. My husband and I really love these delicious squares of rich, luscious chocolate either filled or studded with flavorful additions.
Some of our favorites include Dark Chocolate Peppermint, White Chocolate Cookies & Cream, and Milk Chocolate Almond.
They are all sweetened with monk fruit and are the perfect size to satisfy a sweet tooth without overindulging.They are available in bags and, new this year, in large, collectible gift tins that also bring down the cost per piece. We always have a good selection of flavors on hand at our house!
Chewy Caramels
Another of this year's sweet innovations is ChocZero's Soft Sea Salt Caramels. These soft, chewy candies have that yummy salted caramel flavor that is deservedly popular among foodies.
Sweetened with monk fruit and salted with fine Celtic sea salt, these individually wrapped, kettle-cooked, classic caramels will remind you of old-fashioned homemade caramel candies. These sugar-free treats contain no sugar alcohols or corn syrup.
A serving of three of these yummy caramels has just 100 calories, 0 grams of sugar, and 2 net carbs.
Bonus: You can also melt these down to make a luxurious sugar-free caramel sauce!
Marshmallows
Another exceptional sugar-free treat from ChocZero is their marshmallows.
They make regular marshmallows, mini marshmallows, marshmallows in fun seasonal shapes, twisted rainbow Unicorn marshmallows, and freeze-dried mini marshmallows like the ones in many popular kids' cereals.
I haven't been able to stop eating them since they launched earlier this year! They're perfect for floating in hot cocoa, snacking, and using in recipes.
For someone who loves Rice Krispie Treats, consider including a bag of ChocZero Marshmallows and a copy of my recipe for Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats.
Low Carb Cookies
There are a lot of commercial keto and low carb cookies on the market. Frankly, very few of them are worth eating. Here are some noteworthy exceptions.
ChocZero Premium Butter Cookies look just like the wonderful Danish butter cookies we all know and love, right down to the round blue collectible tin, but minus the added sugars. They are crisp, sweet, buttery, and delicious!
They would make a great addition to your low carb gourmet gift baskets!
HighKey Snacks is best known for its delicious, bite-sized mini cookies.
HighKey Mini Cookies come in a wide variety of flavors, including Double Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Vanilla Wafers, Vanilla Shortbread, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Lemon, and Ginger Spice.
The Ginger Spice are definitely a holiday favorite and are great crushed to make a flavorful cheesecake crust. (I love them as a crust for pumpkin cheesecake!)
The Classic Variety 3-Pack includes one bag each of Double Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Chip, and Snickerdoodle mini cookies, so your gift recipient can try a few flavors.
I've also written an in-depth product review of HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies, which are my favorite Oreo alternative and a gift any Oreo lover who's trying to cut back on sugar would appreciate.
The newest HighKey cookie offering is also a winner and might be my favorite cookie from this brand!
HighKey Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies are very large, soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies packed with a whopping 14 grams of protein per cookie.
They're individually wrapped to keep them soft and fresh, and they're as nutritious as they are delicious.
I love bringing these along in my purse or carry-on bag in case I need something to stave off hunger pains on the go.
I really hope HighKey decides to make these in additional flavors. They're a terrific addition to their product line!
Savory Goodies
If your gift recipients prefer savory to sweet, here are some tasty picks they're sure to enjoy.
High-Quality Meat Sticks
Meat sticks are a convenient low carb snack. They're high in protein, low in calories, and great to tuck in a purse or carry-on bag for a satisfying protein boost on the go.
My favorites are PaleoValley 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks. According to the manufacturer's website, "Paleovalley 100% Grass-Fed Beef Sticks are the only beef sticks in the USA made from 100% grass-fed/grass-finished beef and organic spices that are naturally fermented." These delicious, individually wrapped, grass-fed beef sticks come in several tasty flavors: regular Summer Sausage, Garlic Summer Sausage (my personal favorite), Jalapeno, Teriyaki, and Original.
All the flavors except Teriyaki have 6 grams of protein, 0 grams of sugar, and 70 calories; the Teriyaki beef sticks have 80 calories. They are non-GMO, gluten-free, grain-free, corn-free, soy-free, and dairy-free.
I also love PaleoValley 100% Pasture-Raised Maple Bacon Pork Sticks. These are made primarily from pasture-raised pork with organic spices and a touch of sweetness from organic maple syrup. They are naturally fermented to make them shelf-stable without the use of preservatives.
Each delicious maple bacon pork stick has 80 calories, 5 grams of protein, and 2 net carbs. They're gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, with no added sugar, no artificial nitrates, or nitrites.
The PaleoValley beef and pork sticks are soft and moist. If your gift recipient prefers a firmer, chewier, beef jerky-style meat stick, I highly recommend the CHOMPS Grass-Fed Beef Sticks.
These individually wrapped, jerky-style sticks are made from grass-fed and grass-finished beef. They come in your choice of Original, Habanero, Jalapeño, Italian Style, Sea Salt, and Taco Beef flavors.
Each CHOMPS beef jerky stick has 9 grams of protein, 0 grams of sugar, 90 calories, and no gluten, soy, or dairy.
The flavors range from extra-mild to medium spicy to suit the recipient's preferred spice/heat level.
Pasta and Sauce
Although low carb pasta doesn't have an identical taste or texture to conventional pasta, there are some satisfying options.
One of my favorites is Kaizen pasta made with high-protein lupin flour. It's available in a variety of popular pasta shapes including fusilli, ziti, cavatappi, and radiatori.
I recommend cooking it a bit longer than the package directions suggest, since otherwise, it can be a bit chewy.
Because the taste is a bit different than that of conventional pasta, I highly recommend pairing it with a robust low carb sauce.
We really like Rao's Homemade Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce made with fresh basil.
It's more expensive than some other brands, but the taste is worth the premium price, and the ingredients are fresh and high quality, like those you would use to make your own marinara sauce at home.
Another good low carb option to try that's considerably less expensive is Yo Mama's Keto Marinara Sauce. It's a lesser-known brand that deserves more recognition.
Baking Mixes
I've reviewed several low carb and keto baking mixes here on Review This Reviews. Two of my favorite brands are Scotty's Everyday and Good Dee's.
Scotty's Everyday Keto Pizza Crust Mix is a fantastic option for enjoying fresh, homemade pizza. It makes a delicious crust that has 80 calories, 2.5 grams of protein, and an amazing zero net carbs per slice.
We like baking ours on a pizza stone to get a thin, crispy crust. It's the closest thing to real pizza dough that's also keto-friendly!
Read my in-depth product review of The Best Keto Pizza Crust Mix With 0 Net Carbs to learn more about why this baking mix is a winner.
I've reviewed Good Dee's Low Carb Cookie Baking Mixes here on Review This Reviews. We recently made a batch of my favorite (butter pecan cookies) and they were delicious!
I also love Good Dee's brownie mixes, cake mixes, and bread mixes. Good Dee's Corn-Free Bread Mix is a key ingredient in my Low Carb Cheddar Corn Dog Muffins recipe, which is delicious and one of my husband's favorite meals.
A package of the Corn Free Bread Mix along with a copy of my cheddar corn dog muffins recipe would make a great addition to a low carb gourmet gift basket.
This mix is the best alternative to cornbread for people who are avoiding corn and grains, especially when enhanced with additional corn flavoring, as I do in my low carb cheddar corn dog muffins recipe.
You really can't go wrong with any of the Good Dee's baking mixes. They also make sugar-free rainbow sprinkles that would be great paired with one of the cake mixes!
Livlō baking mixes are another great option. Livlo makes high-quality keto baking mixes, such as the biscuit and scone mixes I use in my yummy Low Carb Blueberry Biscuit Scones recipe. Check out my recipe to learn more about these excellent, easy-to-use mixes.
Another great addition to your low carb gourmet gift basket would be the Wholesome Yum Soft White Keto Bread Mix.
I've written a detailed review of this bread mix prepared both according to the package directions and according to the yeast bread recipe. Both methods make delicious loaves.
Read my Wholesome Yum Keto Bread Mix and Yeast Bread Recipe review and consider adding the bread mix and the yeast bread recipe instructions to your basket.
A good low carb pancake or waffle mix would also be a welcome treat. Scotty's Everyday, Wholesome Yum, Livlo, Good Dee's, and Nüsh Foods all make excellent ones.
Since my husband and I try to prioritize protein in our diets, especially first thing in the morning, we really like the Nüsh Protein Pancake & Waffle Mix, which packs a hefty 20 grams of protein and 8 net carbs per serving (three protein pancakes).
This protein pancake & waffle mix is gluten-free and high in flax fiber and Omega-3s. It's also quick and easy to prepare—just measure out the desired quantity of the mix and whisk in half as much water by volume (e.g., 2 Tbsp. water for 1/4 cup dry mix), and then cook on a greased, preheated pan.
Although Nüsh also makes a blueberry protein pancake & waffle mix, we prefer to add our own fresh berries to the prepared mix batter. A mixture of fresh raspberries and blueberries is a favorite in our household.
Don't forget to include a bottle of high-quality sugar-free maple syrup! We love Wholesome Yum Zero Sugar Maple Syrup and ChocZero Maple Syrup.
Crackers
A lot of low carb and keto crackers taste like cardboard. Fortunately, there is one brand I can recommend enthusiastically.
My favorite, far and away, is Real Phat Foods almond flour crackers. They're made with simple, clean ingredients "with no artificial anything ever." They're grain-free, gluten-free, yeast-free, soy-free, and GMO-free, and all flavors except cheddar are also dairy-free.
A 1-ounce serving has 150 calories and only 1–2 net carbs per serving.
I've tried and enjoyed all the flavors, which include Rosemary, Cracked Pepper, Original, Cheddar, and Sweet Cinnamon Crunch.
The cheddar and cinnamon are my top picks, but the Original flavor is great paired with your favorite cheese or jam.
I suggest getting the assortment with one bag of each flavor so your gift recipients can find their favorites to reorder.
Jams, Spreads, and Honey
This is another category where ChocZero has been knocking it out of the park. ChocZero jams are the best quality sugar-free jams on the market, in my opinion.
They're sweetened with monk fruit instead of unhealthy artificial sweeteners, chock-full of real fruit, and taste fantastic. They're also thick and jammy, not watery or gummy like some other sugar-free jams I've tried.
ChocZero Jams come in Grape, Raspberry, Strawberry, and Orange Marmalade flavors and the brand-new Black Cherry jam should be coming to Amazon soon. These are great for PB&J sandwiches, with crackers, to fill thumbprint cookies, and lots of other tasty uses.
For the Nutella lovers on your holiday gift list, both ChocZero and Livlō make excellent sugar-free chocolate hazelnut spreads.
My favorite is the ChocZero Dark Cocoa Hazelnut Spread, which is also vegan, but the closest to Nutella is the ChocZero Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (shown at the left) or the Livlō Zellō Keto-Friendly Chocolate Hazelnut Spread.
ChocZero Cookie Spread is also fabulous!
Sugar-free honey is a relatively new invention. ChocZero Keto Honey Substitute is a vegan clover honey alternative that comes in an adorable bear-shaped bottle. It has only 1 net carb per serving and packs 18 grams of dietary fiber per serving. It's sweetened with monk fruit instead of artificial sweeteners and tastes delicious! It's a 1:1 replacement for honey in any recipe and is delicious in tea.
The other low carb honey we love is Wholesome Yum Zero Sugar Honey Substitute.
This keto-friendly honey alternative is sweetened with monk fruit and allulose and has only 15 calories and 0 net carbs per tablespoon. It also has 6 grams of dietary fiber.
It has the same consistency as honey from the bees and, like ChocZero honey, is designed to be used in recipes as well as drizzled on pancakes or toast, stirred into tea, etc.
The most notable thing about Wholesome Yum Zero Sugar Honey Substitute is that it comes in different flavors: original, cinnamon, jalapeno, turmeric ginger, and orange. Imagine using the orange honey in a glaze or marinade for chicken or the jalapeno honey to make hot honey chicken wings!
Any of these jams, spreads, or honey choices would be excellent paired with Wholesome Yum Bread Mix, Livlo biscuit or scone baking mix, Real Phat Foods almond flour crackers, or Nüsh protein pancake or waffle mix.
Baskets and Other Container Ideas
Whenever I receive a gift basket, I always save the container to repurpose. That's what I did to make the low carb gourmet gift basket pictured below.
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| I repurposed the wicker basket from a gift I received, wrapped the handle with fancy ribbon and a decorative pick, and filled it with delicious sweet and savory low carb treats. |
If you don't happen to have one on hand, Amazon has a huge selection of wicker baskets for gifts in a wide variety of shapes and sizes to suit your needs.
You could get creative and stow your gourmet treats in a crockpot or air fryer for a more extravagant gift.
The easiest approach of all would be to tuck your low carb goodies into a festive holiday gift bag. My friend and fellow Review This Reviews contributor Raintree Annie has some great suggestions for Reusable Christmas Gift Bags.
Alternatively, if you want to give mostly smaller treats, you might use them to stuff a beautiful Christmas stocking.
An Awesome Low Carb Gourmet Gift Basket Everyone Will Love by Margaret Schindel
Read More Low Carb & Keto Reviews by Our Review This Reviews Contributors
Read More Christmas Reviews by Our Review This Reviews Contributors
Read More Gift Reviews by Our Review This Reviews Contributors
Read More Product Reviews by Our Review This Reviews Contributors
Oh my dear Margaret, talk about comprehensive lists. This one will be one of my favorites. Keto and low carb products are sometimes really hard to find and you have put them all in one place for me. Thank you for this lovely review and I know that the products are great!
ReplyDeleteOlivia, I definitely thought of you when putting together this list of low carb treats to fill a gourmet gift basket or stocking. I don’t know whether all these products are available in Canada, but I really hope your favorites are!
DeleteMargaret, what a great idea for a healthy gift for anytime. I just love gift baskets, you may not know this, years ago I had a small gift basket business. I loved the fact that a gift basket can easily be customized to fit the recipients needs. I always had fun making gift baskets and took pride in crafting them to the customers needs. thanks for these healthy ideas.
ReplyDeleteSam, I had forgotten about your gift basket business! Thank you for reminding me. Your kind compliment means even more coming from you, my friend.
DeleteWow! What a truly fabulous gift idea!!! Before today, I would not have known how to put together a gift basket for my diet-conscious friends and family. I would have been afraid to try to select food ideas for dieters or even health conscious recipients. I absolutely love this idea, and these food suggestions for everyone. Chocolate, cookies, treats, marshmallows and pizza we can all enjoy guilt-free! Now, how awesome is that!!! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSylvestermouse, your enthusiasm over my low carb gourmet gift basket recommendations is a gift to me! I’m thrilled that my personally curated picks are helpful. There are so many low carb and keto friendly products that are just awful, and I have had to “kiss a lot of frogs” to find the brands and products that deliver quality and taste that meet my high expectations. For someone who doesn’t pay attention to their carbohydrate consumption, it can be nearly impossible to know which low carb products are worth buying and gifting. I’m grateful that my recommendations are helpful.
DeleteThanks for the many healthy and low carb suggestions to add to a gourmet gift basket. Wonderful ideas.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your very kind compliment, Elf! I appreciate the lovely feedback.
DeleteWhat a fantastic idea for a gift basket - the jam and bread mix sure appeals to me - you have so much knowledge in this area, and if anyone is looking for something low carb, they absolutely need to read your articles because you've tried and tested so much - wow, just wow!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, thank you so much for your very kind comment! I know I would be thrilled to receive a gift basket like this one. There are so many awful products in the low carb & keto space that it’s helpful to know which ones actually taste delicious and have clean ingredients.
DeleteWow what a lovely idea and great selections! I appreciate the time and research you took to find quality, tasty low carb and keto foods and treats. I agree with Barbara that you have so much knowledge and experience of this area. I love a gift basket and thoughtful selections of different foods. This is a perfect idea for anyone looking for low carb/keto gift choices. Also Thank you so much for mentioning my review of the reuseable giftbags, I do appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteRaintree Annie, thank you so much for your extremely kind feedback! I’m delighted that my suggestions were appreciated. When it comes to finding low carb treats that taste great and are made with high quality ingredients, you have to “kiss a lot of frogs before you find the handsome prince,” lol. I’m glad that my years of researching and sampling low carb goodies can help others make great choices without having to “kiss a lot of frogs.” 😉
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