Finding all your favorite snacks in a low carb option always feels more difficult than it should be. Thankfully, there are some great choices to try out in the tortilla department.
Now, none of these tortillas are perfect, because all tortilla chips are pretty carb heavy.
However, these options come pretty close to being perfect, and definitely gives you something to look forward to next time you want chips and salsa.
Low Carb Tortilla Chips - What You Need to Know
When it comes to Low carb tortilla chips, there are some things that you need to be aware of. The main thing you need to know is about the ingredient, though.
As you likely already know, the ingredients can make or break anything, especially when you are trying to stick to a rigid diet. Foods that are low carb can be especially difficult, because there are a lot of things to take into account. In relation to low carb tortilla chips, you will want to keep an eye out for the flour used.
Why?
There are a lot of simple ingredients that can significantly impact how fell foods fit into categories, such as “low carb”. The flour in this case is the one ingredient that will make you either turn towards or away from these tortilla chips.
GI and Why it is Important
GI, or Glycemic Index, is a crucial part of finding healthy foods for your diet. This is actually an important measure that diabetics use for finding foods that will help control their blood sugar. If you aren’t aware, GI is able to measure the ability various foods have to become glucose in the body.
In keto, we don’t want there to be any glucose spikes, since that has a negative effect on what we want to achieve - ketosis. Because of how important GI is to the keto community, it is something that you need to have an understanding of when it comes to things like tortilla chips.
So, what are we looking for when it comes to GI? Well, the lower the GI, the better. With that being said, the conversation of GI in food really isn’t that simple, because it changes.
For example, you can expect a GI of 46 for a boiled sweet potato, but when it gets baked, the GI skyrockets to 96. It’s the same potato, but the preparation had a significant effect on it.
As a result, when we’re looking for low carb options, we are looking for something that has a GI value of about 50. Less than 50 is even better, but any higher would be pretty counterproductive to the diet.
If we’re looking for low GI food, what should we be looking for? What options are even out there? Let’s take a look at four popular alternative ingredients that are often used in tortilla chips. Bear in mind that these GI levels might vary because of preparation methods, but this at least gives us a good start.
Corn - 65 GI (not a very keto-friendly option)
Cassava - 55 GI (a little better, but definitely could be better)
Coconut - 45 GI (that’s more like it)
Back Beans - 30 (amazing for keto compared to others)
None of the ingredients listed are as low as most of us would like them to be, but it’s a good start! After all, there is no magic in this world where we can conjure up a snack that is super low-carb and tasty. We can dream, though.
Comparing the Carbs
Time to do some quick carb comparing. Below, we’re going to take a brief look at the carb, protein, and polyunsaturated fat content of the tortilla chips we’re going to go through. For good measure, we will be comparing the number to the popular Tostitos brand, just so you can get a good idea of where they all stand.
Let’s take a look, then we will get into the best low carb tortilla chip options you can try out. For reference, each of these servings are 28g, so it’s an easy comparison.
Tostitos
Net Carbs (g) - 18
Protein (g) - 2
Polyunsaturated fats (g) - 3-5
Siete’s Grain Free Tortilla Chips
Net Carbs (g) - 17
Protein (g) - 1
Polyunsaturated fats (g) - 1-2
The Real Coconut’s Coconut Flour Tortilla Chips
Net Carbs (g) - 12
Protein (g) - 2
Polyunsaturated fats (g) - 0
Beanitos Black Bean Tortilla Chips
Net Carbs (g) - 11
Protein (g) - 4
Polyunsaturated fats (g) - 2.5
Susalia Corn Tortilla Chips
Net Carbs (g) - 4
Protein (g) - 2
Polyunsaturated fats (g) - 0
As you can see, the net carb counts vary greatly for each tortilla chip. Even looking at the regular Tostitos chips compared to Beanitos, there is almost a 40% difference in carbs - which is huge!
As you just saw, Susalia Corn Tortilla Chips scored incredibly low in the net-carbs department. The thing is, these chips are actually made of corn, so how is that possible? Corn scored the highest in terms of net-carbs - is this magic?
The answer lies in nopal powder. What is nopal, we hear you asking? Well, nopal powder is powder that comes from the prickly pear cactus plant. Because of this plant’s starchy qualities paired with its incredibly low carbohydrate content than real starch, it is the perfect ingredient.
When it comes to taste, these tortilla chips are pretty fantastic, to say the least. Unlike the other chips on this list, you get the real corn taste with these.
The feel might be a little different with these, however, because they are baked and practically unsalted.
As a result, if you are specifically looking for the salty, greasy taste cost commonly associated with the tortilla chip, you won’t find it here. You might compare these deliciously healthy tortilla chips to something more like Baked Tostitos.
First thing’s first - from here on in the list, the tortilla chips DO NOT contain corn flour. Quest Tortilla Style Protein Chips are a great alternative if you’re looking for something that is full of protein.
In reality, these chips are a lot more like Doritos than anything else, and even come in some familiar Doritos flavors such as Ranch and Nacho Cheese.
So, if you are craving Doritos but can’t live with the guilt of it, give these bad boys a go. They will definitely hit the spot and leave you wanting more.
These chips have 3-4g of net-carbs per 32g bag, so they’re pretty good overall! Considering a 28g bag of Susalia Corn Tortilla Chips has 4g of net-carbs, you can take this as a win.
The texture of these chips is a little different to what you might be expecting. These Quest tortilla chips are way airier, and are completely different to anything else on this list.
As a result, you might consider having these as a separate snack entirely, rather than with guac and salsa.
The main ingredients present include:
Protein Blend (Milk Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Isolate)
High Oleic Sunflower Oil
Calcium Caseinate
Corn Starch
Natural Flavors
Soluble Corn Fiber
Psyllium Husk
Salt
For anyone interested, these chips also contain less than 2% of all the follow ingredients: buttermilk powder, Romano cheese, cheddar cheese powder, yeast extract, turmeric oleoresin (color), calcium carbonate, spice, nonfat dry milk, butter, onion powder, chia seed, sunflower lecithin, tomato powder, paprika extract (color), whey powder, and steviol glycosides (stevia).
As these chips come in a variety of flavors, ingredients will vary. It’s always worth checking out the ingredients before you buy, just to make sure they don’t impact the product’s suitability.
Don’t scroll! Coconut might sound like a super bizarre ingredient to go into tortilla chips, but just wait - you will see the reasoning behind it.
The first thing you’re probably wondering is something along the lines of “what about the rest of the ingredients?” or “does it taste like coconut?” - and that’s fair enough! It seems like an unusual combination, but we will explain why it works.
To answer your first question, these tortilla chips only have a few basic ingredients in them, which you can check out below:
The main ingredients present include:
Organic Coconut Flour
Organic Cassava Starch
Xanthan Gum
Organic Coconut Oil
Kosher Salt
To answer your second question - no! Sorry if you wanted a coconut flavored tortilla chip, but you won’t find that here. A lot of people hate the flavor of coconut, and we think the brand was trying to appeal to the biggest number.
You won’t be overwhelmed by the coconut, even if these chips are fried in pure coconut oil. Of course, you can tell that the main ingredient in these chips is coconut, but it doesn’t seem strong enough for it to even be an issue.
Since these chips are fried in pure coconut oil, you actually get a lot of benefits from it. Coconut oil is made of MCT, or medium-chain triglycerides.
As such, it is very easy for the body to break down, which is great for keto. Not only that, but these chips will keep you full for longer, so it’s an added benefit.
As you can tell by looking at the ingredient list, cassava starch is a secondary ingredient. While we don’t know how much of that is actually in there, we know that there’s more organic coconut flour.
This mixture really makes these chips taste great. If you’re looking for a fantastic crunch, these chips will give it to you. They aren’t super thin, which some might love or hate, but they last a long time when correctly re-sealed.
Okay, you might want to know one more thing - do they come in other flavors, or is this a one off product? The great news is that you can find these coconut flour chips in some amazing flavors. These include Sea Salt and Vinegar, Beach Barbecue, and Himalayan Pink Salt. If you want to try the different flavors out, all you need to do is click the link!
Siete’s Grain Free Tortilla Chips come in three classic flavors - Lime, Sea Salt, and Nacho. These tortilla chips are made using a few simple ingredients, including some additions for the warrior flavors they have available.
The main ingredients present include:
Cassava Flour
Avocado Oil
Coconut Flour
Ground Chia Seed
Sea Salt
Notice these tortilla chips also use coconut flour? However, in this case, coconut flour is listed as the third ingredient, meaning that there is more cassava flour and avocado oil in these chips than coconut.
Although cassava flour has a GI level higher than coconut flour, it isn’t the worst ingredient out there.
Avocado oil is a great ingredient to use for these tortilla chips. Some people find the flavor a little overpowering, but in this format, it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.
By Siete using avocado oil instead of regular vegetable oil, there are less polyunsaturated fats in the tortillas. Why is this good?
Polyunsaturated fats have been linked to inflammation, so it’s a great thing to avoid in large quantities!
With these tortilla chips, you can enjoy a crunch almost identical to a regular tortilla chip. So, if you want something with a texture that will remind you of the corn you crave, this is a great option to try out.
As you might expect, with a name like “Beanitos”, beans are the main ingredient for these tortilla chips. If you took a look at the GI list near the beginning of this post, you should remember that of all the ingredients, beans have the lowest GI.
As such, these tortilla type chips only have 11g of net carbs! That is a solid second place if you don’t want to include the unique protein tortilla Quest has to offer. As far as we’re concerned, that’s pretty impressive.
With the ingredient list (as seen below), you will notice that sunflower oil is the second ingredient listed.
This means that these tortilla chips are high in polyunsaturated fats. This is especially important if you are someone who is watching how much omega-6 you have on a daily basis.
Third on the list is rice flour. This tiny bit of rice flour is thrown in there to help create a pleasant texture that is similar to the coconut or cassava chips.
Going back to the first ingredient mentioned, however, it’s important to note that not all Beanitos chips are made from black beans. This brand also uses other varieties of beans, such as navy or pinto beans, which have different GI values.
As a result of this, you can’t just walk up to any Beanitos tortilla chip product and expect it to have a low GI value. You will experience different GI values with every bean the tortillas are made of, so just keep an eye out for different types!
These chips are really great if you’re looking for something that resembles a regular tortilla’s texture.
They’re nice and crispy, and have that stone ground texture associated with corn tortilla chips. Because of this, they’re a good option if you’re a lover of guac and salsa!
Out of all the flavors you have to choose from, sticking with Classic Black Bean is probably the safest option for low carb options.
The main ingredients present include:
Black Beans
Sunflower Oil
Long Grain Rice Flour
Sea Salt
Making Your Own DIY Tortilla Chips
You don’t have to go out and buy tortilla chips if you don’t want to! If you have the time, you can simply make some yourself.
All you need to do is get the right ingredients for the recipe you’d like to make, and fry it up!
The best option would be to use an oil like avocado oil, since it is very low in polyunsaturated fats. Not only that, but you will get that classic rich flavor from it, too.
If you want to have the best results, try out the Susalia Corn Tortilla Chips recipe. Just put everything together and cut out some triangles to fry up. That way, you will get that classic tortilla crunch you’re longing for.
And the Overall Winner is…
If you hadn’t guessed, Susalia Keto Tortilla Chips take first place. That corn really does make all the difference, and the texture is unbeatable.
What About the Best Grain-Free Option?
Okay, if we had to rule out the tortillas with actual corn flour in them, The Real Coconut Chips would win. This grain-free option is pretty incredible for what it is. Although it isn’t ultra-low carb, it’s good enough for us, and it certainly tastes the part.
Final Thoughts
And that’s it! Hopefully this post was helpful to you, and you have some great low carb options to go to with tortilla chips. If you’ve found a new favorite tortilla, let us know!
Hi, I’m Aubrey, and I have been a chef for close to 8 years. Cooking has always been a passion of mine, as long as I can remember. I loved my play kitchen when I was a kid, and would offer my parents my own (albeit gross) cookie recipes to taste!
Here at ButterandSaltGatherings, I want to offer a wide range of ingredients, flavors, meals and recipes so that you can start living each day to the fullest, and enjoy only the best food.
