It’s rare to find a cookbook featuring recipes that are exceptional yet easy to make with common ingredients. It’s even harder to find one that’s got all that cookbook goodness and is keto and has great photographs. Enter Cast Iron Keto: 75 Low-Carb One Pot Meals for the Home Cook, the first cookbook by Alex and Lauren Lester, the duo behind the blog of the same name.
About the Author
One look at the Cast Iron Keto blog and you know there’s some seriously good cooking going on. But who’s behind it? As is usually the case with people who create health-minded lifestyle brands, there’s a story for that. Alex and Lauren Lester met in college. Apparently, they both enjoyed classic school grub like pizza, Chick-fil-A, and beer. What they didn’t love so much was how it made them look and feel. So they decided to do something about it. Alex kicked the junk food, got active, and lost 80 pounds. When the two went keto, Lauren, who started in the paleo space in 2012, joined Alex to spread the good-food word, helping to craft recipes and images that inspire you to eat wholesome, outstanding meals that you can make yourself.
What’s Inside
Let’s start with this appealing fact: all the recipes in Cast Iron Keto are easy and made in one skillet. Sold yet? You should be. There’s much to love about one-dish meals. But here’s the kicker: the food isn’t just good, it’s great. Like the kind of great where you think, Wow! I have to make that again!
The book’s organization is straightforward: it starts with a brief intro, discusses the benefits and essentials of cooking with cast iron, and says a word or two about the keto diet. Then it digs right into the tasty stuff, as in 75 recipes divided into sections titled Land, Sea, Date Night, Brilliant Bowls (meaning bowl meals), Sensational Salads, and Meatless Mondays: Vegetarian.
Of the many interesting recipes, expect to find tasty options like Chipotle Chicken Stew, Chicken Schnitzel, Ruben Casserole, Philly Cheesesteak Skillet, Seafood Paella, Crab Bisque, Easy Ramen for Two, Big Mac Burger Bowls, Vegan Taco Cups, and much more.
Photos are gorgeous and appetizing, and there’s one for every recipe. Another bonus: each recipe includes icons that identify whether it’s dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free (they all are), nut-free, soy-free, and Whole 30. Finally, they include what every serious ketonian craves: a breakdown of each dish’s macros per serving.
Try These Recipes from Cast Iron Keto now:
What You’ll Learn
Given the amount of easy, appealing recipes in this book, it’s unquestionable that you’ll walk away with more than a few new favorites for your dinner rotation. Plus, it may just inspire you to use new (yet still approachable) ingredients. For example, if you haven’t made pork belly before (the same cut used to make bacon), this book will inspire you to do it, and to discover that it’s not only easy and affordable, it’s crazy delicious—especially when paired with sautéed collard greens and kimchi!
What We Like
The look of the book is beautiful, lively, and punchy. Better still, the recipes are not your average keto recipes. They may be as simple to make, but they’re far more creative while still seeming approachable.
Room for Improvement
This book is wonderful on its own, but if there were the option to improve on near perfection, we’d say add a desserts section; we’d love to try these authors’ sweet treats!
The Final Word
Cast Iron Keto is an essential cookbook for any food lover on a keto diet. Along with lip-smacking photos to inspire you, the preparations are simple, which is surprising given how impressive the results are. If you want to up your keto cooking game, this book is the way to do it.
Shop for Cast Iron Keto here.
