Have you ever stood in line, gazing at their menu board and feeling a little lost as to how to order low carb / keto at Starbucks and still get something yummy? Well those days are over. This post will give you several options that will leave you feeling satisfied. 
Being born and raised in Washington State, just outside of Seattle, Starbucks is a staple. It is part of our landscape. It’s just something we do. I am surprised it is not used as a verb yet – like Facebooking, googling or tweeting. Friend -“Hey, what are you up to tomorrow?” Me – “Oh you know, just Starbucking” You could say that Seattle is the coffee capital of the U.S. The city of Seattle has the greatest concentration of coffee houses in the country. The original Starbucks opened in 1971 in the Pike Place Market and has been iconic to this area ever since. Have you ever tried to visit the original Starbucks during the summer? Due to Starbucks cult like following and the fact that it is at the market, there is a line through the entire store and down the side walk outside. It seems like almost everyone in the world is there at the same time.
Now, it is rare to travel anywhere and not see a Starbucks. People will get up early to grab it before work. They will wait in long lines, pre-order through their app, and even fork over cash they really don’t have for a cup of that delicious bean juice.
So the big question on every low carbers mind is “Do I have to give up my daily Starbucks to maintain my low carb, ketogenic lifestyle?” The answer is NO!! Well then how do you order low carb / keto at Starbucks? You just have to get creative with your ordering. Don’t be too shy to ask for exactly what you want. You are handing over your hard earned money and paying a premium to go to Starbucks, versus other coffee chains. Therefore, You should get exactly what you want, even if it is an off-menu or custom made drink. Never once have I been met with anything but friendliness when requesting a special order. They may not always get it right, but they will certainly try and are always willing to remake it. I am here to help you get creative with your low carb ordering. Starbucks is back on your low carb menu!! So, what can you order? Here are several to get your started. I will add more options as I think of them.
Check out some of my other low carb / keto resources:
- Complete Low Carb / Keto Resource Guide
- 10 Signs You Might Be in Ketosis
- Keto 101 – Everything You Need to Know to Start a Ketogenic Diet
- How Many Carbs Should You Eat Per Day to Lose Weight
- Complete Guide to Low Carb and Gluten Free Snacking
WANT 8 FREE WEEKS OF LOW CARB AND GLUTEN FREE MEAL PLANNING?
PLANS INCLUDE…
- Low carb and gluten free recipes with full color photos. Each recipe includes a full ingredients list as well as the directions to prepare it. There is also a link to view the recipe online.
- Nutritional analysis per recipe – Calories, Fat, Protein, Total Carbs, Fiber and Net Carbs. You can mix/match the recipes throughout the week to keep within the daily carb limit you choose. All recipes are less than 10 net grams of carbs per serving. Most are much lower.
- No funky, hard to source ingredients. Only real, nutrient dense foods that you can find at your local grocer.
- Suggestions for substitutions based on common food allergies, likes and dis-likes.
- Meal planning and prep tips to cut down on the amount of time spent in the kitchen.
- Printable grocery list for the week that will take advantage of groceries, using ingredients across multiple recipes.
- Each plan builds off the week before it to eliminate waste, maximize in-gredients and keep costs down.
- New low carb and gluten free resource added each week.
Claim your FREE meal plans HERE
How to Order Low Carb / Keto at Starbucks and 10 Low Carb Starbucks Copycat Recipes
The obvious choices:
- Espresso – There are no carbs in a shot of espresso. It is definitely an acquired taste, but it is always a viable option.
- Drip Coffee – You can drink it black or you can add cream and sugar free syrup to it. This is how I drink my coffee at home on most days. When I am not drinking Bulletproof coffee that is.
- Iced Coffee – Again, you can add any sugar free syrups you want to this. You can also add heavy cream or half and half
- Cold Brew – This is made in house daily and in small batches. Get it early before they are sold out.
- Hot Tea – Starbucks has a lot of great hot tea flavors. Drink it as is or add a little sweetener or sugar free syrup to it.
- Cappucino – Cappuccino is just espresso and milk foam. If you like it wetter, it also has a little steamed milk in it. You can have it plain or you can add sugar free syrup to it. There is something so comforting about a foamy cappuccino.
Here are some options to replace your daily latte:
- Order an americano (iced or hot) with a splash of heavy cream. Starbucks makes their own whipped cream, therefore they all carry heavy cream. If you want it flavored, just add any of their sugar free syrups.
- Order a latte, sub half and half (breve) or heavy cream. If you want it flavored, just add any of their sugar free syrups. This will be very creamy. If you don’t want it so rich, order the americano option above instead.
- Order a latte, but ask for almond milk or coconut milk as a substitution. Many Starbucks now carry both. Note – They are not unsweetened and do have some sugar and carbs. They are still much lower than milk. Ask to see the container. They will happily show you. Then you can see for sure if they are right for your personal carb allowance.
Here are some options to replace your daily frappucino:
- This one took them a couple of tries to get right. They looked at me like I was nuts, but once they got it right, it became my favorite summer drink. Ask for a Coffee Light Frappucino with half water and half heavy cream instead of the nonfat milk. It has a subtle sweetness all on its own, but you can add any of their sugar free syrups for a little more flavor
- Ask for a Sugar Free Cinnamon Dulce Light Frappucino with half water and half heavy cream instead of non-fat milk. Trust me when I tell you that your low carb blended coffee drink game just got elevated.
Here are some options to replace your daily mocha:
- Order a Skinny Mocha with half heavy cream and half water. Alternately you can ask to sub half and half (breve)
- Order an Americano with skinny mocha sauce and a splash of heavy cream
- Order a coconut or almond milk mocha, sub skinny mocha sauce
- Order a sugar free peppermint mocha with skinny mocha sauce with half heavy cream and half water. Alternately, you can ask to sub half and half (breve)
- Not a coffee drinker? Order a skinny mocha hot chocolate breve
Save carbs and money and make your own:
Now that you know how to order low carb / keto at Starbucks, I will show you how you can enjoy similar versions of those same drinks from the comfort of your low carb home. If you are looking to save some cash and probably even a few carbs, you can try out these Starbucks copycat recipes. If you have ever been in line and found yourself drooling over the pastry case, have no fear, I have included some copycat recipes for some of Starbucks most popular sweet treats as well.
Low Carb Starbucks Copycat Caramel Frappucino – All Day I Dream About Food
Low Carb Copy Cat Cool Lime Refresher – Sugar Free Mom
Low Carb Starbucks Copycat Pumpkin Spice Latte – Low Carb So Simple
Low Carb Pumpkin Spice Spice Frappucino
Low Carb Starbucks Pink Drink Copycat Recipe – KetoDiet Blog
Starbucks Chonga Bagel Copycat – Peace Love and Low Carb
Starbucks Lemon Loaf – Maria Mind Body Health
Mini Vanilla Bean Scones – All Day I Dream About Food
Low Carb Starbucks Copycat Salted Caramel Cake Pops – All Day I Dream About Food
Thank you! These are great suggestions! The breve sounds like a good choice for me as I’m prediabetic.
Just be warned that the coconut milk offered at Starbucks is sweetened with sugar if you’re trying to avoid it. Wish they offered an unsweetened option, but so far they don’t.
These are great options! Have you tried the new almond milk? Six (6) net carbs for a Tall. It is 6 grams of sugar. Is this comparable to cream?
I have never been to a Starbucks, too expensive! My husband bought me a Keurig 2.0 a couple of years ago and I make my own coffee, have my filter cup that I fill with whatever coffee mood I’m in, prior to that i would use an instant expresso(whose name escapes me) that I would by at the store near my house the sells coffees from Latin America. And, of course I do BPC, which I love!
In the summer I like the passion fruit ice tea with heavy cream. Sometimes I bring a stevia packet. If I need caffeine I do half black, tea half passion.
Just curious but what is a skinny mocha hot chocolate breve? I am not the coffee drinker and have been looking for a low-carb option. Do all Starbucks know what this is? I couldn’t find it on the menu and didn’t want to sound stupid walking in to order one. 🙂
It is not on the menu, but they will definitely know what you are talking about. They are always happy to accommodate.
Hi there! Thanks for this list! I’m having the Light SF Cin Dulce Frap this morning. Anyway you know the macro’s on this drink and any of the rest of these?
I would recommend asking at starbucks or looking on their site.
I am a chai tea latte addict and was hoping there was a low carb option for that. I already order it with breve and no water but have been told by others the chai tea concentrate they use is high in carbs. Any other suggestions?
You can get the “Chai Latte” by asking for the Oprah Chai Tea latte with Splenda. The Oprah Chai is tea bags, not syrup, so not sweentened. One of the ladies at Starbucks told me how to order it for low carb — tastes just as good 😉
I am a Chai tea Late addict too. I always order the London Fog with non fat milk and sugar-free vanilla. What it actually is is early grey tea bag, not a mix. I have no idea about carbs in the nonfat milk and sugar vanilla
I hope you can update this article. Starbucks Skinny Mocha is not sugar free. According to their website, it has 24 carbs in a grande size drink. Here’s the link as of today 1/20/17. The “skinny” refers to using low fat milk. If I’m wrong, let me know. But that would mean Starbucks has wrong information on their website.
https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/skinny-mocha
Yes, that is why my post talks about asking for a breve or for asking for half heavy cream and half water. Non-fat milk is very high in carbs
Please disregard my previous comment about Starbucks. I should have read further. That nutrition info was for the whole drink, not just the sauce. Sorry about that!
I’m looking forward to trying some of these!
My favorite is the espresso macchiatto dopio breve. This is espresso with hot milk. The milk goes in first, then they pour the espresso over it. I do breve (sometimes they use cream, sometimes they use half and half). The dopio is 2 shots.
My other is a tea latte (Royal English Breakfast) with whole milk. It’s a proper cuppa tea, but the milk is heated so it doesn’t cool down too fast. I add Splenda to mine.
Today I got my free birthday drink. I asked for the Royal English Breakfast tea latte and got a London Fog. That has 38g of sugar in the venti, so I gave it to a friend. Sigh.
I used to be a big fan of their Chai Tea Latte. SO many calories & really, way too sweet! My substitution:
Sugar-free Vanilla Chai Tea Misto
1/2 water, 1/2 low-fat milk
Much lighter & still delicious!
sounds yummy
Be warned of using low fat milk. It actually has more carbs than half and half or cream.
Just got an espresso frappucino with heavy cream and 2 pumps skinny mocha. It’s so good that I’m worried they didn’t do it right!! Thank you for the suggestions!
Hey It’s great to know what your talking about.I’m a Seattle person also. but!! I’m way up North. in Arlington, we have chickens we sell eggs. I love your site. I’m so glad I found it. I just started low carb high fat. learning to be a diabetic. 🙁
Why do “add water” to everything? I order a hwc latte with an extra shot and Splenda. A tall is 6 carbs. Hwc is very low in carbs.
Yes, but it is extremely thick and most people wouldnt want to drink their coffee that way. Adding water gives it a consistency more like milk.
I got grande latte and subbed heavy cream. I also asked for sugar free vanilla syrup. Does anyone here know how many grams of carbs is in the drink? Kyndra? Sorry. I don’t mean to make you my personal calorie calculator. That’s not my intention. You’ve done enough by listing all the amazing ways to order low carb coffee at Starbucks. It’s much appreciated!!!
I have a question about the frappuccinos. Even the light frapp syrup has sugar in it. Do you just ask for cream and water and sf syrups and NO frapp syrup?
I used to work at Starbucks and found many drinks I could drink on a keto diet. Yes the Frappuccino Light base syrup does have sugar in it. It is 1/3 less sugar then the normal Base. Frappuccinos DO require this base to blend right or else you will just get chopped ice. I order 1/2 base which is normally 1 pump to a grande (or specify some may put 1.5 pumps) and making it with the heavy cream and SF syrups help keep the carbs down but still has some. If I add a shot i ask for lite extra ice so it does not change the consistency. I hope this helped!
I’ve recently discovered their shaken iced teas. Love them! Just ask for no sweetener, or i guess you could do sugar free sweetener. I find them very refreshing without sweetener or cream. Its my favorite summer Starbucks drink.
I make cold brew at home daily and it has become a lifesaver. I keep.reguakr and decaf in the fridge so I can have it ready any time.of day.
OMG. Thank you for this post!!!!! My newfound love is now a Starbucks “Grande sugar free cinnamon dolce (or mocha) Frappuccino with heavy cream and a coffee base”.
Prior to seeing your post on how to order at Starbucks, I avoided Starbucks or just drank straight coffee. I had NEVER tried a Frappucino (and didn’t know what it was) figuring that there were WAY too many carbs. This post changed all that, and after a few slightly confusing visits to Starbucks, I now can’t get enough of Frappucinos!
But wait!? I only just learned from reading the comments here that I need to amend the drink order to include only 1 pump of the Frappuccino base. Hmmmm. I’m grateful for this community now!
Hoping for ideas for hot choc… I’m not a coffee person but my mom and sisters are and love to take girl dates there! Don’t know for sure how to order my old fav of hot choc or peppermint hot choc without killing my keto!
She says at the bottom of the post: “Not a coffee drinker? Order a skinny mocha hot chocolate breve”
I’m from Tacoma and just came across this post. I don’t usually do Starbucks because we have so many great independent shops. But I recently jumped onto this keto train. The baristas at my preferred shop have been great about helping me find a new drink that is keto-friendly. Before, I was doing a white chocolate mocha with caramel sauce and vanilla syrup with 2% milk and all the full sugar/carb flavors. I don’t even want to think about how many calories and carbs that was. After much tweaking, I’m now drinking an Americano. I’ve kept the same flavors, but I’ve ditched the carby powders and all the syrups are now sugar-free. Once in a while, when I want to change up the flavor, I do sugar-free coconut. And I get an ounce or so of half-n-half in it. I would *love* to do a full-on breve for the creaminess and the fat content, but the amount of calories is just too high that I will only opt for that if it’s a day where I’m not eating much.