There are various low-carb and sugar-free Starbucks drink options, which are ideal for whether you’re traveling or on the go.
Keto Starbucks Drinks With Low Carbohydrate
In this post, I’ll show you how to personalize and order low-carb Starbucks drinks, as well as how to order them.
A low-carb drink has 5 grams of net carbs or less (net carbs = total carbs – fiber – sugar alcohols). But this varies depending on your daily net carb limit.
Examples of Low Carb Drinks
With the appropriate modifications, you can receive a variety of low-carb drinks from Starbucks. Here are some examples of concepts to get you started:
#1
Iced Coffee with Milk
It is made by combining brewed coffee with milk and serving it over ice.
Ordering: Request unsweetened to avoid the traditional syrup, as well as almond milk instead of the customary 2 percent milk.
For a 12oz Tall, there are 15 calories and 1 grams of net carbs.
#2
Iced Caffè Latte:
This is espresso and milk brewed together and served over ice.
When ordering, request almond milk instead of the normal 2% milk.
50 calories and 4 grams of net carbs per 12 ounces
#3
Espresso brewed with steamed milk
This keto Starbucks drink is known as a flat white.
When ordering, request almond milk instead of whole milk.
For a 12oz Tall, there are 70 calories and 6 grams of net carbs.
#4
Teavana Peach Citrus White Tea
This is iced white tea with peach flavors from Teavana.
When ordering, specify that you want it unsweetened so they don’t use the customary liquid cane sugar.
12oz Tall has 0 calories and 0 grams of net carbs.
#5
Caffè Misto
It is a 1:1 ratio of brewed coffee to steamed milk.
When ordering, request almond milk instead of the normal 2% milk.
For a 12oz Tall, there are 40 calories and 2 grams of net carbs.
There are other possibilities available, and the samples provided above barely scratch the surface of what you can get.
Continue reading to find out how to make a low-carb version of your favorite drink.
How To Order Keto Starbucks Drinks (Low-Carb)
Select A Drink Type
The first step is to figure out what kind of drink you want. At Starbucks, you have the following options:
- Lattes, macchiato, cappuccinos, and their iced cousins are all espresso drinks.
- Cold brew and iced coffee, including blonde roast, pike place roast, featured dark roast, and caffè misto
- Freshly brewed coffee, including blonde roast, pike place roast, featured dark roast, and caffè misto
You can ask for a decaf version of any drink you order at Starbucks.
Coffee has very little carbohydrates on its own. The majority of carbohydrates in a coffee drink come from the cream and sugars put on top. As a result, you should be able to tailor most drinks to reduce carbs.
Drinks you Should Avoid ordering at Starbucks
However, due to their high glucose content, there are some drinks you should avoid ordering at Starbucks, such as:
Frappuccinos:
These blended beverages are produced with a sugary frappuccino syrup foundation, so even if you choose reduced-carb milk and flavor/sweetener, the frappuccino base will still contain a lot of carbs.
Refreshers:
Because they employ a refresher base that is mostly water and sugar, all of their refresher varieties, including the Pink Drink and Violet Drink, are rich in carbs. There is no way to make any of them low-carb.
Tea Lattes:
Because most tea lattes have some form of added sugar, I would steer clear of these. The Matcha Green Tea Latte, for example, is made with a matcha tea blend that is mostly sugar, while the Chai Latte is made with a chai tea concentrate that includes sugar and honey. Because the flavor infusion is distinct from the sweetener in other tea lattes, such as the London Fog, it’s easier to make them low-carb. For the London Fog, ask for almond milk and sugar-free vanilla syrup instead.
Use Low-Carb Milk As a substitute
Because they contain a significant amount of carbs, whole milk (11.7 g net carbs per cup) and skim milk (12.2 g net carbs per cup) are not suggested.
Instead, try one of the following:
#6
Milk made from almonds (1.5 g net carbs per cup)
#7
Whipped cream (heavy) (6.5 g net carbs per cup)
Although heavy cream is a fine alternative if you just want to add 1 or 2 teaspoons to your coffee, I choose almond milk because it has very few carbs.
People are frequently startled to realize that heavy cream contains carbohydrates, which you can learn more about here. Those with allergies will have fewer options; almond milk is better for dairy-free people, and rich whipped cream is better for those who have nut allergies.
I don’t recommend half-and-half, which has 11.5g net carbs per cup — that’s more than heavy whipping cream. Coconut and soy milk are also not recommended, as almond milk contains substantially fewer carbohydrates.
It’s worth noting that the larger the drink size, the more milk and, consequently, carbs it will include. I normally order a Tall (12 oz.) or Grande (16 oz.) and skip the Venti.
Use A Low-Carb Syrup As a substitute
This usually entails using a sugar-free or “skinny” syrup, which is created with sucralose and has little nutritional value (no calories or carbs) except the cocoa powder in the skinny mocha sauce. At Starbucks, you have the following options:
#8
Vanilla syrup with no added sugar
Ingredients:
- Water, Natural Flavor
- Maltodextrin
- Citric Acid
- Xanthan Gum
- Sucralose
Potassium Sorbate Ingredients:
Water, Natural Flavor, Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Sucralose, Potassium Sorbate
#9
Cinnamon Dolce Syrup without Sugar
Ingredients:
- Water
- Natural Flavor
- Xanthan Gum
- Sucralose
- Sodium Benzoate
- Citric Acid
#10
Skinny Mocha Sauce
Ingredients:
- Water
- Alkali-Processed Cocoa Powder
- Natural Flavors
- Arabic Gum
- Sucralose
- Carrageenan
- Xanthan Gum
- Salt
- Arabic Gum
- Sucralose
- Carrageenan
- Xanthan Gum
The sugar-free vanilla and cinnamon dolce syrups are perfect for sweetening and flavoring espresso drinks like skinny lattes and iced skinny cinnamon lattes.
I’ve also used the sugar-free vanilla syrup with a dab of heavy whipping cream in an otherwise unsweetened peach citrus white tea.
The thin mocha sauce can be used to make a skinny mocha or as a hot chocolate substitute (which is typically made with regular mocha sauce).
Depending on the size of your drink, I recommend asking for 2 to 4 pumps of these syrups.
These sugar-free syrups were always available when I asked for them at different Starbucks shops around the US, but your local availability may vary, in other areas
Work Out How Much Nutrition Your Drink Requires
The next step is to compute the nutrition information for your drink after you’ve customized your options:
United States:
Their drink explorer allows you to look up nutrition facts online. Select or deselect different sorts of drinks using the filter boxes on the left-hand side to refine your search. On the right-hand side, a table will be filled with complete nutrition information.
You can also choose the size of your drink, the type of milk, and whether you want it with or without whipped cream. The disadvantage is that this just covers a few replacements and may not cover your specific drink.
United Kingdom:
Scroll down to the section titled Beverage Nutritional Information on their nutrition page. There are PDFs with beverage nutrition information and beverage ingredients available to download.
The Starbucks app is another tool to calculate nutrition information (as well as a helpful way to remember your favorite drink options). You can add personalized drinks and examine their nutritional makeup under the “Order” section after you download it. Add drinks to your Favorites area, which will help you remember what to order in the future.
Keep in mind that you should focus on net carbohydrates rather than total carbs. To determine net carbohydrates, subtract fiber and sugar alcohols from total carbs. For example, a drink with 5 grams of total carbs and 1 gram of fiber has 4 grams of net carbs.
Frequently asked question
Is Starbucks cold foam Keto?
Cold foam is prepared using a special blender that quickly whips non-fat milk into a texture that reminds me of melted ice cream. It’s sweet and creamy, but there’s no cream and very little sugar.
What is the lowest-carb drink at Starbucks?
You can’t go wrong with the most basic of Starbucks beverages: a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee. The Pike Place Roast, the blonde roast, and the dark roast are all carb-free options.
What does skinny mean at Starbucks?
Request “reduced whip” or “no whip.”
Keep it “skinny”. Most handcrafted espresso and Frappuccino® blended beverages can be ordered “thin,” which means they’re made with nonfat milk, no whipped cream. If available, it is a sugar-free syrup.
Bottomline
Star Bucks is a great franchise that tends to the needs of all types of customers
Enjoy brewing!
