Is Nandos Sauce Keto?

Are you heading down to Nandos for some flame-grilled chicken? Or maybe you are doing a Fandos (Fake Nandos) at home. Either way, can you use or consume the sauce while on keto? Well, here is what you are going to want to know.

So, is Nandos sauce keto? Both Nandos Marinade and Nandos Peri-Peri sauce are keto-friendly. This is because the average serving (20g) of Nandos sauce provides between 0.2 – 1.4 grams of net carbohydrates. This is true of all variations of the sauce, including the hot and garlic varieties. Although the Marinade should be more strictly portion controlled.

Excellent news.

Particularly when a lot of sauces, or restaurant chains for that matter, are generally not Keto-friendly.

So you can absolutely enjoy a Nandos, or your own Nandos seasoned chicken while following this carb-restricted diet.

Let us now explore why this is the case in the next few sections and take a look at why you need to be more careful with the marinade!

How Many Carbs Are In Nandos Sauce?

Nandos sauce provides between 0.2-1.4 grams of carbohydrates, per serving (20g). Whereas 100 grams of this sauce, will contain between 1-7 grams of carbohydrate. The marinade is much higher in carbohydrate content than the Peri-Peri alternative.

The number of carbs in Nandos sauce will depend on whether you are looking at Peri-Peri or Marinade.

It also depends on whether you are talking about the classic recipe, or an alternative such as garlic, lemon & herb, mango & lime, etc.

Then, of course, it does depend on how much you have.

Below, I will quickly show you how many carbs you can expect from each version of the sauce.

Nandos Peri-Peri Sauce Carbs

Typical Values	Ave Quantity Per 100g	Ave Quantity per Serving
Energy	186 kJ /	37 kJ /
Calories	45 kcal	9 kcal
Fat	3.4g	0.7g
– Of which saturates	0.3g	0.1g
Carbohydrate	1.1g	0.2g
– Of which sugars	1g	0.2g
Protein	0.7g	0.1g
Salt	6g	1.2g

Consider that there are 6 servings per bottle: where a serving size is 20g.

Water, Distilled Vinegar, Onion Puree (11%), Salt, Lemon Puree (4%), Sunflower Seed Oil, Spices (Cayenne Pepper, African Bird’s Eye Chilli, Paprika), Green Chilli, Garlic Puree, Stabilisers (Xanthan Gum, Propylene Glycol Alginate), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Rosemary Extract

Nando’s Marinade Carbs

Typical Values	Average Quantity per 100g	Average Quantity per Serving
Energy	309 kJ /	62 kJ /
– Calories	74 kcal	15 kcal
Fat	3.9 g	0.8 g
– of which saturates	0.5 g	0.1 g
Carbohydrate	6.9 g	1.4 g
– of which sugars	6.0 g	1.2 g
Protein	1.2 g	0.2 g
Salt	2.37 g	0.47 g

Consider that there are 13 servings per bottle: where a serving size is 20g.

And the ingredients are as follows.

Water, Onions (11%), Garlic Puree (9%), Lemon Puree (7%), Tomato Paste, Sunflower Oil, Sugar, Salt, African Bird’s Eye Chilli, Spirit Vinegar, Paprika Powder, Modified Tapioca Starch, Stabilisers (Xanthan Gum; Propylene Glycol Alginate), Colour (Plain Caramel), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Lemon Flavouring, Antioxidants (Ascorbic Acid; Rosemary Extract)

Can You Eat Nandos Sauce On Keto?

You can eat Nandos sauce on Keto, particularly the Peri-Peri sauce. However, with the Marinade, you do need to be careful with how much you are eating.

If you stick to the recommended serving sizes, you should be more than okay with Nandos sauces; they should not risk you from being kicked out of ketosis.

If we look at the Peri-Peri sauce, we actually see that’s it’s somewhat better for keto.

You can see that from the table and ingredient list above.

Besides, the Peri-Peri sauce does not contain sugar, as the Marinade does.

And it is for this reason you can generally consume a lot more Peri-Peri sauce than you can the Marinade.

With the Marinade, you are going to need to ensure you do not consume more than half a bottle a day.

That would be between 7-8g of carbs by the way.

And as you know already – the keto guidelines state that your carbohydrate allowance is only around 20 grams a day (in total).

So the Marinade must be consumed in moderation.

A whole bottle of Peri-Peri Nandos sauce would not knock you out of ketosis (on its own).

The Marinade, on the other hand, would.

Of course, there will be other sources of carbs in your diet, too.

So just bear that in mind.

But ultimately, here are the general guidelines for Nandos sauce on Keto:

• Nandos Peri-Peri – enjoy more liberally,
• Nandos Marinade – eat in moderation and controlled portion sizes.

A Note On Nandos Sauce

One thing that you may want to consider, is that while Nandos sauce does qualify for keto from a nutritional perspective (sufficiently low in carbs), the ingredient list is not considered optimal according to the keto guidelines.

To the extent where some Keto dietitians would label this a ‘dirty keto’ food.

Now the label ‘Dirty Keto’ simply applies to a food that is low in net carbs, but not considered nutritionally optimal or ideal due to unhealthy ingredients.

In the case of Nandos sauce, this would include the likes of sunflower oil, stabilisers (xanthan gum; propylene glycol alginate), colors (plain caramel), and acidity regulators (citric acid), for instance.

So while you still may be able to enter and remain in ketosis while eating this sauce (either the milder or hotter varieties), it may contribute to health issues further down the line (if consumed too regularly) or on a nutrient-depleted diet.

Related Questions

Wondering what other sauces you can have while on keto? Check out my following guides to find out!