The keto diet has become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to lose weight and improve health. The diet is based on eating very few carbs and getting most calories from fat. This forces the body into ketosis, a state where fat is burned for energy instead of carbs. For the keto diet to work effectively at burning fat, it’s important to limit carb intake to around 5% of total calories. This equates to just 20-50 grams of net carbs per day. Net carbs are total carbs minus fiber since fiber does not impact blood sugar or ketosis.
What is in the Colorado omelette at IHOP?
The Colorado omelette is one of the omelette options on the IHOP breakfast menu. According to the IHOP nutrition information, here are the ingredients in a Colorado omelette:
- Eggs
- Ham
- Red and green bell peppers
- Onions
- Cheddar cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
The omelette also comes with a side of IHOP’s buttermilk pancakes, hash browns, and choice of bread. When customizing your order, you can opt out of the pancakes, hash browns, and bread.
Net carb count in a Colorado omelette
Here is the carb count in a Colorado omelette based on IHOP’s nutrition data:
- Eggs: 0g net carbs
- Ham: 0g net carbs
- Bell peppers: 5g net carbs
- Onions: 7g net carbs
- Cheddar cheese: 1g net carbs
- Mozzarella cheese: 2g net carbs
So in total, there are about 15g net carbs in the omelette alone. Avoiding the pancakes, hash browns, and bread prevents you from consuming a significant amount of additional carbs.
Is it keto friendly?
At only 15g net carbs, the Colorado omelette alone can reasonably fit into a keto diet. However, that accounts for 75% of the 20g net carb limit for the day. So you would need to strictly limit other carbs consumed that day to stay in ketosis.
Some factors that determine if it’s keto friendly for you:
- What else you eat – Since the omelette already contains 15g net carbs, you only have 5g left in your budget for other foods. This doesn’t leave much room.
- Your personal carb tolerance – Some people can stay in ketosis at up to 50g carbs or more per day, while others need to stay below 20-30g.
- How well you respond to the level of carbs – Check for signs you’ve knocked yourself out of ketosis like increased hunger, cravings or stalled weight loss.
Tips for ordering
To make the Colorado omelette more keto-friendly, here are some tips for ordering:
- Avoid the pancakes, hash browns, and bread that come as sides.
- Request no butter on the omelette to reduce calories and fat intake if needed.
- Order a side of bacon or sausage links with no carbs instead of the starchy sides.
- Ask for extra onions and peppers to increase volume and nutrients.
- Substitute spinach for peppers to reduce net carbs.
- Order an additional egg or egg whites to increase protein.
- Add avocado for healthy fats.
Alternate low-carb omelette ideas
If the Colorado omelette ends up having too many carbs, here are some other low-carb omelette ideas you can request:
- Bacon and spinach omelette – This omelette with bacon, spinach, onions, and cheese has only about 5g net carbs.
- Fajita omelette – With grilled chicken, peppers, onions, salsa, and cheese, this has around 10g net carbs without the tortilla.
- Greek omelette – An omelette with spinach, tomato, onion, feta cheese, and Greek seasoning has about 7g net carbs.
- Meat lover’s omelette – Load up the omelette with ham, bacon, sausage, and cheese for just 2-3g net carbs.
Making it at home
Another option is to recreate the Colorado omelette or a similar keto-friendly version at home where you control the ingredients. Here’s a sample recipe:
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 2 oz ham, diced
- 1/4 cup onions, diced
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 1 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 tsp butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Whisk eggs in a bowl, add salt and pepper.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
- Add onions and bell pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes until starting to soften.
- Add ham and continue cooking 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in eggs. As eggs start to cook, use a spatula to gently lift edges so uncooked egg runs underneath.
- When eggs are mostly set but still moist on top, sprinkle cheeses on half of the omelette.
- Fold the plain half over the cheese half and cook 1-2 minutes until cheeses melt.
- Slide omelette onto plate and serve.
This homemade version has around 10g net carbs, allowing more flexibility with sides or other meals.
Sample keto meal plan
Here is a sample keto diet meal plan incorporating an IHOP Colorado omelette for breakfast:
Breakfast
- Colorado omelette
- Side of bacon (3 slices)
- Black coffee
Lunch
- Keto Cobb salad (greens, chicken, bacon, egg, avocado, blue cheese dressing)
Dinner
- Meatballs with zucchini noodles
- Side salad with olive oil dressing
Snacks
- Hard boiled eggs
- Strawberries
- Low-carb protein shake
This provides a good balance of protein, healthy fats, and around 20g net carbs for the day.
Should you eat it on keto?
The Colorado omelette from IHOP can be part of a keto diet, but it takes up a significant portion of the daily carb allowance. Ordering it without the starchy sides and being diligent about limiting other carbs throughout the day is key to staying in ketosis. It may be too high in carbs for some people, especially on days with carb counts from other meals. With some modifications and careful planning, it can reasonably fit into a keto eating pattern.
Conclusion
The IHOP Colorado omelette contains about 15g net carbs from its ingredients of eggs, ham, peppers, onions, and mixed cheeses. While not extremely low in carbs, it can work for keto if you skip the starchy sides it comes with and are mindful of limiting other carb sources. Customizing the omelette, making a lower-carb version at home, or choosing a different omelette can also help it fit better with a ketogenic diet. Overall, the Colorado omelette can be part of a keto eating plan with careful consideration of your total daily carb intake.
