We tried and ranked 6 of the most popular sugar-free and keto frostings that you can buy to spread on your cakes or cupcakes!
*For the integrity of our food blog, we do not engage in brand partnerships nor do we accept free products. We only review and recommend the products we enjoy.
Sometimes you can't be bothered to make homemade frosting, especially when things get hectic. And if you're already making a store-bought, sugar-free and keto cake mix, you might as well get the store-bought keto frosting, too.
Most grocers now sell sugar-free frostings by the big brands, like Pillsbury or Duncan Hines. But, you can also find smaller brands on Amazon that sell sugar-free frosting, like Good Dee's or FitBake.
We bought and tried 6 sugar-free and keto frostings, which can be found on Amazon or at some large grocers. These frostings were either vanilla, cream cheese or vanilla buttercream in flavor. We ranked the frostings on taste, ingredients, texture, net carbs, ease in making, and cost.
We're happy to report that we found several tasty sugar-free frostings in this review. That said, none of frostings are perfect and each comes with its own positives and negatives (which we've identified below).
Here is our ranking of the best sugar-free, low-carb and keto-friendly frostings. Of course, let us know what you think in the comments!
Ranking Snapshot
1. Good Dees Cream Cheese Frosting Mix
2. Judee's Keto Cream Cheese Frosting
3. FitBake Keto Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Frosting
4. Birch Benders Keto Vanilla Frosting
5. Duncan Hines Keto Friendly Vanilla Frosting
6. Pillsbury Zero Sugar Vanilla Frosting
BEST SUGAR FREE & KETO FRIENDLY FROSTINGS
1. Good Dees Cream Cheese Frosting Mix
Good Dee’s makes a variety of keto bake mixes and sells an easy-to-make, sugar-free and keto-friendly cream cheese frosting. The frosting is sold as a dry mix in which you simply add water to create the frosting. It's simple to make as long as you follow the directions of slowing adding small amounts of water and stirring to thicken. If you add too much water at once, it may end up runny. But, if you go slow, you can make a thick and creamy frosting. It has a strong but tasty cream cheese flavor, and we didn't notice any strange flavor or aftertaste. In terms if ingredients, ease of making, and taste, this frosting came out on top for us.
Net carbs: 1 gram net carbs per 2 tablespoons
Calories: 60 calories per 2 tablespoons
Ingredients: Allulose, Cream Cheese Powder and Butter Powder
Amazon rating: 3.9 out of 5 total stars
Other flavors: Cream Cheese, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Tasty cream cheese flavor; no strange aftertaste | ✘ Not as smooth & creamy as other frostings in this review; thicker texture |
| ✔ Easy to make; just add water | ✘ Expensive: $13.99 per 8.2 ounces ($1.71 per ounce) |
| ✔ Quality, keto-friendly ingredients | ✘ Not widely available |
| ✔ Low in net carbs & calories |
2. Judee's Keto Cream Cheese Frosting
Judee's sells a keto cream cheese frosting mix in which you add several ingredients to create the finished frosting. Judee's frosting was the best-tasting keto frosting in this review. It's sweet and creamy, light and delicious with no strange aftertaste (you wouldn't even guess it's keto-friendly). However, it's not that simple to make — it involves several steps and you also need a full stick of butter and an 8-ounce package of cream cheese. Even though the ingredients aren't entirely favorable, it's lower in carbs (but note that it's high in calories and fat).
Net carbs: 1 gram net carbs per 1 tablespoon
Calories: 100 calories per 1 tablespoon
Ingredients: Allulose, lemon juice powder (corn syrup solids, lemon juice, lemon oil), vanilla powder (natural vanilla flavor, maltodextrin, modified food starch, gum arabic), citrus fiber, salt, citric acid
Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5 total stars (but scoring is for all frosting products including non-keto frostings)
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Delicious cream cheese flavor (best in review); no strange aftertaste | ✘ More difficult to make & need full butter stick and cream cheese package |
| ✔ Light & creamy texture | ✘ Ingredients include lemon juice powder which includes corn syrup solids & maltodextrin |
| ✔ Low in net carbs | ✘ Expensive: $12.99 per 8 ounces ($1.62 per ounces) |
| ✘ High in calories |
3. FitBake Keto Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Frosting
FitBake sells a variety of keto-friendly, sugar-free cake mixes and frostings. Like Pillsbury and Duncan Hines frostings (see below), this frosting is sold as ready to use without any preparation involved, which is really convenient. That said, we found texture to be a little loose (almost greasy) and grainy. The flavor was buttery and overall decent. It was sweet (but not too sweet) with minimal to no aftertaste. Most of the ingredients are decent with the exception of palm fruit oil, which is the first ingredient. It's also low in net carbs and calories.
Net carbs: 0 gram net carbs per 1 tablespoon
Calories: 90 calories per 1 tablespoon
Ingredients: Sustainably Sourced Palm Fruit Oil, Natural Sweetener Blend (Erythritol, Monk Fruit Extract), Contains 2% or less of: Vanilla Bean Powder (Dextrose*, Vanilla Bean Extractives), Coconut Oil, Stevia Leaf Extract, Natural Flavors *Adds a trivial amount of sugar
Amazon rating: 3.3 out of 5 total stars
Other flavors: Keto, Sugar-Free Chocolate Buttercream
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Decent, sweet butter cream flavor; no strange aftertaste | ✘ Texture is somewhat grainy and loose; leaves greasy feel in mouth |
| ✔ Ready to spread; no prep needed | ✘ Ingredients include palm fruit oil (a highly processed oil); other ingredients decent |
| ✔ Low in net carbs and calories | ✘ Expensive: $11.99 per 8 ounces ($1.50 per ounces) |
| ✘ Not widely available |
4. Birch Benders Keto Vanilla Frosting
Birch Benders is expanding it's keto product line beyond breakfast products and now includes keto cakes and frostings. The frosting is ready to use and is low in carbs. Overall, the flavor is decent, but the texture is not as creamy as Duncan Hines. It also leaves a greasy feel in your mouth. Ingredients aren't as favorable since they include palm oil (highly processed) and cassava starch (not keto friendly). However, the frosting can now be found at some large grocers.
Net carbs: 1 gram net carbs per 2 tablespoons
Calories: 100 calories per 2 tablespoons
Ingredients: Palm Oil, Erythritol, Cassava Starch, Coconut Oil, Vanilla Extract, Stevia Extract, Monk Fruit Extract, Salt.
Target rating: 2.5 out of 5 total star
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Decent flavor | ✘ Not as smooth or creamy in texture; leaves greasy feel in mouth |
| ✔ Ready to spread; no prep needed | ✘ Ingredients include palm oil (a highly processed oil) & cassava starch (not keto friendly) |
| ✔ Available at some large grocers | ✘ Somewhat expensive expensive: $7 to $9 per 10 ounces |
| ✔ Low in net carbs |
5. Duncan Hines Keto Friendly Vanilla Frosting
Although Duncan Hines Keto Vanilla Frosting is at most large grocers, the flavor of it may not be worth the ease of purchase. We found the flavor to be quite bland and not that sweet. And although it's smooth and creamy, it leaves a greasy and buttery feeling in your mouth. The first ingredient is palm oil (a highly processed oil), which is not favorable, but the rest of the ingredients are decent. That said, it's fairly inexpensive and ready to spread without any preparation involved.
Net carbs: 2 grams net carbs per 2 tablespoon
Calories: 130 calories per 2 tablespoons
Ingredients: Palm Oil, Inulin*, Erythritol*, Allulose*, Water, Mono- and Diglycerides, Contains less than 2% of: Salt, Polysorbate 60, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Antioxidants (Ascorbyl Palmitate, Mixed Tocopherols, Chamomile Extract, Rosemary Extract), Monk Fruit Extract, Lactic Acid, Xanthan Gum, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Rum, Caramel Color.
Walmart rating: 3.5 out of 5 total stars
Other flavors: Chocolate
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Smooth & creamy texture | ✘ Lacks flavor and sweetness |
| ✔ Ready to spread; no prep needed | ✘ Leaves greasy, buttery feel in mouth |
| ✔ Available at some large grocers | ✘ Ingredients include palm oil (a highly processed oil) |
| ✔ Low in net carbs |
6. Pillsbury Zero Sugar Vanilla Frosting
Just because this frosting doesn't use sugar, doesn't mean it's low in carbs. In fact, this zero-sugar frosting is high in carbs since it uses maltitol syrup as a sweetener. Maltitol syrup has a high glycemic index, which is not too far off from sugar. Because of this, you'll want to avoid this frosting if you're on a keto diet or even a low-carb diet. That said, the frosting has a decent vanilla flavor, although there is a very slight aftertaste. In terms of texture, it's smooth and creamy, but almost a little to thick for us. If you don't care about the carbs or the maltodextrin, then this is a decent tasting option.
Net carbs: 14 grams net carbs per 2 tablespoons
Calories: 100 calories per 2 tablespoons
Ingredients: Maltitol Syrup, Palm Oil, Water, Maltodextrin, Sorbitol, Polydextrose, Isomalt, Canola Oil, Cellulose, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Modified Corn Starch, Citrus Fiber, Mono And Diglycerides, Salt, Artificial Color Including Yellow 5 And Red 40, Polysorbate 60, Guar Gum, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Sucralose (Non Nutritive Sweetener), Soy Lecithin, Citric Acid, Antioxidants (Ascorbyl Palmitate, Mixed Tocopherols, Chamomile And Rosemary Extracts).
Walmart rating: 4.3 out of 5 total stars
Other flavors: Chocolate
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✔ Decent flavor & texture (very slight aftertaste) | ✘ High in carbs |
| ✔ Ready to spread; no prep needed | ✘ Unfavorable ingredients like maltitol syrup, palm oil, maltodextrin |
| ✔ Lower in cost ($2 to $4) and at some large grocers | ✘ Not keto friendly |
*For the integrity of our food blog, we do not engage in brand partnerships nor do we accept free products. We only review and recommend the products we enjoy.
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