You won’t believe that this Keto Espresso Martini has only 3 ingredients and 1 net carb, so you can enjoy this delicious cocktail guilt-free. It’s a delicious blend of espresso, vodka, and simple syrup that comes together quickly and effortlessly in 5 minutes. Serve this at your next dinner party or holiday gathering and impress your guests!
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Is an Espresso Martini Keto-Friendly?
Turns out, yes, you can enjoy an Espresso Martini while still being keto and low-carb. This delicious drink is low in carbs and calories but doesn’t skimp out on flavor.
Traditionally, this cocktail also calls for a coffee liqueur, but since that is typically loaded with sugar, we will leave it out.
A good Espresso Martini starts with good espresso. This keto-friendly espresso martini doesn’t miss the coffee liqueur when a espresso shot is enough to give a bold flavor. You won’t miss the extra sugar and artificial flavors from the liqueur. Who could?
But we’ll still need a sweetener, right? Yes. But to stay consistent with keto and low carb, we have to use a sugar-free sweetener. The sweetener of choice for a martini is simple syrup, and thankfully there are plenty on the market that are keto-compliant.
There are other options for sweetening without carbs if you don’t have sugar-free simple syrup. See substitutions below.
Whatever sugar-free sweetener you decide to go with, it’s clear that you need to make this drink soon!
It’s a simple recipe that is great for small and large parties alike. In fact, with such minimal prep, it can even be done when guests arrive without missing any conversation. Impress them with your admirable bartending skills and show off that beautiful frothy foam.
Don’t worry – I won’t share with your guests how super easy this recipe actually is!
For another crowd-pleasing keto cocktail, try this Bourbon Mint Cocktail.
How to Make a Keto Espresso Martini
Gather 3 ingredients, and you’re halfway to making a keto-friendly espresso martini in just 5 minutes! It’s that simple.
Just shake everything together, strain, and pour into a fancy glass for a fun drink.
Ingredients
- Espresso shot – you’ll need 1 shot (1 ounce or 30mL) of espresso. For best results, use freshly brewed and steaming hot espresso. This is the key to making it frothy!
- Vodka
- Simple syrup – to make sure this drink truly stays keto, be sure to use sugar-free simple syrup.
I suggest Lakanto’s keto-friendly simple syrup. You can save 15% by using the code PRIMALEDGEHEALTH at checkout.
Substitutions and Variations
This Keto Espresso Martini is great as is with those simple ingredients, but you can make it your own with these variations:
- Vanilla Espresso – add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Mocha Martini – flavor your martini with ½ teaspoon of cacao powder or cocoa powder
- Virgin Espresso Martini – to make an alcohol-free mocktail, replace the same amount of vodka with water, more espresso, or heavy cream
- No sugar-free simple syrup? No worries – just sweeten with powdered sweetener instead. But dissolve the sweetener in the hot espresso first to avoid grittiness. You can also use 10 drops of liquid monk fruit sweetener or stevia instead. My homemade stevia extract is great in this recipe.
- No espresso? Make this cocktail with extra strong cold brew coffee instead.
Step-By-Step Directions
Follow these simple directions, and you can’t go wrong! This easy Keto Espresso Martini has very minimal prep with only 5 minutes of active time and 2 steps! It’s that easy.
Step one: Shake
Add freshly brewed hot espresso, vodka, and sweetener to a cocktail shaker with 1 cup of ice. Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds until all chilled and frothy. Remember, the hotter the espresso, the more frothy your drink will be.
If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, you can use a regular mason jar, as shown in this Gnom Gnom post.
Step two: Strain and enjoy!
Strain the shaken martini through a fine mesh sieve directly into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a few coffee beans and serve immediately.
Nutritional Info
This recipe makes one serving. But it’s so simple that it can easily be multiplied to accommodate a larger number of servings. All you have to do is just double, triple, or quadruple the ingredients as needed.
Not only is this Espresso Martini keto and low carb, it’s also naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. It’s a fun drink without all the heavy carbs or other unwanted ingredients.
Would you believe that this festive drink has only 1 net carb per serving? That’s right, check out these nutrition facts.
Each serving contains:
- 134 calories
- 1 g total carbs
- 1 g net carbs
Please note that the nutritional value will change if you substitute ingredients. Use a nutrition app to recalculate and reflect your changes.
Espresso Martini FAQ
You can make a delicious espresso martini without espresso. Although the flavor won’t be as bold, you can use cold brew coffee or regular coffee. I would recommend using the best quality coffee, though, for the best flavor. Another option is to use a coffee liqueur, but that often comes with ingredients that are not keto compliant so use that with caution.
To get a super frothy espresso martini, you need to be mindful of these two things: one, make sure your espresso is freshly brewed and still steaming hot. And two, shake vigorously to form more bubbles in the foam.
A traditional espresso martini has a whopping 302 calories per serving. Compared to this keto and low-carb version, clocking it at only 132 calories, it’s clear which one is the winner.
A traditional espresso martini averages 23 grams of carbs per serving, while this Keto Espresso Martini has only 1 net carb.
More Keto Cocktail Recipes and Drinks
- Keto Lemon Drop Martini – another popular martini cocktail using the same keto simple syrup recipe.
- Keto Eggnog – a holiday favorite made low-carb so you can still treat yourself!
- Hibiscus Mint Keto Mocktail – skip the alcohol and indulge in this fancy drink on a hot day.
- Sugar-Free Hot Chocolate – keto friendly with all the warming richness of a winter classic.
- Homemade Sugar-Free Lemonade – an easy, low-carb recipe to make for a crowd.
Keto Espresso Martini Recipe
Equipment
- 1 cocktail shaker or mason jar (see note)
- 1 martini glass chilled
Ingredients
- 1 shot espresso freshly brewed
- 2 ounces vodka
- ½ tablespoon sugar-free simple syrup
- 1 cup ice
Instructions
- Add espresso, vodka, and sweetener to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds until all chilled and frothy.1 shot espresso, 2 ounces vodka, ½ tablespoon sugar-free simple syrup
- Strain into a chilled martini glass and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition & Macros
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, please calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients and amounts used, using your preferred nutrition calculator. Under no circumstances shall the this website and the author be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the given nutritional information.
Hello! How do you get it chilled if you use steaming hot espresso? Are you adding it to a half-filled cocktail shaker filled with ice? It’s not in the directions but as that’s how you usually make a martini, I used ice in the cocktail shaker last night and the martini was VERY diluted with water because espresso immediately melted the half-full cocktail shaker of ice. Thank you!
Hi Tara, Let’s see, the hot espresso is needed to get the frothy head. There should be 1 cup of ice in the shaker, and then serve in a chilled glass. I’ve updated the directions to be more clear about this. Thank you for sharing your experience and helping me make the recipe better!
This was such a great martini! It had all of the favours of my favrioute espressos, and was so comforting and smooth. I cant wait to enjoy this on cold evenings this coming winter!
Espresso martini may be my fave cocktail ever and this recipe is def my new go-to. Made this for a party with friends and it was a hit!
Thanks for the review, Allie.
This is the perfect cocktail for coffee loves, like myself! It was easy to make and the level of sweetness was spot on.
Thanks for the review, Allie. I’m happy to hear the flavor was spot-on for you.
Great easy drink. Super smooth tasting! Added a splash of hazelnut extract for some extra flavor.
Nice choice on the hazelnut extract. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
This is the most satisfying keto espresso martini recipe I’ve tried! Made this for my grandpa’s birthday dinner party and it was a sure hit! My grandpa loved it!
Thank you for trying out the recipe and leaving such a positive review! I’m thrilled that it was a hit for you and your family.
This was better than expected – smooth and lightly flavored. Quite enjoyable!
We’ve made both the virgin and vanilla variations. Both were delicious!
It’s amazing what a splash of vanilla extract can do! Happy holidays!