Keto BLT Bites (Cucumber Rounds Instead of Bread)

Cucumber-slice BLT bites topped with bacon, tomato and cilantro and pinned with toothpicks, on a blue plate
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Introduction

The bacon and the tomato are both still here. What goes is the bread — which was never one of the letters anyway — and a thick slice of cucumber takes its job: sturdy enough to pick up, and wide enough to hold everything that would otherwise have gone inside the sandwich.

Twelve of them, and the only cooking is the bacon. Cucumber is the obvious swap and it brings its own quirk: it is wet where bread is dry, which is why these get built just before they go out rather than made ahead.

Cut It Thick, and Cut It on the Angle

Two things about the cucumber, and they are the whole recipe.

Thick. About half an inch. A thin round flexes under the toppings and the whole bite folds when someone picks it up.

On the diagonal. An angled cut gives you a long oval instead of a circle, which is meaningfully more surface to build on — enough to fit a strip of bacon lying flat rather than propped at an angle.

Assemble Them Last

This is the part to plan around if you are making these for people.

A topped cucumber round starts releasing water immediately, and an hour later the base has gone soft and there is a puddle under it. That is not a storage failure, it is just what cucumber does once you put salt and fat on it.

So do the work ahead and the assembly late. Bacon cooked and broken into strips, cucumber and tomato sliced, everything in separate containers in the fridge — that all keeps for a few days. The avocado is the exception: cut it when you are actually building the bites, because it browns and it will not wait for you.

Keto BLT Bites

Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Total Time
20 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Course
Appetizer
Cuisine
American

Ingredients

All Ingredients

Nutrition Facts

4 servings per recipe
Trans Fat 0g 0% 0g 0%
Sugar Alcohols 0g 0% 0g 0%
Allulose 0g 0% 0g 0%

About these numbers: We are home cooks, not certified nutritionists. Nutrition is shared as a courtesy. We pick a representative product for each ingredient, and our recipe system works out the totals from the amounts in this recipe, so please treat them as a helpful estimate rather than a guarantee. The brands you buy, any swaps you make, and how generously you portion the recipe will all move these numbers.

Directions

  1. Gather your ingredients.

    Cook the bacon first, because everything else is assembly and the bacon needs time to cool and crisp. See the Ingredient Notes below for what to look for in each one.

  2. Cook the Bacon.

    Place your bacon slices in a single layer in a cool, large skillet. Heat over medium heat for 10-12 minutes. Flip the bacon as needed until it's cooked through and crispy.

  3. Drain the Bacon.

    As the bacon slices finish cooking, remove them from the skillet and place them on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Set aside to cool.

  5. Prep the Base and Toppings.

    Slice the cucumber at an angle into 12 rounds - cutting on the diagonal gives you a longer oval and more surface to build on than a straight cut would. Slice the avocado and tomato to fit. Once the bacon is cool enough to handle, break each slice into strips sized to the cucumber rounds.

  6. Assemble the Bites.

    Half a teaspoon of mayo on each round, then bacon, avocado, tomato, and cilantro last. The mayo goes down first for a reason - it is what holds everything else on the cucumber.

    Assemble these as close to serving as you can manage. The cucumber starts weeping the moment it is topped, and a bite that has sat for an hour is a soft one.

Notes

Ingredient Notes

The ingredient list above gives the exact quantities. These notes explain what each one contributes and what to look for.

  • Bacon: Cooked until properly crisp. Limp bacon is the one thing that will make these fall apart, because the strips have to sit on top without bending.
  • Cucumber: A medium English cucumber. It has thinner skin and fewer seeds than a standard one, which matters when the slice is the whole base and you are not peeling it.
  • Mayonnaise: Half a teaspoon per bite. It is the glue as much as the flavor, so do not skip it. Full-fat sour cream works in its place.
  • Avocado: Ripe but still firm. Anything softer will not hold its shape once it is cut to size.
  • Tomato: Sliced, then cut down to fit the cucumber rounds. Seeding the slices keeps the bites from going watery.
  • Cilantro: The finishing note. Parsley, dill or basil all work if cilantro is not for you.

Preparation

  • Start the bacon in a cold pan rather than a hot one, and give the slices room. Both help it render evenly and crisp rather than curl.
  • Cut the cucumber rounds thick — about half an inch. A thin round bends under the toppings.
  • Cut the avocado last. It is the one ingredient that starts browning as soon as it is open.
  • Build in order: cucumber, mayo, bacon, avocado, tomato, cilantro. The mayo has to go down before anything else or nothing stays put.

Storage

These do not keep assembled. The cucumber releases water under the toppings and you get a soggy base within a few hours.

What you can do is prep ahead: cook the bacon, slice the cucumber and tomato, and keep them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, then assemble when you want them. Leave the avocado until the last minute — it browns, and it is the one component that does not survive being cut early.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes these BLT bites keto-friendly?

The cucumber. A BLT’s carbohydrate is mostly in the bread, and these do without it — the base is a thick slice of cucumber instead. The rest of what is on them, bacon, mayo and avocado, is fat and protein. The per-serving numbers are in the Nutrition Facts panel with the recipe; whether they fit your day is a question about your day, not about the recipe.

Can I replace the bacon with turkey bacon?

You can — cook it until it is properly crisp. Turkey bacon is leaner than pork, so give it the time it needs to get there. Check the pack for sugar in the cure before you buy.

I'm not a fan of cilantro. Can I use other herbs or other toppings?

Use whichever soft herb you prefer - parsley, dill and basil are the usual suggestions, and a sliced green onion over the top is another. The herb goes on last, which makes it the easiest thing on the bite to change.

How long can I store these keto BLT bites?

While these bites are best enjoyed fresh, you can store the components separately in the fridge for up to 3 days. Assemble them just before serving them for the best taste and texture.

Can I add cheese to my keto BLT bites?

A little crumbled blue cheese goes well with bacon and holds its place on the round. Keep it small — the bite is already four things deep and a slice of anything soft will slide.

Can these keto BLT bites be made vegan?

Not as written — the bacon and the mayonnaise both have to change, and mayonnaise is made with egg. Tempeh bacon and a vegan mayo are the obvious stand-ins and people do build bites like these that way, but we have not made this version, so we cannot tell you how the tempeh sits on the cucumber or what it does to the numbers in the panel.

Can I have lettuce and tomato on my keto BLT?

Tomato is already in these — a slice cut down to fit each round. Lettuce is not, mostly because a leaf will not sit still on a cucumber slice the way it does inside a sandwich. If you want it, shred it fine and put it under the bacon so it has something holding it down. Both are low enough in carbohydrate that the amount on a bite this size is not what will decide anything.

Is bacon high or low carb?

Plain bacon is low in carbohydrate — the carbs in a rasher are close to nothing. Cured bacon varies by brand, though, and anything labelled maple, honey or brown sugar has sugar in the cure, so the number on your pack is the one that counts. The per-serving figures in the Nutrition Facts panel are calculated from the bacon in our ingredient list.

What are some good substitutes for bacon, mayonnaise, and cucumber?

Full-fat sour cream stands in for the mayonnaise.

The other two are harder, because they are what the recipe is. Bacon is the B in BLT, so replacing it makes something else; and the cucumber is the part standing in for the bread, so putting bread back is a different dish again. If you want a low-carb base that is not cucumber, a firm round of zucchini is the closest thing in shape — we have not worked out how it holds up under the toppings, so treat it as your experiment rather than ours.

Wrap Up

The mayo is the easiest place to change these without changing the recipe — a little lemon zest stirred through it, or a pinch of whatever seasoning you already reach for, and then match the herb on top to it.

Have you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog? Please rate it below and let us know your thoughts in the comments! We love hearing from you!

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Updated — September 22, 2026: The substitution answers now tell you which swaps we have actually made and which we have not, and the bacon and keto answers point you to your own pack and to the nutrition panel.

Correction — September 22, 2026: The opening said this was a BLT without the B. The B is the bacon, and the bacon is in the recipe - it is the bread that these do without.