Healthy Homemade Cheez-Its® — gluten-free and keto with vegan option

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If you love Cheez It Crackers, but you’re trying to eat healthier, do I have a treat for you! Here is a great Healthy Homemade Gluten-free Cheez Its® Cracker recipe–and they’re vegan and keto too!

Now you can enjoy your childhood favorite guilt-free!

I just love it when I can remake a processed food into a healthier version, like my “Almond Joy®” Bars, homemade protein bars, powdered sugar substitute, sugar-free lemonade, homemade ketchup, and 5 ingredient salad dressing.

If you’re like me, Cheez-Its® were one of the most flavorful snacks of your childhood.  I can’t think of a time that I sat down with a box of those without almost polishing off the entire box.

Or at least more than I should have (ahem).

Anyone else with me?

Well, my CHEEZ-IT® days are over since I am gluten-free (and presently dairy-free due to an apparent food allergy), but thanks to Kate from Kate’s Healthy Cupboard, I can have CHEEZ-IT®s again!

Well, sort of.

Homemade “Cheez-Its®” that are gluten-free, grain-free and even dairy-free, with a vegan option.

Now that’s something to get excited about!

When you are on a special diet, having healthy snacks around is one of the biggest challenges I have found.  It’s fairly easy to pull off meals, but when the kids (or adults) are clamoring for something to eat, and the typical cheese sticks, crackers, cereal, cookies, and such isn’t an option, you need to have easy to grab replacements.

These healthy crackers are a great solution to that problem.

These Homemade Gluten-free Keto Cheez Its Crackers are so good – they’ll satisfy your craving for crunchy cheesy goodness without the refined flours, grains, and even without dairy!

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What is Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional yeast has gained in popularity in recent years and is staple for many — particularly vegans or those who are allergic to dairy.

It gives a really nice cheesy-nutty flavor to dishes and can be made into many dairy-free versions of typical dairy heavy foods.

We’ve used it in our home for years since my son was born with a life-threatening milk allergy.  Until we found nutritional yeast, our son had never had cheese sauce, grilled cheese, pizza with cheese — anything like that.

Imagine how thrilled he was to have his first Dairy-Free Grilled Cheese and “Cheeze” Sauce that he could dip things into.

And nutritional yeast doesn’t feed candida, so if that is a concern (which it is for us), you should be fine eating it. However, there are some people who seem to react to it due to the fact that their systems are so sensitized to yeast from the proliferation of yeast in their system.

Besides these Homemade Keto Cheez Its, we have several favorite recipes using nutritional yeast:

Other Recipes Using Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional Yeast Salad Dressing and
“Dorito®” Popcorn

and Kate (the author of this recipe) has a few tempting ones as well:

“Cheesy” Kale Chips and
Cashew Alfredo Sauce

How To Make Cheez Its

Combine flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl. (Photo 1)

In another bowl, whisk the egg with the melted butter/oil and lemon juice. (Photo 2)

Combine the wet with the dry ingredients and stir until dough forms. (Photos 3 & 4)

Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness. (Photo 5)

With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into desired cracker size and sprinkle the top with more sea salt. Slide the bottom piece of parchment and crackers onto a cookie sheet. (Photo 6)

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until golden. (Photos 7 & 8)

The outer crackers will brown the fastest, remove those and continue to cook the remaining crackers

Recipe Notes

The nutrition values below were calculated using egg and butter.

homemade gluten free cheez its on black table
cheez its in a bowl and some pieces on a white tabletop

Homemade Cheez Its – keto w/ vegan option

Homemade Cheez Its Crackers Made Healthier! With this grain & dairy-free version of your favorite childhood cracker, you can eat a bunch guilt-free!
4.91 from 11 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Keto, Low-Carb, Paleo, THM:S, Vegan
Keyword: gluten-free cheez its, keto cheez its
Servings: 9
Calories: 151kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine flour, salt and yeast in a bowl
  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg with the melted butter/oil and lemon juice
  • Combine the wets with the dries and stir until dough forms
  • Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to about 1/8  inch thickness
  • With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into desired cracker size (I use a ruler with a pizza slicer to get them straight and even) and sprinkle the top with more sea salt
  • Slide the bottom piece of parchment and crackers onto a cookie sheet
  • Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until golden
  • The outer crackers will brown the fastest, remove those and continue to cook the remaining crackers

Notes

  • Melted butter to make these have a bit more of a “creamy” taste, but expeller-pressed coconut oil works well for a dairy-free option.
  • Good options for an egg substitute include my Powdered Egg Replacer as well as a flax or chia egg.
  • This is an “S” for those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.

Nutrition

Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 65IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 1mg | Net Carbs: 3g

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.

What childhood snacks were your favorite?

Kate's Healthy Cupboard - a healthy cooking blog

 Kate Criswell is a Fitness Trainer and Nutrition Coach who loves spending time in the kitchen tweaking recipes to make them healthier yet still satisfying and delicious.  For more of her grain-free recipes and tips, visit Kate’s Healthy Cupboard at www.kateshealthycupboard.com.

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145 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    These were delish!!! I made them a bit too thick for my taste, so next time (and there WILL be a next time 🙂 ) I’ll try making them a little thinner. Thank you for the very fun, very yummy recipe!

    1. Hi there! Sorry you’re having a hard time! Maybe try adding a tablespoon at a time of water at a time and see how that works. Do let me know.