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| Want to know how to make low-carb sauces, gravy, and cream soup without using vegetable gums? |
I've been playing around with my Alfredo Sauce recipe a lot lately and discovered something very exciting about low-carb sauces and gravies!
I wish I would have discovered this trick earlier in the year, but I'm oh so grateful that I now know how to get the best sauces and gravies for a low-carb diet without having to use cornstarch or vegetable gums to thicken the sauce.
Vegetable gums will make your sauce, soup, or gravy slimy if you use too much, and the result never comes out tasting like real food because you have to keep the sauce on the thin side.
Well, I'm happy to tell you that you don't have to do that anymore.
If you follow the instructions for the basic sauce and 17 variations that I'm going to share with you in a moment, you won't have to ever put up with thin gravies and sauces ever again. You can actually eat a rich, creamy, thick gravy or sauce and still be low carb.
This low-carb sauce tastes like real, honest-to-goodness food because it IS real food! In fact, it's so good that we eat this sauce in some form almost every single week.
It's super simple to whip up when time is short. Plus, it's so versatile that it will easily become a week-night favorite! That's because you can quickly turn this basic sauce into almost any type of gravy, sauce, or creamed soup that you want.
In this ultimate guide to low-carb sauces and gravies, I'm going to show you how to do that and share a lot of recipes, as examples.
It's easier to cook without vegetable gums than you think.
By switching up the cheeses, or leaving the cheese out all together and adding other yummy stuff, like mushrooms, celery, bouillon powder, or crumbled bacon, you can make a great low-carb sauce or creamed soup that's perfect for topping a one-minute muffin, dressing up those boring vegetables, simmering meatballs, or replacing canned soup in your favorite casserole recipe.
So, let's get started, shall we?
What is the Difference Between a Sauce, Gravy, and Creamed Soup?
Both sauces and gravies can be thin or thick, so the main difference between a sauce and a gravy is the type of fat used to make it.
For gravy, some type of meat drippings is combined with a flour or starch to make a roux. The roux is then heated for a few minutes to get rid of the raw taste of the flour or starch, and then broth or some other liquid is added to the roux to make the gravy.
Often, when roasting a turkey or beef roast, a lot of the drippings are used to give the gravy more flavor. Some cooks will chill the drippings in the refrigerator or freezer to harden some of the fat that rises to the surface of the drippings, so the resulting gravy won't be so greasy.
Gravies are traditionally savory sauces, and sometimes, include a bit of the meat.
In some cultures, sauces are referred to as gravies, especially the sauces that cook for a long time, such as cranberry gravy, and served over meat or potatoes. Technically, a low-carb sauce uses:
- butter
- olive oil
- mayonnaise
- or cream cheese
Unlike savory gravies, sauces can be sweet, spicy, or savory. In a way, you could say that all gravies are sauces, but not all sauces are gravies.
Creamed soups may or may not include meat drippings, so they can also be referred to as a gravy or sauce, depending on how thick you make the soup and what type of fat you use.
Condensed soups that come in a can have been simmered by the manufacturer, so they are concentrated, double thick, and take less storage space. Most recipes call for condensed soups, rather than the ready-to-serve variety. Condensed soups are going to be high in carbs due to their starch content.
Some condensed soups can be used in recipes for those who can tolerate a higher carb limit, (check out our article on making low-carb biscuits and gravy for a list of carb counts), but if you're on a very low-carb diet, you can do the same thing yourself by simply using half of the liquid that you'd ordinarily use to make the soup.
How to Make a Basic Low-Carb Bechamel Sauce
Bechamel is just a fancy name for what we used to call a basic white sauce when I was a young mother. Traditionally, Bechamel is made from combining flour and some type of fat into a roux, over low heat, and then slowly adding milk while whisking like crazy.
You can do this using cornstarch, for half the carbs of flour (1 tablespoon of cornstarch will thicken 1 cup liquid). It only takes half as much cornstarch to thicken something, so one tablespoon of cornstarch will add 7 carbs to your recipe.
Divided into 4 servings of 1/4 cup each, that only comes to 1-3/4 carbs, which is why some low-carb dieters just eat regular gravy for Thanksgiving. It's not high in carbs unless you over endulge.
Others, use cornstarch in their low-carb recipes on a regular basis, instead of vegetable gums, and just track the carbs.
This is how I did it when I was in the weight-loss phase.
But, recently I've come to realize that you can also get the same results by combining melted butter with softened cream cheese chunks and some heavy cream.
Simmered and stirred until smooth, you'll get a nice and rich bechamel sauce that can be used as a base for all sorts of low-carb sauces, gravies, and even creamed soup replacements.
The following recipe is actually my Alfredo sauce recipe without the Parmesan cheese!
Homemade Low-Carb Bechamel Sauce
Ingredients:
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Heat the butter in a large skillet over low heat until just barely melted. Add chunks of cream cheese, and stir a bit to mash it into the skillet. Stir in heavy whipping cream and continue stirring until sauce is smooth and thickened.
If it gets too thick, you can thin with a bit more cream, water, or other liquid.
This makes about 1-1/2 cups of sauce, about 13 carbs for the entire recipe. That's 2.1 carbs per 1/4 cup serving.
If you're on a high-fat diet, you can easily double the amount of butter called for in the recipe. Just make sure that you account for the extra 200 calories. This will give you about 1-3/4 cups of sauce and 1.7 carbs per quarter cup.
If you're watching your fat or calorie intake, you can trim 200 calories from the sauce by cutting the amount of butter down to 2 tablespoons. You'll get about 1-1/3 cups of sauce at 2 carbs per quarter cup serving.
For a Rich, Basic Alfredo Sauce
Simply add 1 cup of Parmesan cheese to the above recipe after you add the heavy cream. Both fresh and dried Parmesan (in a can) work well in this, but fresh Parmesan will make a smoother sauce. Parmesan cheese is only 3.2 carbs per cup. It's way lower than softer cheeses.
For a bit of extra flavor, you can also add some minced green onion, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, and some black pepper. Green onions are about 1 carb each, and so are cloves of garlic.
How to Use These Basic Recipes to Make a Variety of Cooked Sauces
A few months ago, I was using these two basic sauces for almost everything, but that got old pretty darn quick, so I started to think about sauces that were not created to be low carb.
I considered how they were made, their basic ingredients, and also the different flavor combinations that you can put together.
What I realized was that for most creamy sauces, the basic recipe above can be easily swapped for the roux and milk. That makes an easy jumping off place to begin experimenting with your own unique combinations and flavors.
For recipes that call for olive oil, mayonnaise, or other fats, you can just lower the amount of butter or heavy cream in the basic recipe, or just add the additional oils to the basic sauce. What you don't want is to use so much fat that the sauce won't stay blended together.
This will be more of an issue, if you're already using the high-fat version of the basic sauce.
Instead of the cream cheese and heavy cream above, creamy sauces can use mayonnaise, sour cream, or yogurt for the base. Heated, sour cream and mayonnaise are going to thin themselves out some, but can still take on the role of the heavy cream in the above recipe.
In my personal experience, casserole sauces are very forgiving.
You can sub out the cream cheese, heavy cream, and butter with whatever you have, as long as you keep the same proportions as in the original recipe.
For example, I've eliminated the heavy cream in the sauce and used sour cream or mayonnaise instead. I've eliminated the cream cheese and used heavy cream, sour cream, and mayonnaise mixed together.
Therefore, the above recipes are intended as a guide only. Their purpose is to show you how to make a sauce without having to use xanthan gum or guar gum. Likewise, the following recipe ideas are just ideas, to show you how I've varied the above recipes in our daily meals.
Basic American Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 to 6 slices American cheese
Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat. Add chunks of cream cheese and mash it into the skillet a bit. Stir in heavy cream. Tear the American cheese into pieces and add to the skillet, carefully folding in the cheese until the sauce is smooth, and thickened.
Jalapeno-Bacon Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 minced jalapeno (removed seeds and pith)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup shredded jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon cumin
about 1/4 of a small bunch of cilantro, shredded
Melt butter in a skillet over low heat. Add cream cheese and smash into the pan to soften. Stir in heavy cream and olive oil. Continue cooking until smooth and thickened. Add jalapeno, garlic, jack cheese, cumin, and cilantro.
Blue Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 ounces blue cheese crumbles
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon parsley
Follow the recipe instructions for basic cheese sauce, but instead of adding American cheese at the end, stir in the blue cheese crumbles. When sauce is smooth, add the rosemary and parsley. You can also add some bacon bits and green onion to this.
Lemon-Butter Sauce
Ingredients:2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
juice and peel of 1 lemon
Melt the butter over low heat. Add cream cheese chunks and smash into the pan until softened. Stir in heavy cream. Continue cooking and stirring until sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in garlic, dill, and lemon.
Warm Cajun Sauce
Ingredients:2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 or 2 teaspoons cajun spices
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Heat butter over low heat until melted. Add cream cheese and smash into the pan a bit. Stir in heavy cream and continue cooking until smooth and thickened. Add garlic, parsley, spices, and mustard. Remove pan from heat and stir in lemon juice.
Onion Cream Sauce
Ingredients:2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup minced onions
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
sweetener equal to 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon apple-cider vinegar
1 teaspoon basil
salt and pepper, to taste
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Melt butter in a skillet over low heat. Add minced onion and saute until onions are wilted and translucent. Add cream cheese and smash into the onions a bit. Stir in heavy cream and continue cooking until mixture is smooth and thickened. Add garlic, chicken bouillon, sugar substitute, vinegar, basil, salt, pepper, and red pepper.
How to Make Uncooked Sauces for Your Low-Carb Meals
Unheated, mayonnaise, sour cream, and even mustard can replace any of the ingredients in the basic sauce recipe, and offer a wider variety, so what you intend on using the sauce for will matter.
Pouring a sauce over meats or vegetables, tossing it into a casserole, or using the sauce as a dip do not require you to heat the sauce first -- unless you need to melt the cream cheese.
Often, when making a casserole, I just throw the cream cheese into the casserole mixture and give it a stir. The meat and hot vegetables are warm enough to melt the cheese.
When I make my homemade Ranch Dressing for salads, I use a combination of 2 parts mayonnaise to 1 part sour cream. This allows the flavors of the Ranch dressing to shine through.
For sauces, you could easily use half and half or even switch the proportions of sour cream and mayonnaise around to where sour cream was more predominant, if you prefer them that way.
Some sauces are really just flavored mayonnaise or flavored sour cream, thinned a bit, with added goodies, so you can do that too.
White BBQ Sauce
This is not a real barbecue sauce. It's a dip for barbecued meats. However, it would also work for chicken strips made with pork rinds.Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar
1 tablespoon hot spicy mustard
1/2 teaspoon seasoned pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
sweetener equal to 1 tablespoon of sugar
a few dashes of Tabasco sauce
Combine all ingredients and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Lemon-Caper Sauce for Salmon
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
sweetener to equal 1 tablespoon sugar
2 or 3 tablespoons capers
1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Combine mayonnaise and sour cream until well mixed. Add lemon, sugar substitute, capers, pepper, and salt. Chill for several hours before serving.
Creamy Horseradish Sauce
Ingredients:1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
a few drops of Tobasco sauce
Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and horseradish until well blended. Add lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt, and Tobasco. Chill overnight before using.
Cucumber-Dill Sauce
Ingredients:1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
juice and peel of one lemon
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 finely chopped cucumber
Combine mayonnaise and sour cream until well blended. Add lemon, dill, pepper, and salt. Stir well. Fold in cucumber and chill overnight.
Garlic Sauce with Cilantro
Ingredients:1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 to 4 cloves minced garlic
juice and peel of one lime
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
About 1/2 a small bunch of cilantro, shredded
Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and oil until well blended. Add garlic, lime, salt, and cilantro. Chill for several hours.
Jalapeno Sauce with Cilantro
Ingredients:1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar
juice and peel of 1 lime
1 minced jalapeno (remove seeds and pith)
4 cloves minced garlic
about 1/2 small bunch of cilantro, shredded
Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, oil, and vinegar until nice and smooth. Add lime, jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro. Chill well. Jalapeno will get hotter as it sits.
How to Make Low-Carb Gravy or Cream Soup the Easy Way
For years, I've been making gravy by adding cream cheese to chicken broth, but that's totally backward. It's much easier to start with the cream sauce first, and then use drippings or chicken bouillon to flavor the gravy or cream soup instead.
Basic Low-Carb Gravy Recipe
Ingredients:1/4 cup butter or meat drippings
8 ounces of cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 to 2 teaspoons chicken or beef bouillon powder, if needed
Heat butter or meat drippings in a skillet. Add chunks of cream cheese and smash into the pan until softened. Stir in heavy cream, and continue stirring and cooking until smooth and thickened. If not using meat drippings, add chicken or beef bouillon to flavor the gravy or soup.
Basic Low-Carb Condensed Cream Soup Recipe
Ingredients:2 tablespoon butter
8 ounces of cream cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons chicken or beef bouillon powder
Heat butter in a skillet. Add chunks of cream cheese and smash into the pan until soft. Stir in heavy cream. Continue cooking and stirring until soup is smooth and thickened. It won't take very long since you're using less liquid to make this. Add chicken or beef bouillon to flavor the soup.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Since I normally use this for meatballs or simmering pork chops or chicken thighs, I don't make it condensed. I actually make it a bit thinner because cooking the meat will give the sauce time to thicken back up.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons beef or chicken bouillon powder
water to thin a bit
4 to 8 chopped mushrooms
Melt butter in an electric skillet over low heat. Add cream cheese and smash it into the pan. Stir in heavy cream, and continue cooking until smooth and thickened. Season with bouillon and add a bit of water to thin it down.
If you're going to eat this like a soup, add the mushrooms and simmer until mushrooms are cooked through. If not, at this point, I toss in my raw meat balls, or whatever meat I'm going to cook in the gravy.
I then add the raw mushrooms, cover, and let everything simmer, stirring now and then to keep the meat from sticking, until the meat is cooked through.
Cream of Celery Soup
I honestly haven't tried to do this yet, since hubby doesn't really enjoy celery very much, but if I were going to do this, I'd do it exactly like the cream of mushroom soup, but I'd use chicken bouillon and add some minced celery instead of mushrooms.
Making Your Own Low-Carb Sauces and Gravies is a Breeze
When you use the starter recipes in this ultimate guide for your own low-carb sauces and gravies, your low-carb meals will be far easier to throw together, even on a week night. You'll also be able to produce tasty dishes that are good enough to serve to company.
Guaranteed.
Don't be afraid to experiment on your own. You don't need flour, or even cornstarch, to turn out a special low-carb meal.
To adapt your own favorites or something new you want to try, just take the basic sauce recipe above in place of the milk and flour in that sauce or gravy recipe, add the seasonings it calls for, some chicken or beef bouillon if it calls for broth, (1 teaspoon bouillon per cup of broth), and you'll be in for a special treat.
It's much easier to do than you think.
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