Low carb sauce

A good sauce gives flavor, adds moisture to your food and makes your meal more enticing.

Traditionally flour or corn starch is often used to thicken sauces. If you are going to use a really small amount, you may think it is okay to use a traditional thickener. However, most of the time using a starch as a thickener is not a good alternative when you are on a low carb diet. The reason for that is that there are about 6 grams of carbohydrate in a tablespoon of flour, and  starch have a high effect on your blood sugar. With that in mind, people new to low carb diets often wonder how to make a white sauce or other type of sauces, soups and stews that require a thickener for optimal results. One option is using a commercial product such as ThickenThin not/Starch.

Alternatively you can choose other types of sauces that does not traditionally require a starch to thicken it. One option is making a sauce based on sour cream our heavy cream. Other great sauces are emulsified sauces such as béarnaise and hollandaise.

One of my favourites is a very simple cream sauce I make by thickening  cream with egg yolks and adding spices. Here it is served with chicken filet and cauliflower rice.

Here is how I usually make it:

1 dl (1/2 cup) of heavy cream
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper

Heat the cream in a sauce pan. When it boils, add the egg yolk and mix until you get the consistency you like. Add salt and pepper.

You can make a number of varieties to this sauce by adding different spices and flavours.

Also take a look at our page on low carb sauce thickeners for more ideas on how to thicken different sauces.