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LCHF and gravy ?

daisyduck

Well-Known Member
Messages
988
Location
Great Yarmouth
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Do you or don't you have gravy on a LCHF diet.
I've just made a shepherds pie with a cauliflower/mustard/cheese mash on the top but it wouldn't have been right without the gravy in the mince underneath. I've used Bisto Best which looks to be the lowest carb and am about to eat it.
I'll test my BG before and after, but I think I'll enjoy this experiment.

Yumm, that was good. I need to work on making the cauli mash firmer though.

BG before 5.8

BG after 45 mins 7.2

just back from my 30 minute walk.. ruddy cold out there

BG after 1hour and 45 mins 5.6

A very successful and tasty experiment
 
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Could you not make your own gravy .. sorry cannot advise as I am vegetarian and the wife only makes onion or mushroom gravy. she will use a stock cube .. but never anything labelled gravy, I know this from when I tried to do gravy when the wife was away and I had to cook !!!! could ask her how do do gravy if you wish, but expect others will be able to advise
 

That sounds great, yes please, if you could ask her. Does she thicken it with anything or just whizz the mushroom or onion to thicken ?
 
I would love to know a good no added carb method to thicken gravy. I believe gravy is a food group all on it's own and the best I have come up with is cream cheese to thicken it.
 
Whizzed (frozen, always available) cauliflower is my favoured lower-carb thickener for ANYTHING.

Just had cauliflower cheese with my bangers for tea - cauliflower florets + whizzed cauliflower + cheese, then more cheese on top, then baked. Best EVER.

Haven't tried whizzing cauli with beef (or other) stock, but I would imagine it would make a very yummy sauce. Must have a go!
 
Of course you can have gravy. It all depends on your daily carb limit and how much you distribute between each meal.

For instance, if you want gravy with dinner, then have slightly less carbs with either breakfast, lunch or both if need be.

If you're no carbing, then gravy may be an issue. But very few of us follow a zero carb or "ketosis" style diet.
 

Sounds nice Daisyduck.

I often make "pie like" dishes that require a gravy base and I always make my own. I use stock powder with butter and onion (and sometimes mushrooms), and of course juices from the meat if it's made from leftovers from a roast.

Thickening it is always the problem. I do use some plain flour, but I also add a small amount of psyllium husk powder as well. This greatly reduces the amount of flour that you require to thicken, but it's a bit of a balancing act. Too much psyllium and the gravy tends to have more of a gell consistency (and may detrimentally affect flavour too), so I usually try to balance it so that I still need flour, but only about half as much.
 
sorry for not getting back sooner .. the joys of an iffy broadband connection ..hope the wife has got it sorted now .. I asked about the gravy and she said it contained .. onion, mushrooms carrot celery, tomato, splash of white wine & a stock cube .. thickened with a teaspoon of cornflour mixed with water ...

Edit t add she says the corn flour can be as much as 4,g of carbs .. but she often will not use all the mixed cornflour as she just adds it until she's happy with the thickness .. and it serves 2 so 2,g of carbs ..
 

That's great, thanks Enclave , I'll have a go at that
 
I am a big gravy lover always have been and I like lots on my meals but I can't stand thin gravy. I have never worried about having it and usually use Bisto Best
 
I tend to fry up some onions, til caramelised, then whatever chopped up veg is around - carrot, courgette, mushrooms, peppers, aubergine, green beans, with stock. Plus garlic, worcestershire sauce (vital!) with and any meat juices.

Once all veg are soft, i just whizz everything up together using a hand blender, til very smooth. A handful of cashew nuts will make it beautifully thick, but lightens the colour.

Basically the thickness totally depends on the veg/water/nut quantities.

Mr B always wants a few gravy granules added too, but i am happy stirring those into just his and like mine without.
 
My 'go to' thickening is a heaped teaspoon of besan flour mixed with a little water (for two of us), which works out at about 2g each (1.2g carb and 0.4g protein) and I often use unsweetened almond milk in sauces etc. because it makes things taste smoother and creamier. Other than that it's similar Brunneria's, I also add a small amount of tomato puree when I'm browning the onions and garlic because I think it adds a bit more depth to the caramelisation.

this is my first forum post and DH will be so amused that it took gravy to get me to delurk.

I should also say a big belated thank you to you all for the help your posts have provided me with so far!
 
Just for comparison (carbs/100g from spot checks on Tesco's web site, and weight per tsp from traditional oven.com via Google):
  • plain flour has approx 71g carbs per 100g weight; tspful weighs 2.6g, so approx 1.85g carbs
  • arrowroot has 85g carbs per 100g eight; tspful weighs 2.6g so approx 2.21g carbs
  • cornflour has 88g carbs per 100g weight; tspful weighs a little lheavier at 3.13g so 2.75g carbs

I remember doing a similar check when I was first diagnosed and being somewhat surprised as I'd definitely expected plain four to be the carbiest!

Robbity
 
Would you cook the cauliflower before whizzing it?
 
Yes, @Pauline2015 - I usually do it in the microwave until it's really soft. If you served that cauliflower cheese to someone who didn't know it's low carb, they would not only not know, but they would compliment you on how jolly unctuous and cheeeeeesy it is!

 
A lot depends on whether you want thick Brown gravy or a tasty juice to add to your meal ,using meat juices as the basis is the secret and add what ever low carb addition you like( I use a splash of red wine and maybe a knob of butter )then fast boil to reduce slightly
CAROL
 
I cant believe so many people use Bisto!!

Meat Juices + tablespoon of flour or if you prefer you can use cornflour, +1 stock cube (knorr for me as gluten free)
Splash of brownings gravy browning and veg water = tastiest gravy ever
 
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