Does anyone know of any good ways to thicken gravy without adding carbs? I don't have easy access to Thicken Thin or other such low carb products. I live in Calgary, Alberta Canada and find I have to order thru the internet to find most low carb products, gets very expensive. Thanks,

I think that arrowroot might be the answer.

I think the best way is to bring whatever liquid you're making gravy from to a boil over high heat, adding whipping cream and letting it boil away until it thickens. You can also add a bit of cream cheese for its thickening power.

FYI, these are the ECC's on thickeners per Tbsp.:

All purpose flour - 5.75
Arrowroot - 6.78
Cornstarch - 7.23

Karen

Thank you both for your excellent suggestions. I'll give them a try.

I haven't tried this yet, but I've read that nut flours can act as a thickener. I found this in a book of medieval recipes, and apparently almond "flour" was frequently used then. Dunno if it'll work for you, but it sounds tasty and has a charming bit of history behind it.

Thanks Uberwench, I'll try that too.

I use Xanthan Gum but I don't where in Calgary you can get it. I got mine at a health food store in the US.

Hi Tequila, yes I tried that but it didn't seem to really thicken it. I added it to water first and then stirred it in when it was at full boil. Did I do it the wrong way? Maybe I shouldn't have mixed it into water first.

I've only used it when something has been simmering or on a slow boil. I wisk in about 1/2 tsp per cup and find it it doesn't thicken right a way it seems to take a minute. The couple times I've used it I mixed it into the drippings from a roast before I added any water but the end result was still a fair bit thinner than when I've made gravy in the past using flour.

Thanks Tequila, I'll try it again your way.

Over Thanksgiving I stumbled upon well cooked and well pureed cauliflower as a thickener for gravy. I added a bit of cream cheese to the liquid and then enough puree to thicken it to a nice consistency. It wasn't as creamy textured as flour thickened gravy, but was not as "waxy" as gum thicken gravy either.

All in all, I was quite pleased with the results.

Karen

What a great idea, thanks Karen!

Konjac Flour

I haven't tried it yet. So if anyone has please let me know if it works well?


http://www.konjacfoods.com/thickener.htm

~Danielle