Thickening a sauce, stew, gravy, or soup can be tricky when you are limiting carbohydrates. Knowing the number of carbs in cornstarch compared to the alternatives will help you choose the thickener best suited to your diet, as well as guide how much of an agent you’ll need to use. Traditional thickening agents such as flour or cornstarch may work if you only need a small amount, but a lower-carb starch alternative may be preferable when a recipe calls for more thickener or contains other carb-heavy ingredients. No matter what your carb intake goals are, there is a thickening agent that will work for any dish you’re preparing. White flour is the most common thickener used in sauces. There are 6 grams of carbohydrates per tablespoon of white flour, which will thicken one cup of a gravy which has some thickeners from the meat or a thin sauce. Keep in mind that you’ll need to add more flour, and therefore carbs, for thicker recipes: You’ll need two tablespoons of flour to thicken a sauce to medium thickness, and three for a thick sauce. A tablespoon of whole wheat flour has 4. Be aware that it usually takes a little more wheat flour than white flour to thicken a sauce, and it may slightly alter the flavor of the dish you add it to. Gluten-free flours such as rice flour work the same way as wheat flour when it comes to thickening sauces, and have approximately the same amount of carbs.
Meat or vegetable dishes go especially well with a nice, creamy sauce drizzled on top of them, or a creamy soup as a starter. Unfortunately, traditional sauces and soups are usually made with flour or cornstarch that act as a thickener which gives them the creamy, rich texture. Looking for more keto recipes and diet tips? Fresh and Tasty Keto Bread. However, adding flour or cornstarch is not an option when you are trying to eat a low-carb, keto diet with as little at 20 grams of net carbs per day. As you probably already know, flour and cornstarch are high in carbs and therefore not suitable for the low-carb keto diet and they should be avoided. The high amount of carbs makes cornstarch a bad thickener for keto.
One of the biggest challenges of eating keto is figuring out which foods fit into your diet, which can make cooking and baking especially challenging. Cornstarch is a conventional thickener for soups, gravies, and baked goods. It’s counterintuitive to substitute regular flour with a flour made from a root vegetable that’s high in starch and carbs. Arrowroot Maranta arundinacea is a tuber vegetable that originates from the rainforests of Indonesia. The result is a highly absorbent powder — an ideal thickener for vegan recipes and an excellent cornstarch alternative. The short answer is yes. You just need to consume in moderation. Yes, it does seem unreasonable to eat a powder that comes from a starchy root vegetable when your goal is to lose weight. Cornstarch contains a similar number of carbs per serving, but arrowroot contains almost three times more fiber. It’s also used in vegan dessert recipes in place of egg whites.