Low fat sauce ideas

[SnakesAndArrows]

Please tell me your ideas for tasty low/no fat sauces for chicken, fish, pasta, baked potatoes etc.

Doesn’t have to be low calorie overall - weight loss not required or desirable. DH has to take Creon in order to digest fat, and there’s a worldwide shortage for the next many months, so we’re trying to minimise the number of capsules he takes to conserve stocks.

We can be creative with tomatoes but we’ll be heartily sick of those by next weekend at this rate! Gravy granules are surprisingly almost fat-free but soooo boring.

I’ve just been searching online and keep finding recipes starting “fry your chicken in 3 tbsp oil and retain the juices for the sauce” or “melt the butter” which is infuriating. And I thought mumsnetters would probably know best.🙂

Roast some red peppers for about half an hour, remove skin ( put them in a plastic bag when hot for a couple of mins and it should then peel off easily)

Blend with a little bit of water and balsamic vinegar then add chopped basil, season with salt and pepper (may need a pinch of sugar)

What about looking at some low fat soup recipes and making them a bit thicker as a sauce?

Maybe low fat dressings would give you more options? Try the skinny food company or think about sweet and sour combinations (Lemon juice and honey, red wine vinegar and a little sugar etc).

Mango puree or coulis with a little bit of chilli and/or ginger is lovely with chicken

Do a base!
That's finly minced onions, celery and carrots in equal parts. You can also add garlic and tomato puree if you wish.

Saute with a bit of water & salt in a non stick pan.

From there you can make it into whatever you like... tomato sauce, curry or stews & casseroles.

Obviously I use fatty things to make it into whatever I fancy - but it should still be tasty without! Just add your veg according to what flavour you fancy.

The base also keeps well in the freezer both cooked and uncooked. You can use ice cube tray for portions.

Awesome, thanks all. I forgot to mention onions are a no, but I’m liking the soup/pureed veg idea. I even have some home made soups in the freezer we could use. Not the broccoli and stilton one, mind…

Quark soft cheese or Skyr icelandic yoghurt are great very low fat bases for creamy sauces.

E.g. a sort of carbonara: grill some lean back bacon and chop into small pieces. Whisk up a couple of eggs with a pot of quark and add garlic granules, thyme, oregano, black pepper and salt. When pasta is cooked, drain it and return to the pan on a very low heat, stir the quark and egg into it for a few mins to cook the raw egg, grate some very strong reduced fat cheddar on top for flavour and stir in the bacon. A 'creamy' dish with almost no fat.

Skyr: mix with chopped dill (or parsley if you don't like the flavour of dill) lemon zest, some pul biber or similar mild chilli flakes, salt and serve with steamed or roast salmon or trout or tuna, or toss over baby new potatoes.

Also, sounds weird but pureed boiled onions - cooked in no fat at all, make a brilliant base for curry sauces. I'd not have believed it if a friend hadn't shown me. Boil some peeled, chopped Spanish onions in just enough water to cover them, lid on, on low heat until very soft, then puree them. Add lots of curry spices - turmeric for colour, cumin and coriander and fenugreek powders for flavour, garlic granules, chilli, ginger and then use in cooking like any sauce. Great with cauliflower, squash, aubergine or potato based curries.

You can do the same with red lentils - boil them with spices and then puree to make a sauce for meat or veggie curries.

Sorry - my message crossed with yours. Ignore the onion advice, but someone else might find it useful.

I once made a vegan dish where the sauce was made from spiced pureed butternut squash. it was delicious.

Could you replace cream with fat free Greek yoghurt?

For salmon I sometimes mix some harissa paste into some low fat yoghurt.

Skyr and quark are a good shout though - will experiment. Also forgot to mention I don’t eat bacon, however DH does - loves carbonara - so I will try one with and one without. Maybe smoked salmon for me… mmm.

Soy honey and garlic for salmon.

It works brilliantly with smoked salmon. I don't bother with the eggs then, just stir in whisked skyr or quark with fresh herbs, lemon or lime zest and juice over pasta.

This sounds lovely, is it like a red pepper pesto? That might need cheese actually.

I prefer skyr and quark as they taste less yoghurty than Greek or low fat yoghurt. They are plainer bases. Like the PP's idea of mixing with harissa paste.

I usually use it as a sauce with grilled chicken and either pasta or potato wedges, or as a dip

Never tried it with cheese but I suppose if hot on pasta then maybe

Also - tahini and fat free yoghurt with mint is a delicious combo.

You could also go for rubs and marinades to flavour meats and fish without relying on a sauce. Things like Cajun spice blends, smoked paprika, I often marinade chicken or fish in lemon or lime juice with garlic and or chillies or a mix of honey and wholegrain mustard.
Tandoori paste mixed with fat free yoghurt is great to marinate chicken.
Balsamic vinegar is great.

I use low fat coconut milk instead of cream in sauces, as cream makes me nauseous. It doesn't taste coconutty!

Nando's if that's low fat enough?
This is gorgeous and i reckon you could do it as a marinade without the oil or use some low fat yoghurt instead

www.wagamama.com/cook/sauces/salad-dressing

Condimanic does a great range of seasonings and all can be mixed with fat free yoghurt to make a dip (ranch, tzatziki etc)

I would go down the dry herb route for some meals eg dried mixed herbs sprinkled over chicken breast or Peri peri salt or Cajun for taste (I know these are not sauces but just to add something to meals)

Sorry I see something similar written about (didn’t read whole thread)

For pasta could you blend roasted veg and add some chipotle paste? That could work if you added a bit of bouillon to thin it

These are all great ideas - apart from the Nandos recipe which is mostly oil 😀(although sounds delicious…). I’ve just stocked up on skyr, quark and harissa and will conduct experiments. Spice rubs are great, but it’s something to counteract the dryness of pasta, rice and baked potatoes that I’m really after.