This keto cheese sauce is smooth, creamy, and flavorful. It's perfect with broccoli or other vegetables.
There's no flour in this sauce, and it's not needed. Just heavy cream, cheddar, and spices. It comes out wonderfully thick and creamy!
I enjoy steamed vegetables, including steamed broccoli, steamed spinach, steamed carrots, steamed cabbage, and steamed asparagus.
I enjoy them with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper, perhaps a squirt of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.
But some people (ahem, I'm looking at you, dear daughter) need butter and/or cheese on their vegetables to make them palatable, and that's fine.
So I often make cheesy casseroles such as broccoli cheese casserole, eggplant casserole, mushroom casserole, or cauliflower casserole.
This creamy keto cheese sauce is another reliable way to achieve the same effect. It's wonderfully thick, creamy, and velvety. It greatly enhances vegetables.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this sauce. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Heavy cream: I tried making this recipe with half-and-half, and it wasn't very good. My conclusion is that heavy whipping cream is the way to go.
- Dijon mustard: This traditional French mustard is creamier and less vinegary than yellow mustard. It flavors the sauce and helps prevent it from becoming stringy.
- Spices: I use garlic powder and cayenne pepper. You can use fresh minced garlic if you'd like.
- Shredded cheddar: I like to use sharp cheddar.
Variations
- You can use ½ teaspoon of minced fresh garlic instead of garlic powder.
- Add more spices! I sometimes add a pinch of onion powder. If you like spicy food, you can increase the amount of cayenne.
- Other melty cheese work well in this sauce. My favorite is shredded gouda. Provolone is also very good.
Keto Cheese Sauce Instructions
The detailed instructions are listed in the recipe card below. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:
- Steam your vegetable of choice on the stovetop or in the microwave. Today I used broccoli.
- To make the sauce, heat the heavy cream with Dijon mustard and spices. (Photos 1-3).
- Then, over low heat, slowly and patiently mix in the cheese until fully melted. (Photos 4,5).
- Pour the sauce over the vegetables and serve. (Photo 6).
Expert Tip
The Dijon mustard adds excellent flavor to the sauce. It also helps prevent the sauce from becoming stringy by adding an acidic component. So please don't skip it.
Recipe FAQs
No. This no-flour sauce is excellent. It's rich and creamy, and its thickness is perfect.
I do recommend using store-bought shredded cheese in this recipe. The small amount of anti-caking agent typically added to these cheeses (cornstarch or powdered cellulose) helps the sauce thicken.Â
If you're shredding your own cheese and you feel that the sauce is too thin, simply stir in a bit more cheese - try ¼ cup more.
You can also mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 teaspoon of cold water and stir that into the sauce. This will add a tiny amount of carbs - 2 grams for the entire recipe.
I prefer cornstarch to flour because it's usually gluten-free, and you can use less of it.
Yes. You can refrigerate the sauce, covered, for up to three days. Add a little heavy cream or milk when you reheat it, and reheat it covered, in the microwave, at 50% power.
Stir it after 30 seconds and see if the texture is OK, then continue reheating for 30 more seconds. Alternatively, you can reheat it in a saucepan over very low heat.
Of course. It's very good with microwave cauliflower, microwave asparagus, steamed or roasted Brussels sprouts, grilled zucchini, and sauteed mushrooms.
Serving Suggestions
As mentioned above, this sauce is ideal as a topping for steamed vegetables. Here are a few other ideas for using it:
- Use it as a dip and serve it with keto crackers, keto pretzels, zucchini chips, or salami chips.
- Drizzle it over keto tacos.
- Pour it over hearts of palm pasta, zucchini noodles, shirataki noodles, or spaghetti squash noodles.
- Use it to make cauliflower mac and cheese.
- Use it to make a keto grilled cheese sandwich.
- Mix it into mashed cauliflower, mashed butternut squash, or mashed pumpkin.
Storing Leftovers
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.
As mentioned above, when ready to use them, add a little heavy cream and reheat the sauce, covered, in the microwave at 50% power.
Stir it after 30 seconds, then continue reheating - if needed - for 30 more seconds.
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Recipe Card
Keto Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 cups broccoli florets bite-size (10 oz)
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese grated (2 oz)
Instructions
- Steam the broccoli florets until tender-crisp, for about 4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the cream, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne to a small saucepan. Whisk to combine.
- Heat the cream mixture over medium heat. When the cream starts to bubble around the edges, lower the heat to low.
- Stir in the shredded cheddar, â…“ at a time, slowly and patiently stirring it in with a rubber spatula until it is completely melted. Don't stir vigorously, or the sauce will become stringy. Turn the heat off as soon as it's all melted.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the steamed broccoli and serve.
Video
Notes
- Using store-bought pre-shredded cheese helps with the sauce's texture. The small amount of anti-caking agent typically added to shredded cheese (cornstarch or powdered cellulose) helps the sauce thicken.
- If you're shredding your own cheese and you feel that the sauce is too thin, simply stir in a bit more cheese - try ¼ cup more. You can also mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 teaspoon of cold water and stir that into the sauce. This will add a tiny amount of carbs - about 2 grams for the entire recipe.
- Heat the sauce over low heat and stir the cheese in slowly and gently to prevent the cheese from becoming stringy.
- Please don't skip the mustard - its acidity helps improve the sauce's texture.
- You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. When ready to use them, add a little heavy cream and reheat the sauce, covered, in the microwave at 50% power. Stir it after 30 seconds, then continue reheating - if needed - for 30 more seconds.
Nutrition per Serving
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Cup measurements refer to the standard American cup, which is 240 milliliters. Most of my recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of my recipes.
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