Planning a keto-friendly roast dinner? Then you need some proper gravy to go with it! Most store-bought instant or ready-made gravy is high in carbs. Luckily, our keto beef gravy recipe is both ridiculously simple to make and low in carbs at under 2g per serving (175ml)!

Are instant gravy granules keto?

Not really. Most instant gravy sold in the UK are full of carb-heavy ingredients such as potato starch, wheat flour, and sugar. These are used to thicken and flavour the gravy and usually result in about 60g of carbs per 100g (as sold).

Admittedly, you’ll be using a much smaller serving (<20g) but that still contains quite a few carbs and with keto gravy being so easy to make it’s better to not use it. However, if you’re in a rush and have carbs to spare in your daily allowance (typically <20g per day), then go for it!

How do I thicken gravy on keto?

Most instant gravy uses a mixture of wheat flour, potato starch, and cornflour to thicken the gravy. All of these are basically pure carbs so of course, we can’t use them to thicken our keto beef gravy.

Luckily, there are at least two keto-friendly ingredients that we can use to thicken our gravy, these are xanthan gum and gelatin.

In our recipe, we’re going to use xanthan gum but you could use gelatine. I’ve tried both and prefer the gum as it results in a thicker gravy that tastes similar to normal instant gravy. Gelatine requires a bit more work and is also more expensive.

What is xanthan gum?

Xanthan gum is produced from sugar during the fermentation of grain using a bacteria called Xanthomonas campestris. This is where its name is derived from.

Xanthan gum is an effective thickening agent and stabiliser that prevents ingredients from separating. In normal use, only a small amount is required to significantly thicken a sauce. Usually, under 1tsp is sufficient.

As for carbs, it contains around 3% carbs per 100g (3g). The rest is mostly fibre (62g) and so is perfect for use in keto recipes!

Where to buy xanthan gum

You can find Xanthan gum in most UK stores and is usually either located in the baking aisle or free-from range. However, we thoroughly recommend buying it online as it is significantly cheaper when purchased in 100g+ quantities.

* also available at: Asda, Ocado, Tesco