Tasty Low Calorie Homemade Cooking Sauces


Sweet and sour

Courtesy of Nutracheck

“A good sauce can make a meal, but for me, the thought of making it from scratch at home was just too complicated and time consuming. Why do that when you can buy one ready-made?”

But that was the Old Sam!

Now Sam has turned her back on packets and jars and created her 6 top super sauces, which anyone can make with minimum prep.

“I decided to overhaul my diet, and that meant learning to make my favourite sauces from scratch. After taking the plunge with a pasta sauce and only a handful of ingredients, I soon realised how easy it was. Aside from saving money, I also discovered some other advantages of making my own sauces too:

  1. You can stretch ingredients a long way i.e. herbs and spices.
  2. You can make big batches and freeze them – great for quick mid-week meals.
  3. You know exactly what you’re eating – no long list of ingredients
  4. It gives you confidence in other aspects of cooking.
  5. It gets even cheaper the more you cook as you need to buy fewer ingredients – my food cupboard expanded in no time!
  6. It’s super simple to add ingredients to ‘My Meals’ in your Nutracheck diary and you can add them in just a couple of clicks whenever you make the sauce again.
  7. Sauces are an easy way to get more vegetables into a dish to boost your 5-a-day.

“There’s definitely no need to buy ready made products even if you aren’t a big cook – I’ve discovered you don’t need loads of ingredients or hours to prepare!

Here are my 6 simple sauces for you to try. Enjoy!

Arrabbiata Sauce

Arrabbiata Sauce

Serves 4 – 49 kcals per serving

Kcals Fat Sat fat Carbs Sugar Protein Salt
49 0.5g 0.1g 8.4g 7.0g 2.5g 0.78g

Ingredients

  • Frylight
  • 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried chilli flakes)
  • Pinch dried mixed herbs
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 400g passata
  • 200ml vegetable stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Spray a pan with Frylight and sauté the red chillies, onion and garlic over a high heat for 5 minutes until softened.
  2. Add the passata and stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until reduced slightly and thickened. Season to taste and serve. Easy!

Chicken Korma

Chicken Korma

Serves 4 – 244 kcals per serving

Kcals Fat Sat fat Carbs Sugar Protein Salt
244 2.6g 0.7g 10.8g 8.2g 44.4g 1.46g

Ingredients

  • Frylight
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 tbsp korma curry powder
  • 6 tbsp tomato purée
  • 200g passata with onions and garlic
  • 4 medium chicken breasts
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped, reserving some for garnish

Method

  1. Spray a saucepan with Frylight and place over a medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the chicken and stir-fry for a further 5 minutes, until browned.
  2. Add the tomato purée, curry powder, passata and stock, season and stir.
  3. Bring to the boil then reduce to a low heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
  4. Remove from the heat and stir in the coriander. Serve with wholegrain rice (or cauliflower rice to save extra calories!)

Cheese Sauce

Cheese Sauce

Serves 8 – 113 kcals per serving

Kcals Fat Sat fat Carbs Sugar Protein Salt
113 3.1g 1.9g 11.6g 3.5g 10.7g 0.48g

Ingredients

  • 70g plain flour
  • 1 pint skimmed milk
  • 200g Low fat mature cheese (grated or cut into very small chunks)

Method

  1. Put the flour into a saucepan and blend in the milk.
  2. Bring it gently to the boil, constantly stirring. Be especially careful to stir all round the pan when it starts to thicken.
  3. Turn the heat right down and add the cheese, stirring until it has melted and is well mixed.

Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese Sauce

Serves 4 – 144 kcals per serving

Kcals Fat Sat fat Carbs Sugar Protein Salt
144 4.5g 1.8g 5.6g 4.6g 20.1g 1.01g

Ingredients

  • Frylight
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 350g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
  • 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • 280ml reduced salt beef stock
  • 1 level tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. Spray a pan with the Frylight and cook the garlic for 2-3 minutes until just softened. Stir in the mince and cook for 2-3 minutes until browned.
  2. Stir in your favourite Bolognese vegetables such as mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.
  3. Add the chopped tomatoes, stock and Worcestershire sauce. Season lightly and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until reduced and thickened. Check the seasoning and serve with wholewheat spaghetti (or spiralised vegetables to get more of your 5-a-day!)

Parsley Sauce

Parsley Sauce

Serves 4 – 81 kcals per serving

Kcals Fat Sat fat Carbs Sugar Protein Salt
81 3.3g 1.4g 9.8g 5.1g 4.0g 0.12g

Ingredients

  • 14g unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 400ml skimmed milk
  • 3 tbsp chopped parsley
  • Handful of fresh sorrel leaves, shredded (optional)
  • Ground white pepper

Method

  1. Melt the butter in a small pan.
  2. Add the cornflour, whilst continuously stirring.
  3. Pour in the milk, a little at a time, beating vigorously until smooth after each addition.
  4. Simmer gently for 2-3 minutes until smooth and thickened, stirring occasionally.
  5. Add the parsley and sorrel, if using, and reheat gently until the sorrel has just wilted.
  6. Season with white pepper to taste.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

Sweet & Sour Sauce

Serves 4 – 38 kcals per serving

Kcals Fat Sat fat Carbs Sugar Protein Salt
38 0.1g 0.0g 9.2g 6.5g 0.7g 1.24g

Ingredients

  • 100g canned pineapple in juice, chopped into chunks with the juice reserved
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 5 tbsp vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp sweetener
  • 60ml orange juice
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 40g finely diced red pepper
  • 10g cornflour

Method

  1. Place the pineapple chunks and juice into a pan with the soy sauce, stock, vinegar, sweetener, orange juice, tomato purée and red pepper.
  2. Bring it all to the boil and simmer gently. Mix the cornflour with 2 teaspoons of water until smooth and stir into the sauce. Simmer for a few more minutes and serve.

Moira Chisholm

I'm the Health Editor on My Weekly and am always interested to hear what's new in this fascinating field. I also deal with the gardening, shopping pages, general features, our website content and the Ask Helen problem page. I have a special interest in Christmas content because I'm on the team for Your Best Ever Christmas Magazine, too!