Dairy Free Keto Magic

By Daisy Argudin

The ketogenic diet is considered to be a highly restrictive diet. When you have to, or choose to, go dairy free it can be a bit overwhelming. When you search for new food ideas most of the time, they will contain dairy. Heavy cream is a daily fat source for many. Previously we shared some of the dairy alternatives we use daily. I suggest you read that post if you haven’t already, “Dairy Free Keto is that even a thing? ”

Today I will show you how you can make a web recipe dairy free.

I’ve found 2 ways to do this. One, I look for vegan recipes that I can adjust to make them keto friendly. Two, I search keto recipes that I can adjust to be dairy free. Dose this always work? No. If you follow us regularly you might remember our muffin recipe that when adjusted to be dairy free ended up tasting like tuna, still not sure where that went wrong. Some recipes need ingredients for certain reasons, so get to know your ingredients to see what an adequate alternative might be. For example a chia or flax egg might work in a recipe but you can’t use it to replace an egg alone. I always make a small batch when trying a new recipe. Since it may not work, I don’t want to have a lot to toss or a lot I’ll have to eat myself cause my keto kid won’t touch it.

Let’s begin with a vegan cream sauce that we have used in the past. My mac and cheese loving non-keto kid asks for this regularly so you know it’s good. We found this recipe for vegan alfredo cream sauce on the Silk site.

Here is the ingredient list on the site:

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 PACKAGE SILKEN TOFU (THE KIND IN THE SHELF-STABLE TETRA PACKS) 

• 2 CUPS SILK ORGANIC UNSWEET SOYMILK, UNSWEET ALMONDMILK OR OATMILK

• 1/2 CUP VEGAN MARGARINE 

• 1-2 TBSP LEMON JUICE OR WHITE WINE 

• 2 TBSP ONION POWDER 

• 1 CRUSHED GARLIC CLOVE 

• 1-2 TSP SALT 

• 1-2 TSP BLACK PEPPER (TO TASTE) 

• PINCH OF NUTMEG 

• 3 TBSP CORNSTARCH DISSOLVED IN COLD WATER 

• FAVORITE HERBS 

Most of these ingredients are keto friendly other than oat milk and cornstarch. We use 2c. unsweetened original almond milk. Xanthum gum can be used in place of cornstarch, I did 2 tsp. Check the constancy before adding more, you may decide that your sauce is fine without the thickener and leave it out completely, it wont affect the taste. Agar agar could also work but has slightly more carbs.

Preparation (as written): 

• Blend tofu and Silk in food processor or blender until creamy. 

• Melt margarine in saucepan and add all other ingredients except cornstarch. Heat over medium-low until hot, stirring often. 

• Whisk in cornstarch mixture and heat until just bubbling, allowing sauce to thicken. 

• Heat until thick, but don’t let it come back to a boil. Once mixture reaches desired consistency, add chopped fresh parsley, basil, chives or other herbs as you like. 

• Pour over pasta, rice or potatoes and enjoy! Also super good with some sautéed veggies, mushrooms, chopped Kalamata olives or your favorite vegetarian protein. 

I Normally blend everything together except the xanthum gum and heat it on the stove. Once it begins to simmer, I lower the heat and add the 1 tbsp of xanthum gum and allow it to thicken. We server this over zoodles or spaghetti squash, either one is 1 net carb per 100g. With the adjustments listed each serving (6) is only 4.3 NC, 17.6g fat and, 5.5g protein. You could add some ground lamb to up the protein and add much needed fat and carnitine.

Now for dessert/fat bomb. This is a keto recipe that we have to adjust to be dairy free.

Keto Connect has a great recipe for keto cheesecake fat bombs.   

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup Full fat cream cheese, at room temperature (4 oz) 

• 1/4 cup Unsalted butter 

• 1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream  

• 2-3 tbsp Powdered Erythritol 

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract  

• 1 tsp lemon zest Optional 

I replaced the 1/2c of cream cheese for 1/2c Kite hill almond cream cheese. The Butter was replaced with vegan butter 1:1. For the heavy whipping cream you have a few choices. You can use coconut cream, silk almond heavy cream or, you can replace it with 2 parts dairy free milk and 1 part oil. We used the milk and oil, since that is what we had.

Instructions (as written): 

• In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and butter. Using a hand blender, whisk until combined and no lumps remain. 

• Add the heavy cream and whisk until light and fluffy. 

• Add the erythritol and vanilla extract, and whisk until combined. 

• You can use this mixture for the fat bombs, or you can carry on to add more flavoring. For this recipe we decided to add 2 tbsp of blended strawberries and lemon zest. Fold in a manner to achieve ribbons. 

• Freeze the mixture for 30 minutes to allow it to firm up. 

• Once firm, use a cookie scooper to shape the fat bombs into balls. Place in a cupcake silicone mold, or a lined cupcake tin. 

• Freeze for 1-2 hours to allow them to firm up properly. 

• Enjoy them as is or dip it in chocolate or shredded coconut. 

• Store in a ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Take them out 10 minutes before eating to allow them to soften a little bit 

I Followed the directions as written making the adjustments listed above so they were dairy free. We didn’t add in the fruit but did add the lemon zest. They were so good I've had to hide them from the family so that the keto kid could enjoy them. The macros for 1 of the 8 servings are 0.6 NC, 9.6g fat and, 0.9g protein.

I hope that this has helped you to see that dairy free keto doesn’t have to feel impossible. It will require some work on your part but most keto families already meal prep at home and are awesome at making keto magic with their meals.

All view expressed are my own, I have not been compensated in any way for my opinion.