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This quick and easy keto cheese sauce is both creamy and delicious…and only uses three ingredients. Dress up steamed broccoli, dip your favorite low carb chips, or top your tacos with it.
You’ve heard the expression that the dressing makes the salad? Well, the sauce make the veggies! And the chips and the beef and the… Well, you get the point.
Butter is no doubt a keto staple on steamed veggies and creamy ranch dip is perfect for your fresh, crispy vegetable sticks. You might have even tried a quick and easy hollandaise sauce recipe before.
But sometimes you just want something savory and decadent; that’s when this creamy keto cheese sauce becomes your BFF. After all, everything tastes better with queso dip!
Most traditional cheese sauce recipes use flour as a thickener, making them off limits for those on a low carb, keto, Atkins, Banting, or gluten free diet. This creamy cheddar sauce has no thickening agents, however, and is perfect for all of those ways of eating!
This easy low carb cheese sauce is about to become the best thing to hit your plate since you started cutting the carbs (and if you have kids, they’ll love it, too!).
What Ingredients Are In The Recipe?
That’s one of the best parts: this keto cheese sauce only has three ingredients!
While there are other keto recipes for cheddar cheese sauce, they call for so many more ingredients and take a lot longer…and this one tastes so good, why would you make life harder?
- Sharp Cheddar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Dijon mustard
Told you it was easy! While you could use pretty much any cheese and type of mustard you have handy, sharp cheddar and the subtle spice of dijon are really the perfect pairing here.
How To Make Keto Cheese Sauce
This low carb, high fat (LCHF) treat is almost ridiculously simple to make.
All you do is heat your cream with the mustard and cheese in it, stirring the ingredients over medium high heat. You could just chop your brick of cheddar cheese, but it melts much more quickly if you grate it ahead of time. Pre-shredded cheese won’t give it the same flavor/consistency/health as using your own brick, though, so still with fresh cheddar and not pre-processed.
And that is how you make easy keto friendly cheddar cheese sauce!
Serving Creamy Low Carb Cheddar Sauce
The possibilities are truly endless. And the carb count is only 1 gram per serving.
This sauce is amazing over broccoli or cauliflower. If your kids have resisted the vegetables you’ve served them in the past, try topping them with melty cheddar sauce next time!
You can even pour over your favorite low carb noodles or riced cauliflower for a keto mac and cheese alternative. Consider topping it with some diced tomatoes and jalapenos for a Tex Mex inspired side dish.
And if you’re looking for inspiration to branch out from your normal vegetable choices, check out this list of vegetables for a keto diet. Keto and low carb diets don’t have to be boring! It’s also delicious drizzled on top of Crock Pot tacos or a taco salad.
To enjoy your creamy keto cheese sauce as an appetizer, pair it with an assortment of sliced low carb vegetables, homemade keto chips, or pork rinds. The plain salted ProTings chips are another option for low carb friendly tortilla chips.
How To Store Low Carb Cheese Sauce
If you make this keto cheese sauce recipe up ahead of time, simply store it in an airtight container (like a mason jar). It will keep for up to a week in your fridge.
To reheat it, you can use the stovetop or your microwave.
If you’re going to microwave your low carb cheese dip, add a few drops of cream to first. Then heat in 1 minute intervals, stirring in between, until you reach your desired temperature.
If you heat it on the stovetop, adding a few drops of fresh cream is still a good idea. Be sure to stir constantly so it doesn’t scorch.
Other Recipes to Try
Once you discover how simple it is to make your own sauces, you may want to try a few more. Here’s some of my favorite recipes:
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Creamy Keto Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese grated
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan.
- Stir over medium to medium high heat until all cheese is melted.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
Additional Info
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Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Unauthorized use of this material without written permission from Lisa MarcAurele is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes.
Single photos may be used, provided that full credit is given to LowCarbYum.com along with a link back to the original content.
Lisa MarcAurele has been creating keto friendly recipes since 2010. She enjoys experimenting in the kitchen to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites!
Sealey says
I used cream cheese and parmesan cheese in my cream to make this Easy cheese sauce (since I had only those options on hand) on a day I needed to serve steamed broccoli but wanted it a little more special.
My husband says that he thinks this was better than it would have been using cheddar! Score!
susan black says
What is a serving size on which the nutritional breakdown is provided?
Lisa MarcAurele says
I estimated about 2 tablespoons.
Yang says
So easy to make! What a great idea to serve with veggies.
Jennifer Fisher says
Cream and cheese . .I’m in! I mean I’m LITERALLY in . . jumping in that bowl of delicious looking cheese sauce! Seriously . . . what an easy “upgrade” to pour on everaaaaarything!
Jean Choi says
OMG, yum. Love how simple but delicious this is!
Megan Stevens says
The Dijon in this is so clever and delicious!
paleoglutenfreeguy says
Wait, it’s that easy? I had no idea cheese sauce could be so simple. And your ideas to use this with tortilla chips or broccoli are perfect and now I really, really want some.
Katherine | Love In My Oven says
I would literally put this cheese sauce ALL over everything!! I love cheese sauce, especially with roasted veggies. Such a treat!
Raia Todd says
So easy and creamy! Perfect to step veggie sides up a notch. 🙂
Joni Gomes says
Finally an easy cheese sauce!!! Loved the addition of dijon mustard, such a great idea!!
ChihYu says
How decadent and yet good for you! I want to pour it over everything!
Terri Struthers says
I am with you regarding the amount of garlic. You can never have tooooo much lol!!
Just found you on Pinterest last eve. I just started Keto yest. Will be referring to your recipes. They look great.
Re: the Garlic Sauce. Do you really need all of that liquid (broth) ?
Seems like it would be thicker without so much but apparently that is what makes it Saucy lol.
Thanks
Terri
Lisa MarcAurele says
You could cut back on the liquid or you can add in a thickener. It would certainly be more garlicky with less broth.
Marilyn says
Medium high heat is way too high!
Lisa MarcAurele says
Not for my cooktop, but it might be on other stoves. I can make a note of that.
John L. says
Have made this several times now with excellent results. Last night used 6 oz shredded cheddar and sauce had a near perfect consistency. Thanks for a great, simple recipe.
Rebecca says
New to Keto. Love this sauce. Easy to make and very tasty. Thank you!
Lisa MarcAurele says
Glad you enjoy the cheese sauce!
Terrie Erhardt says
Could you use shredded cheese instead of grating a block of cheese?
Lisa MarcAurele says
Of course! I just like to freshly grate so there isn’t any anti-caking ingredients in it (which tend to be in the carby side).
Sharon Balas says
Delicious! Wanted it a little thicker so just reduced it by cooking a few minutes more. A keeper.
Lisa says
Thanks for writing in to let us know how it worked out!
Dee says
I’m going to use this as the sauce for “mac” and cheese, using sliced hard boiled egg whites for the “mac.” Wish me luck.
Lisa says
Using egg whites as pasta replacement sounds interesting. I’ve made noodles using both yolks and whites.
Debbie says
Does this make well in the microwave instead of melting in a pan?
Lisa says
Melting in the microwave also works.
Linda Smith says
Recipe calls for heavy cream. I found Heavy whipping cream, is that the same?
Lisa says
It’s close enough. Whipping cream just has a little less fat.
Linda Scott says
will the left overs keep in the fridge for a few days? I am by my self. my experience with cheese sauces is that when you 1/2 recipe it usually doesn’t work
Lisa says
It will keep in the fridge. If it gets too thick when reheated, you can add a little low carb milk or cream.
Rebecca says
I could drink this sauce, it’s so good!
Susan Mitchell says
How much is the amount per serving. I came up with 1.5 ounces. Is that correct? I am counting carbs on a computer program, and need to be able to list the amount. Thank you, Susan Mitchell
Lisa says
It’s about a tablespoon or two.
Angela says
So good! I cooked it longer to thicken it up and it was amazing! Will use this recipe from now on!! I love all your recipes!
Lisa says
Thanks Angela!
Mike McInerney says
So easy to make and tastes great. A life saver for someone like me on a low carb regime who loves all sauces. I wonder if this will freeze well?
Lisa says
Cheese sauce is usually fine to freeze.
Susan Price says
I want to try this for sure. I am just curious about one thing. In the recipe it says total net carbs 7 grams but in the nutrition information it says 0.7 grams. Which one is correct? Thank you.
Lisa says
It’s about 7 grams carbs in the whole recipe. I updated the nutritional data which rounds each serving carb to 1g.
Michele Isaacs says
I’m bringing this to my in-laws on thanksgiving because I’m diabetic and if I want something low carb with my turkey I’m going to have to bring it myself.
Lisa says
That’s pretty much how it is at my in-laws too. However, when I join my family, it’s gluten-free with some low carb choices.
Pam says
This was tasty, but not thick enough for our taste. Thickening, of course, adds carbs. I used 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch mixed in 1 tbsp of water. Added 4carbs to the full recipe of one cup, but IMHO improved the consistency
Lisa says
You can also use low carb thickeners: xanthan gum, guar gum, glucomannan.
Noreen McPhail says
Zanthum gum is perfect for thickeing
Katherine costantino says
Very easy and really good will make again
Lisa says
Thanks for giving it a try and letting us know how it worked out!
Jerry Ko | Simply Good Eating says
Happy New Years! Nice and simple cheese sauce 🙂