300 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (57 page)

This recipe, from
The Low-Carb Barbecue Book
, is it—what most of us think of when we think of barbecue sauce: tomato-y, spicy, and sweet. It's unbelievably close to a top-flight commercial barbecue sauce—and my Kansas City–raised husband agrees. If you like a smoky note in your barbecue sauce, add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke flavoring to this. (Note: If you can get it locally, commercially-made low-carb barbecue sauce is likely to be lower carb than this recipe.)

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup (40 g) chopped onion

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

1 cup (240 g)
Dana's No-Sugar Ketchup
(
page 332
) or purchased low-carb ketchup

1/3 cup (8 g) Splenda

1 tablespoon (20 g) blackstrap molasses

2 tablespoons (28 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon (8 g) chili powder

1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine everything in a saucepan over low heat. Heat until the butter melts, stir the whole thing up, and let it simmer for 5 minutes or so. That's it!

Yield:
Roughly 1 3/4 cups, or 14 servings of 2 tablespoons each, each with: 45 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

Piedmont Mustard Sauce

This bright-yellow sauce, heavy on the mustard, but completely free of tomato, is typical of the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Try it on
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
(see recipe
page 188
).

1/2 cup (88 g) yellow mustard

2 tablespoons (28 ml) lemon juice

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Combine everything in a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.

Yield:
Makes roughly 3/4 cup, or 6 servings of 2 tablespoons, each with: 17 calories, 1 g fat, 1 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Eastern Carolina Vinegar Sauce

This is the traditional Eastern Carolina sauce for pulled pork. It's just sweetened vinegar with a good hint of hot pepper. It'll be great with your
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
(see recipe
page 188
)!

1/2 cup (120 ml) cider vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons (2 g) Splenda

1/4 teaspoon blackstrap molasses

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Combine everything in a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 4 calories, trace fat, trace protein, 2 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 2 g usable carbs.

Hoisin Sauce

Hoisin sauce is sort of Chinese barbecue sauce, and it customarily contains a lot of sugar. It also doesn't usually have peanut butter in it, but it works quite well here. This is a repeat from
500 Low-Carb Recipes
, by the way.

4 tablespoons (60 ml) soy sauce

2 tablespoons (32 g) natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 clove garlic

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

1/8 teaspoon five-spice powder

Just assemble everything in your blender and blend till it's smooth. Store it in a tightly lidded jar in the fridge. Feel free to double or triple this, if you like.

Yield:
Makes roughly 1/3 cup, or 6 servings of about 1 tablespoon, each with: 52 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Low-Carb Teriyaki Sauce

There's now commercial low-carb teriyaki sauce on the market, but I like this better, and it's so easy to make, why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't you?

1/2 cup (120 ml) soy sauce

1/4 cup (60 ml) dry sherry

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

1 tablespoon (8 g) grated ginger root

Combine all the ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Yield:
Makes 3/4 cup, or 12 servings of 1 tablespoon, each with: 13 calories, trace fat, 1 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Classic Rub

This barbecue rub first appeared in
The Low-Carb Barbecue Book
, and it's a great choice in any recipe that calls for barbecue rub.

1/4 cup (6 g) Splenda

1 tablespoon (18 g) seasoned salt

1 tablespoon (9 g) garlic powder

1 tablespoon (15 g) celery salt

1 tablespoon (7 g) onion powder

2 tablespoons (14 g) paprika

1 tablespoon (8 g) chili powder

2 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 teaspoon ground sage

1 teaspoon mustard

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Simply stir everything together and store in an airtight container.

Yield:
Makes 13 tablespoons of rub, each with: 13 calories, trace fat, 1 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Cajun Seasoning

This New Orleans–style seasoning, originally from
500 Low-Carb Recipes
, is good sprinkled over chicken, steak, pork, fish—just about anything. It will also work in any recipe in this book that calls for Cajun seasoning. But if you'd rather use purchased seasoning, go for it.

2 1/2 tablespoons (18 g) paprika

2 tablespoons (36 g) salt

2 tablespoons (18 g) garlic powder

1 tablespoon (6 g) pepper

1 tablespoon (7 g) onion powder

1 tablespoon (5 g) cayenne

1 tablespoon (3 g) dried oregano

1 tablespoon (4 g) dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

Yield:
Makes 2/3 cup. The whole batch contains: 187 calories, 4 g fat, 8 g protein, 37 g carbohydrate, 9 g dietary fiber, 28 g usable carbs. (Considering how spicy this is, you're unlikely to use more than a teaspoon or two at a time. One teaspoon has 1 gram of carbohydrate, with a trace of fiber.)

Adobo Seasoning

Adobo is a popular seasoning in Latin America and the Caribbean. It's available at many grocery stores, in the spice aisle or the international aisle. But if you can't find it, it sure is easy to make.

10 teaspoons (30 g) garlic powder

5 teaspoons (5 g) dried oregano

5 teaspoons (10 g) pepper

2 1/2 teaspoons (8 g) paprika

5 teaspoons salt

Simply measure everything into a bowl, stir, and store in a lidded shaker jar.

Yield:
Makes a little over 1/2 cup, or about 48 servings of 1/2 teaspoon, each with: 3 calories, trace fat, trace protein, 1g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Garam Masala