Low-Carb Pasta Sauces

Lately I've been experimenting with some pasta sauces. After making my initial batch of Zoodles, people were commenting on the sauce that they love with their Zoodles, so I decided to try some new recipes! Trying all these recipes makes me like to cook! Unfortunately, I am mostly cooking for one as my family doesn't like the healthy meals that I prepare. :(

I started with a basic basil pesto sauce and went from there. Check out the individual recipes below. 

1) Basil Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

2 cups of basil leaves

3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil 

1/4 chopped walnuts

1/2 grated Parmesan cheese (I just used the prepackaged bottle that you use to top pizza) 

1/2 tbsp of chopped garlic

A dash of lemon 

Instructions 

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet. Blend into a smooth sauce. I started with 1/4 cup of olive oil and added more to help blend the other ingredients. 

2. Pour ingredients over your favorite pasta. I made Low-Carb Vegetable Pasta but if you prefer to not eat low-carb, you can easily pour this sauce over any pasta. 

3. I only used about 1/4 cup of sauce so I froze the rest to use for later. If you don't know about this trick, you must learn. It's so easy to freeze leftover sauce. Just use an ice cube tray and freeze the sauce into individual cubes. Each cube is about 3 tbsp, which is slightly less than the 1/4 cup serving size. 1/4 cup of sauce is 6 carbs. 

Once the ice cubes freeze, pop them out and place in a freezer baggy. When you're ready for your next pasta meal, take out one (or how ever many you want) ice cubes, microwave, and enjoy! 

2) Simply Enjoy Pasta Sauce 

I won't take the credit for this find, but my friend located this low-carb pasta sauce at the Giant grocery store. It's the Giant brand too, called Simply Enjoy. 

It's 4 carbs per serving (1/2 cup). That's really a great find. And of course, a ready made pasta sauce is always great when whipping up a quick meal! There are other flavors too, so you'll have to check them out! 

3) Mushroom Sauté

Ingredients
2 tbsp of olive oil
12 oz of mushrooms
2 tbsp of chopped garlic
creole seasoning
finely chopped green onions

Instructions
1. heat olive oil in the frying pan
2. add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 2-3 mins, stirring regularly with a wooden spatula
3. sprinkle some creole seasoning (or any seasoning or salt) and continue stirring
4. cover pan with lid and continue to sauté for another 7 mins. The lid will pull out the natural moisture from the mushrooms and then the mushrooms can sauté in it and not get burned.
5. sauté for another 5 mins
6. season once again, to taste, and add green onions
7. plate and enjoy!

This sauté can be enjoyed as a side dish or on top of your pasta! It's just that versatile!

That's all I got for you now! While I have so many other ideas, I'll stop here and let you enjoy what I've experimented with so far! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! So, what's your favorite pasta sauce? Please share with me in the comments!

Godere!
Gigi