Is Au Jus Keto? As Au Jus is made with the left over juices from cooked meat, it can be very keto friendly, as well as being a delicious addition to a meal. However, shop bought au jus can be full of non-keto ingredients. Don’t worry though, we’ve included some of our top tips for making keto friendly au jus at home.
What Is Au Jus?
Au jus translates to, ‘with juice’, and is typically created from the drippings and remnants of meats after they have been cooked.
These drippings will usually be combined with soy or Worcestershire sauce, sugar, spices, and vegetables such as onion or carrots.
There are many au jus packets available in grocery stores that incorporate many of the typical ingredients within them.
Au jus originates from French cuisine and tends to be used to enhance the flavor and tenderness of meat dishes.
A Keto-Cap (aka A Keto Recap!)
If you’re new to keto and want a bit more information, check out our keto beginners guide.
As a quick summary, if you need it, the keto (also known as the ketogenic diet) is a low-carb, high-fat diet.
The whole concept of the keto diet is that your body transitions from burning glucose, in simple terms, sugars or carbohydrates, to burning fat as its primary fuel source.
For a keto diet, people will restrict their macros to eating;
- 70% of their calories from fat
- 25% from protein
- 5% from carbohydrates
Sticking to these macros for a period of time will put your body into a state of ketosis. Ketosis is when your body has transitioned from burning carbohydrates as its primary fuel source to burning fat for fuel. It is at this point that you will start to see and feel the benefits of the keto diet.
There are a lot of new terms and abbreviations that you may come across, sometimes it can feel like a new language that you need to learn. In order to help you out and keep you on the right track, we have created a keto terms and keto abbreviations guide, bookmark these to make your keto journey easier.
Some people can be put off the keto diet because of the side effects, however, these are only short-lived and the health benefits of keto far outweigh the side effects.
One of the main benefits which attract people to the keto diet is that it can cause significant reductions in insulin levels (by up to 75%) and blood sugar levels, which can be attractive to those that struggle with diabetes, amongst other health complaints.
What Is The Nutritional Value Of Au Jus?
The specific nutritional value of au jus will vary slightly depending on whether or not it’s packaged, and what meat it is derived from. Furthermore, the nutritional values can also vary depending on what ingredients are added to it.
An average au jus serving of half a cup will contain approximately the following nutritional values:
- Carbs:2.5 grams
- Fiber: 0.2 grams
- Sugar: 0 grams
- Protein: 1.5 grams
- Calories: 120 calories
How Many Net Carbs Are There In Au Jus?
Once again, the net carb contents of a serving of au jus will vary depending on the specific recipe. However, you are looking at, on average, between 1 and 3 net carbs per serving.
Is Au Jus Keto?
Au jus can be a very keto friendly addition to a variety of dishes. Again, it will depend on the dish you are serving it with, as well as what you add to a traditional au jus recipe. For example, some people will add wine to their au jus, which will boost the carb content up.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Au Jus?
There isn’t much of a health benefit to consuming au jus, but it is not really meant to be a health food. It’s more about enhancing the flavor of a dish you are eating.
How To Make Au Jus Keto Friendly
However, when you are making your au jus from scratch, you can control the ingredients more carefully. In order to make au jus keto friendly, we would suggest taking the meat juices as normal and using a keto friendly thickening agent such as xanthan gum in order to thicken the juices.
Check out this recipe here for some ideas.
Au jus can be a healthier alternative to flavoring meat than store-bought sauces, which can contain a lot of carbs and added sugar.
Is Au Jus The Same Thing As Gravy?
Au jus is similar to gravy in that they are both sauces and they both contain meat drippings, but au jus is much thinner than gravy. In fact, au jus could be considered a keto friendly alternative to gravy, which often contains flour.
What Is Au Jus Usually Served With?
Au jus can be served alongside your meat, but it is often taken from beef or pork drippings.
Staying hydrated on the keto diet is really important, for more on how much water you should be drinking, check out our guide to staying hydrated on the keto diet.
If you’re planning on dehydrating yourself(!) and drinking alcohol on the keto diet, check out our ultimate guide to drinking alcohol on a keto diet. Also, you may be interested in, how to recover from a cheat day.
Summary: Is Au Jus Keto?
Au jus can be keto, you need to be careful of shop bought varieties as they can contain added sugars and other non keto ingredients. However, it is really simple to make your own keto friendly au jus at home to enjoy with your favorite meat dishes. Give it a go, enjoy!
