Healthy Cheese Sauce

Cheese sauce is one of the popular toppings for a variety of dishes like vegetables and pasta. While it is a favorite addition to dishes for most of us, especially kids, this sauce is also found to be high in calories. One cup (243 grams) of basic cheese sauce amounts to around 480 calories. It is rich in saturated fats and sodium too. So, health conscious people avoid or consume a minimum amount of this sauce. As it is one of the popular toppings and a tasty addition to various food recipes, you may switch over to a lighter cheese sauce that is considered more healthy than the original.

Healthy Cheese Sauce Recipes

Recipe 1
This recipe is very simple and easy to prepare. It is low in calories and can be prepared within a few minutes. In order to prepare this recipe, you need two tablespoons all-purpose flour, four tablespoons instant dry milk powder, two tablespoons cheddar cheese, two cups water, one teaspoon salt (or as per taste) and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. You can prepare around two cups of cheese sauce with these ingredients.

In order to prepare this recipe, add all the ingredients except the cheese in a blender. Run the blender till it becomes foamy. Take a heavy saucepan and pour the ingredients from the blender to the pan. Keep the pan on the stove over high heat and stir continuously. As the solution thickens, remove the pan from heat and add cheese. Make sure to stir constantly till the cheese melts into the sauce. If you want the sauce to be thicker, you may add more flour next time. This healthy cheese sauce for broccoli and other vegetables is low in calories and is more healthy than the original one.

Recipe 2
This is one of the easiest cheese sauce recipes that can be prepared within ten minutes. As compared to the basic cheese sauce, this sauce has a slightly low calorific value, as compared to the basic version. If you want to prepare this recipe, you need the following ingredients.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour - 5 teaspoons
• Grated cheddar cheese - 2/3 cup
• Non fat milk - 1 cup
• Sweet paprika - teaspoon
• Dry mustard powder - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - teaspoon (or as per taste)
• Cayenne pepper (as per taste)

How to Prepare
In order to prepare this recipe, you have to make a smooth paste of flour and cup milk. Now, heat the remaining milk, i.e. one cup, in a pan, over medium heat. Once the milk starts steaming, add the flour paste and cook till the mixture thickens and bubbles appear. Never forget to stop stirring the mixture, throughout the cooking time (around four to five minutes). Remove the pan from the stove and add cheese, salt, paprika and cayenne pepper and stir till the cheese melts completely. This recipe will yield around 1 cups of cheese sauce for pasta.

Now you know how to prepare healthy cheese sauce that can be used to replace the original one. Try these recipes instead of the conventional ones and cut back on your calorie intake.