Easy Cheesy Low Carb Keto Turnips au Gratin Recipe

This creamy, cheesy low carb turnips au gratin will bring you all the comfort of potatoes au gratin with half the carbs! Just 8 main ingredients and 7 grams of carbs. 

WHAT IS Potatoes AU GRATIN? 

Au gratin means it's covered with breadcrumbs or grated cheese and browned. The most popular high carb favorite is potatoes au gratin or some know a traditional scalloped potatoes dish that is similar in nature. 

The difference with scalloped potatoes is that it's often thickened with flour and uses cheddar cheese in most recipes.  

But for our keto recipe today we don't need anything to thicken the cream sauce, it gets nice and thick on it's own from the use of heavy whipping cream. If you did want to thicken the sauce, I'd recommend using just a small amount of xanthan gum.  

Obviously when you're eating low carb, white potatoes are not going to fit into your low carb keto recipes lifestyle.

But today my recipe will give you all the familiar flavors of a cheesy, baked au gratin with less carbs than using potatoes. Turnips are a fantastic root vegetable that is a fraction of the carbs of potatoes. 

With a cheesy alfredo-style sauce between layers of turnip, this is a savory side dish that will compliment all the holiday dinners.

Carbs in Traditional Au Gratin Potatoes

​According to the Cronometer app, the nutritional data for 1 cup or 250 g serving of an au gratin prepared from fresh ingredients has 394 calories, 33.7 grams of carbs and and 2.7 grams of dietary fiber.

Even if you cut the serving down by half, that amount is still too high for anyone following a ketogenic diet.

Next time you are wanting some au gratin, try our creamy goodness of small turnips sliced thinly with cheesy sauce.  

Carbs in our Au Gratin Turnips

The serving size for this creamy turnip au gratin is 4 ounces. It has 9 grams of protein, 9 total grams of carbs per serving, 2 grams of dietary fiber and 7 grams of net carbs.

All the nutrition facts are in the recipe card at the bottom of this page. It may not be a side dish you would eat regularly on a keto diet but it can be enjoyed for the holidays and anyone on a low carb diet. 

LOW CARB AU GRATIN

My favorite way for replacing potatoes in this au gratin is thin slices of turnips! It's the best low carb potato substitute and the best way to replicate the size of potatoes as well as the color, in an au gratin recipe. 

If you've never tried turnips I highly suggest this low carb turnip gratin recipe! You will become a lover of this great low carb alternative with this low carb au gratin. My hubby is a huge fan of turnips and absolutely loved this recipe. 

Why Turnips TO REPLACE POTATOES

Turnips are a great option for swapping potatoes since they are light in color just like white potatoes and you can always find them in your local grocery store.

They are high in vitamins and minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium, folate, Vitamin C as well as a good source of dietary fiber.

The best part about turnips is that 1 cup of cooked turnips have 11.9 grams of carbs as opposed to 1 cup of boiled potatoes with 53 grams of carbs.  

​When choosing a turnip, the smaller turnips are sweeter and the larger turnips have more of a bitter taste, but once you roast or bake turnips they are mild in flavor and take on the flavors of what it's cooked with.

​If you're a hater of turnips, no worries, you can make this same delicious turnip recipe using other low carb veggies instead. My first suggestion would be trying this with thinly sliced zucchini. I've used zucchini just like hasselback potatoes and it worked so well in my cheesy bacon Zucchini Hasselback recipe. 

Zucchini is much softer in texture and will not need to be baked as long as these turnips needed to get them soft so just be cautious of that. 

Another option would be radishes. Though they are not as large in size, using Daikon radish will be best to work with for this low carb au gratin recipe.

I used delicious radish to replace potatoes in my Cream Of Chicken Soup and my family had no idea it was radish and they loved it!   

Could I swap the cheese?

Yes if you don't have mozzarella cheese on hand or prefer to use another cheese, you can certainly swap it out.

I'd recommend using cheddar cheese for a nice replacement since it will still be gooey in this cream sauce. You can buy a block of cheddar cheese and shred it yourself or buy shredded cheese. 

LOW CARB TURNIPS AU GRATIN