Paleo Cooking Tip- ‘Thickener’ Options

Certain ingredients in recipes are simple to adapt to Paleo.  Sauteed mushrooms in butter?  Use olive oil!  Breakfast smoothie made with dairy milk?  Try coconut water!  A vessel upon which to serve your favorite marinara?  Go with spaghetti squash instead of… spaghetti!

What to do, though, in place of ingredients like bread crumbs, or corn starch?  These items carry properties which serve to thicken some dishes.  

In my kitchen experiments, I've found several things that will do the trick, depending on what you're cooking.  Quite possibly the first two things that come to mind, however, are mushrooms and freshly ground flaxseed meal.  

  

I've used one or the other (or both!) in my Paleo Thanksgiving stuffing, in bison burgers, in turkey meatloaf… any dish that you feel lacks 'bulk' for example.   You'll create  new dish, that is more flavorful and doesn't contain any of the bad guys like saponins or lectins.

Give it a whirl and see what you come up with!