Low-Carb Cranberry and Clementine Mincemeat
Martina Slajerova- Ready in 20m
- 2.2 g net carbs
- 25 kcal
- Serves 26
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Do you want to make fruity festive mincemeat that tastes just as good as you remember but with none of the sugar? Look no further, I've got a great recipe for you.
This Low-Carb Mincemeat recipe is delicately flavored with fresh citrus zest, warming spices and brandy. It uses butter instead of suet, cranberries instead of raisins and Allulose instead of sugar, making this a tasty low-carb treat for Christmas and the festive season.
Apples and clementines are ingredients you won't find in most low-carb recipes but there's a good reason I used them. I decided to go for flavor rather than worrying about the small impact they will have on the carb count.
I could always use zucchini instead of apple and lemon juice instead of clementine but it wasn't necessary. The portion size required to make one Low-Carb Mince Pie is so tiny that it won't affect the carb count. This way you'll get all of the flavor without extra carbs!
Step-by-step
If you don't have any, make the Sugar-Free Dried Cranberries. Dehydrating the cranberries will take an extra 4-5 hours so it's best to make them the day before.
Peel and remove the core of 1 apple (weight is per edible parts). Dice into small pieces or grate using the large holes of your grater.
To a small saucepan add butter, diced apple, cranberries, juice of 1 clementine or satsuma, zest of half lemon and orange, granulated Allulose (or erythritol-based sweetener), brandy (can be skipped), cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Optionally, add a few drops of almond extract.
Split 1 vanilla bean with a sharp knife and scrape the tiny seeds into the saucepan.
Note: You can keep the vanilla pod for making Christmas Spice Extract or Vanilla Extract.
Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over a medium heat and then cover with a lid. Cook until softened, for about 5 minutes and then remove the lid. Stir and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened and syrupy.
Transfer to a storage jar and let it cool down to room temperature. Use to make Low-Carb Mince Pies. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 6 months.
Recipe
Low-Carb Cranberry and Clementine Mincemeat
★★★★★4.8Fruity festive mincemeat made low-carb with green apple, clementine and sugar-free cranberries, all delicately ...
- Hands on
- 15m
- Overall
- 20m
- Servings
- 26
- 2.2 g
- Net carbs
- 0.1 g
- Protein
- 1.3 g
- Fat
- 25
- kcal
Ingredients makes about 390 g/ 13.8 oz
Instructions
If you don't have any, make the Sugar-Free Dried Cranberries. Dehydrating the cranberries will take an extra 4-5 hours so it's best to make them the day before.
Peel and remove the core of 1 apple (weight is per edible parts). Dice into small pieces or grate using the large holes of your grater.
To a small saucepan add butter, diced apple, cranberries, juice of 1 clementine or satsuma, zest of half lemon and orange, granulated Allulose (or erythritol-based sweetener), brandy (can be skipped), cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Optionally, add a few drops of almond extract.
Split 1 vanilla bean with a sharp knife and scrape the tiny seeds into the saucepan.
Note: You can keep the vanilla pod for making Christmas Spice Extract or Vanilla Extract.Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over a medium heat and then cover with a lid. Cook until softened, for about 5 minutes and then remove the lid. Stir and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened and syrupy.
Transfer to a storage jar and let it cool down to room temperature. Use to make Low-Carb Mince Pies. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 6 months.
Nutrition per tbsp, 15 g/ 0.5 oz
Carbs 41%Protein 2%Fat 57% of calories
- Net carbs
- 2.2 g
- Total carbs
- 6.4 g
- Fiber
- 0.6 g
- Sugars
- 1.2 g
- Protein
- 0.1 g
- Fat
- 1.3 g
- Saturated fat
- 0.9 g
- Calories
- 25 kcal
- Sodium
- 0 mg · 0.02% RDA
- Magnesium
- 1 mg · 0.34% RDA
- Potassium
- 21 mg · 1.03% EMR
Nutrition by ingredient
| Per tbsp, 15 g/ 0.5 oz | Net carbs | Protein | Fat | kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranberries, Sugar-Free Dried | 1 g | 0 g | 0.4 g | 9 |
| Apples, raw, granny smith, with skin | 0.6 g | 0 g | 0 g | 3 |
| Butter, unsalted, grass-fed | 0 g | 0 g | 0.9 g | 8 |
| Clementines, raw | 0.3 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 |
| Lemon zest (peel), fresh | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Orange peel (zest), fresh | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Allulose, natural low-carb sweetener | 0.2 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 |
| Brandy, distilled alcoholic beverage (~40% vol) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 2 |
| Cinnamon, spices | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Ginger (ground, dried), spices | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Nutmeg, spices | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Cloves, spices | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Vanilla powder, dried (from vanilla beans, vanilla pods) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Total | 2.2 g | 0.1 g | 1.3 g | 25 |
Serving size tbsp, 15 g/ 0.5 oz
- Gluten free
- Egg free
- Nut free
- Nightshade free
- Pork free
- Avocado free
- Coconut free
- Fish free
- Shellfish free
- Beef free
- Pescatarian
- Vegetarian
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Comments & ratings (13)
Is there any other use for this than pies? I’m not a great pie lover, especially now keto crusts are more involved…..
but this looks really yummy!
Suggestions for using it?
Thanks, I love your website!!!
Thank you for your kind words! Some options that don't involve crust/pie:
- pancake topping on these: The Best Keto Pancakes
- add to ice cream - similar to this: No Churn Keto Rum & Raisin Ice Cream
- granola bars - add just like you would raisins or chocolate chips: Chewy Keto Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
- oatmeal/porridge topper: Quick Keto Oatmeal
- cake/loaf topping: Low-Carb White Chocolate Cranberry Bread
I'm sure there are more ways, these are just some of the options I can think of now 😊
Thank you!
Hi - I made this this afternoon, and its very impressive - delicious in fact.
I would make one or two adjustments to suit our own personal tastes next time though. We like our fruit types of food very tart - I rarely sweeten apples for apple pie etc for example - so I would substitute Bramley apple for an eating apple. I'd cut some of it into small cubes rather than grate it all as I did today, too, and I would start off at least with much less sweetener, though I suspect the flavouring will change as it develops over the next few days. It took me a whole week to dehydrate the cranberries and I wasn't impressed with them then, so it'll be cranberries from Mr Amazon next time, and possibly I'd try half dried and half fresh to give more of the soft part of the mincemeat which is my favourite part. The spice blend is again a personal thing. This one works nicely, but I love experimenting so that's something to play with in the future.
I really didn't think I'd be eating mince pies this year, so this recipe is fantastic and I'll be making the pies on Christmas eve as is our family tradition.
I love your recipes Martina, much of our Christmas is based on your recipes.
I've made your yeast bread this afternoon - apart from being a very nice bread to have with my teatime boiled eggs, it makes really thin slices which I'm going to dehydrate to make a tin of melba toast for dips and pates.
Thank you so much Robbie, I'm glad you like the mincemeat and the yeast bread!
I think our personal preferences are similar, I like my treats tart too. I only made this sweet to keep it closer to the original mincemeat but I'd definitely agree on using less sweetener and tart apples for ours 😊
Just out of curiosity, what did you use to dehydrate the cranberries? It sounds like they may have been over-dried? I did see some options that were sugar-free but only for freeze-dried cranberries which I suspect might work differently in this.
Hi, I used an Andrew James dehydrator. I suspect you are right and they were overdone, but the first things I'd tried in it. I didn't chopped or halve them, and I think I should have done - the skins seemed to be getting tougher, but inside wasn't drying, though in one or two the insides vanished, leaving something like a tough empty balloon. Still lots of time to perfect dehydrating before next year, and my lovely daughter has instructed Santa to bring me a ninja foodie which dehydrates so maybe that will work better. If all else fails, there's always the old fashioned oven
Changing the subject slightly, I saw some sugar free dried berberries. As kids we used to pick and eat berberries from hedges and I remember them being very tart - would they have a place in keto baking do you think?
You don't realise how much science there is in baking and cooking till you use unfamiliar ingredients and processes
I think that's it! If you ever forget cutting them, it will also help if you pierce the cranberries once they soften as that will help release the juices.
I haven't tried barberries before but to me they look a bit like goji berries. If unsweetened, you could use them just like dried cranberries 😊
I've just opened the jar to check whether it needs any last minute additions - it doesn't, it smells and tastes wonderful
Awesome, glad you enjoyed! ❤️
The mincemeat is so tasty. I grated the apple and used the optional brandy.
Another yummy recipe.
I'm glad you enjoyed, I think the brandy is a must! 😊
This looks wonderful, Martina! Is there any reason I can’t use fresh cranberries instead of making dried? Thank you.
Thank you! You could use fresh but it will not have the same "bite" to it because fresh cranberries will cook into sauce. The dried cranberries are what keeps the texture chunky, similar to what you're get with raisins. Making the dried cranberries is is an extra step but I do recommend it if you have time.