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Can I just omit sugar from recipes?


Heather Max

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First, I want to make it clear that I'm not asking if I can put sugar (or other sweeteners) in my recipes! LOL, the forums are quite clear on that. This is a cooking question...and I hate cooking, so this newbie doesn't know much about technique or what various ingredients do to the end product.

 

1. Can I simply omit sugar from recipes? I'm talking about recipes that ask for a small amount of sugar.

 

For example, I have a recipe asking for 1 tsp sugar compared to 3 chicken breasts and 1 lb of broccoli. Clearly the sugar isn't for sweetness. So does sugar have any magical cooking effects? Or could I just drop it?

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the answer for the latter question is YES!

 

2. If sugar is indeed magical, is there a recommended replacement for sugar that provides a similar cooking (not sweetening) effect? Like how replacing cornstarch with arrowroot provides the same cooking effect.

 

I've googled this, and the articles talk about reducing or replacing sugar, not omitting it, and I've dug though these forums without finding a clear answer. So I hope some cooking expert out there can just flat-out tell me!

 

--Heather

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It depends on the recipe. Baked goods sometimes need sugar for the chemistry (but baked goods are not w30!) but recipes like tikka masala, spaghetti sauce, taco seasoning, etc don't *need* sugar (sometimes sugar is added to tomato dishes because it cuts the acidity a little. It's not required and often tastes just fine without)

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I just had to chuckle at whether sugar is magical or not... it's dark and terrifying magic indeed...  as far as cooking with it, Karen is right, just omit... it doesn't 'do' anything for what you'll be cooking on this journey... and while there are ways to sweeten things (fruit juice, dates etc) I would really encourage you to learn how to enjoy foods without sweetening them in any manner... your taste buds will change during the whole30 and you deserve to learn how things taste with their own flavors and sweetness...

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So...could my rule of thumb be that I can omit sugar if it's used as cooking ingredient, kinda like a spice, and not intended to be a sweetener?  Along with no baking and being careful with home-made sauces and seasonings.

 

I've been going through my (otherwise compliant) recipes and discarding those that ask for a little sugar, but then it occurred to me that maybe they'd taste just fine w/o it. None of the recipes are intended to be sweet, like my example above with broccoli and chicken, so no problems there.

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