Low Carb Salmon and Watercress Souffle recipe ‘rescued’ from a bag….
Fish. Greens. Very low carb. Grain free. Gluten free. Perfectly ketogenic, yet low calorie and satisfying. But I cannot entirely take the credit for this recipe.
A few months ago, I was roaming around the fresh produce aisles in a Kent supermarket and a bag of organic watercress begged me to pick it up. I looked at the vibrant green contents and thought to myself ‘Mmmhhh…anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals…perhaps I can use it in a salad…’.  So that bag of watercress found its way into my trolley and then in my fridge alongside other salad items.
Trouble is, with all its health properties and even ‘superfood’ title, watercress is pretty tasteless and isn’t even nicely crunchy like iceberg lettuce or gem lettuce. It looks like a pointless weed. Hardly mouth watering. Totally uninspiring.
A few days passed and there I was, preparing a side salad and wondering whether to add my watercress to it. I almost opened the bag, but thankfully I flipped it over to check if the leaves needed washing first and that’s when I spotted a souffle recipe.  Not a ketogenic recipe, obviously, but the method and ingredients sounded good. And I’ve become pretty nifty at modifying ordinary recipes to reduce carbs, increase fats and turn them into ketogenic adaptations. So the watercress went back in the fridge to live another day.
The following day I returned to the bag of watercress, read the recipe again,  and jotted down a few notes, tweaking here and there so it would magically become ketogenic. Unfortunately, the bag itself got discarded once I took out the contents, so as much as I would love to be able to give credits to someone for the inspiration behind this recipe, I can’t. I didn’t make a note of the supermarket, the brand, or any website to go back to. Why? Simply because recipes on back of packets had NEVER turned out to be good in the past, so when I decided to try this one, I honestly thought it would be rubbish. All I can do is admit that this lovely souffle is not entirely my own creation.
This Low Carb Salmon and Watercress Souffle is great on its own and provides 2 good size portions.Â
But you can also serve it a side dish, maybe with a fish fillet or home made fish cakes, in which case it will be enough for 4 people.
I used 4 tablespoons of lupin flour in the recipe. If you have a peanut allergy and would rather not risk a reaction caused by lupin, you can substitute it with 3 tablespoons of chickpea flour.
If you want to, you can also swap watercress for spinach.
I have made this recipe with the variables above and it has turned out great each time.
As with all souffles, the mixture puffs up quite high as it bakes, so you need to use a souffle baking dish or something similar that is quite deep. Alternatively, do what I did and make your own improvised souffle bakeware with some parchment paper…(see recipe notes for instructions).
And here it is in all its glory: low carb salmon and watercress souffle, the keto way.
Enjoy!
- Yield: 2-4
- Serving: 1
- Calories: 656
- Fat: 45g
- Net Carbs: 7g
- Protein: 51g
- 250g tinned wild pacific salmon (drained weight)
- 85g watercress
- 60g unsalted butter, plus a little for the baking dish
- 4 TBSP (30g) lupin flour (U.S option HERE) (world-wide delivery option HERE - use code QUEENKETO5 for discount at checkout)
- 1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
- 1 TBSP worcestershire sauce
- salt, pepper, paprika, chilli powder
- 225ml whole milk
- 4 medium eggs (room temperature)
- butter a 1.1L souffle dish or similar (see notes).
- chop the watercress, discarding the thicker stalks.
- melt butter on low heat in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and add worcestershire sauce, mustard and flour, stirring well to remove any lumps.
- return to the heat and gradually add the milk, stirring until thickened.
- season with salt and spices to taste.
- add watercress, stir and transfer to a large Pyrex bowl to cool down.
- pre-heat oven to 170°C fan (190°C static).
- add drained and flaked salmon to the watercress mix.
- separate eggs: add the yolks to the watercress mix and blend in; put whites in a large bowl and whisk until stiff.
- fold in egg whites with a spoon or whisk with gentle down-up-and-over motions.
- pour into your souffle dish and bake for about 35 mins, until well risen and golden, then open the oven door and slide the tray out a little, to allow the souffle to cool down gradually, without thermal shock (this step will prevent it from collapsing).
- after about 10 mins, remove from oven, let it rest for a few more mins and serve.
Instead of lupin, you can use 3 TBSP chickpea flour (U.S. option HERE)
Metric kitchen scales are an inexpensive yet invaluable gadget to enable accurate measurement of ingredients. Store them upright in a cupboard or over your worktop and they'll only take up a tiny bit of space. Click HERE for the ones I use in the UK. For U.S. option click HERE.
Macros given are for ½ of the souffle as main course.
