Are Stuffing and Gravy on the Menu While Doing Slimming World?

Stuffing balls tend to average out between 1.5 and 3 syns per ball, although this will depend quite a lot on the size of the balls, the brand of stuffing, and whether you’ve added anything additional to them.

Where gravy is concerned, the average brand comes in at around 1 syn per level teaspoon of granules, but again, this will vary and will depend on any additives you contribute.

Whether it’s for a festive occasion such as Christmas, or just a good old-fashioned Sunday roast, stuffing and gravy are quintessential ingredients that are some of the cornerstones of Britain’s favourite meals.

If you like piling stuffing balls on your plate or love to create a gravy river on this type of dish, then keep reading to find out how you can continue to incorporate them in your diet whilst keeping your syn allowance in mind.

As with anything on a Slimming World healthy eating programme, the key is to moderate rather than eliminate. Let’s take a closer look!

Factors Affecting Stuffing Syns

As mentioned briefly above, there are several things that can alter the number of syns your stuffing balls have, including size, brand, and additives.

To help you keep as close an eye as possible on your syn intake, here’s a breakdown of these factors:

Ball Size

• The bigger the balls, the more syns they’ll be.
• A level tablespoon of dry stuffing mix will make a ball of approximately 15g of cooked weight which will give you just under 1 syn.
• If you use a larger spoon or an ice cream scoop to form your stuffing balls, syn value will increase accordingly.
• Some people like to make slabs or trays of stuffing rather than individual balls, so syns will then depend on the size of the portion you cut.

Brand

• Although majority of stuffing brands will contain largely the same ingredients, it’s worth it to double-check syn values for whatever brand you buy.
• A syn equals approximately 20 calories so if you’re looking at particular brands, the caloric value can help you work out how many syns it is.

Additives

• If you add onions, chopped up meat, or other bits to your stuffing mixture, you’ll need to factor that in when calculating your stuffing syns.
• A lot of people like to make stuffing using the cooking juices from their meat or veg, and if something fatty has been cooked, this fat transfers to the stuffing and increases the syns.
• If you need to thicken your stuffing mixture and decide to use flour, this can add a few syns to the mix.

Factors Affecting Gravy Syns

A lot of the points relating to stuffing syns also relate to gravy syns, and whilst they are different products with different syn values off the bat, knowing what influences affect syns is really useful.

As such, we’ll explore some of the same factors as we did above with stuffing:

Brand

As above, different brands may use slightly different ingredients which might affect calories and syns.

• Lidl Newgate Gravy Graules, Meat – 1.5 syns per 100ml
• Bisto Gravy Granules – 1 syn per level tsp
• Slimming World Onion Gravy – 0 syns/ Free Food
• Goldenfry Gravy Granules, Onion – 1.5 syns per 100ml

The difference between brands isn’t usually very significant as you can see above, however if your daily syn allowance comes down to the wire just before your roast dinner, half a syn here or there can really make the difference.

Additives

• If you like to make your gravy using cooking juices from your roasting tray (ie chicken, turkey, or other meat and veg juices), the extra calories will increase your gravy’s syn value.
• If you run out of granules or want to thicken your gravy further by adding flour or cornstarch, this will also increase the gravy’s syns.            

Type of Gravy

• Chicken, beef, and vegetarian gravy vary almost negligibly when it comes to syns, so at the end of the day, pick the type of gravy that you like best!

Slimming World-Friendly Recipe Ideas

Roast Chicken with Stuffing and Gravy

For a warming and delicious recipe that won’t take too much effort and will support your weight loss journey, this chicken roast is a winner at around only 1 syn per serving!

You’ll Need:

• Your favourite type of potato
• Low calorie cooking spray
• Mixed herbs of your choice
• 4 chicken breasts (skin and any visible fat removed)
• Your choice of vegetables for boiling or steaming
• 4 level teaspoons of gravy granules
• Stuffing mix of your choice

Chop your potatoes into rough chunks and boil them in a pot of lightly salted water for 8-10 minutes before draining and shaking them around to fluff up the outsides. Pour them into a roasting tin and spray with cooking oil spray, seasoning to taste and adding some herbs if you like.

Roast the potatoes in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for around 40 minutes of until you get crispy, golden outsides. Toss every now and then to ensure all sides brown evenly.

Mix your stuffing while you’re boiling the potatoes and then split the mixture into equally-sized balls. Cook them on a baking tray for around 30 minutes, or until you get that signature crunchy exterior.

Spray your chicken breasts with spray oil, season to taste and sprinkle over your herbs before popping them into the oven for the last 25 minutes of cooking time.

Steam or boil your veg until it reaches your preferred texture, and make up your gravy according to brand instructions. Serve up all the components and drizzle with gravy – enjoy!

Homemade Non-Granule Gravy

If you want to cut out all gravy syns from your roast dinners going forward, this tasty option is made with simple ingredients and is syn-free to help you towards your weight loss goals!

You’ll Need:

• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Fresh herbs such as rosemary or thyme
• 3 cups of stock of your choice (beef stock, vegetable stock, and chicken stock are popular)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• Spray oil

Finely chop your onion and garlic before spraying a pan with some cooking spray. Cook your onions and garlic, cooking until fragrant and caramelised and using a bit of stock to prevent sticking.

Add your fresh herbs, the remainder of your stock, the vinegar and tablespoon of tomato paste, and mix to combine before bringing to a boil. Reduce the heat immediately and let simmer for approx 30-40 mins so that the flavours develop.

Blend the mixture in a blender or using an immersion blender until nice and smooth, and then continue cooking I until it reaches the desired thickness. Adding a couple of cooked, floury type potatoes can also help to thicken the gravy.

This gravy works so well on roasts, chicken dishes and other amazing recipes such as casseroles and shepherds’ pie. The best part is, you can eat as much of it as you please without affecting your daily values!

To Sign Off…

Neither stuffing nor gravy are generally very high in syns although this will depend on the factors we’ve discussed above. Coupled with a few other basic ingredients, stuffing and gravy can come together to create the perfect recipe for so many different occasions!

Odds are, you probably aren’t eating gravy and stuffing with every meal, so there shouldn’t be too much pressure to ensure you’re selecting the lowest-syn versions possible all the time – it’s ok to treat yourself once in a while and if that means dousing a Yorkshire pudding in Bisto, go for it!