Skip to content

Citrus Fiber substitute

Best substitute

Xanthan gum

Use ¼ tsp xanthan gum for every 1 tbsp citrus fiber

Best for keto sauces and gravies

Different texture

Work out which job you need first, because citrus fiber does three at once. If you need thickening in a sauce, gravy or keto ice cream base, use xanthan gum at about a quarter teaspoon per tablespoon of citrus fiber and add it with an immersion blender. If you need structure and water-holding in a low-carb dough, use psyllium husk powder roughly one for one by volume and expect a slightly gelled, earthier crumb. If you only need bulk to replace flour, oat fiber swaps one for one by weight but does no thickening at all. Nothing matches all three at once, so pick the job that matters most in your recipe.

Other citrus fiber substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

Substitutes for Citrus Fiber with ratios

  1. 2Psyllium husk powder

    Taste and texture differ

    Use the same amount by volume, up to about 1 tsp per cup of liquid

    A soluble fiber that swells into a soft gel and holds a lot of water, widely used in low-carb bread.

    What changes
    Best for
    low-carb bread and dough, thick stews, adding structure, fiber content

    This is the closest thing to citrus fiber's water-holding, which is why it works in keto doughs: it gives a slice something to hold on to instead of crumbling. The differences are visible and tasteable. It turns a clear liquid cloudy and slightly grey-brown, it has a mild earthy, husky flavour that you can pick up in anything delicate, and it sets to a soft gel rather than a creamy body, so a sauce thickened with it feels slightly jellied on the tongue. Give it five minutes before you judge the thickness, because it keeps swelling. Good in dough, cream fillings and thick stews, poor in a pan sauce or a clear glaze.

  2. 3Oat fiber

    Different texture

    Use the same amount by weight, for bulk only

    An insoluble, zero-net-carb powder used to replace flour volume in keto baking.

    What changes
    Best for
    keto baking, replacing flour bulk, cookies and crackers, adding fiber without carbs

    Be clear about what this does and does not do. It matches citrus fiber for bulk, colour and neutral taste in a batter or a dough, which is genuinely useful if you are using citrus fiber as a flour extender. It does almost no thickening and no emulsifying, so if you swap it into a sauce you will get gritty liquid rather than a thickened one. It also drinks up liquid without holding it in a creamy way, so batters made with it can bake dry. Add an extra tablespoon of liquid per quarter cup of oat fiber and do not expect it to rescue a split sauce.

  3. 4Guar gum

    Close match

    ½ the volume of the citrus fiber

    A bean-derived gum that thickens cold liquids and works well in frozen desserts.

    What changes
    Best for
    keto ice cream, cold sauces, smoothies, dairy-free milks

    Guar is a better match than xanthan for anything frozen, because it keeps ice cream soft and scoopable rather than merely thick. It is gentler and less stringy than xanthan, so the texture is closer to citrus fiber's creaminess. Two warnings: it turns liquid slightly cloudy and, above about half a teaspoon per cup, it carries a faint beany or dusty note that is noticeable in a mild vanilla base. It also thickens less reliably in hot acidic liquid, so add it to the cold part of the recipe. Many commercial keto products use guar and xanthan together, and a half-and-half blend at the same total dose behaves best.

  4. 5Ground chia or flaxseed

    Taste and texture differ

    Use 1 tsp ground seed for every 1 tbsp citrus fiber

    Whole-food mucilage from ground seeds, hydrated into a soft gel.

    What changes
    Best for
    puddings, smoothies, binding meat mixtures, rustic baked goods

    The pantry answer when you have no gums at all. Ground seeds throw out a slippery gel that thickens and binds well enough for a keto pudding, a smoothie or a burger mix. What changes is obvious: visible dark specks, a nutty toasted flavour that fights vanilla and citrus, and a gel that is jellied rather than creamy. Flax is milder than chia and grinds finer. Stir it in and wait ten minutes; if you judge it immediately you will add too much and end up with wallpaper paste.

  5. 6Egg yolk or cream cheese, for emulsifying only

    Different taste

    Use 1 yolk or 1 tbsp cream cheese for every cup of sauce

    Real fat-based emulsifiers that hold a sauce together the way citrus fiber does, using dairy or egg instead of fiber.

    What changes
    Best for
    cream sauces, keto ice cream bases, stopping a sauce from splitting, adding richness

    Here is the honest gap: citrus fiber's real trick in commercial keto sauces and ice creams is that it thickens, holds water and stabilises the emulsion at the same time, and no single home ingredient does all three. If what you actually need is for the sauce not to split, fat-based emulsifiers do that job properly. A yolk whisked into warm, not boiling, sauce gives glossy body and a custardy richness; cream cheese blended in gives tang and opacity. Both change the dish: it becomes richer, more dairy-forward and slightly heavier, and the yolk version will scramble above a bare simmer. Use them alongside a small dose of xanthan and you get very close to a citrus fiber result.

What is Citrus Fiber?

Citrus Fiber is a pale, fluffy, almost flavorless powder milled from the pulp and peel left over after oranges and lemons are juiced, also sold as citrus fibre, orange fiber or under the brand name Citri-Fi, and its job is to thicken, hold water and keep a sauce from splitting.

Cooking tips

  • Never dump it into still liquid. Citrus fiber clumps into wet pellets that stay dry inside. Whisk it into the dry ingredients or the fat first, or add it to the blender while it is running, then let it sit two or three minutes to hydrate fully before you judge the thickness.
  • Start at about half a teaspoon to a teaspoon per cup of liquid, roughly half to one percent of the total weight. Its great advantage over xanthan is that it is forgiving: double the dose and you get thicker sauce, not slime, which is exactly why food manufacturers reach for it.
  • Despite the name it tastes of nothing and will not make anything taste of orange. If you want citrus flavour you still need zest or juice, and the acid in the juice will thin the sauce slightly, so add it at the end.
  • Replacing cornstarch in a sauce takes roughly a teaspoon of citrus fiber per tablespoon of starch, but the result is matte and creamy rather than glossy and translucent. If you want shine, finish with a knob of butter off the heat.
  • It holds water, which is its main job in low-carb frozen desserts: less free water means smaller ice crystals and a softer scoop straight from the freezer. If you swap it for a gum, expect a harder set and let the tub sit out five minutes before serving.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave citrus fiber out?

In a sauce, gravy or dressing, yes, with the obvious result that it stays thin and may separate as it sits. Reduce it further on the stove instead, or finish it with butter or cream for body. In a low-carb baked good you cannot simply drop it, because it is holding structure and moisture: pull it out and the crumb collapses or bakes dry. Replace it there with psyllium husk powder or oat fiber rather than nothing.

Is citrus fiber the same thing as pectin?

They come from the same peel but they are not interchangeable. Pectin is purified out of the peel and its job is to set a gel, which it only does properly with enough sugar and acid. Citrus fiber is the whole fiber, unpurified: it holds water and thickens without setting, and it works in low-sugar and no-sugar recipes where pectin would fail. If your recipe needs a jam to gel, use pectin. If it needs a sauce to thicken without sugar, use citrus fiber.

How much xanthan gum equals a tablespoon of citrus fiber?

About a quarter of a teaspoon for thickening purposes. It is not a precise conversion, because the two work differently, so add three quarters of that, blend, wait a minute and then decide. Under-dosing is easy to fix; over-dosed xanthan cannot be rescued.

Does citrus fiber taste sour or fruity?

No. It is washed and dried, so it is close to flavourless and only faintly beige. If your finished sauce tastes bitter or peel-like, you have almost certainly used too much, or you are tasting the citrus zest or juice elsewhere in the recipe.

Is citrus fiber keto and does it count as carbs?

It is almost entirely fiber, which is why keto and low-carb recipes use it and why most labels show very little net carbohydrate. That said, it is fiber in quantity: a heavy dose in one sitting can be bloating in the same way any fiber supplement is, so build up gradually rather than doubling a recipe on the first try.

Related substitutes

More thickeners substitutes

Need a different ingredient?

Browse the full index, or the rest of this category.

Browse all substitutesMore thickeners