Nutella (sugar-free) • Gestational Diabetes UK (2024)

Thick hazelnut chocolate spread without added sugar or palm oil, this sugar-free Nutella is quick and easy to make!

Have you seen the ingredients that are in real Nutella? Take a look at this image, which shows them in layers. With 58% being sugar, it’s really not a great choice to add to a diet complicated with diabetes.

This sugar-free Nutella is so quick and easy to make, and with just 3g carbs compared to real Nutella’s 8.6g per 15g serving, with these carbs mainly coming from hazelnuts, this is a much better choice!

Please note: whilst much lower in carbs, this Nutella may not be enough to pair bread or toast alone. It will depend on your tolerance to the bread you’re using and may need some additional pairing. It is, however, a great addition to low-carb pancakes, yoghurt, cream or low-carb ice cream!

You do not have to add any sweeteners to this sugar free Nutella if you do not wish to use them, however if you’re looking for that very sweet hazelnut chocolate spread then you will need some additional sweetness.

I recommend using powdered erythritol in this recipe as it is a natural sweetener, and being powdered, it easily mixes into the spread, bearing in mind there is no cooking or heating to dissolve the sweetener and so a crystalised or granulated sweetener such as xylitol will leave the spread far too grainy in texture.

If you cannot find powdered erythritol, you can use xylitol instead, BUT it will need to be ground down into an icing sugar consistency. It is also worth noting that if you suffer from gastric conditions such as IBS, you may find xylitol triggers your symptoms, whereas erythritol has little impact.

Artificial powdered sweeteners such as sucralose (likeSplenda) or aspartame (likeCanderel) can be used, but they may raise blood glucose levels slightly and can leave a bitter aftertaste.