If you're doing things that should be done over an encrypted channel, but forego TLS (or a suitable alternative like Noise Framework or WireGuard) because it ad

If you're doing things that should be done over an encrypted channel, but forego TLS (or a suitable alternative like Noise Framework or WireGuard) because it adds attack surface, you are adding more risk than you are removing. A better solution would be to separate the parts of the stack that are sensitive from the parts that do things that you don't trust/are not in your control. This could be openbsd/POSIX style separation between your sensitive and the TLS-terminating process, or ideally placing them on completely separate machines. (Just make sure you trust your internal network if you aren't going to encrypt traffic on the inside...)