How to Turn a Regular Recipe Into a Low-Fat Recipe

Although your favorite recipe may be delicious, it may also be full of fat. Turn high-fat dishes into healthy, low-fat delicacies by remembering a few simple substitutions.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Apple Butters
• Applesauce
• Egg Whites
• Low-fat Food
• Low-fat Or Nonfat Yogurt
• Herbal Supplements
• Multivitamins
• Cooking Spray
• Herbal supplements

1. Flag all high-fat ingredients in the original recipe.

2. Make a list of low-fat products that can be substituted for all of the flagged ingredients.

3. Replace whole eggs with egg substitute products. One egg is equivalent to 1/4 c. of egg substitute.

4. In sweet baked goods, substitute applesauce or pureed fruit for oils, butter or margarine. As a general rule, you can use a cup of applesauce or fruit for every cup of oil or butter.

5. Use skim or 2 percent milk in place of whole milk.

6. Replace regular sour cream or mayonnaise with fat-free or low-fat versions, or use yogurt.

7. Use ground turkey instead of ground beef, or try extra-lean ground beef.

8. Remove the skin from poultry, either before cooking or after cooking, depending on the method (a chicken roasted without its skin, for example, would dry out, but skinless chicken can be braised to no ill effect).

9. Use cooking spray to coat pans instead of butter or olive oil. Add a little water if foods start to stick.

10. Learn where added fat is important and where it's not so important. For example, there's seldom a difference in onions sauteed in one tablespoon of oil or onions sauteed in two or three tablespoons of oil.

Tips & Warnings

• When replacing fatty ingredients in recipes, start slowly. Replace a portion of the products at first to determine if the flavor and consistency remain intact. In baked goods, especially, a small amount of fat is necessary for texture. Non-fat muffins, for example, tend to be gummy, but muffins with a small amount of fat (perhaps two tablespoons), have a much better texture.
• Simply reducing fatty ingredients can have a wonderful effect, especially when combined with some zesty seasonings. Instead of two cups of mild cheddar in a cheese sauce, for example, try one cup of sharp cheddar plus some dry or prepared mustard for kick. Or take out a third of the cheese in your next lasagna and see what happens.
• Remember that eating too little fat is as unhealthy as eating too much. On average, you should be getting 20 to 30 percent of your calories from fat.

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[BellyBuster]

on 5/27/2008 great article and great comments!

on 2/23/2006 I use butter flavored popcorn salt on a variety of things, like baked potatoes, all kinds of veggies and in even in baking. Of course, you have to be careful not to use too much, because it is mostly salt. But it adds a hint of butter flavor, plus it's inexpensive.

I also use Enova oil quite a lot, which the body metabolizes differently from normal oils but is still made from soy and canola. I mix Enova with equal parts of soft butter (yes, real butter) with a hand mixer until smooth, and put the mixture in a plastic tub with a lid, then use it as a butter spread. It tastes like the butter, not like the Enova.

on 12/12/2005 The envelop directions are to add 1/4 cup vinegar, 3 tablespoons water and 1/2 cup oil. I increase the water and vinegar by 1 tablespoon each and decrease the oil to 6 tablespoons. This takes 200 calories out of the recipe. I have been using olive oil in most recipes for years and seldom use butter or margarine.

on 11/22/2005 Fat-free is not equal to calorie-free. We can choose leaner meat, cut out the visible fat (such as fat on the meat), remove oil floating on the soup, and limit the amount of deep fried foods. Use low-fat or fat-free margarine, non-fat yogurt, nonfat (skim) milk and egg white or an egg substitute for baking, plant or vegetable oil instead of animal fat (lard), and exclude palm and coconut oil (they are high in saturated fat). Intake more mono saturated and polyunsaturated fat, they can help in bring down the bad cholesterol (LDL). The good sources are fish, tree nuts, chicken breast without skin, olive (oil), sunflower seed, and canola oil. Just remember, fat intake daily cannot exceed 30% and cholesterol intake daily cannot exceed 300 mg in order to reduce risk of heart disease.

on 11/22/2005 We use salsa mixed with no-fat ranch dressing to make a great salad dressing or a dressing to put on sandwiches. This mixture (or salsa alone) is also great on baked potatoes.