Healthy Cooking Alternatives- Substitutions in Cooking and Baking

Whipping up healthy recipes may be easier than you think. You can make simple ingredient substitutions to create healthy recipes that don't sacrifice taste and enjoyment.  

Use this guide to help reduce the amount of fat, salt, sugar and calories as you prepare healthy recipes.  

Your guide to ingredient substitutions for healthy recipes
If your recipe calls for this ingredient:	Try substituting this ingredient:
Bacon	Canadian bacon, turkey bacon, smoked turkey or lean prosciutto (Italian ham)
Bread, white	Whole-grain bread
Bread crumbs, dry	Rolled oats or crushed bran cereal
Butter, margarine, shortening or oil in baked goods	Applesauce or prune puree for half of the called-for butter, shortening or oil; butter spreads or shortenings specially formulated for baking that don't have trans fats   Note: To avoid dense, soggy or flat baked goods, don't substitute oil for butter or shortening. Also don't substitute diet, whipped or tub-style margarine for regular margarine.
Butter, margarine, shortening or oil to prevent sticking	Cooking spray or nonstick pans
Cream	Fat-free half-and-half, evaporated skim milk
Cream cheese, full fat	Fat-free or low-fat cream cheese, Neufchatel, or low-fat cottage cheese pureed until smooth
Eggs	Two egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute for each whole egg
Flour, all-purpose (plain)	Whole-wheat flour for half of the called-for all-purpose flour in baked goods   Note: Whole-wheat pastry flour is less dense and works well in softer products like cakes and muffins.
Fruit canned in heavy syrup	Fruit canned in its own juices or in water, or fresh fruit
Ground beef	Extra-lean or lean ground beef, chicken or turkey breast (make sure no poultry skin has been added to the product)
Lettuce, iceberg	Arugula, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach or watercress
Mayonnaise	Reduced-calorie mayonnaise-type salad dressing or reduced-calorie, reduced-fat mayonnaise
Meat as the main ingredient	Three times as many vegetables as the meat on pizzas or in casseroles, soups and stews
Milk, evaporated	Evaporated skim milk
Milk, whole	Reduced-fat or fat-free milk
Oil-based marinades	Wine, balsamic vinegar, fruit juice or fat-free broth
Pasta, enriched (white)	Whole-wheat pasta
Rice, white	Brown rice, wild rice, bulgur or pearl barley
Salad dressing	Fat-free or reduced-calorie dressing or flavored vinegars
Seasoning salt, such as garlic salt, celery salt or onion salt	Herb-only seasonings, such as garlic powder, celery seed or onion flakes, or use finely chopped herbs or garlic, celery or onions
Soups, creamed	Fat-free milk-based soups, mashed potato flakes, or pureed carrots, potatoes or tofu for thickening agents
Soups, sauces, dressings, crackers, or canned meat, fish or vegetables	Low-sodium or reduced-sodium versions
Sour cream, full fat	Fat-free or low-fat sour cream, plain fat-free or low-fat yogurt
Soy sauce	Sweet-and-sour sauce, hot mustard sauce or low-sodium soy sauce
Sugar	In most baked goods you can reduce the amount of sugar by one-half; intensify sweetness by adding vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon
Syrup	Pureed fruit, such as applesauce, or low-calorie, sugar-free syrup
Table salt	Herbs, spices, citrus juices (lemon, lime, orange), rice vinegar, salt-free seasoning mixes or herb blends
Yogurt, fruit-flavored	Plain yogurt with fresh fruit slices

Healthy Holiday Baking Tips

As heard on the Fat To Fit Radio Show...

HEALTHY HOLIDAY BAKING TIPS

         Reduce Sugar Intake

• Reducing the amount of sugar in a baking recipe can be easy. Replace half of the amount of sugar with an artificial sweetener like Splenda, Equal, etc.

          Substitute Ingredients & Cut Fat

• If you are wanting to cut the amount of fat in a recipe first use an egg substitute to replace half of the eggs in the recipe. For one large egg, ¼  cup egg substitute can be used. This egg substitute will cut the amount of calories by 45 and the amount of fat by 5 grams. The amount of butter or margarine that the recipe calls for can also be cut in half by using a moist and healthy ingredient like fat free sour cream, low fat yogurt, orange juice, or apple sauce to substitute for half. Remember to make sure the substitute complements the flavors you are baking with.

         Use Light Products

• Cutting down fat and sugar in a recipe can be done by using light products, like low fat and low sugar items. If a recipe calls for sour cream use light or low fat instead. Other examples include low fat cream cheese, fat free half and half, and light Cool Whip. Reducing the amount of additions a recipe calls for can really help too. For example, if a recipe calls for chocolate chips, half of the amount could be added in. You can also try using only half of the amount of frosting a cake recipe calls for.

         Use Healthy Flavor Alternatives

• To prevent affecting the recipes flavor by reducing the amount of fat and sugar in a recipe use the zest of a citrus fruit, like an orange or a lemon. Using these ingredients is a healthy substitute and can add a lot of flavor to low fat batters and dough. Fruit can be used as an outer layer which can enhance the flavor without adding calories. Cocoa is another good option to add flavor without the calories as a replacement in a recipe that calls for chocolate chips or squares. The replacement formula is to use 6 tablespoons of cocoa with 1 tablespoon of canola oil and 1 tablespoon of fat free sour cream to replace 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate. This also cuts your calories by 9 and grams of fat by 14.

          Portion Control & Fiber 

• Portion control is the most definite way to cut calories. Eating smaller servings is key. Adding fiber to a baking recipe is a very good way to be satisfied by a smaller serving. Whole wheat flour in most recipes can be substituted for half of the white flour that the recipe calls for. ¼ cup of whole wheat flour will add 3.5 grams of fiber.