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Healthy
Substitutions
Don’t give up on that family favorite because of diet restrictions!
Many traditional and ethnic favorites can be made healthier simply by
substituting ingredients to cut down on fat content, cholesterol,
sugar, and calories.
You and your family probably won’t even notice a difference.
Keep
in mind that not every recipe can be modified, so you’ll want
to experiment – you may come up with a new family favorite! This
table can help you get started.
| When
Your Recipe Says... |
Try
This Instead… |
| Whole milk (1
cup) |
1 cup skim (non-fat)
milk plus 1 Tbsp. unsaturated oil; or low-fat buttermilk; soy milk
or evaporated fat-free milk |
| Buttermilk |
Add 1 Tbsp.
lemon juice or white vinegar to low-fat or skim milk |
| Heavy cream
(1 cup) |
1 cup evaporated
skim milk; or 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt plus 1/2 cup plain low-fat
cottage cheese |
| Sour cream (1
cup) |
Low-fat or fat-free
sour cream; or 1 cup plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt; or blend 1
cup low-fat cottage cheese with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, thin with
skim milk |
| Cream cheese |
4 Tbsp. margarine
blended with 1 cup dry low- fat cottage cheese; thin with skim
milk if needed; or whipped ricotta cheese |
| Butter (1 tablespoon) |
1 Tbsp. unsaturated
margarine or 3/4 Tbsp. oil; or a 2-second spray of vegetable cooking
oil |
| Shortening (1
cup) |
2 sticks unsaturated
margarine; or 1/3 cup oil plus 2/3 cup fruit puree (such as applesauce,
pureed prunes or mashed bananas) |
| Oil in baked
goods |
Use equal amounts
of fruit puree (such as applesauce, pureed prunes or mashed bananas) |
| Egg (1) |
1 or 2 egg whites
plus 2 teaspoons of unsaturated oil or 1/4 cup commercial egg substitute |
| Unsweetened baking chocolate |
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa or carob powder plus
1 Tbsp. unsaturated oil or margarine; or 3 Tbsp. carob powder and
2 Tbsp. water. (Carob is sweeter than cocoa, so reduce the amount
of sugar in your recipe by one-quarter) |
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