Ingredient Substitutions

Low-Fat Alternatives

Portion Control

We’ve done the math for you. The values below are for roasted or grilled meats in 3 different serving sizes. What a difference portion control makes!

*Values are from the USDA Handbook.

Bacon

* These amounts are all comparable.

Cheese

Here is a comparison of some high fat and lower fat cheeses. All of the values are based on a one ounce portion of cheese.

Breakfast Sausage

We’ve found that some fat free sausages can effectively replace the regular sausage. Most stores stock the Jimmy Dean 97% Fat Free sausage in the freezer department (usually with the frozen ground turkey).

Egg Substitutes

Alternatives

There are several egg substitutes on the market. We feel the fat-free variety works well and saves some fat and calories. Egg whites can also be used in place of whole eggs (2 whites = 1 whole egg).

Ground Beef / Hamburger

Alternatives

All values are based on 4-ounce raw portions of ground beef.

References:
* USDA Handbook
** Laura’s Lean Beef

Italian Dressing Marinade

Alternatives

One of the easiest and tastiest marinades is Italian salad dressing. We are especially fond of some of the light versions and, as you can see, they do cut the fat and calories. We don’t usually recommend fat-free dressings for a marinade because they have more sugar and can burn, and, without the oil, they don’t provide the added moisture.

Mayonnaise

Alternatives

Milk

Peanut Butter

Alternatives

The difference between freshly ground or natural peanut butter and the processed kind (Skippy, Jif, Peter Pan) isn’t the amount of fat but the kind of fat and the way it’s been processed.

The processed versions are made with hydrogenated soybean oil, which means:

• more saturated fat
• less monounsaturated fat

The natural peanut butters have the peanut oil in its liquid form, which means:

• less saturated fat
• more monounsaturated fat

Shortening/Butter/Margarine/Oil

Substitutions

Sour Cream

Alternatives

There are many choices for sour cream substitutions. Both fat-free and light sour creams are available. They are great “potato toppers” and work well in uncooked items such as dips and spreads. When heated, however, fat-free sour cream often loses flavor. We have been able to intensify the sour cream taste with the addition of a little 1% buttermilk (1-2 tablespoons per 1 cup sour cream).

There is another choice. Long before fat-free and light sour creams were available, many of us used drained nonfat plain yogurt. In most recipes, it usually tastes like sour cream. To be honest, we frequently go back to using the yogurt, especially in cooked dishes where sour cream is the predominant flavor. The yogurt has a more intense flavor that doesn’t seem to get lost. You can add 1 tablespoon of flour to 8 ounces of yogurt to stabilize it when it’s heated.

Turkey

Most people have a definite preference when it comes to turkey. Here are the numbers * for all of the cuts, without the skin, of course.