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.

Steps:

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.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:

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.

Warnings:
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.