- Improve taste, texture, or visual appeal
- Increase or add certain ingredients, such as fiber
- Decrease certain ingredients, such as excess fat or sugar
- Improve the overall nutritional value
You can increase the nutrition in your recipes without sacrificing taste!
Here are some examples of modification:
* Whipped cream topping
* Skin on poultry
* Excess fat after browning meat
* Sugar in most baked goods by 1/3 to ½
* Fat in baked goods, casseroles, and sauces by 1/3 to ½
* Portion sizes (for example, make your cookies smaller)
* Fruit puree instead of sugar and/or fat
* Heart healthy oils instead of lard, shortening or butter
* Whole wheat or other grain flours instead of all-purpose flour
Don't try modifying too many aspects of a recipe all at once, experiment with one change at a time to see what works. Decreasing the amount of sugar in a recipe will decrease the calories and the carbohydrates, which can help with weight and blood glucose management.
- In many recipes, the amount of sugar can simply be reduced (1/3-1/2) without a noticeable difference
- Some sugar alternatives can be used to replace all or part of the sugar in a recipe
- Dried fruit puree or applesauce can substitute for about 1/2 of the sugar in a recipe, while also giving you more fiber, vitamins and minerals
- Try adding zest from limes, lemons, or oranges to increase flavor
- Try adding spices that enhance sweetness:
Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice, Ginger, Nutmeg, Vanilla
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Use the following amounts in place of every 1 cup of sugar |
Honey |
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon and reduce other liquids by 2 tablespoons; add a pinch of baking soda to neutralize the acidity from the honey |
Maple Syrup |
¾ cup and decrease other liquid by 3 tablespoons |
Molasses |
1 1/3 cup and reduce amount of liquid by 5 tablespoons; add ½ teaspoon baking soda to neutralize acidity; replace no more than half the sugar in a recipe with molasses |
Saccharine
(Sweet & Low) |
Replace only half the sugar in a recipe with saccharine.
24 grams (24 single packets) = 1 cup sugar |
Aspartame
(Equal or NutraSweet) |
This chemical is not heat stable and should not be used in cooking & baking. However, no-bake recipes are okay.
24 grams (24 single packets) = 1 cup sugar. |
Acesulfame K
(Sunette or Sweet One) |
Replace only half the sugar in a recipe with Acesulfame K. 24 grams (24 single packets) = 1 cup sugar. |
Sucralose
Splenda Sugar Blend
Splenda No Calorie
Splenda Brown Sugar |
½ cup = 1 cup sugar
1 cup = 1 cup sugar
½ cup = 1 cup sugar |
Dried fruit puree or Applesauce |
Replace only half of the sugar in a recipe with pureed dried fruit or applesauce (1 cup = 1 cup sugar). You may need to reduce the liquid content by a couple tablespoons. |
Decreasing the amount of fat in a recipe can significantly reduce calories and help with weight management. Substitute heart-healthy fats for long-term health benefits.
|
Try this: |
Instead of: |
Application: |
1% or 2% milk |
Whole milk or cream |
On cereal, in coffee, in sauces and baking |
Fat free evaporated milk |
Whole milk or cream |
Sauces and baking |
Low fat plain yogurt |
Mayonnaise or sour
cream |
In salad dressings, tuna or potato salad, dips |
Low fat vanilla yogurt |
Butter and milk
Whipped cream |
Muffins, quick breads, waffles, pancakes, etc.
Fruit salads |
Ground turkey or chicken |
Ground beef |
Chili, taco meat, lasagna, casseroles, etc. |
Canadian bacon or turkey bacon |
Regular bacon |
Sandwiches, soups, etc. |
Ground flax seed
(3 T to 1 T fat) |
Butter, lard, shortening,
or oil |
Muffins, quick breads, waffles, pancakes, etc. |
Olive or canola oils
(¾ cup oil to 1 cup butter) |
Butter |
Sautéing vegetables and in baked goods |
Spraying fine mist of oil |
Pouring oil or butter
into pan |
Sautéing, browning, etc. |
Dried fruit puree
(replace up to 50% of the fat) |
Butter, lard, shortening,
or oil |
Muffins, quick breads, cookies |
Applesauce
(replace up to 100% of fat) |
Butter, lard, shortening,
or oil |
Muffins, quick breads, waffles, pancakes, etc. |
Healthful Additions and Substitutions:
Fiber:
* Use whole grains
* Whole wheat pastry flour in baking
* Brown rice instead of white rice
* Whole grain pasta instead of regular
* Add ground flax seed to your baking, smoothies, cereal, etc.
* Add whole oats to cookies, muffins, quick breads, pancakes, etc.
* Add beans to soups, casseroles, salads, etc.
Fruits:
* Add fruit to drinks (for example, instead of plain orange juice, blend in some berries for a satisfying smoothie)
* Add fruit sauces or purees to baking as previously described
* Top your foods with fruit, such as ice cream, cereal, pancakes & waffles
Vegetables:
* Steam and puree vegetables to “sneak” into foods (for example, add cauliflower to mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes to macaroni and cheese, or butternut squash to spaghetti sauce)
* Add to main dishes, such as lasagna, spaghetti, in hamburger patties, etc.
* Double the vegetable portions, such as in soups and casseroles
Experiment, be healthful, and have fun!
Sample Recipe Modifications:
Traditional Molasses Cookies |
Modified Molasses Cookies |
All-Purpose Unbleached Flour: 4 cups |
All-Purpose Flour 3 cups & 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour |
Brown Sugar : 2 cups packed |
Brown Sugar : 1.5 cups packed |
Dark Molasses : 1 cup |
Dark Molasses : 1 cup |
Eggs : 1 whole |
2 egg whites |
Unsalted Butter : 1 cup |
Butter ½ cup & ½ cup dried prune puree |
Baking Soda : 2 teaspoons |
Baking Soda : 2 teaspoons |
Ground Cinnamon : 1 teaspoon |
Ground Cinnamon : 1 teaspoon |
Ground Glove : 0.5 teaspoon |
Ground Glove : 0.5 teaspoon |
Vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon |
Vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon |
Table Salt : 0.5 teaspoon |
Table Salt : 0.5 teaspoon |
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|
Results:
* 1/3 less fat (from butter reduction and egg yolk elimination)
* 20% less calories (from butter reduction, sugar reduction, and egg yolk elimination)
* 0 mg cholesterol compared to 5 mg in original recipe (from egg yolk elimination)
* added fiber, vitamins & minerals* (from the whole wheat pastry flour and prunes)
*although some of these differences are not reflected in the nutrition facts of one cookie above, they add up when having multiple cookies or when consuming the batch over time
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