Low Fat Cooking: 7 Tips to Make Your Favorite Recipes Lower in Fat

You can make your favorite recipes lower in fat and calories with a few simple substitutions. Here are seven tips to help you adapt any recipe to your new low fat lifestyle.

1. The first step is to take all of your recipes and make a note of the high fat ingredients. These can include whole milk, butter, margarine, cheese, sour cream, oil and eggs. Make a note of what needs to be substituted and then start to adapt the recipe.

Start making your substitutions slowly. It is going to take a little bit of time to master the art of low-fat cooking. Try substituting half of the low fat options at first and see how the dish tastes. If you are able to reduce the fat without sacrificing flavor, then try to eliminate a little more fat the next time around.

2. If your recipe calls for eggs, you can use low-fat egg substitute. Egg substitutes are available by the carton at your local grocery store. Use 1/4 cup of egg substitute for one egg. You can also reduce the fat by using egg whites instead of the whole egg, however this changes the composition of your dish slightly.

3. Make an easy switch from whole milk to low-fat or fat-free milk. If you're drinking whole milk on a daily basis or using it for your cereal, you should be making this switch anyway to follow the rules of your low-fat way of eating. If you are accustomed to using whole fat milk, first switch to 2% milk and then work down to fat free milk eventually. This way you can become accustomed to the taste of the lower fat varieties.

4. Mayonnaise, sour cream and cheese can all be substituted with lower fat versions of the same products. Use the same amount that you would with the high fat varieties. Low-fat plain yogurt also makes a great substitute for sour cream. When it comes to cheese, keep in mind that low-fat cheese doesn't melt as well as regular cheese. You may need to adjust your baking time.

5. Eliminate excess butter and oil by using cooking spray to prepare eggs and other items in a frying pan. You can save a lot of fat calories this way and will hardly recognize the difference. The clean up after using cooking spray is a lot easier as well.

6. You can also eliminate butter and oil in sweet baked goods by using applesauce. Use a cup of applesauce or pureed fruit for every cup of oil or butter required in the recipe. You can experiment with different flavor combinations and come up with many varieties of your favorite baked goods.

7. Your meat choices can also play a big part in how much fat a dish contains. Use extra lean ground beef (such as 97% fat free) instead of the full fat variety. Try substituting ground turkey for beef for an even lower fat option. If you aren't a fan of the flavor of ground turkey, try mixing the ground beef and the ground turkey together.

By using these simple substitutions, you can easily reduce the fat in your diet. The flavors of your dishes won't change a whole lot but your waistline will thank you.