Sour cream substitutes:
- Plain low-fat yogurt
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese blended with 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
- Fat-free sour cream
Whipped cream substitutes:
- Chilled, whipped evaporated skim milk
- Nondairy whipped topping made from polyunsaturated fat
Cream substitutes:
- Evaporated skim milk
Whole milk (as a beverage or in recipes) substitutes:
- Skim, 1 percent or 2 percent milk
Full-fat cheese substitutes:
- Low-fat, skim-milk cheese
- Cheese with less than 5 grams of fat per ounce
- Fat-free cheese
Ricotta cheese substitutes:
- Low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese
- Nonfat or low-fat ricotta cheese
Ice cream substitutes:
- Low-fat or nonfat ice cream
- Frozen low-fat or nonfat yogurt
- Frozen fruit juice products
- Sorbet
Ground beef substitutes:
- Extra lean ground beef
- Lean ground turkey or chicken
Bacon substitutes:
- Canadian bacon
- Lean ham
Sausage substitutes:
- Lean ground turkey
- 95% fat-free sausage
Whole egg substitutes:
- Two egg whites
- 1/4 cup cholesterol-free liquid egg product
- 1 egg white plus 2 tsp. oil
- One egg yolk = One egg white
- One egg (as thickener) = 1 tablespoon flour
Mayonnaise substitutes:
- Low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise
- Whipped salad dressing
- Plain low-fat yogurt combined with low-fat cottage cheese
Salad dressing substitutes:
- Low-calorie commercial dressings
- Homemade dressing made with unsaturated oils, water, and vinegar or lemon juice
Cream soup substitutes:
- Defatted broths
- Broth-based or skim milk-based soups
Nut substitutes:
- Dried fruit such as raisins, chopped dried apricots or dried cranberries
Chocolate substitutes:
- 1 ounce baking chocolate = 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon oil
Butter, lard, and other saturated fat (coconut oil, palm oil) substitutes:
- Soft tub margarine (first ingredient on food label listed as liquid vegetable oil)*
- Corn, cottonseed, olive, rapeseed (canola), safflower, sesame, soybean or sunflower oil
*(When cooking, it is better not to substitute reduced-fat margarine or corn oil spreads for regular butter and margarine unless a recipe has been specifically developed for their use. Their increased water content can make a substantial difference in the food's taste, appearance and texture).
