Ingredient Substitutions For Healthier Recipes

Although there are countless delicious savory meals and sweet desserts, sometimes they can contain too much fat, sugar, and other ingredients unsuitable for particular diets or someone’s dietary restrictions. In any case, many individuals believe they cannot have the food they want as often as they would like, or even at all because it is not as healthy as it should be for their wants and needs. However, this is a mistaken belief. There are many ways to incorporate these indulgent desserts and comforting meals into diets more often. It comes down to key ingredient substitutions to help make each meal a little healthier.

Instead Of Ground Beef

Ground beef is an incredibly popular ingredient in many savory dishes, from pasta sauces and meatballs to shepherd’s pie and tacos. However, it often packs in more fat than strictly necessary. Furthermore, red meat is considered a controversial food and many believe it can cause quite a bit of harm to those who eat it in excess.

The good news, however, is everyone can still consume their favorite recipes that call for ground beef without actually using ground beef if they want to boost the meal’s health. Specifically, they can substitute ground chicken or turkey in for the ground beef. Although some may claim it will taste different, the majority of the time it comes down to spices. With the right spices, most will be unable to tell the difference between ground chicken or turkey and ground beef.

Instead Of Eggs

Even in a dish as simple as scrambled eggs, many recipes do not require the whole egg or even any egg at all in many instances. For scrambled eggs, individuals can use just egg whites and leave out the yolk. For baked goods such as muffins, cakes, and cookies, chia seeds, bananas, applesauce, and even ground flaxseed can be used instead of eggs. Specific amounts are one tablespoon of chia seeds and one cup water, one tablespoon flaxseed and three tablespoons water, ¼ cup of mashed banana, or ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce for each egg you may wish to substitute. Savory dishes with egg are harder to substitute, but the usual standby is to use egg whites instead of the whole egg or even try flaxseed and water in small amounts.