8 Healthy Recipe Substitutions

I'm always looking for ways to make recipes healthier.  There are a lot of substitutions out there to make a recipe lighter and more nutritious, but here are a few that I use quite a bit!

Unsweetened Applesauce
Substitute for: Sugar, Oil, or Butter
*Applesauce can provide sweetness with only 100 calories per cup, versus sugar that can have 770 calories per cup. You can use the same amount as you would sugar, but for every cup of applesauce used, reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup.
*Applesauce can also give the right consistency without the extra fat of oil or butter.  You can also use the same amount as you would oil or butter.

Mashed Ripe Banana
Substitute for: Fats
*Mashed bananas have a thick consistency that can be used to replace any fats, and adds nutrients like potassium and fiber to your recipe.  Use the same amount of mashed bananas as you would fat.

Stevia
Substitute for: Sugar
*Stevia is lower in calories and much sweeter than sugar.  Since it's sweeter, a recipe that calls for 1 cup of sugar should only get 1 tsp liquid stevia or 2 tbsp stevia powder.

Rolled Oats
Substitute for: Bread Crumbs
*Using rolled oats will add a whole grain to your recipe.  Breadcrumbs tend to have a lot of sodium.

Egg Whites
Substitute for: Whole eggs
*2 egg whites= 1 egg.  This will double the protein and cut out the cholesterol.

Whole Wheat Flour
Substitute for: All-Purpose flour
*Use whole wheat flour for half the amount of all-purpose flour in a recipe. Whole wheat flour is less dense so it's best for softer recipes like cakes and muffins.  Whole wheat flour contains more fiber and protein.

Greek Yogurt
Substitute for: Sour Cream, Eggs/Oil, Heavy Cream or Milk, and Mayo
*Sour Cream is high in fat, so use greek yogurt instead. It has less than half the calories, no fat, almost triple the protein and almost half the carbs of reduced fat sour cream.
*Instead of using eggs and oil in a baked good recipe, substitute 1 cup plain greek yogurt and 1 cup of water
*Instead of using heavy cream or milk in stove-top dishes such as soups, mashed potoatoes, pasta, etc., use greek yogurt but don't add the yogurt until the dish has been taken off the heat.
*For tuna, maccaroni salads, and potato salads, use greek yogurt instead of mayo (1:1 ratio). It honestly tastes even better!

Black Beans
Substitute for: Flour
*Use Black Bean puree instead of flour (1:1 ratio) to reduce calories and add fiber.  But use it in darker recipes like brownies and cookies because it makes the batter darker!