Low Fat Cooking Hints
Choosing Chicken
Chicken breast is the best piece of the chicken to use, as it is the lowest in fat. Chicken breast can be used in any recipe, instead of thigh, leg etc. The only difference is it has a tendancy to dry out quicker, so you may need to reduce the cooking time.
(Date published: 7/03/2011)
Coconut Cream
Coconut creams are very high in fat. Lower fat varieties are available, but these can still be considerably high in fat per serving. Instead of coconut milk, use evaporated milk and coconut essence. You will need to add this at the very end of your cooking. It tastes like the real thing with a minimal amount of fat.
(Date published: 7/03/2011)
Coleslaw Dressing
Coleslaw dressings turn a healthy salad into a high fat meal. Low fat coleslaw dressings are availble, but can often still have a fairly high fat content. To cut the fat, use 97% fat free mayonnaise with a little non fat milk and 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar. It taste good and is very low in fat.
(Date published: 7/03/2011)
Mince
Mince is one of the higher fat meat choices. Cutting the fat in mince starts in the supermarket. Choose mince that is 'low fat', 'heart smart' or 'five star'. These labels will indicate the mince is the lower fat choice. They may cost slightly more, but the price is worth it for your health.
(Date published: 7/03/2011)
Stir Frying
Stir fry recipes often include large amounts of oil to fry the meat and vegetables. All this oil leads to a very high fat and kigh calorie stir fry, and is not needed. One tablespoon of oil is more than enough to stir fry meat and vegetables. Even better is to eliminate the oil completely. Use 2-3 tablespoons of water when browning meat. Throw in some sliced onion and garlic to add flavour. Flavoured stock can be uses instead of water for extra flavour.
(Date published: 7/03/2011)
Bacon
Use lean middle eye rasher, turkey bacon or lean leg ham as a substitute for fatty bacon in cooking. If you have regular bacon, trim of the fat before cooking. After cooking, lay it on a paper towel to drain any excess oil and fat.
(Date published: 21/02/2010)
Cream Cheese
To reduce the fat in a recipe that requires cream cheese, choose a low fat cream cheese variety. There are many options available, such as 30%, 60% and 80% less fat. Ricotta is also another good alternative.
(Date published: 21/02/2010)
Add a little spice (& herbs) to your life!
Spices & herbs can add interest and variety to food without adding calories.
(Date published: 9/02/2002)