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How to adapt your recipes
Follow these suggestions for simple, healthier food:
How to lower the fat content
| Ingredient | Replace with |
|---|---|
| Full cream milk | Reduced or non-fat milk |
| Full cream evaporated milk | Low fat or lite evaporated milk |
| Yoghurt | Low fat or diet yoghurt |
| Cream |
Low fat or lite evaporated milk Low fat yoghurt |
| Sour cream | Low fat yoghurt, small amounts of reduced fat sour cream |
| Coconut cream |
Low fat evaporated milk plus coconut essence Lite coconut milk or dilute the coconut cream |
| Cream cheese | Ricotta or cottage cheese |
| Regular cheese | Lower fat hard cheese such as Edam (25%) |
| Butter | Mono/polyunsaturated margarine and vegetable oil eg canola or olive oil |
| Cooked chicken with skin on | Remove chicken skin. Cook chicken on a cake rack |
| Fatty meats | Lean meat - remove visible fat |
| Streaky bacon | Middle eye rasher |
| Fried food | Grill or microwave food |
| Luncheon meat | 97% fat free ham |
| Tuna or salmon in oil | Tuna or salmon in brine or spring water |
| Puff and regular pastry | Filo pastry and spray with a small amount of oil |
How to lower salt or sodium
| Ingredient | Replace with |
|---|---|
| Salt in cooking | Lemon juice, curry powder, spices |
| Canned vegetables and sauces | No added salt varieties, fresh or frozen |
| Canned or smoked fish | Fresh fish or canned in spring water |
| Corned meats | Fresh meats |
| Soy sauce | Lite soy sauce |
| Tomato sauce | Lite tomato sauce |
How to lower sugar
| Ingredient | Replace with |
|---|---|
| Sugar | Reduce quantity of sugar, or use artificial sweetner |
How to increase fibre
| Ingredient | Replace with |
|---|---|
| White flour | Wholegrain or wholemeal flour |
| Refined cereal (cornflakes) | Wholegrain and bran types |
| White rice | Brown rices, Dongarra |
| Plain pasta | Wholemeal pasta |
| Peeled or boiled vegetables | Unpeeled or raw vegetables |
| White bread crumbs | Wholemeal bread crumbs |