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It seems as if everyone is into clean eating these days, and for good reason. The health benefits of eating clean are numerous and can include a reduction in cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.
Clean eating isn’t about being on a restrictive diet that cuts out entire food groups. It’s about reducing the amount of overprocessed and unhealthy foods from your diet by eating foods in a more natural or whole state.
You can take one easy step toward cleaning up your diet by replacing unhealthy fats with Greek yogurt. Not all Greek yogurt brands are minimally processed, so stick with brands such as Chobani, Oikos or Stoneyfield and always use the plain variety to avoid added sugar.
According to Stoneyfield, you can sub yogurt for sour cream, butter, mayonnaise, heavy cream, oil and buttermilk. Chobani even recommends subbing yogurt in for cream cheese. The amounts per each type of substitute vary; read on to find out more about to cook and bake with Greek yogurt.
Sour Cream
When subbing yogurt in for sour cream, use the exact same amount of yogurt as you would sour cream. To more closely resemble the texture and taste of sour cream, steer clear of nonfat yogurt because it contains thickeners which can change the taste and consistency. Whip up this refreshing cucumber salad.
Butter
When it comes to butter, the substitute ratio depends on the amount of butter that the recipe calls for. Yogurt has more moisture than butter, so anything over 1 cup should be split into half yogurt and half butter. If the recipe calls for less than one cup of butter, feel free to substitute equal amounts of yogurt. Bake up this decadent chocolate cake.
Mayonnaise
Mayo is delicious and creamy but not good for your health. It contains too little nutrients and too much fat. Feel free to swap out all the mayonnaise your recipe calls for with plain yogurt. Your arteries will thank you. Mix up this healthy tuna salad.
Heavy Cream
All the heavy cream a recipe calls for can be swapped out with yogurt. In any dish that calls for cream, you can use yogurt, but heat will play a factor in your preparation. To prevent curdling, either remove the dish from heat before adding the yogurt or slowly heat the dish up to a low temperature. Yogurt adds a twist to this spaghetti sauce recipe.
Oil
You can cut the oil in your recipe by three-quarters. If the recipe calls for 1 cup of oil, sub in three-quarters of a cup of yogurt and use only one-quarter cup of oil. Check out this oil-free blueberry muffin recipe.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk can be cut by one-third in a recipe by swapping in yogurt. If you need to completely substitute buttermilk, use three-quarters of a cup of Greek yogurt and one-quarter cup of milk. Try this yogurty spin on buttermilk biscuits.
Cream Cheese
Feel free to substitute yogurt for cream cheese 1:1 in a recipe or simply reduce the fat and calorie load by subbing part out. This chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipe uses part cream cheese and part yogurt to make the dessert nearly guilt-free.
Clean eating doesn’t have to be boring or tasteless, as these recipes prove. You can still enjoy rich desserts and creamy dressings without all the unhealthy fat by using Greek yogurt instead.