20 Unique Healthy Food Alternatives

Want to eat healthier but don’t want to get rid of those delectable recipes you like to use? It may seem difficult to eat healthy when recipes you like call for more fatty, unhealthy ingredients. It is a lot easier to cook and eat more healthy than you would think. Many ingredients can be substituted for more healthy choices. For example, butter can be substituted for applesauce in a brownie recipe. The applesauce will keep the brownie soft and moist, like the butter, while still giving it good flavor. If the applesauce is sweetened, you could even put in less sugar. Although some ingredients cannot be substituted straight across you can still substitute part, to make the recipe more healthy. But how do you know what can be substituted for those unhealthy ingredients? I have put together a list 20 unique healthy food alternatives to those unhealthy ingredients. Because of the difficulty of knowing the proportions to use when substituting, I included the ratio of healthy ingredients that can be substituted for unhealthy ingredients. I have also included a few recipes from my other blog posts, where more healthy ingredients are incorporated. Hope you find this list helpful in your search for more healthy alternatives!

To learn more: My Natural Family

• 1 cup butter, shortening or oil = 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup butter = 1 cup of a not very ripe banana or 1 cup mashed avocado
• Cooking spray = 1 Tbsp olive oil, coconut oil or avocado oil
• 1 Tbsp. sugar = 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar = 3/4 cup honey, in baking, reduce liquids by 1/4 and mix in 1/4 tsp baking soda (if baking soda is not already included) for every cup of honey used. Food will brown faster as it bakes so watch the amount of time it bakes in the oven.
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream = 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips = 1 cup carob chips
• 1 cup white flour = 1 cup black bean puree
• 1 large egg = 1 Tbsp chia seeds and 3 Tbsp water
• 1 cup pasta = 1 cup spaghetti squash, zucchini, shredded cabbage, ribboned eggplant or bean sprouts
• 1 cup cooked rice = 1 cup grated steamed cauliflower, cooked quinoa, cooked barley or cooked millet
• 1 cup mashed potatoes = 1 cup mashed cauliflower, celery root, parsnip or carrot
• 1 cup cream = 1 cup Greek yogurt or coconut milk
• 1 cup sour cream = 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tortilla = 1 large leaf of lettuce
• 1 Tbsp. mayo or Miracle Whip = 1 Tbsp. greek yogurt, mashed avocado, olive oil, hummus, pesto, mustard, cottage cheese or almond butter. These alternatives are great for spreads on sandwiches!
• 1 cup of uncooked quick oats or oatmeal = 1 cup of uncooked millet, barley, quinoa, amaranth or spelt
• Canola oil = Greek yogurt Cut the oil in half and add ¾ cup of yogurt for every cup of oil that you remove from the recipe.
• Frosting = whipped cream, fresh fruit, fruit glaze or homemade pudding. Use as much as desired.
• Creamed soups = mashed potato flakes or pureed carrots, add as much as desired to broth for a creamy consistency.