Yogurt For Sour Cream And 7 Other Healthy Food Swaps

Eating a healthy diet can be exhausting — and sometimes not that tasty. This is especially true if you are cutting out your favorite foods for diet meals and desserts. But luckily, there are a few tricks and ingredient swaps that you can easily make to eat healthy while still enjoying your favorite recipes. We've rounded up our top favorite healthy food swaps that you can incorporate into your meals and baked goods.

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These swaps are not only healthier, but also great for preserving the taste of your favorite foods. You can easily substitute ground turkey in any ground beef recipe and still get the same delicious and juicy burger or chili. Replace buttery, salty croutons with dry-roasted nuts. You'll be satisfying your crunch craving while saving yourself from added sugar and fat.

Instead of desserts high in butter, oil, and sugar, there are a few healthy baking swaps that can easily be adapted to a wide variety of recipes. Mashed fruit like avocados and bananas make perfect substitutions for butter in baked goods. Plus, your pound cake might have a green tint, which will make for a fun presentation.

After eliminating certain foods from your diet and eating healthier options, you'll be left with more energy and not feel so weighted down after eating. Start the summer off right and incorporate these healthier foods into your favorite recipes.

Nonfat Yogurt

Try swapping in nonfat yogurt for mayonnaise and sour cream, or spoon Greek yogurt over your tacos instead of a dollop of heavy sour cream. Yogurt can also be used in mayonnaise-based dressings like potato salad or pasta salad. You can also use yogurt in baked goods that call for sour cream.

Bananas

Try using mashed bananas instead of added sugar and fat in baked goods. We recommend using brown and overly ripe bananas for extra sweet and banana flavoring. Using fruit can cut down on the sugar and added butter used in many baked goods. Just remember that mashed bananas hold extra moisture so use less liquid in the rest of your recipe.

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Emily Jacobs is the Recipe editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @EmilyRecipes.