6 Food Swaps Any Home Chef Can Master

Modifying meals to meet multiple dietary needs in one household can feel like a perpetual struggle. Even for those living solo, having to come up with substitutions for familiar recipes to better suit current nutritional goals may take more time than can be spared on a daily basis. The five swaps below are simple to execute; plus, they’ll help you not surpass your target exchanges—without sacrificing taste in the process.

1. When needing to “thicken” a sauce or make gravy, while also keeping it gluten-free, use ½ tablespoon arrowroot powder, cornstarch, rice or potato flour in place of 1 tablespoon wheat flour.
2. Mixing equal parts miso paste and tahini, then combining with a splash of water and a dash of rice vinegar, creates a low-cal salad dressing or dip. The base flavor can also be easily altered by adding garlic, ginger and/or mustard when in the mood for a bit of variety.
3. Tofu blended with lemon juice is a low-fat (and dairy-free) alternative to sour cream.
4. If you tend to crave sweet treats at breakfast or for a midday snack, apple butter on toast is a nonfat option that’s more affordable—plus less caloric—than most pastries.
5. To decrease total fat amount, low sodium chicken or veggie broth can be used as a partial (or full) replacement for oil in most entrée recipes.
6. If keeping salt intake to a minimum is a top priority, lemon juice, light miso paste, kelp, low sodium tamari and celery salt are all choices that can be used to make a dish more savory sans the high sodium levels that come with using traditional table salt or soy sauce.

Any other home cooking tips you would add to this list? Drop them in an email to me or in the comments box below.

Revel in the wellness you’ve attained this Wednesday!