Sour cream substitutes:

• Plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese blended with 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• Fat-free sour cream

Whipped cream substitutes:

• Chilled, whipped evaporated skim milk
• Nondairy whipped topping made from polyunsaturated fat

Cream substitutes:

• Evaporated skim milk

Whole milk (as a beverage or in recipes) substitutes:

• Skim, 1 percent or 2 percent milk

Full-fat cheese substitutes:

• Low-fat, skim-milk cheese
• Cheese with less than 5 grams of fat per ounce
• Fat-free cheese

Ricotta cheese substitutes:

• Low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese
• Nonfat or low-fat ricotta cheese

Ice cream substitutes:

• Low-fat or nonfat ice cream
• Frozen low-fat or nonfat yogurt
• Frozen fruit juice products
• Sorbet

Ground beef substitutes:

• Extra lean ground beef
• Lean ground turkey or chicken

Bacon substitutes:

• Canadian bacon
• Lean ham

Sausage substitutes:

• Lean ground turkey
• 95% fat-free sausage

Whole egg substitutes:

• Two egg whites
• 1/4 cup cholesterol-free liquid egg product
• 1 egg white plus 2 tsp. oil
• One egg yolk = One egg white
• One egg (as thickener) = 1 tablespoon flour

Mayonnaise substitutes:

• Low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise
• Whipped salad dressing
• Plain low-fat yogurt combined with low-fat cottage cheese

Salad dressing substitutes:

• Low-calorie commercial dressings
• Homemade dressing made with unsaturated oils, water, and vinegar or lemon juice

Cream soup substitutes:

• Defatted broths
• Broth-based or skim milk-based soups

Nut substitutes:

• Dried fruit such as raisins, chopped dried apricots or dried cranberries

Chocolate substitutes:

• 1 ounce baking chocolate = 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon oil

Butter, lard, and other saturated fat (coconut oil, palm oil) substitutes:

• Soft tub margarine (first ingredient on food label listed as liquid vegetable oil)*
• Corn, cottonseed, olive, rapeseed (canola), safflower, sesame, soybean or sunflower oil

  *(When cooking, it is better not to substitute reduced-fat margarine or corn oil spreads for regular butter and margarine unless a recipe has been specifically developed for their use. Their increased water content can make a substantial difference in the food's taste, appearance and texture).

Source: The American Dietetic Association's Complete Food & Nutrition Guide by Roberta Larson Duyff, MS, RD, CFCS