Replace oil: With these tips you save calories

Vivi makes it easy
Replace oil: These are the best alternatives

Oil is one of those staples that are likely to be found in just about every kitchen. We need it for baking, use oil for frying or cooking. But what do you do when you run out of oil? I’ll tell you how you can replace oil and share my tricks with which you can save unnecessary calories when cooking.

What can be used as a substitute for oil?

Oil is primarily fat. We use it for frying so our food doesn’t stick to the pan and gives it a nice crunch. When baking, it ensures a soft and juicy dough. Because oil binds moisture, which means that the baked product stays fresh for longer. In addition, edible oil – i.e. fat in general – is an important flavor carrier. Many dishes just don’t taste half as good without the use of fat. So it’s no wonder that donuts, chips, fries and the like taste so delicious. So if you run out of oil, you can replace it for a delicious end result.

Substitute oil when baking:

Since the role of oil in baking, as described earlier, is to provide moisture, you can use one of the oil alternatives above for all sweet baked goods. If you’re baking bread or rolls, I recommend using butter, margarine, or coconut oil.

Substitute oil when cooking:

When it comes to cooking, it depends a bit on what you want to prepare. For liquid or creamy sauces, soups, and stews, you can use any of the alternatives above. To give noodles a little more flavor, you can mix in some butter or margarine after cooking, I recommend coconut oil for curries. It gets more difficult when deep-frying, because you need a large amount of oil and it can also be heated to a high temperature. This property is provided by clarified butter and coconut oil. Both are hard when cold and only become liquid when heated, but can then be heated up to 210 degrees.

Replace oil in salads

For salads, you can make dressings out of some cream, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, or avocado.

What can you use instead of oil for frying?

When roasting, we have a similar situation as when deep-frying. Fat for frying should be highly heatable. This is why butter and margarine are not good for frying. Their smoke point is already reached at 175 degrees and this is exceeded when frying at high levels. Butter and margarine then tend to burn. So only use these alternatives for low to medium temperatures.

The following fats are excellent for frying:

Vivi’s top tip: save calories by frying without fat

When it comes to replacing oil, we can also talk about the circumstances under which oil can simply be left out. Because you can also cook without oil and save a few calories. Doesn’t that sound fantastic?

Tip number 1: Use a well-coated pan for frying. Then you usually don’t need any more oil, because nothing sticks. Minced meat, fried or scrambled eggs, vegetables and meat can be prepared wonderfully in this way.

Tip number 2: Use sparkling mineral water as you would oil for frying. Sounds crazy, but works great when roasting meat and fish, for example.

Tip number 3: Instead of frying food in a pan, you can also cook it in the oven or in an air fryer. This works great with fish fingers, fries or vegetables. Meat can be prepared in the oven in a roasting tube or Roman pot, this way enough liquid gets into the meat and ensures tender juiciness without a drop of oil.

How do I convert oil to butter?

There is a simple formula for this that I recommend. Always calculate oil in 0.8:1 ratio in butter. In other words: 80 grams of oil correspond to 100 grams of butter.

Bridget