Butter Substitute

Butter is like a vital part of our daily breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as supper! How can the day begin without brown bread (diet conscious, you see!) with thickly laid two layers of butter! Diet conscious people convincingly forget about the calories in butter when they opt for brown bread instead of normal bread. One of the major reasons for it is that, no one thinks that something can actually substitute butter, in taste and form. But it is not so, there are a number of substitutes for butter, which can substitute butter in calories at least, if not in taste. In the following write up, you will find not one butter substitute, but many, so you can choose any of the substitutes that suits your taste. Read on butter ingredients.

List of Butter Substitutes

As stated earlier, there are many substitutes for butter, but you should choose according to the requirements, as different substitutes taste better with certain ingredients only.

Olive Oil
One cannot easily imagine olive oil to be a substitute of butter, but it is a fact that olive oil is one of the best butter substitute. Another reason why I am placing olive oil on the top place is that olive oil can replace butter, in case of bread. Olive oil is definitely healthier than butter, as it contains monounsaturated fats which help to reduce LDL level in the human body. Though olive oil is not less in calories, research has shown that regular intake of olive oil can help to reduce weight, as it is thought to breakdown the stored fat. You can make an olive oil dip for bread by adding certain spices to it.

Margarine
Margarine is one of the oldest butter substitute, mainly because some of it tastes a bit like butter. Margarine does not contain cholesterol and polyunsaturated fats, as well as monounsaturated fat, which makes it healthier than butter. But one should select margarine very carefully, as some of it may contain such ingredients that may be doubly harmful than butter! Margarine which contains least amount of trans fat, is the healthiest. It can also be used as a butter substitute for cookies also. Read more on sugar cookies without butter.

Fruit Purees
Fruit purees can also work as butter substitute for certain recipes. Homemade apple sauce can work as a butter substitute in baking, specially in case of sweet recipes, as it will add sweetness to the recipe, so you can easily cut down the amount of sugar. Purees of other fruits like pineapple, banana, etc. can be used. ½ a cup of fruit puree is a sufficient substitute for one cup of butter.

Coconut Butter
It does not taste at all like butter, but it is very much healthier than it. It might be a bit difficult to get adjusted to the taste, but it is quite healthy and also tasty, so why not give it a try! Another advantage of coconut butter is that, you can add it to almost any recipe!

Vegetable Oil Spreads
Vegetable oil spreads can work as a butter substitute for bread topping or other food toppings, muffins, crackers, etc. It contains very less calories as compared to butter. You can also use vegetable oil spreads for baking, but see to it that the spreads contain 50% less oil if you are cooking something like pastas or any cheese dish because of the high moisture content in these food stuffs.

Light or Whipped Butter
Whipped or light butter contains less calories than normal butter and so it can be used as a butter substitute. It also tastes like butter, so you don't have to miss your favorite food!

This was all about butter substitutes. Few other things like soy spreads, hummus, cooking oil, safflower oil and nutritional yeast can also be used to substitute butter. So with so many butter substitutes at hand, you can start preparing all those delicious dishes which were kept at bay, due to to the fear of cholesterol and calories!