Some of the amazing substitute for vegetable oil includes coconut oil, olive oil, fruit purees, mayonnaise, molten fat, yoghurt and fruit sauce

Are you in the middle of baking a cake and realize that you have run out of vegetable oil? Well do not panic. Vegetable oil is not the only means to cook in your kitchen. There are several alternatives to vegetable oil that can be used. Additionally, before making a choice, one must consider the nutritional value of the substitute for vegetable oil as well.

7 Good Substitute for Vegetable Oil

The type of substitute will depend on your dish and method of cooking. In some dishes, vegetable oil is used for baking, whereas in some dishes vegetable oil is used for pan frying.  There are several options to vegetable oil that comes from different origins but still deliver same results. Listed below are some good substitutes for vegetable oil.

1} Coconut and olive oil

Coconut oil and olive oil are considered to be the best alternatives for vegetable oil as they have numerous health benefits.  It is rich in lauric acids, caprylic acid, myristic acid, and capric acid. Coconut oil resembles the same consistency as vegetable oil but is far healthier than it. Olive oil is rich in HDL lipids which is healthier for our body than vegetable oil. Coconut oil and olive oil are good substitutes for vegetable oil when you are using it for frying purposes.

Health benefits

• Coconut Oil Stabilizes Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels: Although it is a fat, coconut oil can indirectly help control blood sugar and insulin levels. It helps glucose enter your cells, slowing and reducing insulin levels in the blood. The healthy fat in coconut oil slows the digestive process to allow for a steady stream of energy from your food. Other vegetable oils such as soybean, corn and canola oils are made up of long-chain fatty acids which can actually decrease the cells’ ability to absorb blood sugar, and aggravate diabetes or insulin resistance. This is why doctors typically recommend a low-fat diet for diabetics. Coconut oil, consisting of medium-chain fatty acids, is the exception.
• Coconut Oil Lowers Your Risk of Heart Disease: Populations that consume coconut oil have been found to be some of the most heart-healthy. A study done on people in Papua New Guinea (who thrive on coconut oil and other coconut foods) found no signs of stroke or heart attack in the study’s participants, while a study done on Polynesians, who consume over 60% of their total calories from coconut, also showed participants to be in great health, with no evidence of heart disease. Unlike polyunsaturated fatty acid oils, coconut oil does not cause arterial damage. Instead, it helps to lower risk of heart disease and other heart problems.

2} Veggie and fruit purees

If you are looking for a substitute to vegetable oil in baking a dish, then fruit and veggie purees are a wonderful option. These purees help baking dishes and result in a dark rich texture and colour. All you need to do is to adjust the sugar quantity to prevent it from becoming over sweet. If you are baking cakes and cookies, pineapple puree is a wonderful alternative to cooking oil. You can also bake buns and spiced bread with veggie prune purees.

Health benefits

Fruit and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals which keep the body healthy. They also contain chemicals called antioxidants which are thought to protect the body against damaging chemicals.

Read more: 7 Must Have Oils in a Child’s Diet

3} Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is rich in fatty ingredients and is a great substitute to vegetable oil while pan frying or baking meat. You can also use mayonnaise to stir fry vegetables. Mayonnaise imparts a distinct flavour and adds a different taste to the dish. It can be best used in pan frying vegetables, meat, and fish.

Health benefits

Lowers cholesterol: As well as helping with the absorption of all sorts of important minerals and vitamins, the healthy fats in mayonnaise can help lower your cholesterol. “Mayonnaise contains mostly unsaturated fat, from 70% up to 85% of total.

4} Yoghurt (Plain or flavoured),a healthy substitute for vegetable oil

Yoghurt is a wonderful alternative to cooking oil when you are baking dishes like bread. It contains fatty lipids that give the same texture as cooking oil. Most important factor to consider is to reduce the quantity of other fluids while cooking, as yoghurt itself imparts water. Yoghurt can be used to bake banana, cranberry, and zucchini bread.

Health benefits

• It will aid in digestion: If you are one of those who is affected by digestion problems, then it is important to get rid of the toxins from the food that you have eaten. Yogurt helps to digest the other food products and also helps in promoting digestion.
• Yogurt Helps Promote Weight Loss: The good bacteria that are found in yogurt help with digestion and in revving up metabolism. Hence, this helps with fast weight loss.
• Yogurt Helps The Body Become Stronger: Yogurt has natural immune-boosting properties that help the body become stronger. Studies have also revealed that people who take yogurt are stronger and less prone to diseases.

5} Mashed Fruits

If you are using natural ingredients in your baked dishes, then mashed fruits like banana, apple, and pears are a great substitute to vegetable oil. Apple is a versatile fruit and can be added in any dish. Bananas compliment well with baked chocolate dishes. These mashed fruits can also be used to bake onion buns, zucchini breads, and spiced breads. It is ideal for baked foods where the objective is to impart natural flavour.

Health benefits

• A good source of energy: Just l banana, jack fruit and avocado, the durian fruit is high in energy. 100 grams of this fruit provides about 21% of the daily carbohydrate requirement. Being a rich source of carbohydrates, it is helpful in replenishing energy levels.
• Acts as a natural anti-depressant: Studies have proven that low levels of serotonin could actually trigger depression. Durian is naturally rich in Vitamin B6 which is essential for the production of serotonin.

Read more: 21 Summer Fruits for Kids

6} Molten fats

Molten fats such as butter, cheese, lard, and shortening are direct alternatives to vegetable cooking oil as they have similar lipid composition and texture. If you are using molten butter to cook your dish, you must adjust the salt quantities accordingly. Molten fats can be used for both baking and frying. It can be used to make dishes like pastas, pizzas, cakes, biscuits, noodles, and brownies. It can be a great substitute for vegetable oil.

Health benefits

Rich source of calcium: These fats are involved in cellular membranes (50% of the fat make up these structures). These fats help bones absorb calcium, they help give the raw materials for making hormones and essential for the immune system.

7} Fruit sauces

Fruit sauces like cranberry and apple are wonderful substitutes for vegetable oil if you want to give your baked dish a moist and soft texture. Fruit sauces can be used in baking plenty dishes like muffins, cakes, brownies and biscuits.

Health benefits

• Heal the Colon: fruit sauces protects cells from damage that leads to cancer. It also improves the patency of the colon and provides relief from constipation.
• Cleans the Liver: The liver performs a very important function for our body: it cleans all of our internal systems. But sometimes we need to detox the liver itself, and you can do this with fruit sauces!

Substituting Vegetable Oil Is Easy

Vegetable oil is a triglyceride (a form of fat) that is extracted from a plant and used for a variety of culinary, industrial or medicinal purposes. More specifically, this type of oil is limited to those substances that remain a liquid at room temperature. Some of the most common types of vegetable oil are canola oil, cottonseed oil, and peanut oil, as well as combinations like canola, soybean, safflower, and palm oils. Depending on their concentration of fatty acids and antioxidants, some vegetable oils are healthier than others. These oils can be used in many different applications, both culinarily and medicinally. Substituting vegetable oil is extremely easy. The most effective and popular substitutes for vegetable oil include Butter, Margarine, Applesauce, Olive oil, Sesame oil, Coconut oil, Mashed fruit, Greek yogurt, Tofu, Black beans, Mayonnaise and Beets.

How to Substitute Vegetable Oil?

Given that some substitutes can have strong flavors themselves, it is important to choose the right substitutes if you are making more delicate recipes, such as baked goods and sweets.

Example:

Cake: The consistency of cake is key, so if you are lacking vegetable oil, try using applesauce or Greek yogurt, as they are known to be stabilizing for the mixture and will retain the sweetness you want.

Is it better to avoid vegetable oils?

Vegetable oils like sunflower oil, soyabean oil, canola oil, corn oil, sesame oil, and safflower oil are popularly used in every household. These oils are rich in omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Research has suggested that when these oils are consumed in large amounts, it can have harmful implications like cholesterol and inflammation of the joints. It can also cause diseases like diabetes and other cardiovascular disorders. Hence, it is best to search for other healthy alternatives to vegetable oil.

To conclude, vegetable oil alternatives are plenty. The choice of these substitutes depends on the dish you are cooking. Bring these healthy alternatives in to your home and see that you will no longer require vegetable oil for your cooking. Change your style of cooking to a more innovative and healthy approach.

How much cooking oil to use for baking

It is advised to use substitute for vegetable oil but if you must add some oil following are the suggestions.

The daily recommended intake of cooking oil for an adult is about 20g which is about 4 teaspoons. This intake is the same for both males and females. But the quantity differs depending on one’s health and fitness goals.

If you or someone else in your family is on a weight loss diet, they should try and keep the quantity to less than 3 tsp oil per day. Similarly, if a person has any heart condition, then the oil intake further goes down. It should ideally be not more than 2 tsp/day.

The recommended dose for kids is slightly higher. It 5 tsp/day until the age of nine and then it reduces to 4.5 tsp per day.

Tips to cut down on oil

‘The best way to cut down on oil intake is to change the way you prepare food; for example instead of frying, try baking or steaming, Try to get fat from good invisible sources like peanuts, avocados, olives, nuts, seeds like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.’

Now a word about saturated fats

No more than seven percent of your total daily calories should come from saturated fats, according to the American Heart Association. If you consume approximately 2,000 calories per day, that means your saturated fat limit is 16 grams or 140 calories from saturated fat.