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Low-Calorie, Lower Fat Alternative Foods

These low-calorie alternatives provide new ideas for old favorites. When making a food choice, remember to consider vitamins and minerals. Some foods provide most of their calories from sugar and fat but give you few, if any, vitamins and minerals.

This guide is not meant to be an exhaustive list. We encourage you to read labels to find out just how many calories are in the specific products you decide to buy.

Dairy Products

Higher Fat Foods	Lower Fat Alternative
Evaporated whole milk	Evaporated fat-free (skim) or reduced-fat (2%) milk
Whole milk	Low-fat (1%), reduced-fat (2%), or fat-free (skim) milk
Ice cream	Sorbet, sherbet, low-fat or fat-free frozen yogurt, or ice cream
Whipping cream	Imitation whipped cream (made with fat-free [skim] milk)
Sour cream	Plain low-fat yogurt
Cream cheese	Neufchatel or "light" cream cheese or fat-free cream cheese
Cheese (cheddar, Swiss, jack)	Reduced-calorie cheese, low-calorie processed cheeses, etc. Fat-free cheese
American cheese	Fat-free American cheese or other types of fat-free cheeses
Regular (4%) cottage cheese	Low-fat (1%) or reduced-fat (2%) cottage cheese
Whole milk mozzarella cheese	Part-skim milk, low-moisture mozzarella cheese
Whole milk ricotta cheese	Part-skim milk ricotta cheese
Coffee cream (½ and ½) or nondairy creamer (liquid, powder)	Low-fat (1%) or reduced-fat (2%) milk or fat-free dry milk powder

Cereals, Grains, and Pastas

Higher Fat Foods	Lower Fat Alternative
Ramen noodles	Rice or noodles (spaghetti, macaroni, etc.)
Pasta with white sauce (alfredo)	Pasta with red sauce (marinara)
Pasta with cheese sauce	Pasta with vegetables (primavera)
Granola	Bran flakes, crispy rice, etc. Cooked grits or oatmeal Reduced-fat granola

Meat, Fish, and Poultry

Higher Fat Foods	Lower Fat Alternative
Coldcuts or lunch meats (bologna, salami, liverwurst, etc.)	Low-fat coldcuts (95 to 97% fat-free lunch meats, low-fat pressed meats)
Hot dogs (regular)	Lower fat hot dogs
Bacon or sausage	Canadian bacon or lean ham
Regular ground beef	Extra-lean ground beef such as ground round or ground turkey (read labels)
Chicken or turkey with skin, duck, or goose	Chicken or turkey without skin (white meat)
Oil-packed tuna	Water-packed tuna (rinse to reduce sodium content)
Beef (chuck, rib, brisket)	Beef (round, loin) (trimmed of external fat) (choose select grades)
Pork (spareribs, untrimmed loin)	Pork tenderloin or trimmed, lean smoked ham
Frozen breaded fish or fried fish (homemade or commercial)	Fish or shellfish, unbreaded (fresh, frozen, canned in water)
Whole eggs	Egg whites or egg substitutes
Frozen TV dinners containing more than 13 grams of fat per serving	Frozen TV dinners containing less than 13 grams of fat per serving and lower in sodium
Chorizo sausage	Turkey sausage, drained well (read label) Vegetarian sausage (made with tofu)

Baked Goods

Higher Fat Foods	Lower Fat Alternative
Croissants, brioches, etc.	Hard french rolls or soft brown ’n serve rolls
Donuts, sweet rolls, muffins, scones, or pastries	English muffins, bagels, reduced-fat or fat-free muffins or scones (choose lowest calorie variety)
Party crackers	Low-fat crackers (choose lowest in sodium) Saltine or soda crackers (choose lowest in sodium)
Cake (pound, chocolate, yellow)	Cake (angel food, white, gingerbread)
Cookies	Reduced-fat or fat-free cookies (graham crackers, ginger snaps, fig bars) (choose lowest calorie variety)

Snacks and Sweets

Higher Fat Foods	Lower Fat Alternative
Nuts	Popcorn (air-popped or light microwave), fruits, vegetables
Ice cream, e.g., cones or bars	Frozen yogurt, frozen fruit or chocolate pudding bars
Custards or puddings (made with whole milk)	Puddings (made with skim milk)

Fats, Oils, and Salad Dressings

Higher Fat Foods	Lower Fat Alternative
Regular margarine or butter	Light spread margarines, diet margarine, or whipped butter, tub or squeeze bottle
Regular mayonnaise	Light or diet mayonnaise or mustard
Regular salad dressings	Reduced-calorie or fat-free salad dressings, lemon juice, or plain, herb flavored, or wine vinegar
Butter or margarine on toast or bread	Jelly, jam, or honey on bread or toast
Oils, shortening, or lard	Nonstick cooking spray for stir-frying or sautéing As a substitute for oil or butter, use applesauce or prune puree in baked goods

Miscellaneous

Higher Fat Foods	Lower Fat Alternative
Canned cream soups	Canned broth-based soups
Canned beans and franks	Canned baked beans in tomato sauce
Gravy (homemade with fat and/or milk)	Gravy mixes made with water or homemade with the fat skimmed off and fat-free milk
Fudge sauce	Chocolate syrup
Avocado on sandwiches	Cucumber slices or lettuce leaves
Guacamole dip or refried beans with lard	Salsa

Healthy Weight Tip

Replacing high calorie/high fat foods with lower fat/lower calorie choices is a great way to lose or maintain weight and build healthy lifetime habits. Some changes can be made gradually. For example, start by replacing whole milk with 2 percent milk, then gradually make the switch to 1 percent or fat-free (skim) milk.

Looking for easy-to-use information for losing and maintaining weight?

The Aim for a Healthy Weight booklet includes portion and serving size information, sample reduced calorie menus, tips on dining out, a sample walking program, a weekly food and activity diary, and more.