Top 5 Healthier Cooking Techniques

Choosing healthy ingredients is just the start. How you cook your foods is vitally important to developing satisfying flavor while keeping added fat (which can rack up excess calories) in check. The good news? You’re probably already familiar with most of these techniques, and you probably already have all the kitchen equipment you need.

Baking in Parchment Paper

By folding your ingredients (fish is most common) into a parchment parcel and then baking it, you’ll seal in juices — and that means moist and delicious results as well (and just about no washing up!). It’s a super-simple technique, and since your food steams, added fat isn’t needed. Your packet holds in all the juices of the foods, which helps keep many of the water-soluble vitamins in your food. Once your packet has been opened and cooled for a sec, serve the juices over brown rice, quinoa, etc.

Try it:

• Parchment Baked Salmon with Lemon and Basil opens in a new tab

• How to Cook: Fish in Parchment opens in a new tab

• Simple Parchment-Roasted Turkey Breast opens in a new tab

Grilling

The intense heat of grilling builds flavor quickly, but it also does a few things to make your food leaner. Fat melts and drips away from food, and since there is limited contact between your food and the cooking surface you’ll need little (if any) added fat to keep it from sticking. A relatively short cooking time and lack of liquid to means ingredients like vegetables retain more of their nutrients opens in a new tab. You can make it a year-round cooking technique by using a stove-top grill pan.

Try it:

• Spicy Grilled Peach and Chicken Kebabs opens in a new tab

• Spicy Jerk Flank Steak opens in a new tab

• Grilled Veggie and Goat Cheese Wraps opens in a new tab

• Grilled Pineapple with Balsamic Honey Glaze opens in a new tab

Steaming     

Steaming vegetables keeps them crunchy and vibrantly colored and helps to preserve their nutrients opens in a new tab, making them highlights of a meal, not just an afterthought. As a bonus, steaming creates an entirely non-stick environment, which means added fat is unnecessary even with very lean proteins like fish and chicken breast.

Try it:

• Lemongrass-Steamed Barramundi opens in a new tab

• Flash Steamed Red Snapper opens in a new tab

• Lemongrass and Ginger Tea Steamed Vegetables opens in a new tab

Steam Frying

A sauté substitute for healthier skillet dinners? Try steam frying. This innovative technique skips the oil and starts by adding veggies to a hot pan. As you cook, add small amounts of liquid while stirring to help foods caramelize without sticking or burning. You can use just plain water for your liquid, or get more flavor from coconut water, broth (homemade is tastiest and usually lower in sodium), fruit or vegetable juices and even beer and wine.

Try it:

• Whole Wheat Pasta with Mushrooms, White Beans and Arugula opens in a new tab

• Buffalo Chili opens in a new tab

• Turkey Sloppy Janes opens in a new tab

• Shrimp and Pineapple over Coconut Rice opens in a new tab

Roasting

Roasting is a classic method for intensifying the flavor of foods, and it can also be a mouth-wateringly lower calorie one. High heat means foods develop a lightly caramelized exterior for deep, robust flavor. Minimal oil or no oil is required, so you can drizzle on some aromatic olive oil or nut oil afterwards for added flavor.

Try it:

• Tuna Bites with Tahini-Yogurt Dipping Sauce opens in a new tab,

• Roasted Fish and Veggies with Quinoa and Pine Nuts opens in a new tab

• Oven Roasted Tofu opens in a new tab

• Roasted Root Vegetables opens in a new tab

• Roasted Kale Chips with Parmigiano Reggiano opens in a new tab.

Discover even more opens in a new tab expert tips and tricks, recipe ideas and video how-tos: Eat Real Food®