Help me lighten up my favorite recipe

kellyjheath4221
kellyjheath4221 Posts: 14 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My nana and my mom made this when I was growing up; it’s a family favorite. I’m not really sure how I could lighten it up without changing the flavor too much. The stuffing is my favorite part... but Pepperidge farm’s stuffing is 160 kcal for 1.5 oz :'(

1 1/2 lbs yellow summer squash
1 1/2 lbs zucchini
Salt & pepper to taste
1 medium onion, grated
1 large carrot, grated
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb seasoned stuffing

Replies

  • Terytha
    Terytha Posts: 2,097 Member
    Low fat sour cream and margarine instead of butter are my initial thoughts.
  • echmain3
    echmain3 Posts: 231 Member
    Indeed. Don’t ruin it just so you can have more of it.

    Figure out the calorie payload and plan accordingly.

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    Several people have mentioned lower sodium versions of the cream of chicken soup, but since to me "lighten up" means fewer calories, I'd suggest looking for a reduced fat version of cream of chicken soup.

    You could try making your own herbed bread cubes to see if you can cut the calories, but there's only so much that can be done to cut the calories. You might be able to reduce the stuffing calories by about a third if you use a low-calorie bread and don't add any fat when you toast the cubes in the oven.

    But really, I agree with those who say to just make it the way you remember and control your calories through portion size. If this is what you love, eat less of other things you don't love so much the day you have it.
  • Alice_in_VVonderland
    Alice_in_VVonderland Posts: 67 Member
    Instead of using cream of chicken soup, just use diced chicken, and maybe some low sodium chicken broth. There's already sour cream and butter to give it a creamy texture, even if you switch that to light SC and margarine.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    One thing that I've done that worked with some recipes that used sour cream. I bought plain greek yogurt. Then put it in a coffee filter in the fridge for a few hours/overnight, over a bowl - some of the liquid will drain out. Then I subbed it for sour cream. It will tend to have the texture of cream cheese if you leave it long enough, but you can check it every couple hours to try and get sour cream texture.

    It's about a third the calories.

    It doesn't always sub right, kind of depends on the recipe, but with some recipes, it worked quite well. :-)

    And this is a discussion trying to replicate the Pepperidge farm stuffing from scratch - not sure if it is lower in cal, but it might be worth exploring. :-)
    https://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2009/11/homemade-pepperidge-farm-stuffing.html
  • SouthernNights
    SouthernNights Posts: 17 Member
    Trader Joe's has an amazing cauliflower stuffing!! Its in the frozen section. That could replace the pepperidge farm.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I am guessing the vegetables are sauteed in the butter. I would soften them in the microwave instead. You will need to do them individually. With this you can lose the butter entirely.

    I would dump the soup and make a chicken gravy with chicken stock and corn starch but then I don't like cream of x soups in recipes.

    As other have mentioned replacing the sour cream with a lighter version or yogurt.

    The other way to go is to add bulk to the recipe and increase the serving size by adding more vegetables. I would adding at least 50 percent more vegetables that are in the recipe, maybe some riced cauliflower, and or some mushrooms.
  • kellyjheath4221
    kellyjheath4221 Posts: 14 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    I am guessing the vegetables are sauteed in the butter. I would soften them in the microwave instead. You will need to do them individually. With this you can lose the butter entirely.

    I would dump the soup and make a chicken gravy with chicken stock and corn starch but then I don't like cream of x soups in recipes.

    As other have mentioned replacing the sour cream with a lighter version or yogurt.

    The other way to go is to add bulk to the recipe and increase the serving size by adding more vegetables. I would adding at least 50 percent more vegetables that are in the recipe, maybe some riced cauliflower, and or some mushrooms.

    I had been thinking about making a chicken gravy that way. I do make my own cream of mushroom (so much more flavorful!). I think that’s a good idea.

    The butter is actually part of the stuffing (most stuffings contain butter). The veggies are boiled (except for the carrot and onion, those are added raw before baking).

    I’m not sure if it would be best to just reduce the amount of butter or replace it with something. Some people have suggested margarine, and I’ve though about that...but like someone else pointed out, there are trans fats in most margarines....and I’m really trying to keep things as healthy as I can. So that brings me back to, is it just better to have less butter then?

    I also like your idea of bulking it up with more vegetables. There is quite a lot of stuffing in this recipe...I don’t want to change the brand because I love the flavor of this stuffing (wish they made a whole grain version though) but having less of it and more veg I think would still be good.

    Thanks so much!
  • kellyjheath4221
    kellyjheath4221 Posts: 14 Member
    shaumom wrote: »
    One thing that I've done that worked with some recipes that used sour cream. I bought plain greek yogurt. Then put it in a coffee filter in the fridge for a few hours/overnight, over a bowl - some of the liquid will drain out. Then I subbed it for sour cream. It will tend to have the texture of cream cheese if you leave it long enough, but you can check it every couple hours to try and get sour cream texture.

    It's about a third the calories.

    It doesn't always sub right, kind of depends on the recipe, but with some recipes, it worked quite well. :-)

    And this is a discussion trying to replicate the Pepperidge farm stuffing from scratch - not sure if it is lower in cal, but it might be worth exploring. :-)
    https://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2009/11/homemade-pepperidge-farm-stuffing.html

    Replacing the sour cream with yogurt is a great idea. What you’re describing is draining the whey from the yogurt. That’s how Greek yogurt is made (I learned that when I made yogurt in my instant Pot).

    I’m not sure about making the stuffing from scratch...I have considered it though. I do love homemade stuffing; I make it every Thanksgiving and maybe a few times throughout the year. But it can be a bit of a pain.
  • autumnblade75
    autumnblade75 Posts: 1,661 Member
    When my husband and I eat boxed stuffing, we make it without the butter. We think it's fine that way. If you don't like it, you can experiment with how much butter is actually required to make it satisfying.
  • monaraehill2
    monaraehill2 Posts: 61 Member
    I have successfully used tofu in place of sour cream, many times. it'll give more protein and lighten the calories/fat. You want the extra firm one in the vacuum pack from Mori Nu, or whichever brand comes that way, where you are. To get the flavor of the sour cream, I'd use 0% greek yogurt (as suggested above) as a replacement for the soup. You'll want to blenderize the tofu with a bit of water or nut mylk, to make it creamy like the sour cream. I'd also get into my spice cupboard for some additional flavorings. Good luck.
  • monaraehill2
    monaraehill2 Posts: 61 Member
    I don't use butter and haven't, for years. You can use a greasy vegetable (avocado?) instead of the butter. In baked goods, prune butter or applesauce would work as a handy substitute, but I don't know about stuffing.........you'll want to blenderize all of this together, so it's creamy.
  • vggb
    vggb Posts: 132 Member
    I wouldn't use butter at all and replace sour cream with non-fat plain greek yogurt. Stir the yogurt, don't let it separate, the watery stuff has protein and should always be stirred back in and it has the consistency of sour cream as well as the taste. I also agree with the use of low to no sodium ingredients. It will take some tweeking but you'll find a good version, it just might take a few tries.
  • funjen1972
    funjen1972 Posts: 949 Member
    I'm familiar with this recipe. Here are some options:

    - Reduce the amount of butter used to saute veggies - maybe even none.
    - The remaining butter gets mixed with the stuffing. You could spritz it or drizzle less over the top.
    - use Fat Free condensed soup
    - use Fat Free sour cream
    - make your own stuffing with light bread and your own seasoning
    - use the seasoning packet from boxed stuffing with your light bread stuffing if that's easier.
    - fat free cream cheese can be used to make things creamier, maybe sub for some of the soup or sour cream
    - reduce quantity of stuffing, maybe 2 cups instead of 3.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    SchweddyGirl wrote: »
    kellyjheath4221 wrote: »
    My nana and my mom made this when I was growing up; it’s a family favorite. I’m not really sure how I could lighten it up without changing the flavor too much. The stuffing is my favorite part... but Pepperidge farm’s stuffing is 160 kcal for 1.5 oz :'(

    1 1/2 lbs yellow summer squash
    1 1/2 lbs zucchini
    Salt & pepper to taste
    1 medium onion, grated
    1 large carrot, grated
    1 can cream of chicken soup
    1 cup sour cream
    1/4 cup butter, melted
    3 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb seasoned stuffing

    Use a lower sodium cream of chicken soup, to control sodium.
    Use light sour cream.
    Half the sour cream amount, and replace with plain Greek yogurt. So 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt. This will also add more protein to the dish.
    Use a higher quality butter and you can cut the amount in half.

    This^

    Margarine is a calorie savings if it's got water added.

    Reduced fat creamy soups are good. I use it in tuna casserole all the time.

  • byebyebi93
    byebyebi93 Posts: 7 Member
    Cream of x soups are super easy to make from scratch, I make my own all the time and having total control over what goes into your food is important to me. That could be one easy fix- especially if you up the amount of soup and cut out the butter and sour cream altogether! This sounds like a baked squash casserole dealio, so assuming the veggies are precooked, you can cut 90% of your ingredients down. I do something similar minus the stuffing and various creamy items- just squash, cheese, garlic, Italian spice blend (sodium free), bone broth, and milk or heavy cream if I want a au gratin kind of taste. For the topping you could just keep the stuffing and find room for the calories and carbs and whatnot elsewhere in your meal, or again, make your own stuffing! Or measure out and see what 1.5oz of the stuffing looks like, maybe it's more then you think! If you crush it up maybe it'll go further as well? I'm just spitballing at this point!

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