Good choice for butter?

roseym10

I like butter on certain foods but concerned about the saturated fat. I've looked at margarines, but have heard they are highly processed and have questionable ingredients. Most of the ones I've read the labels for have some type of oil. What does everyone use to butter their baked potatoes, pancakes, etc.?

MsCzar

I don't use much butter - none at all most days. I switched to Greek yogurt on my baked potatoes. I still use real butter on pancakes, but that is a once-in-a-blue-moon treat and so I don't mind the indulgence. I use a quick spray of about 7g of melted real butter on popcorn.

goal06082021

I just use real butter. Even for an application like putting it on toast, I'm not using more than about 10-12g at a time, that's honestly plenty.

edit to add: some amount of dietary fat is actually necessary, and you can probably get away with using butter for most applications, just less of it, and barely miss the difference.

corinasue1143

Butter. For me, nothing else comes close. But I don’t eat much. I don’t want my baked potato to taste like butter. I like
Potatoes. I don’t like popcorn, so I just don’t eat it. Pancakes? Fruit, no butter. I finish a steak with 1/2 tsp butter. I can still taste the steak.

tapwaters

I love the myiokos butter and earth balance, but I don't really use (vegan) butter when trying to lose weight, or only very sparingly.

wunderkindking

Country crock light.

Yes, yes sometimes real better, usually no butter, but sometimes dammit I'll take the fake butter and like it.

MsCzar

wunderkindking wrote: »

Country crock light.

Yes, yes sometimes real better, usually no butter, but sometimes dammit I'll take the fake butter and like it.

I keep a small tub of CC Light in the fridge. I use it mostly for adhering other flavoring elements to food: example - Sticking Everything Bagel seasoning or garlic powder to toast or ground almonds to fish. In those cases, the butter flavour takes a back seat to the job of being basically glue. It does the job just fine for half the calories of butter.

MarttaHP

My diet is pretty low in fat (a lot of vegetables and fruit, fat-free dairy, etc) so I try to make sure that the fat I do consume is mostly of the healthy kind. So I use margarine. It's also a taste I'm used to. Not that I really use it with much besides as a spread on bread and also with boiled vegetables in the summer.

Eating pancakes with butter seems weird to me! But then again I've never tried it, so what do I know.

lemurcat2

I rarely use butter. Once in a while I use it for cooking instead of olive oil (the calories are similar), and I use it for mashed potatoes, but only have those on holidays so don't worry about cals or sat fat. For potatoes otherwise I usually roast them, and add a bit of olive oil and salt before -- they don't need anything else. I rarely have baked potatoes but if I did I'd make them loaded with some bean concoction or veg or something and not use butter (light sour cream or low fat greek yogurt are also possibles).

I rarely have pancakes, but never added butter. I'd use berries (heated frozen ones have lots of juice) or a little maple syrup and don't think they need anything else.

For the rare times I do something like make garlic bread, I use butter.

cmriverside

For oils I always have butter, olive oil, walnut oil, coconut oil and sesame oil in the house. No fake margarine for me. If it's toast or vegetables 2-3g of butter is plenty. I need to eat oil, fats are important. I buy full-fat cheese, 80/20 hamburger, some sausage, nuts. I do buy fat free yogurt and 1% milk, and I stay within my saturated fat numbers most days. For popcorn I use a combination of walnut oil to cook it, and top it with 3g butter and 3g olive oil.

It just takes time to work out how much you can use in a day. It's not much, I'll say that.

littlegreenparrot1

I am firmly of the opinion that it's proper butter or none, not a fan of marg.

Sometimes I dip bread in olive oil and balsamic, more because its delicious than any calorie saving. For toast I'll have jam, peanut butter or whatever with no butter.
Herby cream cheese with baked potatoes. Pancakes I would just have with syrup and fruit.

It's worth trying alternatives or going without, you might find you don't mind it.

natgurl95

I also use the Country Crock light, its only like 35 cals per tablespoon. I've replaced butter with spray oil in most cases, but I always crave plain buttered noodles when I'm sick, and the CC light is the closest to butter I can get without the calories being crazy.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I eat butter. It's wonderful and I hope I never have to give it up. An egg is good, but an egg fried in a little butter is amazing! I also like to put a little on steamed vegetables. Fantastic! In general, I use butter for flavoring, not cooking. For that, I use avocado and olive oils.

I do not believe that eating saturated fats is particularly bad for you. Recent evidence I have seen shows that being overweight, inactive, and smoking are the big cardiac risks. Also, if you have high blood pressure or lipid problem, you may need medication. (I am not an expert, so see your doctor.) I would never trade a saturated fat for a trans fat, and I do not find that eating low fat is a good approach to controlling my weight. (However, whatever keeps you within your calorie budget is the thing for you to do.)

The rest of my family avoids dairy, and they sometimes eat Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil. I've tried it in shared cooking, and it's very good!

https://www.countrycrock.com/our-products/plant-butter/avocado-sticks

ninerbuff

I just use butter. Unless you're downing a bucket at a time, the saturated fat on a piece of toast isn't a health killer.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

penguinmama87

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

I eat butter. It's wonderful and I hope I never have to give it up. An egg is good, but an egg fried in a little butter is amazing! I also like to put a little on steamed vegetables. Fantastic! In general, I use butter for flavoring, not cooking. For that, I use avocado and olive oils.

I do not believe that eating saturated fats is particularly bad for you. Recent evidence I have seen shows that being overweight, inactive, and smoking are the big cardiac risks. Also, if you have high blood pressure or lipid problem, you may need medication. (I am not an expert, so see your doctor.) I would never trade a saturated fat for a trans fat, and I do not find that eating low fat is a good approach to controlling my weight. (However, whatever keeps you within your calorie budget is the thing for you to do.)

The rest of my family avoids dairy, and they sometimes eat Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil. I've tried it in shared cooking, and it's very good!

https://www.countrycrock.com/our-products/plant-butter/avocado-sticks

I agree with this. I use other animal fats in my cooking and baking that I render myself ("homesteading" is a bit of a hobby of mine) and I don't think it's unhealthy at all, and I find it to be a more environmentally friendly option than throwing it out. But I stay in budget and use sparingly, and enjoy the flavor.

I do use other oils too as the situation calls for it. But margarine and related items are just not for me. I grew up eating Country Crock, but to me it feels food-adjacent now, not real food. But if you like it and it works for you, then that's fine!

janejellyroll

I use Mikoyo's Creamery non-dairy butter, but with the amount of butter that I eat, I'm not concerned about the saturated fat or the processing. If I was eating enough butter for it to be an issue, I think the calories would be the most relevant factor anyway.

wilson10102018

Butter got a bad rap as a consequence of some bad science, now dispelled. The science moved from condemning butter to essentially neutral since butter promotes both good and bad cholesterol. And, to make matters even more cloudy, there is declining support for the science that dietary cholesterol matter at all.

So, unless one has a cardiologist who has made an actual diagnosis of arterial plaque and recommends against butter, everything else is superstition and the legacy of bad science.

concordancia

I like butter. Irish butter, if available.

However, DH has some kind of sensitivity to dairy, seemingly the protein, so we only have ghee in the house. The good news is that it stores at room temperature, so we never have an issue with hard butter now.

For some foods, I have come to prefer olive oil at times. A good, hearty multi grain bread dipped in olive oil with garlic and salt mmmm. And for somethings, a mix of olive oil and ghee works very well.

As much as I am getting used to avocado for certain things, I cannot imagine it ever replacing butter. What is the big appeal of avocado toast?!

penguinmama87

concordancia wrote: »

I like butter. Irish butter, if available.

However, DH has some kind of sensitivity to dairy, seemingly the protein, so we only have ghee in the house. The good news is that it stores at room temperature, so we never have an issue with hard butter now.

For some foods, I have come to prefer olive oil at times. A good, hearty multi grain bread dipped in olive oil with garlic and salt mmmm. And for somethings, a mix of olive oil and ghee works very well.

As much as I am getting used to avocado for certain things, I cannot imagine it ever replacing butter. What is the big appeal of avocado toast?!

Yes to Irish butter!

I like avocado toast, but it's not a replacement in my mind to toast with butter. I almost always put a little lime juice (or lemon) on when I eat avocado and to me that's completely its own flavor. More like an open faced sandwich.

I know avocado toast is supposed to be the millenial waste of money luxury food, but I usually only eat it if I have to use up avocados and/or bread, to avoid throwing out either.

cwolfman13

I use butter. I watch my saturated fat too and try to keep at or below the high end of the RDA...a little butter with my baked potato or on my toast isn't really a problem. Some saturated fat is necessary for hormone regulation...it doesn't need to be eliminated, nor should it be eliminated entirely.

mjbnj0001

I love butter. So I ration it for those times/situations where it makes a difference, so my total consumption is within my plan. I am fortunate enough to have decent cholesterol/sat fat tests, so that's at least one health thing going for me, LOL. My wife, not so lucky, so we look for alternates. We do have a debate about "good quality" butter versus "normal" butter - she likes the Irish butters for flavor (I won't contend that, agreeing), and intangibles such as Omega-3 and etc. There's nothing like butter for a number of culinary uses, but yogurt, olive oil, avocados, some nut oils and other things serve in good stead in certain situations. You might want to look at making your own ghee (clarified butter) which gets rid of the milk solids as a component in your kitchen. We do keep a tub of the "Smart Balance" or "I Can't Believe ..." type of spreads around, but don't use it as much as just a pat of butter.

dragon_girl26

Butter here, and actually more ghee than butter, if I have to be honest. Not because it's "healthier" (it's not), but because I love curry and the flavor just isn't the same without the ghee in some of them. Usually it ends up breaking down to no more than a tablespoon or less per serving, so I don't think it's that big of a deal.

LisaGetsMoving

Right now I don't use anything. There is no substitute for butter. I can make something almost like gravy using broth and a bit of cornstarch. I haven't had pancakes in 6 months, but I would just skip the butter and go right for the sugar free syrup. I have oatmeal now and then and I do miss butter in that, but I make do with a splash of milk and a tsp of brown sugar.

missysippy930

Butter for potatoes in smaller amounts.

I don’t eat pancakes, but use sugar free syrup on my waffles.

I have a great nonstick pan for frying eggs that does a great job without anything.

AnnPT77

I'm not a huge butter person in the first place, but I'd use butter if that was what I really wanted.

I prefer baked potatoes with seasoned nonfat Greek yogurt and maybe other fillings (chevre is delish, veggies, etc.). On pancakes waffles, or French toast, I prefer nonfat Greek yogurt and fruit, homemade fruit syrup (thawed frozen berries, maybe lightly sweetened depending on the berries), or just the yogurt with honey, real maple syrup, and/or peanut butter powder. For French toast, I also like savory versions, such as black beans, sweet corn and salsa.

On hot dinner rolls or mashed potatoes, I prefer butter, and would use that.

I know it's heresy, but I don't particularly like toast, so rarely eat it. When I do, I'd prefer apple butter if available, but otherwise butter and jam/jelly.

vivianwang42699

I always use Air Fryer, which helps me avoid using the butter when cooking the potato/french fries. And the non-stick pan helps me to avoid using oil when making pancakes or something else. But I think we can have some butter like 5g (or substitute with 5g vegan butter maybe?) because they are not bad fat right?

kshama2001

wilson10102018 wrote: »

Butter got a bad rap as a consequence of some bad science, now dispelled. The science moved from condemning butter to essentially neutral since butter promotes both good and bad cholesterol. And, to make matters even more cloudy, there is declining support for the science that dietary cholesterol matter at all.

So, unless one has a cardiologist who has made an actual diagnosis of arterial plaque and recommends against butter, everything else is superstition and the legacy of bad science.

I started reducing my saturated fat in December and this has made a significant difference in a non-cardiac medical condition. I'll spare you the details

To replace butter, I mostly switched to olive oil. I use it for vegetables and dip French-type bread in it. I haven't had pancakes since then, but would consider an Earth Balance type thing for those if I ate them regularly. (I haven't looked up the sat fat in that yet.)

For baked potatoes, I use reduced-fat sour cream now.

kshama2001

roseym10 wrote: »

I like butter on certain foods but concerned about the saturated fat. I've looked at margarines, but have heard they are highly processed and have questionable ingredients. Most of the ones I've read the labels for have some type of oil. What does everyone use to butter their baked potatoes, pancakes, etc.?

Oils have some sat fat but it is considerably less than that in butter. For example, EVOO has 2 g sat fat per T vs butter's 7 g.

I reduce sat fat by prelogging meals and seeing what I can sub to reduce. Giving up cheese and butter was the biggest factor. I am also eating considerably less red meat and fatty pork.

ecjim

Kerry Gold Irish Butter

wilson10102018

Concern about saturated fats is old incorrect science foisted on the public to explain (without scientific predicate) an increase in coronary heart disease in the second half of the 20th century.

Nothing prevents people from marching to this old tune any more than throwing salt over the shoulder or rubbing a potato on a wart. But promoting it is another thing. To the casual observer, one would think butter is not good for you beyond it's calorie density. That is just not true.

scarlett_k

I just use butter, or lurpak spreadable if I want something for toast without having the forethought to get the butter out to soften.