When you have heard about the Oil-Free Cooking idea, there may be some questions whispering in your mind. Why avoid oil from a regular diet? Is oil really bad for us? Is it possible anyway to cook without oil? Are oil-free foods healthy? Don’t worry. We are here to give the answer to all your questions. Just continue scrolling to explore how to cook without oil.
Benefits of Cooking without Oil
Check out here some proven health benefits of oil-free cooking
More tasty food
Oil is not a mandatory ingredient for preparing tasty meals. Even some recipes can taste better when the food is not not covered in oil. For instances, we eat vegetables and whole grains without oil. Some salad recipes offer better taste without oil based coating. Besides, opting for oil-free cooking we can adopt a healthy diet in the long run.
Feeling better after eating
Foods full of oil do not get you a good feeling. As the too much oily food are bad for our digestive system, our stomach feel bad after eating. Many people experiences bloating, stomach ache, and other issues after consuming oily food. It is proven that if you can cook, bake or fry the food without oil, the meal can give you a more satisfactory experience.
Fewer skin breakouts
Do you have acne? Nutritionist may suggest you to limit the consumption of fatty food in your regular diet. Opting for oil-free cooking, you can consume healthy foods with fewer fats. This habit can lead you to salubrious lifestyle thus you can experience fewer breakouts or less acne. Therefore, try to cook food without oil.
More energy after eating
Consumption of excess fats can make you lazy, slow, and sluggish. Less oil means fewer fats. So, when you eat oil-free foods, you feel more energetic.
Weight loss
Oil-free foods can really promote a healthy body. Those who dopt oil-free cooking can avoid obesity. This habit potentially lead to weight loss if other high-calorie foods do not replace those calories.
More energy after eating
Consumption of excess fats can make you lazy, slow, and sluggish. Less oil means fewer fats. So, when you eat oil-free foods, you feel more energetic.
Weight loss
Oil-free foods can really promote a healthy body. Those who dopt oil-free cooking can avoid obesity. This habit potentially lead to weight loss if other high-calorie foods do not replace those calories.
Heart health
All oils along with the healthy soluble kinds are related to our heart diseases. You can minimize the risk of heart-related diseases by cutting down on oils used for cooking, baking or frying.
Overall health
Oil-free foods are essential for your overall health. By omitting oil, you can improve your immunity. Remember oil suppresses the function of the immune system.
How to cook without oil
If you are already planning to cook without oil, just follow the steps given below. The process is much easier than it seems to you.
Use Non-Stick
For oil-free cooking a non-toxic non-stick pan is suitable. Using stainless steel or cast iron would be easy to cook without oil; because your food could burn without oil in a stainless or cast iron pan.
Replace oil with liquids
Use water instead of oil to fry or cook things on the stove. You can also use oil with water, veggie broth, vinegar, soy sauce, or another liquid. While using a liquid, you need to fix the pan every time the liquid dries up. You have to do this until your food is cooked through.
Steaming
By steaming your veggies you can avoid oil as well as minimize your cooking time. You can cook much faster through steaming. Veggies like potatoes and broccoli can take up to an hour to cook in the oven. But you can cook them in about 10 minutes when steaming them in a steamer basket inside of a pot or pan on the stove.
However, steaming produces a different flavor than roasting. So, it may take a little time to get used to cooking without oil, as your food may taste a bit different than your usual meals.
Utilize Your Oven
An oven is the best component if you want to cook without oil. It would be easy for you if you line your cookie sheets with a reusable silicone mat instead of greasing the pan. It will ensure that your food does not stick or burn. However, veggies can be roasted straight on the pan without burning.
Use An Air-Fryer
The most important benefit of an air-fryer is that it does not need to preheat. This appliance will not take much time to cook food. Besides, it cooks food from every angle so no oil is needed. Oil-free cooking requires constant attention. But in the case of the air fryer, you do not need to check on your food until the timer goes off.
How to bake without oil
Are you health conscious and want to know how to bake without oil? If yes, just continue reading.
Interestingly, substitutes for oil come from diverse food sources. So, you can use fruit or vegetable puree, mashed avocado, coconut milk, yogurt or vegan yogurt, a variety of nut butter, dates, almond flour, or even coconut butter for baking instead of oil.
But remember sometimes a straight substitution can change the texture. Let’s see an example. Applesauce works well for muffins and cakes. But it will give a very different appearance for cookies.
How to fry without oil
For frying food without oil, your best choice can be an oil-free fryer like an air fryer that will give you unbelievable results. This is a very handy device. You can fry raw food through this appliance without using oil. Besides, this appliance pushes extra-hot air around the food that makes foods crisp perfectly. However, air fryers may not work for some foods, such as onion rings or mozzarella sticks. You can use an oven to bake these foods easily instead of air fryers.
In the case of a deep-fryer, you can choose a healthier oil to deep-fry your favorite items. Coconut or avocado oil can be your right choice in this regard.
How to dress salad without oil
Have you ever thought of an oil-free vegan salad dressing recipe? Check out here this tasty oil-free balsamic dressing which is homemade but tastes like it’s right off the shelf.
Ingredients
Most importantly, you don’t require any blender or food processor to prepare this salad. The necessary ingredients are Balsamic Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, Maple Syrup, Nutritional Yeast (optional), Dried Basil & Oregano.
How To Make
Take all ingredients in a small jar and blend them well by shaking them several times. Now, your oil-free salad is ready to taste.
Bottom Line
It is not easy to change food habits. However, for the sake of health as well as a salubrious lifestyle you can try oil-free cooking. Advantages are multifarious. In this article, we have mentioned a number of ways to cook food without oil. Opting for oil-free diets allows you to cut down extra fat, and calories from your diet without compromising the taste of the food you cook.
Source: United News of Bangladesh