Whether you care about that waistline or not, it is optimally important that you pay attention to your cardiovascular health. Cream cheese is just one among the innumerable criminals hell-bent on clogging those arteries. So seek suitable cream cheese substitutes today.
New potatoes with cream cheese filling. Cherry cream cheese pie. Cream cheese pie. Cream cheese brownies. Should I go on or is that enough to drive your salivary glands nuts? Yes, I totally agree that cream cheese or queso crema can totally make any dish delectable and can be devoured without any coercion. But besides that tongue which can’t stop salivating while you reach the heaven of taste, cream cheese prepares your body on the sly for a visit to the real heaven real fast. If obesity doesn’t bother you, then a deteriorating cardiovascular health should. So, the option? Simple, switch to alternatives that are safer and comparatively healthier. Believe me there are plenty of cream cheese alternatives out there and all you need to do is look for them.
Cream Cheese Alternatives
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: 1 cup of Gervais Cheese
Nature of the Substitute: Containing about 60 and 75 percent milk fat, Gervais has a sweet and tangy taste.
Best Used for: This super flavorful and soft French cheese is ideal for serving as a dessert cheese with fruits or as an appetizer with crackers.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: 1 cup of French Neufchâtel
Nature of the Substitute: Use grainy French Neufchâtel, if you want a spread lower in fat content. Neufchâtel is more moist that cream cheese.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: 1 cup of Italian triple-cream Marscapone Cheese
Nature of the Substitute: In case you are using marscapone, know that one cup of cream cheese has 810 calories and marscapone has 814. So, health-wise it is of no help at all.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 8.82 oz.
To be Replaced with: 8.82 oz. of Cottage Cheese (with not more than 1% milk fat)
Procedure:
– Purée it in a mixer until it froths and becomes smooth.
– Chill it in the freezer for a while and voila!
Nature of the Substitute: 8.82 ounces of low-fat cottage cheese will have about 180 calories. But the saturated fat content is negligible and it has essential vitamins, such as vitamin A, B6, B12, C, D, and, E and minerals, like sodium (507.5 mg), potassium (107 mg), other than calcium, folate, and copper in it.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: 1 1-oz. pack of Petit-suisse + Honey OR Jam OR Sugar
Nature of the Substitute: This creamy, smooth, unsalted, and unripened cheese made from cow’s milk and cream, petit-suisse has a very high fat content of 40%.
Best Used for: Serve it with fruits or consume it as a dessert on its own, it is pretty delectable either way.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 bowlful
To be Replaced with: 1 bowlful of Kefir (organic variety of thin yogurt) + ¼th cup of Organic Chia Seeds
Procedure:Pour the seeds on the kefir and leave it be. These seeds shall absorb all the water from the yogurt and in just 20 to 25 odd minutes. Do not agitate the arrangement once you add the seeds and allow it to stand still.
Nature of the Substitute: Replete with beneficial bacteria, kefir aids treatment of gastrointestinal issues, variant allergies, candidiasis, and even atherosclerosis, whereas the chia seeds are omega-3 essential fatty acid sources that also double as antioxidants and a storehouse for myriad vitamins and minerals. This has only about 15 calories per tablespoon which is nearly one-third of the number present in regular cream cheese. And the taste? You wouldn’t know the difference.
Best Used for:This again is a cream cheese substitute which makes for a good spread.
However, try to avoid making dishes which require heating with kefir as the heat will kill all the useful microorganisms in this preparation.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 bowlful
To be Replaced with: 1 bowlful of fat-free plain Yogurt Cheese
Procedure: Strainer and place four to ten layers of cheesecloth or white absorbent paper towels or clean, white cotton dish towel (flour sack) with a fairly fine weave on it. Place plain stabilizer-free yogurt on the cheesecloth layers and then place the strainer on a big bowl. Tie the ends of the cloth around the yogurt. Keep this arrangement in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours so that the water drains out completely. You will see that the volume of the yogurt will have decreased considerably (almost by half). Your fat-free plain yogurt cheese is ready to substitute for cream cheese. You can also add a desired amount of salt to it and store it in the fridge for a week to use it in installments.
Best Used for:This is a low-calorie, low lactose, high protein, high calcium, dream cream cheese substitute for those on a low-calorie diet. Also makes for a delicious bagel spread!
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: ¾th cup of firm Tofu + ¼th cup of Margarine + 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice
Procedure: Blend it in a mixer until smooth and creamy. You may need to keep scraping the tofu bits off the sides of the mixer and pushing it towards the central blade until the desired texture is achieved. After it is done, place the mixture in a glass bowl and refrigerate till firm.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: 1 cup of firm Tofu + 2 tablespoons of mild Olive Oil OR 2 tablespoons of Canola Oil + 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice OR 3 tablespoons of Vinegar + 1 tablespoon of Sugar + ½ a teaspoon of Salt
Procedure: Pour all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Follow the “scraping and pushing the tofu to the center” action as instructed in the option given above for this method as well. Once creamy, place the mixture in a bowl and refrigerate.
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: 1 cup of extra-firm variety of Silken Tofu + 1½ tablespoons of Lemon Juice + ½ tablespoon of Brown Rice Syrup + 1½ teaspoons of low-sodium Tamari + ¼th teaspoon of ground Nutmeg + ½ teaspoon of Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Procedure: Begin with hanging the tofu in a muslin cloth for half an hour to drain out the excess water. Then place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the desired creamy, smooth consistency is obtained. Place the mixture in a glass bowl and refrigerate for 8 hours at least. This will help in melding in all the flavors. If you are not using the entire concoction at one go, store the remaining in a bottle in the fridge.
Keep in Mind: If you do not want the aroma of nutmeg in this, you can avoid adding it.
Now, if you wish to experiment a little and add different flavors to your tofu cream cheese or yogurt cheese, you can try adding some of the ingredients stated below. Try your own permutations and combinations to add some zing to your bagel spreads or even chips, fries, and cracker dips!
Tofu Cheese avec Herbes
Add ¼th teaspoon each of dill (dried), parsley flakes, rosemary (dried), and thyme (dried) along with a minced clove of garlic. Add this to the blender itself after the tofu mixture smoothens and give the concoction a final spin just before you refrigerate the smoothened tofu mixture.
OR
Sprinkle some oregano (dried) and chili flakes to go all Italiano! You can either add this to the blender or sprinkle it on the tofu cream cheese alternative just before applying it on your bagel.
Tofu Cheese with Capers
For this, mingle in a tablespoon of chopped capers, a clove of minced garlic, and 2 teaspoons worth of freshly ground caraway seeds. Add this to the blender itself after the tofu mixture smoothens and give the concoction a final spin just before you refrigerate the smoothened tofu mixture.
Tomato Tofu Cheese
This will require you to add a pinchful of cayenne, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, a single teaspoon of onion powder, half a teaspoon of garlic powder, ¼th teaspoon each of paprika and thyme (dried), and ⅛th of a teaspoon of freshly ground dill seeds. Add this to the blender after the tofu mixture smoothens and give the concoction a spin just before leaving it to set in the fridge.
Veggie-delight Tofu Cheese
Take a finely chopped scallion, a small, finely grated carrot, a clove of crushed garlic, ¼th cup of very finely chopped capsicum, and ¼th tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley and place them in the same glass bowl in which you plan to set the tofu mixture. Now pour in the creamy cream cheese alternative from top and use a spatula to mingle the veggies very well with the tofu concoction. Then refrigerate to chill. This will help all the flavors to commingle with one another.
A Date with Nuts:
Sprinkle ¼th cup each of roasted, chopped walnuts and chopped up pitted dates on the tofu cheese and lightly mix in with a spoon. Yum!
Creamy-pineapple Deligh
Add ¼th cup of unsweetened pineapple which has been drained well. Add it to the blender after smoothening the tofu mixture. Give the concoction a final spin just before you refrigerate the entire thing.
Buttermilk Cheese
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 bowlful
To be Replaced with: 1 bowlful of Buttermilk Cheese
Procedure:
– Begin by placing the whole milk on the stove. Remember to use a steel container for heating the milk.
– Now place a cheese thermometer in the container such that the tip of the thermometer remains steeped in the milk by 2 inches.
– In order to keep from burning the milk, slowly raise the temperature to 180°.
– Refrain from doing so at one go. The rise in heat should be gradual.
– The heat setting should never go beyond medium-low to medium.
– At 180°, take the pan off the stove and pour in the cup of low-fat buttermilk into the pan.
– Use a wooden ladle to mix the two liquids well. Some people also add about 2 teaspoons of coarse salt to this.
– Once the pan has been allowed to sit undisturbed for a minimum of 15 minutes, check for tiny cheese globule formations in the milk.
– Now place 4 – 10 layers of cheesecloth on a strainer, place the strainer on a bigger bowl, pour the milk into the strainer, and tie up the ends of the cloth, bundling up the curd.
– Once you see that the maximum amount of whey (the liquid by-product that drains out when curd or buttermilk is hung) has drained out into the bowl (after about 90 minutes), lift the cheese bundle and squeeze out the remaining water in the sack.
– Of course, you can regulate the consistency of the cheese by retaining some water in the cheesy residue.
– After that, you will need to place the cheese in a lidded container and refrigerate it for 48 hours.
Best Used for: Tangy buttermilk cheese is lower in fat content than cream cheese and works wonders when used for making lasagna and stuffed shells.
Those who like their buttermilk cheese sweet, add some vanilla and sugar for a sweeter spread.
Others can experiment by adding a teaspoon of dry herbs (tarragon, oregano, or basil), or a teaspoon of coarsely ground pepper, or a teaspoon worth of freshly grated lemon zest to the cup of buttermilk itself, before it is added to the hot milk. This combination with the zest tastes like heaven when served with some freshly hacked thyme and scrambled eggs or with a loaf of French bread, seasoned with some salt and mizzled with some nice aromatic olive oil!
Made from soy, salt, and oil, soy cream cheese is the perfect cream cheese alternative for individuals who are lactose intolerant, including mothers breastfeeding lactose-intolerant babies.
Soy Milk Cheese
Quantity of Cream Cheese Required: 1 cup
To be Replaced with: 1 cup of Soy Milk Cheese
Soy milk cheese are not only lactose-free but also cholesterol-free, are rich sources of calcium, and boast of containing 0 g Trans and saturated fat per serving. The one for vegans also happen to be preservative free, gluten-free, and casein free which makes it fit for vegan diets. Other than being used as a spreadable, these alternatives can be used for making desserts, cheesecakes, and for the purpose of frosting.
Use a light cream cheese or low-fat cream cheese if you need to use it while baking. Absolutely non-fat cream cheese substitute in baking is not recommended because it cannot stand heat and has a variant taste. But low-fat cream cheese has a similar flavor and feel to that of normal cream cheese and curtails the fat content down by at least 50%.
So, now you no more have excuses to gorge on harmful cream cheese when you have so many cream cheese substitutes that are equally tasteful but so much more nutritious. Think healthy and take a wise step forward by opting for one of these cream cheese alternatives, today!
