Using healthy methods for cooking is not helpful for just when you’re following a diet or trying to lose weight. As long as you’re the one in charge of feeding yourself and other family members, you should be aware that this is a very important responsibility, so it’s best to include a high variety of foods in your cooked meals and avoid using unnecessary amounts of fat.
Since our meals usually include meat, poultry, or fish, we have to ensure they are nutritious and healthy. Even though fried foods are very tempting and taste great, they include lots of extra fat and calories and should only be eaten occasionally. Still, there are lots of healthy (and not necessarily difficult) ways of cooking meat that focus on shorter cooking times and preserving the nutrients.
The Healthiest Meat Cooking Methods
Grilling
This is one of the easiest ways to cook meat, poultry, and fish without adding fat. Moreover, many types of vegetables can be grilled, such as onions, bell peppers, eggplants, and mushrooms.
Both indoor and outdoor grills work just fine, however for vegetables and lean meat, you may need to brush them with oil (it can also be included in a marinade) to keep them moist.
Broiling
Broiling is another popular low-fat cooking method also recommended in diets. Unlike grilling (where the heat source is below the food), the broiling process means exposing the food to high heat for a short time, where the heat source is above. Broilers can be individual or included in many models of ovens. Low-fat meat, poultry, fish and vegetables can be broiled and it is recommended to be cut in thin or medium slices. If the food is thick, it may need to be turned during the cooking process.
Roasting
Basically, any meat, poultry or fish can be roasted, but in this case, larger pieces work best. Roasting is a slow process, so using a cut of meat that also has fat or skin will prevent it from drying out.
Of course, you can also roast low-fat meat, such as several types of fish and skinless chicken, but it would have to be cooked in a moist medium and covered during the roasting process.
Boiling
This is one of the most versatile cooking methods as it can be done in so many ways. You can poach your meat, in other words, add liquid just enough to cover the food and let it simmer. This is usually done in a covered pot or pan where you place only one layer of food. You can add flavor to the liquid by using ingredients such as broth, soup stock, wine, spices, herbs, and vegetables. Poaching is a fairly simple cooking method where you don’t have to add any extra fat.
Stewing is very similar to poaching, except that both meat and vegetables are placed in a pot together and simmered. Also, food is served with the resulting gravy. Stewing is a suitable choice for cooking tougher cuts of meat. In this case using a pressure cooker is another good solution as it will shorten the cooking time, preserving the food’s nutrients.
Stir Frying and Sautéing
These two very similar cooking methods (stir-frying is done in a wok and sautéing in a cooking pan) are very fast ways of preparing a meal. In both cases, the food is cooked using a very low amount of oil, and meat can be combined with vegetables. As a difference, in a sauté, all the ingredients are cooked at once, while the stir-frying method ingredients usually requires adding different types of ingredients at precise moments. Stir-fried recipes can also include rice or noodles.
All of the above-mentioned cooking techniques use low amounts of fat while adding a lot of flavors when done properly. However, you must also pay attention to the type of meat you choose and be sure to trim any excess fat before cooking it.
