RECIPE MAKEOVERS

Healthy Low Fat Fried Food

EatingWell Fish Sticks

Featured Recipe: EatingWell Fish Sticks

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Discover the secret to frying with less fat and fewer calories

By Jessie Price, Food Editor, EatingWell

You love fried food, right? But you also know it’s pretty bad for you. What if we told you “fry” is OK? No, not deep-fried, trans-fat-laden junk, but a lighter, smarter type of “fry.”

EatingWell Fish Sticks, Picnic Oven-Fried Chicken and Oven-Fried Zucchini Sticks are just a few of the oven-frying recipes we’ve created over the years with great success.

Our easy, oven-frying technique delivers a crisp, seasoned exterior and moist, tender interior without all the fat and calories of deep-frying. For the basic technique, we have you coat your food in a light breading, spray it with oil and bake it on a rack. An oil spray bottle works great and so does cooking spray.

Sometimes we go for a slight variation—brown the coated food in a bit of oil in a skillet and then finish it in the oven. That way it gets crisp on the exterior but doesn’t burn and requires only a little oil. Use this technique for Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches with Remoulade Sauce.