Wouldn't you like to know which fat-free and reduced fat-dairy products taste great and are worth buying and trying? Ultimately, it's up to the discretion of your taste buds, of course, but we can certainly nudge you in the better-tasting direction.
Here are our findings:
Great-tasting reduced-fat cheeses
Cheeses with only a little fat taken out -- like Cracker Barrel Light Sharp Cheddar, with 6 grams of fat per ounce -- are more likely to look and taste like regular cheese.
I've been using these reduced-fat cheeses for years and have found they work great in every cheese situation I find myself in (in recipes, on crackers, for grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.).
I've also found that fat-free cheeses just don't compare to regular cheese, because they have zero fat per ounce compared to about 9 grams per ounce for regular cheese.
| CHEESE | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | Sodium (mg) |
| Cheddar | |||||
| Cracker Barrel Light Sharp Cheddar | 90 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 240 |
| Kraft 1/3 Less Fat Sharp Cheddar | 90 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 240 |
| American | |||||
| Kraft 2% Milk Singles (1 slice/21g) | 50 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 280 |
| Borden 2% Milk Sharp Singles | 50 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 340 |
| Monterey Jack | |||||
| Sonoma Garlic Jack 50% less fat | 70 | 4 | 2.5 | 15 | 180 |
| Sonoma Lite Jack | 70 | 4 | 2.5 | 15 | 180 |
| Kraft 1/3 Less Fat Monterey Jack | 80 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 240 |
| Sargento Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Mexican | 80 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 200 |
| Mozzarella | |||||
| Precious Low Fat | 55 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 180 |
| Swiss | |||||
| Jarlsberg Lite | 70 | 3.5 | 2 | 10 | 130 |
| Sargento Light Swiss | 80 | 4 | 2.5 | 15 | 50 |
| Alpine Lace Reduced Fat Swiss | 90 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 35 |
| Ricotta | |||||
| Precious Low Fat 1/4 cup | 70 | 3 | 1.5 | 15 | 45 |
| Precious Part Skim 1/4 cup | 100 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 80 |
What About Cream Cheese?
I use fat-free cream cheese as a fat replacement in cookie dough, biscuits, scones and cakes, but I wouldn't dare put in on my bagel. Fat-free cream cheese just doesn't taste as good as real cream cheese, and the texture is too different. But light cream cheese and Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese taste good and can be used in recipes or on bagels.
Which cream cheese should you use to make a less fatty cheesecake? If you are on the picky side, try using all light cream cheese. If you aren't that particular, you might be happy with half fat-free cream cheese and half light cream cheese. Adding grated lemon peel for some extra flavor helps too.
| CREAM CHEESE (2 tablespoons) | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | Sodium (mg) |
| Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Neufchatel cheese | 70 | 5 | 3.5 | 15 | 150 |
| Philadelphia Light (in tub) | 60 | 4.5 | 3 | 15 | 150 |
| Neufchatel (store brand) | 70 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 100 |
| Philadelphia Fat Free | 30 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 200 |
We All Scream For Ice-Cream
If you've ever taken a glance at the ice cream aisle, you know there are many different brand of lighter ice cream and each brand has many flavors to choose from. I'm just listing the best-tasting light ice creams here. There may be other great-tasting ice creams available in your area of the country.
You might notice there aren't any fat-free ice creams in the table below. That's because none of these ice creams tasted any better than just "OK."
| LIGHT ICE CREAM (1/2 cup) | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | % Calories from sugar |
| Breyer's Light Vanilla | 110 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 54% |
| Breyer's Vanilla*Chocolate*Strawberry | 110 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 51% |
| Dreyer's Grand Light Mint Chocolate Chip | 120 | 4.5 | 3 | 20 | 43% |
| Dreyer's Grand Light Mocha Almond Fudge | 120 | 4.5 | 2 | 20 | 40% |
| Dreyer's Grand Light Cookie Dough | 130 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 20 | 40% |
| Healthy Choice Premium Lowfat Cappuccino Chocolate Chunk | 120 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 53% |
| Healthy Choice Premium Lowfat Mint Chocolate Chip | 120 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 53% |
| LOWFAT FROZEN YOGURT (1/2 cup) | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | % Calories from sugar |
| Ben & Jerry's Lowfat Cherry Garcia | 170 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 63% |
| Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Lowfat | 190 | 2.5 | 1 | 5 | 63% |
How Sour Is Your Cream?
Believe it or not, the best tasting sour cream is a fat-free sour cream, not a "light" sour cream. When I tried Naturally Yours Fat free sour cream (in the white tub with black spots that looks like a cowhide), I was surprised to find that I really liked it. There are also quite a few store-brand light sour creams that taste good. Some of the light sour cream brands taste and look more like plain yogurt than sour cream (too sour for my liking). Naturally Yours fat-free has the best texture and flavor, and can be used to top potatoes or tacos or in casserole or sauce recipes.
| SOUR CREAM (2 tablespoons) | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | Sodium (mg) |
| Naturally Yours Fat Free | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Knudsen Light | 35 | 2 | 1.5 | 10 | 25 |
| Daisy Light | 40 | 2.5 | 2 | 10 | 25 |
The trick with yogurt is figuring out whether you want artificial sweeteners (many of the "light" yogurts have them) or whether you're OK with most of the calories coming from sugar. Basically, the fruit-flavored yogurts have low-fat milk listed as the first ingredient, with some type of sugar as the second ingredient, and fruit for the third.
If you're sensitive to aftertastes in artificially sweetened products, you'll probably want to avoid the "light" yogurts. There are quite a few "light" yogurts to choose from and they all taste pretty good, as long as you don't mind the taste of aspartame. We've listed the major brands below.
The other option? Regular, lowfat, or fat-free yogurts. You probably already have your favorite brand that has just the right texture or tang for your taste buds. If so, stick with it! Check the nutrition information label of your favorites for grams of sugars, though. Some flavors and brands have more than others. Here are a few examples below.
| LOWFAT YOGURT (6 ounces) | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | % Calories from sugar |
| Yoplait Original 99% Fat free (fruit flavored) | 170 | 1.5 | 1 | 10 | 63% |
| Dannon Fruit Blends lowfat (fruit flavored) | 170 | 1.5 | 1 | 10 | 73% |
| "LIGHT" YOGURT (6 ounces) | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | % Calories from sugar |
| Dannon Light 'n Fit Creamy (fruit flavored) | 100 | 0 | 0 | less than 5 | 40% |
| Dannon Light 'n Fit (fruit flavored) | 90 | 0 | 0 | less than 5 | 58% |
| Yoplait Light (fruit flavored) | 100 | 0 | 0 | less than 5 | 56% |
Drink Your Yogurt?
I've got to admit that the thought of drinking my yogurt from a bottle didn't excite me at first. Then I got my hands on Yoplait's raspberry-flavored Nouriche yogurt smoothie and I loved it! Granted, there is plenty of sweetener (the first two ingredients are nonfat milk and nonfat yogurt, but the next two are sugar and high-fructose corn syrup), but each bottle also contributes 10 grams of protein and a hefty dose of vitamins and minerals (about 25% of the Daily Value for vitamin A, along with calcium, vitamin D, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, etc.).
My editor chimed in to say that she really enjoys Dannon's Light'n'Fit Smoothie. It comes in three flavors -- her faves are Strawberry Banana and Mixed Berry. It's only got 5 grams of protein, but it's also got only 80 calories, mostly due to the use of Splenda sweetener. (Editor's Note: If you hate it, blame me, not Elaine.)
| YOGURT SMOOTHIES (11 ounces) | Calories | Fat (g) | Saturated fat (g) | Cholesterol (mg) | % Calories from sugar |
| Yoplait Nouriche nonfat yogurt smoothie (rasp, tropical, or strawberry) | 290 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 63% |
| Dannon Light'nFit | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5% |
