Cooking with Coconut Oil & Recipes That Actually Taste Good

Posted: August 19, 2021 12:45 pm

During a time when we are all trying to eat more healthy, it often seems impossible to balance the good with the bad. Basically, what constitutes a good diet never seems to taste as good as those unhealthy foods you have grown to love. Because of this constant strive for a healthier lifestyle, hundreds of recipes have been created to stabilize the right and wrong foods to create something that you can enjoy guilt free.

Among the most popular ingredients used to elevate foods to new beneficial heights is coconut oil. Sure, on its own, the superfood does not stand up to par, but when used in a well thought out recipe, the end result is absolutely tasty. From cookies to soups, to even chocolate tarts, coconut oil recipes that actually taste good should always be at your fingertips.

First Things First: Why Coconut Oil?

Loaded with health benefits, coconut oil has been known to enrich a person’s health from their hair to their heart. Known to encourage the burning of fat cells in the body, this oil aids in maintaining a healthy weight and promotes heart health. Packed with beneficial fatty acids, hunger is no match when this ingredient is used in cooking.

Eat Your Vegetables

Now, do not see the word “vegetables” and get discouraged already. This recipe for blistered green beans with garlic and miso is flavorful, unlike your standard boiled green bean side dish. Fresh garlic, white miso, lime juice, coconut nectar, coconut oil, cilantro, and red pepper flakes combine for a bold dish that is light on the calories and heavy on the nutrition. The coconut oil not only adds a smooth yet not greasy texture to the beans, but aids those seasonings to coat everything perfectly.

Snowballs Are Fun All Year Long

Remember those tasty snowball cookies that are typically made during the holiday season? With a twist of lime, these once seasonal favorites can be enjoyed all year long. Coconut lime snowball cookies call for only eight ingredients and stretch a long way, depending on how big you make each ball. Packed with white chocolate, coconut milk and oil, lime zest and juice, and vanilla, these are the healthy snack or dessert you have been looking for.

Pass the Popcorn

A good snack is a must because- let’s face it- we all need a snack from time to time. Popcorn is usually always a healthy option, but when saturated in butter and salt, that theory tends to go out the window. This recipe for sweet and spicy popcorn, however, will leave your taste buds popping for more. Able to be made in under ten minutes, this recipe calls for kernels to be popped in coconut oil, and then topped with light confectioner’s sugar, paprika, salt, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Movie night just got a whole lot better.

Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of the Day

Forget stopping at your favorite bagel joint in the morning and get in the kitchen to make some waffles. Believe it or not, waffles can be made healthy and curb hunger when made with the right ingredients. Toasted coconut waffles, for example, are full of hunger-sustaining elements. The coconut oil used in this recipe adds a sweetness as well as a smooth texture to an otherwise thick batter. Grab your fixings for standard waffles, some coconut oil, and coconut flakes and you will be good to go until lunch.

Fry It Up

A recipe for some good fried chicken is a must in most households. While the standard fare is little to be desired when it comes to nutrition, changing the way it is fried can make all of the difference for this everyday meal. Rather than cooking the chicken in standard peanut, olive, vegetable, or canola oil, opt to fry it in coconut oil. The poly-unsaturated fats found in other frying oils can be detrimental to one’s health, especially when consumed often. Void of those fats, coconut oil also maintains its molecular and nutritional makeup during the frying process, allowing for optimum flavor and a steady cooking time. Additionally, refined coconut oil has no flavor, making the chicken the only star of this show.

Soup’s On

A warm bowl of soup can speak to even the hardest soul, there is no denying that. Spinach broccoli soup is not only comfort food, but easy on the body as well. Utilizing under ten ingredients, this dish can be made in large batches while remaining budget friendly. The coconut oil used in the soup adds a rich and smooth texture without overshadowing the roasted vegetable taste.

A Slice Worth the Price

The expression, “A moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips,” has been used to guilt people away from desserts for decades. While no one is here to shame anyone and everything in moderation is more than acceptable, why even have your mind wander to the negative side at all when you can just opt for a healthy, indulgent treat? Coconut Southern Comfort layer cake is a subtly rich treat for adults. Loaded with coconut flakes, chips, oil, and even a little Southern Comfort liquor, this is a treat to be enjoyed after a long day. Of course, the Southern Comfort can be substituted for a non-alcoholic option, like peach nectar, as well.

In closing, there are endless options for coconut oil recipes that actually taste good. Basically, if any recipe calls for oil, you can opt for coconut. If a smooth consistency is what you desire, this oil is truly a must. The health benefits of coconut oil are hard to dismiss and once a recipe highlighting the ingredient is tasted, it would be difficult to imagine using anything else ever again. While you may be the one cooking, the coconut oil is really the one doing all of the work.

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