Cooking healthy, low calorie foods can be a challenge. Here are some tips to make any dish lower in calories.

Calories are sneaky. They can creep into foods many different ways. Here are eight of the easiest ways to cut calories from everyday foods before they add up.

1. Use Sugar Substitutes

Sugar substitutes are the number one way to cut calories in everything from spaghetti sauce to chocolate cake. There are so many kinds on the market you’re sure to find one you like. Here is a quick overview of the different kinds of sugar substitutes:

• Powdered Sweeteners

Powdered sweeteners are probably the most common sugar substitutes, and they have their upsides and downsides.

On the one hand, powdered sweeteners can easily be used as sugar replacements in recipes. You can find them in convenient packaging for baking that has sugar conversion tables on the back. On the other hand, these sweeteners usually have a bitter aftertaste, though there are some exceptions.

Overall, if you are looking to bake sugar-free foods, powdered sweeteners are the way to go. Just be sure to try out many different kinds until you find one that you like.

• Liquid Sweeteners

Liquid sweeteners are great for sweetening other liquids, like tea or coffee. There is no worry of clumps because they blend smoothly.

Many liquid sweeteners, such as Organic Agave Nectar, are not calorie-free. They are very reduced calorie, though, and have no unpleasant aftertaste.

2. Don’t Fry

Frying adds calories that you just don’t have to have. Here’s an example: A fried chicken leg is 259 calories. On the other hand, a chicken leg that is baked is around half that at 123 calories.

3. Don’t Drown the Food in Sauces

A serving of brown gravy has around 25 calories per quarter cup. Cream gravy is even worse at a whopping 45 calories for less than a teaspoon of gravy. Try to find low calorie versions of these favorites.

4. Watch Out for Condiments

Condiments can sneak uncounted for calories into a dish. Catsup has 14 calories per tablespoon. Barbeque sauce has 30 calories per tablespoon. Most people use a lot more than a tablespoon!

5. Look for Low Calorie Ingredients

There are a lot of great tasting cooking ingredients out there that are low calorie. Look for low calorie sour cream, butter, seasonings and icings.

6. Use Cooking Spray

Most cooking sprays have no calories at all and make a great replacement for butter and oil when sautéing, grilling and baking.

7. Use Herbs for Flavor

Instead of using high calorie sauces, creams or dressings, liven up the taste of foods with herbs. Herbs are low calorie and many of them are very good for you.

8. Use More Fruits

When you want a dish to be sweet, but don’t want all of the calories from processed sugar, use fruit instead. For example, apple sauce can be substituted for brown sugar in recipes. A cup of brown sugar has 547 calories. A cup of sweetened apple sauce has just 194 calories. Making the substitution saved 353 calories.