After visiting 23 different Major League Baseball stadiums with my dad, I’ve sampled more than my fair share of ballpark food. The Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers really stood out: Seattle for its wide array of Italian food and sushi (yes, sushi at a baseball stadium!); Texas for its ginormous portions (for once, we actually felt like we got our money’s worth) and the friendly guy whole piled on a mountain of whipped cream, chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles onto my ice cream sundae helmet—for free!
At the opposite end of the spectrum, where I’d basically want to skip the concession stands and bring my own food to almost every game, only one stadium comes to mind. And of course, it’s my very own Oakland Athletics.
The Coliseum offers your stereotypical hot dogs and links, pretzels and peanuts, and fried chicken and pizza (as long as you grab an entire tree’s worth of paper napkins to dab off the grease, it’s pretty good!). And yes, they even sell my prized ice cream helmet sundaes. But as for healthier options that won’t clog your arteries… Nada.
But that wasn’t always the case. Last season, Dad and I discovered a small unassuming stall, located directly adjacent to the popular Round Table Pizza, that sold freshly carved turkey breast sandwiches. They layered a huge portion of meat onto the buns—between ¼ to ½ of a pound!—and left all of the condiment choices on a table next to the cashier for you to choose.
Pure bliss for a healthier eater!
But this year, Round Table Pizza expanded and took over the turkey sandwich stand, so at the Yankee game last weekend, I scoured the entire stadium searching for an alternative lunch, weaving through the massive throngs of people on the first level and even venturing up to the sparsely-populated second level too.
Eventually I found a stall advertising sliced BBQ pork sandwiches, and the bored cashier reassured me they were made from medallions of tenderloin. But in true Oakland fashion, the cooks failed to trim it well, and I ended up with as much fat as meat in my bun. Bleck!
Recognizing I could easily create a healthier option to tuck into my purse for this weekend’s Red Sox game, I created these Skinny BLTs with White Garlic Sauce. They’re bound to send any bacon lover into a tizzy! Layers of crunchy bacon, juicy tomatoes, and lots of crisp lettuce sit between the slices of toasted wheat bread slathered with the creamy spread. Even my guy, a picky eater who adores his stadium garlic fries and hot links, completely approved of these healthy BLTs!
Most of you already know how to assemble a sandwich, so I’m just going to touch on two key points. For starters, let’s take a look at the white garlic sauce. Although it sounds fancy and unhealthy, it’s so simple—and entirely fat-free! You just need 3 ingredients: Greek yogurt, minced garlic, and a sprinkle of black pepper.
It’s really important to mince that garlic as finely as you can. Unless you’re trying to ward off vampires, very few people will appreciate big chunks spread on their bread. If you’re worried about your chopping skills, use a zester and grate the garlic instead. That’ll ensure the nuggets are very fine!
You must chill the garlic sauce for at least 30 minutes before slathering it on the bread slices. This allows the flavors to meld and marry—and the longer you chill, the better!
Secondly, let’s talk about the turkey bacon. Unlike regular pork bacon, turkey bacon contains a lot less fat and calories, but that makes it harder to get it crispy! They key to crispy turkey bacon is to cook it low and slow and flip it every minute. Use tongs to make flipping easier! This helps each slice cook more evenly and achieve that perfect crunchy texture.
You’ll want to cook the bacon for about 3-5 minutes, or until you start to see the tiniest little black char spots. Immediately set the cooked slices onto a paper towel-lined plate, and dab of the excess grease with another paper towel. If cooked this way, it should crunch just like the regular pork cuts!
As a texture person, I love all of the different feelings going on in these low-calorie sandwiches. As you sink in your teeth to take a big bite, you hit the lightly toasted bread, the crunchy bacon, the soft juicy tomatoes, and my favorite… The crisp lettuce. I adore that refreshing crunch so much that I added two generous layers of lettuce!
With their familiar flavors and fun garlic twist, these Skinny BLTs with White Garlic Sauce taste every bit as comforting as the classic originals. Consisting of just a few everyday ingredients, they’re perfect for simple lunches, fuss-free dinners, and of course, baseball games.
Plus they shave off 250 calories and 16.5 grams of fat from the typical BLT. That’s 58% fewer calories and 79% less fat!
Bacon never tasted this healthy! ♥
With their fun garlic twist on the classic sandwich, these BLTs taste a little bit fancier but are so easy to make. Even picky eaters will fall for the fresh flavors and textures! This recipe is easily halved to feed fewer people, or scaled up to feed a crowd.
- To prepare the white sauce, stir together the yogurt, garlic, and black pepper until smooth and thoroughly combined. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes. (The longer it chills, the more the flavors meld and marry.)
- Lightly coat a large pan with nonstick cooking spray, and briefly preheat over medium-low heat. Add as many strips of bacon as will fit comfortably. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until crispy, making sure to flip the bacon once every minute to prevent burning. Lay the cooked bacon onto a paper towel-lined plate, and wipe off any remaining grease with another paper towel. Add the rest of the bacon to the hot pan, and repeat. Once cool, break each bacon slice in half.
- To assemble the sandwiches, spread 2 teaspoons of white sauce across one side of each bread slice. Top 4 bread slices with 2 tablespoons of shredded lettuce, 2-4 tomato slices, and 4 bacon halves (2 slices worth). Finish with 2 more tablespoons of shredded lettuce and another bread slice with the white sauce side facing down.
Note: This recipe yields extra white garlic sauce; if less yogurt was used, the garlic taste would be very overpowering. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7-10 days.
Sounds like you definitely know your ballpark food, Amy! 🙂 These BLTs sound amazing! I always associate these sandwiches with summer. I love that you created the garlic sauce using yogurt as a base. It really does sound fancy, but I like how easy that is! And I have all of the ingredients for the sauce in my kitchen, which is even better! Pinned!
Thank you so much Gayle, for both your sweet comment and the pin! When it comes to cooking, I’m all about easy dishes. I spend so much time baking, recipe testing, and washing those dishes that my savory food needs to be as simple as possible! 😉
YUM! Thanks for the tip on crisping the turkey bacon! I have a load of it I bought from Costco in my freezer right now…
You’re welcome Andrea! At some point I need to become a Costco member… With how many baking supplies I go through, I’m guessing it’d really pay off!
I couldn’t wait to see how you’d healthified BLTs … brilliant (of course!). I was especially curious about the white garlic sauce, and so excited when I saw you’d used Greek yogurt (you know I looove it 😀 )! This is for sure the thing to tuck in your purse and sneak into the next game!
Aww thank you Shelley! 🙂 You know I’m obsessed with Greek yogurt too… I think the grocery store needs to restock about twice as often due to how much I’ve been buying lately!
Yum!! This looks amazing!! We are definitely going to be trying this recipe out. The white garlic sauce can be used with other dishes too, can’t it?!
♥ M + K
http://www.mkstyleramblings.blogspot.com.au
Thank you! Of course, the white garlic sauce can be used wherever you’d like! The recipe makes extra anyway, so that makes experimenting much easier. 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of the BLTs if you try them!
Okay that totally cracks me up that Oakland has the crappiest food. Can we be surprised really? haha. Oh you darling A’s, you try so hard. Fat free white garlic sauce?? yeah dude. I’m in.
No, not surprised for a single second. But if you’re looking for slightly more decent options, check out the second level right behind home plate. They have more gourmet options cooked to order by a chef, and their dishes vary from game to game. I’ve seen something as common as BBQ brisket, but I’ve also seen a chicken and veggie stir fry, as well as salmon burgers. And on the other side of that section, they sell wood-fired thin crust pizzas. But… That’s about it! Crazy A’s… 😉
This sandwich sounds amazing! The white garlic sauce is where it’s at! 😉
Aww thank you Jocelyn! I basically added that for my guy… He absolutely adores garlic. He’s always tempted to order extra garlic on his garlic fries — no vampires will ever come into our house! 😉