Easy Low Sodium Meal Ideas

For other people with heart failure, who, like myself, follow a low-sodium diet, I have found in order to maintain consistent adherence planning is key. It becomes challenging when you are tired, stressed and hungry and just do not have it in you to grocery shop, cook and clean, but takeout, premade food and pizza is loaded with sodium. I get it!

Our go-to method for being consistent is meal prep because there is always food that we can grab. However, even for us there are days or weeks when life gets in the way. So what to do?

We have a few EASY low-sodium meal ideas when we are in a pinch. Also, they are customizable because you may have people in your house who do not eat a low sodium diet, and it's nice to be able to give folks what they want when it's still healthy for the patient!

Quick and easy low-sodium meals for people with heart failure

Baked potato

This one is a true winner. If you add some oil on the outside of your potatoes and bake for at least 45 minutes, you will get a lovely crispy exterior and fluffy inside.

Truly tasty, and very customizable.

For low sodium flavoring, I love green onions/scallions, chives, some low-fat sour cream/Greek yogurt, a little bit of butter and black pepper. YUM. Sometimes I add blistered grape tomatoes, and they mash well into the potatoes mixture. You can also add crispy baked tofu if you want some protein. You can also try toppings like hot sauce, black beans, onions, tomatoes, and cheese. Or keep it simple and do broccoli and cheese for folks who are not on a low-sodium diet.

Lastly, if you want something a little fancier, and a little more work, you have options! You could do BBQ chicken sweet potato skins (use the BBQ sparingly for the low-sodium folks), Shepherds Pie baked potato and or even a Sloppy Joe baked potato making your own low-sodium sloppy joe sauce and a side of broccoli. See my favorite low sodium Sloppy Joe recipe below:

• 2.5 teaspoon dried onion
• .5 teaspoon dried garlic
• .5 teaspoon dried mustard
• .25 teaspoon chili powder (no salt)
• .25 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
• .5 cup of water
• 1.5 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 cup no salt added ketchup

Nachos

This is a very close runner up. You can put tinfoil on the pan so there is no cleanup, and it is SO customizable so everyone is happy. Get salt-free tortilla chips, and find a brand that you like. My favorite is Garden of Eatin because they stand up well to sauce. You can put on tomatoes, (salt-free) black beans, green onions, tomatoes, (salt-free salsa), red onion and corn. You can add jalapeños if you like some heat, which I will say helps when eating low-sodium. You can put on as much cheese as you like and/or section it out!

Lastly, while that is baking I make a topping in the blender. I throw in an avocado, lime, olive oil, chopped cilantro, a pinch of salt and Greek Yogurt in the blender, and let it go. The fat, acid and salt whiz up into a terrifically light and SO tasty topping that we pile on top of nachos and it's great. Plus, it's totally customizable if you want more lime, cilantro, etc.

If you want to go a slightly fancier route, you can add shredded chicken (made with a no-salt taco seasoning) and/or green salsa verde made with tomatillos, which are a green tomatoes and readily available in most large grocery chains.

What are your easy weeknight low-sodium meal ideas?

Has anyone ever made any of these? What are your easy weeknight low-sodium dinner go-to's?!

As an added benefit, if anyone has someone in the house who is gluten-free all of these can apply as well.

Make sure to check any ingredients lists and talk to your doctor about your salt intake.