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alt=woman cooking with seasonings

Illustrated by Cindy Lozito

Salt-Free Seasonings 

Clair G's avatar image

By Clair G

2 min read

Often times when dealing with heart failure we need to watch our sodium intake. This can feel like the end of flavorful cooking. A ban into the world of bland foods. I can assure you there are many ways to flavor food without salt and sodium-laden products. I would love to share with you some of my favorite salt-free seasoning recipes:

Salt-free seasonings

Always store in a cool place in an airtight container. I generally only mix enough to last me a month.

General seasoning

This is good on meat and veggies. You can use as much as you feel to taste. I enjoy this on red meat and allow it to absorb into the meat before I cook.

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  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons dried savory
  • 1¼ teaspoons dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (You can adjust this to suit the heat level you like)

Seafood and fish seasoning

You will need to grind this one yourself, but it is absolutely delicious. I have a a coffee grinder that I use only for herbs and spices. Otherwise, it would truly make your coffee taste funny! Put all the ingredients into the grinder and grind them together. It helps blend the flavors, in my opinion. I always squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the mixture before serving.

  • 6 dry Bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon peppercorns
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 1 tablespoon celery seeds
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon of mustard seed
  • ¼ teaspoon ground mace
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Chicken seasoning

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon ground mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar

Talk to your doctor about salt-free seasonings and heart failure

Cooking can be such a joy and needing to make massive adjustments with restrictions to protect your heart can seem very daunting at first. Like with anything and everything related to your heart health, run it by your doctor. Each case can be so unique. When you are next at an appointment you could just show them the list of ingredients that you want to use and be sure that everything is safe to use for you.

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