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10 Easy Ways to Reduce Sodium

10 Easy Ways to Reduce Sodium

Updated August 01, 2008

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Credit: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

Who needs the salt shaker? Not you when you make these easy changes in the kitchen.

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Shaking the Salt Habit

Credit: Rita Maas

There's no need to completely eliminate salt from your cooking–the idea is to learn to use less and find other ways to add flavor. With a few simple substitutions and strategic changes in the kitchen, you can drastically reduce the amount of sodium in your diet.

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Sautéed Green Beans with Wild Mushrooms

Credit: Susie Cushner

Sautéed Green Beans with Wild Mushrooms Recipe

It's hard to beat the flavor of garden-fresh vegetables, so making this switch might just be the easiest change of all. If it's not convenient to buy fresh, go for frozen. As an alternative to green bean casserole with canned cream of mushroom soup and canned onion rings, try fresh green beans, red onion, and wild mushrooms.

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Dijon-Lemon Vinaigrette

Credit: Randy Mayor; Jan Gautro

Dijon-Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe

Bottled salad dressings, while certainly convenient, usually have more than twice the sodium of a homemade dressing because of the sodium-containing preservatives. Make up a batch of this tangy, versatile vinaigrette and use it as is or as the base for additional flavored vinaigrettes.

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Theresa's Double-Tomato Soup

Credit: Howard L. Puckett; Styling: Lydia Degaris-Pursell

Theresa's Double-Tomato Soup Recipe

One can of tomato soup contains 1,690 milligrams of sodium, while one serving of this homemade version only has 229 milligrams. The recipe still calls for convenience products such as canned tomatoes, dried tomatoes, and canned chicken broth, but it's enhanced with fresh vegetables and herbs.

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Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken Recipe

Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store deli can be packed with sodium, especially if they're roasted with a seasoning blend or sauce. You can achieve a big sodium savings by roasting your own. A 5-pound chicken will yield about 7 1/2 cups of chopped cooked chicken.

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Tuscan Bean and Wilted Arugula Salad

Credit: Karry Hosford

Tuscan Bean and Wilted Arugula Salad Recipe

The convenience of using canned beans comes with a price–a sodium price. For a low-sodium alternative, replace canned beans with dried. One pound of dried beans (about 2 cups) is equal to 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups of cooked beans.

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Punch up flavor with herbs and spices instead of salt.

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Rather than relying solely on salt to season meats, poultry, and fish, tingle your tastebuds with herbs and spices.

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Cabernet-Braised Beef Short Ribs

Credit: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

Cabernet-Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe

Brown succulent beef short ribs in a skillet and deglaze with beef broth. Then cook the ribs at low heat for about 3 hours or until they're "fall-off-the-bone" tender. There's only a half-teaspoon of salt in this recipe, and you could probably even leave that out because the rich flavor is coming from the ribs and the red wine sauce.

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Homemade Chicken Broth

Credit: James Carrier

Homemade Chicken Broth Recipe

The sodium really starts adding up when you use regular canned chicken broth in recipes. Not only is this salt-free chicken stock low in sodium, but its flavor far surpasses that of canned broths. When you need the convenience of canned broth, look for reduced-sodium brands.

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Spicy Grilled Corn

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Mary Catherine Muir

Spicy Grilled Corn Recipe

The next time you grill corn, instead of reaching for the salt shaker, brush the ears with Thai Hot Sauce. Once you taste this mixture of lime juice, jalapeño peppers, and fresh garlic on the char-grilled corn, seasoning with salt will be the last thing on your mind.

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Bake your own snack chips.

Credit: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

A little bit of salt goes a long way when it comes to snack foods. When you make your own chips you can control the amount of salt, replace some of it with spices, and round out the flavor with a mouth-watering dip.

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