Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Cooking 101
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
SUBSCRIBE
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Eating Smart
  3. Top Lower-Sodium Foods

Top Lower-Sodium Foods

By Maureen Callahan April 08, 2011
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Credit: Photo Courtesy of Del Monte
Trying to cut back on salt but fond of convenience foods? These delicious packaged items manage to dramatically slash sodium without sacrificing flavor. By Maureen Callahan, MS, RD
Start Slideshow

1 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Lower-Sodium Foods

Experts encourage moderation when it comes to salt (sodium chloride) since excessive amounts of sodium not only raise blood pressure but can damage artery linings. Since the lion’s share of sodium comes from processed foods, we sampled our way through the supermarket to find the best-tasting lower sodium products. Government standards define low sodium as 140 milligrams of sodium or less per serving, but we’ve included a few noteworthy products that cut sodium levels by 50 percent or more. Not seeing your favorite convenience food on this list? A smart shopping strategy courtesy of the newest Dietary Guidelines: Compare soups, breads, and similar foods and buy the brand with the lowest sodium numbers.

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Boar’s Head All Natural Cap-Off Top Round Oven Roasted Beef

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Boar's Head
Deli meats have a notoriously salty reputation, but Boar’s Head proves the rare exception. The roast beef from their all-natural line (which is hormone-, nitrate-, and preservative-free), manages to deliver a skimpy 140 milligrams of sodium per two-ounce serving. Better yet, it tastes like a Sunday supper roast that grandma baked from scratch. At a skinny 80 calories and two grams of fat per two ounces, it’s also a pretty lean-mean sandwich filling. The competition? Familiar deli beef packs 500 milligrams of sodium or more.

2 of 10

3 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Pacific Natural Foods Organic Light Sodium Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Pacific Natural Foods
Made with roasted red bell peppers, roasted garlic, and tomatoes, this creamy milk-based soup from Pacific Foods tastes like it’s been simmering on Julia’s stovetop, but a light hand with the salt cuts sodium in half (down to 360 mg per cup) from an original version. Ditch the box and guests will be raving about your culinary skills. Try heating soup on the stovetop and stirring in different ingredients based on what sounds good at the moment. Our favorite twist: a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper, baby spinach leaves, and chickpeas.

3 of 10

Advertisement

4 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Food for Life Ezekiel Low Sodium Sprouted Wheat Bread

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Food for Life
A mixture of sprouted wheat, barley, millet, lentils, soybeans, and spelt in Ezekiel Low Sodium Sprouted Wheat Bread, gives this tasty 80-calorie sandwich bread a wonderfully nutty flavor and a healthy three grams of fiber. Sodium? Zero, nada, zip. That’s because the bread is baked without salt. Sound odd? In Italy’s Umbrian region they’ve been baking bread sans salt, and loving it, since the 1500s. It makes a lot of sense when you consider bread is basically a vehicle for fillings or toppings like butter and jam.

4 of 10

5 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

The Spice Hunter Organic Curry Seasoning Blend

Credit: Photo Courtesy of The Spice Hunter
It’s no secret that spices help build flavor into foods and allow you to use less salt. But figuring out which spices go together, and how much to use, can be intimidating. So we think The Spice Hunter’s thirty-five salt-free seasoning blends are a godsend in the kitchen. Craving Mexican? There’s a fajita blend. Feel like Jamaican? Try the jerk blend. But our hands-down favorite is a curry seasoning that combines sweet and savory spices to bring all the flavors and aromas of India to the table.

5 of 10

6 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Wheat Thins Hint of Salt

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Nabisco
Chips and pretzels that have zero salt can be a hard snack to swallow. But when salt, or in this case sea salt, is used sparingly the end result can be tasty with just a less pronounced salt hit. So it is with these thin crisps. At first bite you may notice they’re not quite as salty, but as you keep munching the same nutty wheat flavor and subtle hint of sweetness that are hallmark of Wheat Thins comes through. However, instead of 230 milligrams of sodium per serving (16 crackers), the new thins add up to just 60.

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Planters Deluxe Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Planters
Roasted, salted nuts are one of those all American snacks. So it seems crazy to fool with a winning snack. Yet Planters new line of 50 percent less sodium nuts boldly takes on the task and delivers a strong contender with just 50 milligrams per serving. The salt is visible and the nuts are perfectly roasted, but the salty flavor is mild. For some, it will be an easy switch. Salt hounds may want to mix lightly salted nuts and regular nuts to gradually wean themselves away from saltier versions. Look for more low-sodium options from Planters soon. They recently announced a reduction of sodium by an average of ten percent across its entire plant-based product portfolio by 2012.

7 of 10

8 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Quaker Oats
Most parents focus on the sugar content of cereals, but sodium can be a pretty big issue too, particularly since what the box calls a serving is far less than what most people pour into the bowl. One popular wheat cereal racks up 210 milligrams of sodium in each one-ounce (one-cup) portion. By comparison, an ounce of Quaker rolled oats is sodium-free. It also nets you three grams of filling, cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber. Make it in the microwave and flavor with fresh or dried fruit and nuts.

8 of 10

9 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Eden No Salt Added Organic Black Beans

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Eden Foods
A good rule of thumb when shopping for canned beans is to opt for organic varieties since they typically carry far less salt. That way you can season to taste rather than start with an overwhelming salt flavor. Here’s the deal: adding a can of black beans to a pot of chili is like adding half a teaspoon of salt (400 mg sodium per half cup of beans). Eden beans sport just 15 milligrams of sodium per half cup, come in BPA-free cans, are non-GMO (genetically modified), and have a pleasantly firm texture.

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Del Monte No Salt Added Petite Diced Canned Tomatoes

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Del Monte
It seems like a no-brainer to use salt-free items (tomatoes, butter, vegetables) in recipes and then add salt to taste. We’re particularly fond of these petite diced tomatoes from Del Monte which taste remarkably fresh for a canned product. The small size makes them perfect for bruschetta and salsa, but they’re also a good addition to soups, casseroles, and chilies. Sodium adds up to 50 milligrams of per half cup instead of the usual 280 mg found in regular varieties.

10 of 10

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Maureen Callahan

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 10 Lower-Sodium Foods
    2 of 10 Boar’s Head All Natural Cap-Off Top Round Oven Roasted Beef
    3 of 10 Pacific Natural Foods Organic Light Sodium Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
    4 of 10 Food for Life Ezekiel Low Sodium Sprouted Wheat Bread
    5 of 10 The Spice Hunter Organic Curry Seasoning Blend
    6 of 10 Wheat Thins Hint of Salt
    7 of 10 Planters Deluxe Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts
    8 of 10 Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
    9 of 10 Eden No Salt Added Organic Black Beans
    10 of 10 Del Monte No Salt Added Petite Diced Canned Tomatoes

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Cooking Light

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    MeredithCooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Cooking Light. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

    View image

    Top Lower-Sodium Foods
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.