My 5 Favorite Low Salt Sauces to Spice up any Meal

Whether you’re following a low salt lifestyle or just looking to eat a little bit healthier, it can be easy to get stuck in a rut when searching for recipes for meals, meal prepping, or healthy and accessible snacks.  

If you’re like many of us, you might find yourself making the same roster of meals and snacks or returning to your tried-and-true recipes over and over. Even for people like me who love cooking and trying new things, it is incredibly easy to fall prey to the mealtime rut, especially during the winter months!

If you are new to the low salt lifestyle or a long-term expert in The Unsalted Life, finding healthy and low salt ways to mix up your meal planning can be challenging. One of my favorite strategies for when I’m unsure of what to make is to just start with one element of the meal and go from there. For me, researching and discovering a new low salt sauce is often the catalyst for several new and exciting meals. I love being able to adapt any sauce to different recipes, try out some different variances with some unique ingredients, and overall, just enjoy the experience of creating an entirely new and delicious dish!

Since store bought sauces are typically loaded with sodium, I prefer to hand-make all my sauces if possible. Of course, just like many of you, I do lead a very busy life so sometimes making an entire meal from scratch is just not in the cards. For me, it’s always great to have some pre-made low salt sauces on hand for when I just don’t have time to start from scratch. So, I batch cook my sauces and then freeze them.

In my blog post, I’m going to be chatting about some of my favorite go-to low salt sauce recipes and my recommendations for using these sauces to mix up your meal planning. I hope you finish reading this post with some new, fresh and exciting meal options.

The Top 5 Sauces Every Low Salt Foodie Needs on Hand.

Here are my top five favorite go-to sauces that, in my opinion, every low salt foodie needs to have in their repertoire. You can either make these sauces by scratch when you need them, or batch cook a big portion and freeze them into individually sized portions. No matter the preparation option that fits with your lifestyle and budget, these are my top five recommendations that no low salt foodie should live without.

#1 A STANDOUT TOMATO SAUCE

Everyone needs a high-quality tomato pasta sauce in their life and finding low salt options for pasta sauce at the store is often quite impossible. You can find my go-to tomato Marinara Sauce. And if you are looking for more of a hearty sauce, try my Homemade Bolognese Sauce

#2 A FLAVORFUL LOW SALT PESTO SAUCE

A pesto sauce is so versatile and is incredibly easy and perfect for the warm summer months when there is more basil than you even know what to do with! Freeze the extras to have a healthy flavorful sauce in the dead of winter. This savory sauce is the perfect addition to pasta, a delicious spread on sandwiches and can even be used as the base of a delicious grilled pizza. Find my go-to Pesto Sauce here!

#3 A CURRY SAUCE

I absolutely love a curry sauce and all the amazing opportunities that it presents for different sorts of dishes. Curry sauces are easily adapted and modified by changing different spices and simple ingredients to create an entirely new flavor. One of my favorites is a coconut curry sauce made with olive oil, garlic, coconut milk, curry powder, a hint of lime and pepper. This sauce is super simple to make and really adds a big burst of flavor to any dish.

#4 BARBECUE SAUCE

On average, a tablespoon of store-bought barbecue sauce has 425mg of sodium. There are slim pickings when it comes to a store-bought low sodium barbecue sauce, and it is not always easy to find. I decided to create my own that is sweet yet smoky and extremely versatile. Pour it over some chicken wings and throw them on the grill, smother it on some baby back ribs or even pulled pork sandwiches. Don’t feel guilty with this easy to make Homemade Barbecue Sauce.

#5 A SPICY SALSA VERDE

A salsa verde is my go-to sauce in the summer. Accompany it with some chips and dip for a party, atop scrambled eggs for breakfast or a spicy sauce on top of Zucchini Cakes. This salsa is super easy to make and lasts days in the fridge! Check out my Tomatillo Cilantro Salsa.