Putting together meal plans and recipes for a kidney safe diet does not have to be difficult. In fact, there are plenty of enjoyable recipes that work for renal disease.
These easy recipes for dialysis patients make putting together kidney safe meals a breeze.
Breakfast
For the most important meal of the day, you want something that will sustain you until your next meal. The typical American diet tends to include a lot of sugar and sodium-rich foods for breakfast, but there are so many options to make breakfast delicious and healthy for a renal diet.
Zucchini Hash Browns
Ingredients:
1 large zucchini, grated or shredded
½ small yellow onion, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
1 garlic clove, finely diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
After shredding your large zucchini, squeeze by hand to remove excess moisture. Throw peppers in with zucchini and mix together by hand, let sit for a few minutes while you heat the oil in a pan. In a skillet, heat oil and then saute onion and garlic until the onion is transparent. Add the zucchini mixture to the pan and cook until browned, flipping and “scattering” as needed.
Lunch
Although super convenient, deli meats are typically full of extra sodium. Instead, use meats left over from dinner the night before or freshly slice lean meats yourself. Do this ahead of time to make hassle free lunch options.
Delicious Deli Bagel Sandwich
1 plain bagel
2 ounces freshly sliced turkey breast
Shredded carrot
1-2 leaves of fresh raw kale
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Pair your sandwich with a sliced apple or a handful of grapes and a glass of sugar free lemonade.
Dinner
End your day on a delicious and healthy note. To omit a lot of sodium and added phosphorus, try to avoid using processed foods whenever possible. Instead, stick to lean proteins, white starches, and lots of fresh produce.
Oven Baked Tilapia with Sauteed Veggies
Ingredients:
½ large onion
1 3 ounce tilapia fillet
2 lemon wedges
salt free spice mix
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas
1/2 cup bell pepper mix, julienne cut
½ cup cauliflower florets
1 tablespoon olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick spray. Cut one thick slice of onion, set on baking sheet. Put tilapia fillet on top of the onion and sprinkle with your choice of salt free spice mix. Squeeze lemon wedge over fish and leave the wedge on top of the fish while baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until white and flaky.
While fish is baking, heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute sugar snap peas, bell peppers, and cauliflower. Season with salt free spice mix and squeeze a lemon wedge over veggies before removing from pan.
Pairs well with white or saffron rice. Any salt free seasoning mix will work, so you can use your favorite. For a bit of spice, sprinkle a tiny bit of crushed red pepper flakes or fresh ground black pepper over the fish before baking.
These easy recipes for dialysis patients, plus some simple fresh snacks like baby carrots or salt free pretzels and hummus, will keep you happy and satisfied. You can find more kidney friendly and delicious recipes like these here.
Also published on Medium.
Mary says
March 20, 2017 at 7:41 pmthe doctor tells me I am stage 3 moderate renal failure. Don’t know what that means.
MatheaW says
April 24, 2017 at 7:34 amCheck out this article: https://www.renaldiethq.com/diet-by-stage-of-ckd/
Loraine says
March 2, 2018 at 10:12 amJust wanted to let you know that I have purchased two of your books:
–Living with Chronic Kidney Disease–Pre-Dialysis, and
–Create Your Own Kidney Diet Plan.
I see that they were published in 2012 and 2013 respectively. I remember reading that you send updates when information changes. I have purchased both through Amazon.com and wonder if that still entitles me to updates. If so, I would very much appreciate receiving any additional information.
After reading Create Your Own Kidney Diet Plan, I have religiously tracked what I am eating:
Date/ Meal/ Food Eaten/ Sodium/ Potassium/ Phosphorus/ Protein/ Carbs/ Calories
and have been able to improve my numbers quite a bit.
On my first blood test in November, I was told that my Creatinin was 1.4 and my GFR as between 35-40. This morning, I received numbers from my second blood test and they were: Creatinin 1.0 and GFR 54. I credit this to tracking what I am eating and being careful.
This leads me to my second question: I was looking at your recipe for Zucchini Hash Browns and noticed that the nutritional information was not given. I would really like to know the nutritional content without having to track each item in the recipe. Could this information be given to me?
Thank you,
lowraind