Stocking a Heart-Healthy Kitchen

Certain foods contribute to a heart-healthy diet. From fruits and vegetables to whole grains, these are the foods that you should keep on hand.

Fresh Fruits & Vegetables

Fill your fridge with seasonal fruits such as berries, oranges, apples, pears, and grapes, and vegetables such as bell peppers, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, tomatoes, dark leafy greens, celery, eggplant, zucchini, and squash.

Dairy and Dairy Alternatives

• Skim or 1% milk
• Soymilk (plain, unsweetened, vanilla, or chocolate)
• Low - or nonfat buttermilk
• Nonfat half-and-half or nonfat creamers
• Nonfat or reduced-fat cheese (bricks, slices, or shredded)
• Soy-based cheeses (bricks, slices, or shredded)
• Nonfat or light cream cheese
• Nonfat or 1% fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
• Nonfat or 1% fat yogurt (includes fruited, vanilla, or plain)
• Soy-based yogurts
• Nonfat sour cream
• Egg substitutes, egg whites

Meat, Poultry, Fish & Meat Substitutes

• Skinless, boneless chicken or turkey breasts and tenders
• Skinless, white breast meat ground chicken or turkey
• Pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
• Lean ground beef such as ground round or ground sirloin (Note: When buying beef, look for words like "round" or "loin" and choose lean cuts to lower the fat content.)
• Assorted fish: salmon, mackerel, tilapia, trout, herring, tuna
• Tofu silken, soft, firm, or extra firm

Frozen Foods

• Frozen vegetables and vegetable blends without added sauces, gravies, etc
• Frozen fruits without added sugar (frozen blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries)
• Frozen soybeans (edamame)
• Frozen vegetarian burgers, sausage patties, or links (Boca Burgers, Yves, Morningstar Farms or Gardenburger)
• Reduced-fat and sodium vegetarian chili, burritos, and entrees like Amy's Organic and Health Valley.

Fats, Cooking Oils

• Assorted cooking oils (olive, canola, walnut, grapeseed, peanut, and sesame)
• Non-fat cooking sprays (for example, Spectrum Naturals, Pam)
• Baking fat replacements (for example, pureed prunes, applesauce, or Smucker's Baking Healthy)
• Non-hydrogenated shortening (for example, Spectrum Naturals)
• Trans-free liquid or tub margarine (for example, Promise Activ, Benecol, Fleischmann's Light, Smart Balance)
• Reduced-fat or nonfat salad dressings
• Herbs, Seasonings & Spices
• Use herbs and natural seasonings to take the place of salt.

Sweeteners

• Splenda, Equal, Nutra Sweet, Sugar Twin, and Brown Sugar Twin (sugar substitutes)
• Sugar free or "light" maple syrups
• Honey
• Brown rice syrup for a sweetening alternative to use when baking

Pantry Essentials

Snacks

• Assorted raw nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds)
• Dried fruits
• Whole-grain breads, tortillas, pitas
• Whole-grain, trans-fat free crackers (such as Health Valley whole wheat crackers, Kashi TLC crackers, Reduced Fat Triscuits, Fat Free Rye Crisp, Wasa)
• Baked, trans-fat-free tortilla chips
• Brown rice cakes, popcorn cakes
• Whole-grain pretzels (such as Snyder's oat bran or honey wheat)
• Plain popcorn or light microwave popcorn

Condiments

• Assorted vinegars: rice, red wine, balsamic, apple cider, raspberry as salad dressings.
• Reduced-sodium ketchup
• Assorted mustards: whole grain, honey, Dijon, yellow
• Reduced-sodium soy sauce
• Reduced-fat or nonfat mayonnaise
• Barbecue sauce

Beans, Grains, Sauces

• Assorted canned beans such as lentils, kidney, garbanzo, pinto, and black beans
• Dried beans (lentils, split peas, garbanzo beans, black beans)
• Reduced-sodium soups with beans (for example, Health Valley)
• Vegetarian chili beans (for example, Westbrae Naturals or Health Valley)
• Vegetarian or nonfat refried beans
• Rolled, steel cut, or Irish oats
• Oat bran
• Whole or ground flaxseeds
• Whole-grain cereals (Look for 5+ grams of dietary fiber and less than 8 grams of sugar per serving.)
• Barley
• Brown rice, wild rice, and brown basmati rice
• Grains such as wheat berries, couscous, polenta, millet, bulgur or quinoa
• Whole-wheat, spelt, or kamut pastas (Note: These whole-grain pastas come manyi varieties.)
• Wheat germ
• Whole-wheat flour and whole-wheat pastry flour
• Soy flour
• Cornmeal
• Reduced-sodium canned diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, and tomato sauce
• Low-fat or fat-free pasta sauce
• Reduced-sodium chicken, beef, and vegetable broths
• 98% fat-free cream of mushroom or chicken soups (for example, Campbell's Healthy Request)