About This Healthy Recipe

Do you love mac and cheese but think you can’t eat it on a heart healthy diet? Think again! The best way to enjoy this comfort food while also being good to your heart is to find a low sodium mac and cheese recipe that’s also low in fat. But the kicker is that it still has to taste creamy, decadent and delicious – and it has to be reminiscent of the mac and cheese you grew up on. Here’s how to do that: Lower in Sodium To make this heart healthy mac and cheese lower in sodium, we only added a minimal amount of salt to the recipe. Instead, we flavored the dish with black pepper and paprika and let the taste of the cheese shine through. There’s still some sodium, coming mostly from the cheese, but since there is less cheese in the recipe, the salt content is also lower. This low sodium mac and cheese recipe contains 540mg of sodium per serving, which is not exactly very low sodium, but it can still fit into a low sodium diet, whether you cap your intake at 2,000mg or 1,500mg per day. Lower in Fat Another way we made this mac and cheese heart healthy is to lower the fat content in the recipe, especially the amount of saturated fat. The low fat mac and cheese is made with reduced fat cheddar and mozzarella cheese, instead of the full fat versions. It also includes skim milk and nonfat sour cream to up the creaminess of the cheese sauce without adding to the fat content. Lower in Calories Due to the adjustments made in the recipe to reduce the fat and sodium content, the added bonus of this recipe is that it is low in calories, too. At only 281 calories per serving, you can enjoy a creamy bowl of mac and cheese while still sticking to a healthy diet. The recipe also includes 19g of protein per serving, which helps you stay full longer. Losing or maintaining a healthy weight is good for heart health and this low calorie mac and cheese helps you do just that while enjoying the foods you love.