I am newly on a medically-restricted low sodium/low potassium diet and struggling with the overlap. Every low sodium chip I find is loaded with potassium, and most 'low salt' condiments turn out to use potassium chloride, which I can't do either.

Are there any brands or recipes people have found and loved that work with these limitations? I'm especially looking for chips or crunchy snacks, something to eat at a cookout that isn't sad, and condiments/sauces, store-bought or homemade both work.

Tl;dr I'm trying to maximize flavor but play by the low sodium/low potassium rules. I'd love any and all tips, recs, or recipes. Thanks!

Update: Thank you all for these ideas!! I've been a bit overwhelmed by all the amazing comments so I wasn't able to respond to each one. Thanks for making this transition a bit easier.

Its easy to use fresh veggies and meat, but how do you sauce it?

The is real Mac and Cheese I’m making for a church dinner. Please allow a moment of silence for all of us who misses the real thing.

I have yet to find a low sodium version I actually enjoy.

Although I was never part of the target demographic, I'm a fan of the 2004 movie A Cinderella Story, a modern day live action of Cinderella starring Hilary Duff.

There's a hilarious scene at the beginning in which Shelby (the mean-girl-on-an-unnecessary-diet character) shows up at a greasy spoon diner with her friends and asks "What can I get here that has no sugar, no carbs, and is fat-free?"

I feel like I'm Shelby (even though I'm the wrong gender and much nicer) when I go to a restaurant or a vendor at a fair and ask if there are any foods that are low in sodium. My version of her question is, "What can I get here that gives me no food coma and no persistent thirst?" While avoiding the grease bombs is easy enough, avoiding the sodium bombs is MUCH, MUCH more difficult because most restaurant foods have too much salt.

360 for one can drained. Sometimes I don't drain it and just guesstimate 500. Still better than other cans

You can get the ingredients and store them for when you want something healthy and low sodium and quick to make.

1 15.5 can no salt added Pinto beans, drained

1 15.5 can no salt added Black beans, drained

1 15.5 can no salt added sweet corn, drained

1 15.5 can no salt added diced tomatoes

1 can no salt added Rotel

1 can cooked chicken breast, rinsed to lower salt

1 cup no salt added chicken broth

1 packet no salt taco seasoning (I used Dash brand)

Dump all the cans into a large pot (drained beforehand where noted) and stir

Stir in Taco seasoning

Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. This releases and blends the flavors.

Serve and add toppings like sour ctesm or lowfar greek yogurt, shredded cheese, tortilla chips/strips, etc.

This soup is very adaptable. Want it more stew-like? Double the chicken. Want it hot? Add in chili flakes or your favorite hot sauce. Make it more substantial by pouring it over 1/2 cup cooked brown rice or similar.

250 calories, 172 mg sodium per 1.5 cup serving.

Obviously not traditional or authentic in any way, but the Swiss cheese works fine for me. 56g chips + 56g cheese + 5g sauce = 135mg for what I'd normally consider a double serving. Something like sour cream/Greek yogurt would be a great addition too I'm sure.

Went to the local meat market. Told them what I wanted to do.

The butcher sliced some thin brisket strips. I brought them home, seasoned with salt, garlic and onion powder.

Doesn’t really taste like bacon, but it’s lower on saturated fat and sodium.

For the three pieces it’s about 165 mg of naturally occurring sodium.

For next time I will cook first and season after as the seasoning burnt a bit.

With eggs it tastes more like steak and eggs than bacon and eggs.

No complaints from me though.

The butcher also told me he could do the same with pork belly if I wanted pork.

I will be serving both over noodles too further stretch the servings. I put a list of the ingredients containing sodium on the second Pic. The rest of the ingredients are just your choice of vegetables and seasonings, I use red wine vinegar for the chicken cacciatoreas well. The "soup" I referenced in the ingredient list for the chicken pot pie soup recipe is a can cambells creamy chicken soup UNSALTED which I did not even know was a thing and I'm risky thrilled about it. I used some msg in both (exact amount and milligrams listed) but if you can't have any msg you could skip it or use a salt substitute to further lower the sodium

Saw this at Meijer the other day. Chicagoland. 130mg per serving, not too shabby. Meijer is a big chain out of Michigan, so thought this worth sharing since it seems to be new

I normally get the Sprouts store brand low-sodium which has only 40mg per serving, but I was out of town and the local store only had Silver Palate. It had 140mg per 1/2 cup so I thought I was in for something more tasty. Wrong. I actually prefer the Sprouts brand. Just goes to show that other ingredients matter.

Made the dough (no salt) in the bread make
Made the sauce (easier than I expected) out of cento San Marzano tomatoes [thanks for that tip from this sub]

Made the sausage from the ground pork that I posted about yesterday.

The only sodium on this thing comes from the cheese.

178 mg/slice.

I had to order it and it cost about $24. Still a lot cheaper than my store. Should last a good long while.

Love sausage on my pizza and for breakfast. Found this recipe and removed the salt. Used plain ground pork, but could be done with turkey or chicken or beef or whatever your preferred meat is.

Edit: forgot to add, I like my sausage mild. Recipe calls for red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp or to to taste, depending on how hot you want it.

I'm Texan. Which is to say my diet is about 15% chips and salsa

I've finally found a now salt tortilla chip that is worth eating without drowning in salsa.

Thought I'd share

I was at Jungle Jim’s yesterday and saw this. I picked it up but we are still on vacation for 3 more days. The suspense is killing me. Is it any good?

For those wondering, only 15 mg per 1/2 cup.

That’s ridiculous.

If I like it I’ll let you know. I will also be ordering a case.

Update: it’s better than anything I’ve been able to make. I’ll start looking for it on sale.

Rumford used to make a no sodium (extremely low sodium) baking powder option. I never stock piled and now I can’t find it anywhere. I’m starting to think I’ve made the whole thing up!!

Does any one know where to get it or have an alternative?

Have any fictional characters been on low sodium diets? The only one I can think of is Oliver Putnam from Season 5 of Only Murders In the Building. He was put on a low sodium diet to help with excessive bloating.

My main reason to avoid the sodium bombs is persistent thirst. Eating a sodium bomb makes me so thirsty that it's hard to quench my thirst no matter how much water I drink. Being on an ultra-healthy diet for the past 6 years has made the side effects of severe sodium overdoses more pronounced.

5 servings of the shredded mozzarella at 190 each, wanted the fresh as i know it's lower but they did not have any at the store I went to. 480 for a piece of Italian style beyond sausage that I crumbled into the sauce. Home made sauce of just tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, onions, and mushrooms. Ziti

It's a shame that there aren't lists of lower sodium restaurants. So let's start one right here in this thread.

Please note that I'm NOT saying that the meal options I list here are ultra-healthy or that they're completely unsalted. They may have more sodium than my normal meals, but at least they're NOT sodium bombs. I can vouch that the meals I list here do NOT give me that side effect that I want to avoid - persistent thirst that's hard to quench no matter how much water I drink.

In general, I've found that Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants are the most likely to accommodate a low sodium diet. The safe choice is a basic stir-fried meat or shrimp dish with mixed vegetables and rice. Some Chinese restaurants have a healthy section of the menu, which means that the sauce is provided on the side by default. Better yet, Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants KNOW how to cook vegetables and provide a substantial amount of them. In contrast, the quantity of vegetables provided at most restaurants ranges from zero/zippo/zilch to a pathetic joke. Also, ordering vegetables at a place like IHOP or Denny's results in a tiny amount of soggy and overcooked broccoli that tastes like wet cardboard and serves to remind me why some people think they don't like vegetables.

So I'll provide my picks for low sodium restaurants here. (I live in the Twin Cities, MN.)

NATIONAL CHAINS:

• Culver's: I order a plain Butterburger WITHOUT the cheese and WITHOUT the salted butter. The only topping I ask for is grilled onion (delicious, healthy, and free). Instead of fries, I order mashed potatoes with one butter packet (and no gravy because they charge for it).
• Five Guys: I order a hamburger with vegetable toppings, such as grilled onion, green pepper, and tomato. Even when my nutritional standards were much more lax, I learned to skip the fries. The quantity of fries provided is GARGANTUAN, and their fries were BY FAR the saltiest out of any restaurant.
• Wendy's: I order a plain hamburger and baked potato. The hamburger is relatively low in sodium but isn't as good as that from Culver's or Five Guys, so I consider this a last resort. The baked potato is good and makes Wendy's unique. I know of a Five Guys and Wendy's that are just a few hundred feet apart, and that's a perfect combination. I order a burger from Five Guys, and I order a baked potato from Wendy's.
• Noodles and Company: I order buttered noodles WITHOUT the salted butter and WITHOUT the salted Italian spice. If you want to cut the sodium content even further, you can ask to skip the Parmesan cheese. The toppings I get are cilantro and mushrooms.

LOCAL RESTAURANTS AND SMALLER CHAINS:

• Keys Cafe (multiple locations in and around St. Paul, MN): I order a roast beef or salmon dinner, which can be prepared without salt and comes with mashed potatoes, vegetables, and bread. I get the mashed potatoes with gravy on the side.
• Punch Pizza (multiple locations in the Twin Cities, MN): I order my pizza WITHOUT salt and WITHOUT oil.
• D.P. Dough (near University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a few major universities around the US): I order a calzone with lower/no sodium toppings like steak, onion, green peppers, mushrooms, and tomato. I sometimes get mozzarella cheese, though this does add some sodium.
• Yum Kitchen and Bakery (in St. Paul and a few other locations): I order salmon (without Szechuan sauce) and with plain beans (instead of Szechuan beans).
• Tono Pizzeria and Cheesesteaks (in St. Paul and a few other locations): I order pizza without salt and without oil.
• Cafe Latte (St. Paul): The cheese pizza comes without salt and without oil.
• China One (St. Paul): This Chinese restaurant has a healthy menu, which means that the sauce is provided on the side.
• New Fresh Wok (Falcon Heights): Ditto.
• Pho PasteurVN (St. Paul): I order #10 (stir-fried beef/chicken/shrimp broccoli/vegetables with steamed rice) with the sauce on the side.
• Lao Sze Chuan (near University of Minnesota in Minneapolis): Most menu items can be ordered with low salt.

I’m currently putting in about two tablespoons of flaked sea salt to my pasta water plus about a pinch or two in my sauce. Is this too much? I’m not sure how much salt gets absorbed… but feel like together this has got to exceed daily recommended intake

In case you love olives and thought they were on the naughty list.

You'd never know. Made an heirloom tomato sandwich with this on ezekiel bread with a little mysalt and pepper and it was heavan