Recipe Roundup

8 Heart-Healthy Special Occasion Recipes

These heart-healthy recipes will make any dinner feel much more special.
Image may contain Food Meal Dish Pork Roast and Plant
Photo by Lisa Hubbard

Whether your doctor recommended a heart-healthy diet due to a diagnosis of coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, heart arrhythmias, or hypertension, or you’re just feeling ready to eat with heart health in mind, it can feel overwhelming to find recipes for a special occasion that work for your diet. Meghan Goodman, MS, RDN, CDCES, CDN, used nutrition analysis software to select the recipes below, hoping to provide dinner inspiration that feels celebration-worthy. Each recipe is packed with flavor, but each serving contains no more than 700 mg of sodium, 6g of saturated fat per serving, and 0g trans fat. Before you start cooking, discuss these recipes with your health care provider to make sure they are appropriate for your specific heart condition.

  • Salmon fillets with sprigs of thyme and lemon wedges on a serving platter with a fish spatula.
    Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boystova
    1/8

    Baked Salmon With Lemon and Thyme

    This hands-off method for cooking salmon yields flavorful fish that's tender and moist inside. Just be sure to add no more more than 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt for seasoning to keep this main dish within heart-healthy guidelines. Steamed asparagus or broccoli are nice on the side.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Lisa Hubbard
    2/8

    Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin With Roasted Baby Carrots

    Give that pork tenderloin fast flavor with a rub of oregano, cumin, ancho chile powder, and smoked paprika.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Danny Kim, food and prop styling by Ali Nardi
    3/8

    Spaghetti with Crab and Tomatoes

    Crab transforms this pasta into something truly special. To make this dish more heart-healthy, use whole wheat pasta in this recipe.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photograph by Isa Zapata.  Food Styling by Cyd McDowell.  Prop Styling by Paige Hicks
    4/8

    Cod Arracanato

    A moment under the broiler at the end of this recipe gives the breadcrumbs time to become golden and crunchy. When you go to season the fish fillets, limit that salt to ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal to keep this within guidelines.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    5/8

    Creamy Vegan Red Pepper Pasta With Garlic Bread Breadcrumbs

    This creamy pasta doesn't require cream—the beans become a luscious sauce when smashed with sweet jarred roasted red peppers. Just be sure to use no-salt-added canned beans to keep sodium levels in check. Want to kick up the fiber even more? Use whole

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Lisa Hubbard
    6/8

    Halibut on Mashed Fava Beans With Mint

    Fava beans require a bit of an effort to peel, which is part of why this fiber-packed dish is worthy of any celebration. Here's some good news: You can blanch and peel the beans a day before serving.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Frankie Gaw
    7/8

    Whole Steamed Fish

    There's nothing more impressive than serving a whole fish at the dinner table, especially when it's crowned with aromatic ginger and scallions.

    Get This Recipe
  • Kristin Teig
    8/8

    Date, Rye, and Olive Oil Brownies

    For dessert, slice this pan of brownies into 16 pieces and serve. Each bite gets a touch of nutty flavor from rye flour and luscious sweetness from Medjool dates.

    Get This Recipe
The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here. ... Read More
Read More
41 Low-Fuss Recipes for Labor Day Weekend
Peel-and-eat shrimp, corn on the cob with basil butter, three-ingredient peach floats, and more.
29 Yogurt Desserts That Are Tangy, Sweet, and Delicious
Like peach yogurt semifreddo, apple pie smoothies, golden yogurt cake, and more.
The Most-Saved Recipes in the Epicurious App in June
Like hummingbird cake and a steak salad with feta dressing.
15 of Our Favorite Alison Roman Recipes
From German potato salad to the “best halibut.”
The Most-Saved Recipes in the Epicurious App This Week
Like herby chicken kofta meatballs and baked feta and greens.
23 Galette Recipes to Make for Easy Desserts (and Dinners)
Like apricot-almond, cheesy mushroom, cannoli-inspired, and more.
17 Types of Apples for Cooking, Baking, Lunchboxes, and More
These are the varieties you’re most likely to come across in American markets.
All the Recipes From Bon Appétit’s Summer Issue
We’ve got sausage with cabbage and giardiniera, tomato aguachile, and matcha-berry frozen yogurt.
Inside a 160-year-old Japanese Rice Cracker Factory
Join Epicurious for a behind-the-scenes look at a 160-year-old rice cracker factory in Japan, where one of the country’s most popular traditional snacks, senbei, is still made by hand using time-honored techniques. Senbei are sweet, crispy rice crackers often enjoyed with green tea and have been a staple of Japanese cuisine and culture for over a thousand years. Discover the process behind crafting these ancient snacks and how this historic factory has preserved its artisanal methods across generations.
'Dimension 20' Cast Test Their Basic Culinary Skills
Today, the ‘Dimension 20’ cast–Brennan Lee Mulligan, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Ally Beardsley–go head-to-head on Epicurious, testing their basic culinary skills. From cheese sniffing to whisking cream, which cast member will be crowned winner of this culinary challenge?

Dimension 20: Cloudward, Ho! is available only on Dropout and recently aired its finale. The cast is led by Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan, and additionally stars Emily Axford, Ally Beardsley, Brian Murphy, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Lou Wilson.

The cast of Dimension 20: Cloudward, Ho! is nearing the end of its West Coast tour, and tickets are available for purchase to their live shows in Seattle, WA, on July 20 and Las Vegas, NV, on November 1.

Dropout presents independent, ad-free, uncensored comedy, producing and hosting several original series, such as Game Changer, Dimension 20, Very Important People, and many more. The Dropout app is available on Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TVs, plus iOS and Android mobile devices. For more information and to browse the Dropout catalog, please visit Dropout.tv.
‘Squid Game’ Season 3 Cast Test Their Basic Culinary Skills
Today, the ‘Squid Game’ season 3 cast goes head-to-head on Epicurious, testing their basic culinary skills. From orange squeezing to wine bottle opening, which cast member will be crowned winner of the culinary Squid Games?
4 Levels of Teriyaki: Amateur to Food Scientist
We challenged chefs of three different skill levels–amateur Billy, home cook Emily, and professional chef Yuji Haraguchi–to make us their take on teriyaki. We then asked expert food scientist Rose to explain each chef's choices along the way. Which teriyaki dish do you want to tuck into first?