How To Make Healthy Food Taste Good: 8 Tips

A typical goal people tend to make for themselves is to eat healthier and/or cleaner. However, the excitement can easily wear off making it really difficult to actually achieve this goal… like when you have to replace your favorite indulgent meal with a big, bland plate of broccoli.

Luckily, we’ve got your back. Here are some tips on how you can gradually transform your diet to be healthier and still delicious.

1. Buy In Season

Modern export from all around the world allows us to eat almost any fruit or vegetable throughout the year, regardless of the season. But any chef will tell you: to get the best flavor (and highest nutritional value), stick with seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Produce that’s not in season in the location where you’re consuming it has either traveled a very long way to get to you or is likely part of a costly specialty grow operation. Growing veggies and fruits out of season takes a lot of effort to make these products taste natural and delicious. The nutritional content of produce starts to decline as soon as it’s picked; something to consider if your morning avocado was grown thousands of miles from the supermarket where you bought it.

Experimenting with adding more seasonal fruits and vegetables into your menu will not only enrich your body with vitamins and nutrients you could be missing out on, but it also gives you something extra to look forward to with the season changes. But if blueberries are your favorite and you want to eat them all year round no matter what, don’t worry – frozen fruit counts! Frozen or canned produce is usually picked at peak ripeness and processed immediately.

2. Spice It Up

You’ve probably heard this one already, but don’t be afraid to season your food.

The first thing you may think of when hearing “seasoning” is salt. And that’s somewhat correct. Unless ordered by your doctor, you needn’t avoid salt altogether. Or sugar. Or fat. Didn’t expect the latter? Truth be told – these three “riders of the Apocalypse” are not as scary as you’ve been told. Instead, they can be great additions to the right dish!

As we’ve said before, healthy does not mean diet. Healthy means balance and versatility. The reason why we enjoy fat and salty food is that it’s natural. This is what our body needs, and it doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure. The problem with salty, fatty, and sugary that we have today is that we’re overconsuming them in the form of processed foods.

But instead of eating food made with salt, sugar, and fat, try healthily incorporating them into the meals you prepare. For example, try adding a bit of honey or monkfruit sweetener to your oatmeal. Or sprinkle some salt on your steak before grilling it, or get into the habit of dressing your salad with olive oil.

Aside from just salt or sugar, there are many more seasonings to try. Some of them include lemons (as a salad dressing) and herbs. The latter are usually added when the dish is almost ready so that it’s more flavorful and appetizing. Try experimenting with cumin, coriander, oregano, parsley, and other herbs you can find.

3. Cook the Veggies

Especially when we’re just learning how to cook, oftentimes we feel confusion and despair when cooking vegetables. And, if they don’t taste the way we expect, we can distance ourselves from further trying. However, if you know how to cook vegetables in a way that preserves all their flavors and textures, you will be much more likely to experiment with them.

One easy way to make your veggies tastier is to roast them. Roasting mellows and locks the flavor inside. To roast, toss vegetables with a little of your preferred oil (we like olive or avocado), salt, and pepper and lay them out on a rimmed baking sheet. 20-25 minutes in a 425 degree oven works well for most vegetables. Take them out when the veggies start to caramelize.

Another technique you can use is sautéing vegetables in oils (especially those with a strong flavor, like sesame or walnut oil), wine, or even broth.

Speaking of wine, cooking vegetables with a bit of alcohol is another way to bring out their natural flavors.

4. Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth with Fruit

Fruit is an important source of natural sugar. Similar to vegetables, it’s always better to buy in-season fruits. If your favorite fresh fruit isn’t available right now, you can always go with frozen.

To literally spice up your fruits, try sprinkling fruits with some sweet spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, or clove. For something a little more adventurous, the savory tang of balsamic vinegar pairs well with honey for a surprising but delicious dressing for a fruit bowl or salad.

If you’re a salad dodger, chances are you’re missing out on a host of beneficial nutrients found in leafy greens (vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and magnesium to name a few). Want to increase your intake of leafy greens but think spinach is best left to Popeye? Try putting some in your next fruit smoothie. Strawberries, blueberries, and mango all work well to mask the flavor of spinach and other mild greens.

Finally, if you don’t like your fruits “dry”, there is always an option – to dip. Make a dipping sauce out of plain nonfat yogurt, some honey, or maple syrup. Some sweet spices would work well here, too.

5. Don’t Skip Carbs

Healthy carbs sign next to foods that contain healthy carbs.

Carbs are not evil. In fact, carbs are essential for your body’s function and well-being. They don’t make you fat, and several studies on their impact prove that low-carb diets actually don’t work in the long run.

Eating carbs provides you with energy to push through the day. There are a lot of healthy recipes that involve carbs. Knowing how to cook them well and incorporate them in a balanced meal will not only supply you with natural fuel but also satisfy your taste buds.

Some of the most nutritious carbs your body needs are stored in vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes (usually with the skin on), carrots, and legumes such as beans, lentils, and garbanzo beans. Whole grains are also essential – think brown rice, oats, quinoa, etc.

6. Find Healthy Alternatives

Healthy alternatives to burger fries and soda.

If you’ve already decided to go deep with that healthy agenda, you can set yourself up for success by replacing some of your less-than-healthy favorites with lighter or more nutritious alternatives.

If you love cooking with sour cream, butter, or mayonnaise, try swapping them for labneh. Labneh is the strained yogurt cheese that is creamier and thicker than traditional Greek yogurt. As a result, it adds more flavor and satisfying lightness that one can’t get with high-fat ingredients.

Another trick you can use is replacing cream with cauliflower. The latter can be steamed and pureed and thus used as a substitute. Not only your dish will be lighter, but also more delicious and versatile in flavors.

Other healthy swaps you can try include:

using black beans instead of wheat flour
swapping nuts for croutons in your salad
switching to natural peanut butter instead of a reduced-fat one (the latter usually contains added sugar and more chemicals)
sweetening with vanilla extract instead of sugar

7. Think of Healthy Food as Tasty

Gathering of friends eating healthy food.

One of the most important steps to change your attitude to healthy food is to stop seeing it as bland and tasteless. Preconceived notions about healthy foods, flavor, and satisfaction are a setback for many when it comes to walking the path of more nutritious eating.

The first secret of tasty healthy meals: the faster you change your mindset to believing that healthy food can actually taste good, the easier it’ll be to enjoy delicious, healthy meals more often.

Also, think about changing the vocabulary in your head when thinking about healthy food. Instead of seeing “plain” and “boring”, think of “fresh”, “natural”,” nourishing”, ”satisfying”, and ”colorful”.

Altering your inner perception of healthy food will thus help you enter this universe with more confidence and enthusiasm.

8. Make It Look Good

Finally, the last tip you can use to make yourself salivate at the sight of healthy dishes is to make those dishes presentable. You don’t have to go all Iron Chef with sauce dollops and edible flowers, but playing with plating is a great opportunity to use your imagination and get creative with food.

If you have kids, get them involved. If you’re having fun decorating your plate, of course they will, too. And it’s an excellent tool to help them make the connection between healthy and delicious while their palates are developing.

The Skinny

Eating healthy can be a difficult task, especially when there’s such a variety of delicious foods that aren’t the best for us. Building a good strategy for changing your diet is the first step on your way to a healthy (and delicious) lifestyle. Hopefully, these tips will encourage you to get started or keep going on the road to healthy eating.