How to make healthier meals at home

Healthy living

Healthy eating

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Key takeaways

Cooking at home can be healthier than eating out
Being organised and planning your meals makes healthy eating easier

Buying and cooking in batches can save time
Learn some simple heart-healthy food swaps.

It puts you in control of what goes into your food and body. Making healthy home-cooked food doesn’t have to be hard. Small changes can have a big impact on your heart health. Over time these changes will become easier and fit in with your regular routine.

Plan ahead

You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen to make a healthy meal. Planning your meals is a simple way to save on time and effort.

Start with a plan

Think about what you could prepare ahead of time. You can cut vegetables the night before and store them in the refrigerator or cook something for use the next night (e.g. pasta sauce).

Involve the whole family

Getting your family involved in meal planning and preparation can help. Ask them to choose their favourite meals from our heart healthy recipes.

Shop with a list

Make sure healthy ingredients are always on hand at home by shopping with a list. Being focused on what you need can also save time in the supermarket. Older kids can help by writing down the ingredients from the recipes they have chosen.

Batch cook

Making a big batch of one dish is more efficient than cooking every single night. Choose a meal that can be packaged separately and frozen. Our freezer-friendly recipes are great options to pull out when time is tight.

Meal plan on a budget

There are plenty of recipes with inexpensive ingredients. You can also find what you need for less, by:

Buying in-season fruit and vegetables (perhaps try your local farmer’s markets)
Shopping in bulk
Looking out for sales.

Build a heart-healthy pantry

Eating at home allows you to make small changes, which together make a big difference. Having these foods in your pantry, fridge, or freezer means you have everything you need for healthy meals at home.

	Pantry	Fridge	Freezer
Fruit and veg	Fresh fruit and vegetables Tinned fruit (not in syrup) Tinned vegetables (no added salt)	Fresh fruit and vegetables	Frozen vegetables – peas, corn, mixed vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower Frozen fruit – berries, passionfruit, mango pieces etc.
Wholegrains	Rolled oats Wholegrain breakfast cereals Wholegrain bread Brown rice Wholemeal pasta Couscous Quinoa Polenta Soba noodles Wholemeal flour	Fresh noodles Fresh pasta
Protein	Canned legumes varieties (no added salt) Canned fish in olive oil or water – tuna, salmon, sardines Lentils (no added salt)	Fresh fish Fresh meats Tofu Tempeh Eggs	Frozen fish fillets – tuna, salmon, sardines Frozen poultry and meats
Dairy	Powdered milk Long life (UHT) milk	Fresh milk Fresh cheese Fresh yoghurt
Fats	Healthy oils – olive, canola, peanut, sunflower oil Nut butters (no added salt) Unsalted nuts and seeds	Margarine Avocado Olives
Flavour	Dried herbs and spices Pepper Chilli Garlic Ginger Vinegars	Lemon juice Lime juice Fresh herbs

Heart healthy food swaps

Try some of our food swaps to find heart-healthy alternatives.

Swap this	For this
Flavoured milk and yoghurt	Unflavoured milk and yoghurt varieties
Cream	Ricotta cheese whipped with a little icing sugar
Sour cream	Natural Greek yoghurt
Grated cheddar	Grated parmesan – the more intense flavour means you can use less
Butter as a spread	Avocado, tahini, hummus, nut butter or margarine spreads made from canola, sunflower or olive oils.
Butter in baking	Spreads made from canola, sunflower or olive oil
Coconut cream/coconut milk	Add a little coconut essence to evaporated milk
White grain ingredients like pasta, bread, flour and rice	Wholegrain bread, brown rice, brown pasta, quinoa or wholemeal flour
Shortcrust or puff pastry	Filo pastry – brush every 3-4 layers with olive oil, egg white or yoghurt
Processed meats	Roasted or grilled lean meats, legumes or eggs

Healthy cooking methods

The way you cook your food matters. The cooking methods below are the healthiest options:

Steaming

Steaming is one of the easiest ways to cook vegetables. Place a steam basket over a saucepan of boiling water then fill the steam basket with fresh or frozen vegetables. Cover with a lid and let your vegetables steam for a few minutes until tender.

Poaching 

Poach delicate foods like eggs, fish or fruit by submerging them into gentle simmering liquid (e.g. water, vegetables and spices). Poaching is not the same as boiling, so be sure to maintain a low heat.

Stir-frying/sautéing

Stir-fry plenty of vegetables in a frying pan on high heat using a small portion of olive, canola, sunflower, soybean or peanut oil. Top it up with a splash of water as you cook.

Roasting 

Put lean meats in a baking dish with a rack. Add 1 to 2 cm water and some herbs to the bottom of the pan for extra flavour. Substitute deep-frying with roasting in the oven on a lined tray or grill tray.

Casserole/stewing

This is a convenient method of cooking meats at a low temperature, generally for a longer period of time. Take the time to trim the fat off of the meat before putting it in a casserole dish with some vegetables and legumes.

For more simple meal ideas check out our heart healthy recipes.

Heart healthy recipes

How to make healthier meals at home

Key takeaways