Food & Recipes

Tools & Resources

Font Size

EatingWell Nutrition and Recipe Guidelines

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

A guide to the Health, Diet and Cooking Considerations used in developing and categorizing our recipes.

Diabetes Appropriate

Recommended Related to Food and Recipes

Lower-Calorie Summer Fast Food Picks

It’s summertime, and the living is supposed to be easy. So the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of time in the kitchen, right? If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, either, you may well find yourself at a fast-food restaurant. But all those fast-food calories could end up making things not so easy when it comes time to fit into your summer shorts or swimsuit. The answer is not necessarily to give up fast food entirely. For just about any menu item, there are more healthy options available...

Read the Lower-Calorie Summer Fast Food Picks article > >

With carbohydrate servings and/or diabetic exchanges provided, a recipe may be considered diabetes appropriate as part of a daily meal plan.

Healthy Weight

Main dishes have 350 calories or less, 20 grams or less total fat and 5 grams or less saturated fat per serving.
Soups, salads and side dishes have 250 calories or less, 10 grams or less total fat and 5 grams or less saturated fat per serving.
Muffins, breads and desserts have 230 calories or less, 10 grams or less total fat, 5 grams or less saturated fat per serving.

Heart Healthy

Main dishes have 5 grams or less saturated fat per serving.
All other recipes have 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving.

High Calcium

Recipe provides 150 milligrams or more of calcium per serving.

High Fiber

Recipe has 5 grams or more of fiber per serving.

High Potassium

Recipe provides 525 milligrams or more of potassium per serving.

Low Calorie

Main dishes have 350 calories or less per serving.
Sauces and dressings have 40 calories or less per serving when the serving size is 2 tablespoons or less.
All other recipes have 250 calories or less per serving.

Low Carbs

Recipe has 22 grams or less of carbohydrates per serving.

Low Cholesterol

Recipe has 60 milligrams or less of cholesterol per serving.

Low Sat Fat

Recipe has 5 grams or less of saturated fat per serving.

Low Sodium

Main dishes have 480 milligrams or less per serving.
All other recipes have 360 milligrams or less per serving.

Nutrition Bonus

These values—identical to those on food labels—are FDA benchmarks for adults eating 2,000 calories a day.

Recipe Guidelines

Defining “Active Time” and “Total”:

Testers in the EatingWell Test Kitchen keep track of the time needed for each recipe.

Active Time includes prep time (the time it takes to chop, dice, puree, mix, combine, etc. before cooking begins), but it also includes the time spent tending something on the stovetop, in the oven or on the grill—and getting it to the table. If you can’t walk away from it, we consider it active minutes.
Total includes both active and inactive minutes and indicates the entire amount of time required for each recipe, start to finish.
To Make Ahead gives storage instructions to help you plan. If Special Equipment is needed, we tell you that at the top of the recipe too.

Analysis Notes:

Each recipe is analyzed for calories, total fat, saturated (sat) and monounsaturated (mono) fat, cholesterol, carbohydrate, protein, fiber, sodium and potassium. (Numbers less than 0.5 are rounded down to 0; 0.5 to 0.9 are rounded up to 1.) We use Food Processor SQL software (ESHA Research) for analyses.

When a recipe states a measure of salt “or to taste,” we analyze the measured quantity. (Readers on sodium-restricted diets can reduce or eliminate the salt.) Recipes are tested with iodized table salt unless otherwise indicated. Kosher or sea salt is called for when the recipe will benefit from the unique texture or flavor. We assume that rinsing reduces the sodium in canned beans by 35%.

Butter is analyzed as unsalted. We do not include trimmings or marinade that is not absorbed. When alternative ingredients are listed, we analyze the first one suggested. Optional ingredients and garnishes are not analyzed. Portion sizes are consistent with healthy-eating guidelines.