15 Heart-Healthy Side Dishes That Are High in Flavor and Low in Calories

If you're looking for an alternative way to spice up a heart-healthy dish without using Tajín—a trendy lime and chile seasoning—then you'll love this heart-healthy side dish recipe. Tajín amps up the flavor for most dishes but it contains a whopping 32% of your daily sodium content per teaspoon. Instead, coat and roast vibrant peppers, turnips, and more produce picks in ground chipotle pepper and fresh lime juice for one hot and healthy side.

If you're crunched for time and in need of more ways to sneak vegetables into your menu, consider this high-fiber side dish. The skinny sweet potato spirals are both fun to eat and speedy to prepare. They taste amazing crisp-tender from the skillet but will definitely win your heart once you try them coated in a surprisingly low-sodium Asian-inspired almond butter dressing.

Related: 15 Vegetable Side Dish Recipes Ready in 20 Minutes or Less

Roasted veggies for the win. The high heat cooking method brings out the natural sweetness of the turnips, which we accentuate with naturally sweet honey. Just five simple ingredients result in a heart-healthy side dish that looks elegant and sophisticated.

Goodbye, boxed spuds. Hello, homemade goodness! This heart-healthy side dish recipe gets to the root of things with vitamin-rich parsnips, rutabaga, carrots and, of course, potatoes. Use fat-free milk to make it ultra-creamy yet low in saturated fat.

Related: 4 Tools You Need to Make the Best Mashed Potatoes Ever

A bulb of purple garlic makes this quick-cooking (hence "barely" roasted), heart-healthy side dish extra mouthwatering and visually appealing. Carrots, green beans, green onions, and just enough goat cheese play supporting roles.

Related: Delicious Carrot Recipes for Every Meal of the Day

Here's one heart-healthy side dish recipe that gets better with time! Well, with 4 to 24 hours at least. That's how early you can toss it together to allow the herb-infused vinaigrette to infuse the fresh corn, tomatoes, chickpeas, and edamame. The bean and veggie combination delivers a respectable amount of protein and fiber (3 grams each)—for very few calories (86).

This heart-healthy side dish recipe is summer at its finest. Roast garden-fresh tomatoes right on the vine, then enjoy one vitamin-rich starter that's perfect alone or smashed onto crusty bread. To up the veggie ante even more, toss the juicy, chili powder-spiced tomatoes with zoodles.

The Mediterranean diet ranks time and time again as among the best diets for your heart. So it makes perfect sense that the ingredients of the cuisine can team up to create one majorly heart-healthy side dish! (Oh yes, it's majorly tasty as well.) Round up your favorite seasonal vegetables, toss them with olive oil, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt, then give them a ride in the air fryer for 10 minutes.

Sick of dealing with asparagus that has a woody texture? Think thin! To make this heart-healthy side, grab a vegetable peeler and peel ribbons of asparagus to toss with sliced radishes, Bibb lettuce, and a garlicky herb dressing.

A mere ¼ cup of sorghum delivers an impressive 12% of your daily iron needs. That hearty starch stars in this heart-healthy side dish alongside vitamin-rich butternut squash, healthy fat-filled pumpkin seeds, and plenty of fresh herbs.

While we'll never tell you to skip dessert (there are plenty of light and lovely dessert recipes out there!), we will tell you that a fruit salad this delicious can count as both a heart-healthy side dish recipe and a final course. Opting for feta cheese lends a lovely creamy element and offers enough of a salty note to eliminate any need for added sodium. Plus, quick-pickled onions, fresh mint, and lemon complement the naturally sweet berries.

Whether you pile them on top of your protein, toss them with whole-wheat pasta, build them into a grain bowl, or dream up something totally new, you can't go wrong with this low-calorie and low-sodium—yet high flavor—option. Besides being very versatile, this heart-healthy side dish recipe can be yours in just 18 minutes. But let's not overlook the flavor—the most important part of this air-fryer recipe. These umami mushrooms are irresistibly sweet and tangy thanks to a splash of balsamic glaze. You won't even miss the butter!

Why choose one vegetable when you can choose three? This heart-healthy side showcases broccolini, Swiss chard, and frozen peas in the same recipe. Sweet-tart seared lemons, chicken broth, chives, and red pepper flakes help the blanched trio really pack a flavor punch—for less than 50 calories per serving.

Related: How to Blanch Vegetables to Add to All Kinds of Recipes

Seeking a heart-healthy side dish that can feed a crowd? This supersized Brussels sprouts salad serves a whopping 16 portions! Okay, probably more like 8 because everyone will want to go back for seconds after tasting the crunchy cashews, zippy oranges, and crunchy, citrus vinaigrette-coated shaved sprouts.

Not all heart-healthy side dish recipes need to focus on veggies. For this eye-catching option, fresh citrus steps into the spotlight. Mild licorice-flavored fennel, an ultra-easy balsamic vinaigrette, lettuce, and chives round out the ultimate immune-boosting and heart-smart side dish. (Psst…keep those fennel fronds handy to use as a beautiful garnish!)