Build a Low Sodium, Low Potassium Soup (Free Mini Poster!)

Who doesn’t enjoy a nice warm bowl of soup? But, what if you have to watch the sodium and/or potassium in your diet? Great news! Our guide for building a low sodium, low potassium soup tells you exactly what steps and ingredients you’ll need to make an easy, delicious soup right in the slow cooker!

Or you can download this mini poster that breaks it all down, right here!

Reasons to use our guide for building a Low Sodium, Low Potassium Soup

There's a ton of reasons you're gonna love our guide!

Practical reasons you'll love our guide:

It's versatile! I think one of the neatest things about using our guide is that you can totally tailor your soup to your own preferences and needs! Hate broccoli! No problem, don't use it! Follow a vegan or plant-forward diet? We got ya covered!
It's simple! We give you a list of low sodium/ low potassium ingredients in 5 main categories. Simply choose your preferred ingredients in the suggested amounts in each category and throw 'em in the slow cooker!
Endless varieties of soup! Because you can mix and match the ingredients as you desire, you can literally make dozens of different soup varieties!

Nutritional highlights of soup made with our guide:

In addition, our guide will produce soup that can accommodate many different nutritional needs. Your soup will be:

Low sodium! Your soup will contain 100 mg of sodium or less per bowl!
Low potassium! One generous bowl of soup will contain around 200-350 mg of potassium. We'll put that more into perspective later. (But hint: That's pretty good!)
Low phosphorus! For those needing to limit their phosphorus intake (such as some people with kidney problems), rest assured that one serving will contain <200 mg phosphorus per serving!
Able to accommodate different protein needs. Your soup will contain 7-14 grams of protein/serving. So, if you need a high protein diet, it's a way to conveniently fit in some extra protein. Or, if you need to follow a low protein diet, it can easily be worked into your protein budget. (7-14 grams has about the same amount of protein as 1-2 ounces of chicken, beef, fish, etc.).
Carb-friendly! If you're watching your carbohydrate intake (for example, due to diabetes), this soup can easily be worked into your carbohydrate allotments. One bowl will contain 10-30g of carbohydrates (or ~1-2 carbohydrate servings). Choose non-starchy vegetables rather than the starchy vegetables (such as corn and peas) for a carb content towards the lower end of this range.

Want to download your mini-poster guide to making a Low Sodium, Low Potassium Soup in the Slow-Cooker now? Click here!

Who needs to follow a low sodium, low potassium diet?

Chances are, if you’re on this page, you’ve already been told to watch the sodium and/or potassium in your diet. Oftentimes, kidney and/or heart problems can prompt recommendations from your doctor or dietitian to watch one or both of these minerals.

Reasons for a low sodium diet

In other articles by The Everyday Kidney Cook, I've talked about the conditions that might warrant a low sodium diet and recommendations for daily sodium intake for a low sodium diet. So, I'm not going to go into detail about that here. To learn more, check out these other articles by The Everyday Kidney Cook:

Reasons for a low potassium diet

Let's talk briefly about why a low potassium diet, in particular, may be needed. In my experience, there are a few main reasons:

People who take certain blood pressure medications or diuretics that have a known possible side effect of making blood potassium levels higher
SOME people with kidney problems!

Healthy kidneys help keep the right balance of potassium in the blood (not too much or too little). However, when the kidneys don’t work properly, the kidneys aren’t able to filter out the extra potassium. As a result, SOME people can have blood potassium levels that become too high!

In addition, other causes of, or contributors to, high blood potassium levels may need to be considered--especially with people who have kidney disease. These should be discussed and addressed by your doctor (please don't self-diagnose and self-treat)! These conditions include:

Very high blood sugar levels, such as that with uncontrolled diabetes
Constipation
Acidosis (blood is too acidic, which can happen with kidney disease)
Dehydration

However, it’s important to note that, especially in the earlier stages of kidney disease, not everyone with kidney problems has issues with high potassium levels or needs to limit their potassium intake. In fact, many DO NOT! It is often NOT necessary to restrict potassium until/unless the kidney disease has reached the later stages or end-stage kidney disease.

NOTE: Please consult your doctor or dietitian to discuss your individual dietary needs/recommendations!

Why is it important to keep potassium levels in the correct range?

Potassium plays several important roles in the body. A few of these include:

Nerve function
Blood pressure regulation
Fluid balance regulation
Muscle contractions-- Your heart is a very important muscle! Therefore, if your potassium levels are too high OR too low, this can affect the way your heart works. If potassium levels are significantly out of the desired range, your heart could even stop!

Take note that I mentioned that low potassium levels can be just as dangerous as high. That's why it is important not to limit potassium in your diet unless you've been advised to by your doctor or dietitian. It is also very important that your potassium levels be monitored regularly.

However, that's not to say that if you don't need to follow a low potassium diet that you can't enjoy a food or recipe that's low in potassium. (Such as recipes by The Everyday Kidney Cook, or the soup using our guide). If that's the case, you'll just need to make sure you get enough potassium in your diet overall!

What is the recommended daily potassium limit for a low potassium diet?

Organizations such as the American Kidney Fund or KDIGO--- Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (a global nonprofit organization that develops research-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of kidney disease) no longer recommend a specific amount of potassium for a “low potassium diet”.

Instead, they recommend that clinicians individualize their recommendations for potassium intake based on a person’s clinical parameters such as blood test results, the stage of kidney disease, etc. However, I will say that in practice, those who need a “low potassium diet” are usually advised to keep potassium intake to around 2000-3000 mg or less/day.

What is the recommended daily sodium limit for a low sodium diet?

The recommendations from the American Heart Association, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and National Kidney Foundation for adults is to limit sodium intake to no more than 2300mg per day. For some individuals such as those with high blood pressure and some with kidney disease, a lower sodium limit is often recommended.

The most common, and I believe most practical, sodium recommendation that I have used or that has been recommended for my patients and clients is around 2000 mg/day.

How many mg is considered a high sodium or potassium food/meal?

When determining if a food or recipe is high (or low) in sodium and/or potassium, it's important to consider whether that food is a:

Side dish/dessert/snack/bread
Partial meal/small meal (more than a side dish, but less than a full meal)
Full meal

Below is an illustration of what I have determined to be appropriate approximate guidelines for sodium and potassium content of different food/meal categories for a low potassium and/or sodium diet.

In the illustration, you will see that a bowl of soup would usually be considered a small meal or partial meal. At < 100 mg sodium and 200-350 mg potassium per serving, your soup will be well within the guidelines of 300-400 mg of sodium and potassium.

Low sodium & Potassium guidelines for meals & snacks

Common high sodium and/or high potassium soup ingredients

A little later in this article, and on your mini-poster, we'll give you a list of low potassium, low sodium ingredients to use in your soup.

However, I'd also like to let you know what foods to watch out for! Keep in mind that the amount of the ingredient used makes a big difference.

Often, using a smaller amount of a high sodium or potassium ingredient in an entire recipe can still result in an acceptable amount of either mineral per serving.

Common high potassium soup ingredients to limit

Heavy amounts of the following ingredients could result in a per serving potassium content that is too high for those needing to limit potassium in their diet (Remember that small amounts could still be used depending on the final potassium content of the dish):

Tomatoes or tomato products such as tomato sauce, tomato juice, tomato puree, tomato paste, or canned or fresh tomatoes.
Avocado
Butternut squash
Potato
Sweet potato
Fresh beets
Spinach
Milk
Some low or reduced sodium broths. This may be surprising, but many contain "potassium chloride" in place of some of the salt/sodium chloride. Make sure to check the ingredient list! I like to use "unsalted broth" which does not contain potassium additives.
Some processed meats such as ham, sausage. These may also contain potassium additives. Again, be sure to check the ingredient list!

Common high sodium soup ingredients to limit

Regular, "reduced sodium", "lower sodium" broth. As mentioned above, I recommend "unsalted broth" which doesn't have the added sodium (and does not contain the potassium additives, as noted above). Even reduced sodium and lower sodium broths are usually still quite high in sodium.
Canned cream soup
Processed meats such as bacon, ham, sausage
Cheese
Bouillon
Salt or spice blends containing salt such as garlic salt, onion salt, etc.

High Sodium & Potassium Soup Ingredients

How do I build a low sodium, low potassium soup in the slow cooker?

Now it's time to get to the fun stuff! Outlined below are the steps/ingredients needed to build your low sodium, low potassium soup. Or click here right now for your free mini poster to hang on your fridge!

What are the building blocks of a Low Sodium, Low Potassium Soup?

Our formula for building a Low Sodium, Low Potassium Soup uses 5 simple categories of ingredients that all get thrown together in the slow cooker! The categories are:

Unsalted Broth
Low potassium vegetables
Sodium-free seasonings
Protein
Starch

Steps for building a low sodium, low potassium soup

Below are the detailed steps and ingredients that you'll need for building your soup. Or you can jump right to your mini poster here! One recipe will make 10 servings (About 1 ½ cups of soup per serving).

Step 1: Add 2 quarts of unsalted broth to your slow cooker.

Unsalted veggie broth
Unsalted poultry broth
Unsalted beef broth

Step 2: Throw in any combination of 5 cups total of fresh/frozen low potassium vegetables.

Bell peppers (green, red, yellow)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Corn
Celery
Eggplant
Green/wax beans
Onion, chopped
Mushroom
Peas
Yellow Squash
Zucchini

Step 3: Spice it up! Add salt-free or very low sodium seasoning/flavoring, to taste.

Basil
Bay leaves
Chili Powder
Chives
Cumin
Garlic
Italian Seasoning
Onion Powder
Paprika
Parsley
Pepper
Poultry Seasoning
Thyme
Red Pepper Flakes...and more!

In addition, try adding any of the following (start with small amounts, and increase to taste):

Balsamic or white wine vinegar
Lemon juice
Red or white wine, dry (don't use cooking wine, which has added salt)

**Then, cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours until the veggies are almost done

Step 4: Add 1 cup uncooked starch below.

Instant brown or white rice
Egg noodles
Pasta/macaroni
Quick barley

Step 5: Add unsalted protein--cooked, unless otherwise specified.

Beef, ground/cubed--2 cups (about 1 pound)
Chicken, cubed--2 cups (about 1 pound)
Turkey, ground/cubed--2 cups (about 1 pound)
1 prepared recipe of our Easy Low Sodium Meatballs (Beef or Turkey)
No salt added canned tuna, drained--3 small cans
No salt added canned chickpeas, kidney beans, or pinto beans, drained & rinsed--1 ½ cups
Cooked Lentils--1 ½ cups
RAW shrimp *see note below

**Then cook for 30-60 minutes, or until the starch is done. * If using raw shrimp as your protein, add it to the slow cooker the last 20-30 minutes. Cook until opaque.

Step 6: Enjoy!

Framework for building low sodium low potassium soup in the slow-cooker

Full Nutrient Breakdown of Low Sodium, Low Potassium Soup

Below is the full breakdown of the key nutrients in your finished product. A range for each nutrient is given because there will be some variation depending on the specific ingredients that you choose.

Calories 100-250
Protein: 7-14 g
Fat: 3.5-10 g
Potassium: 200-350 mg
Sodium <100 mg
Phosphorus: 150-200 mg
Carbohydrates: 10-30g
Sugar: 2.5-5.5 g
Calcium: 5-30 mg

Put our guide for building a low sodium, low potassium soup into action!

Here's an example of how to make Chicken Corn Soup!

8 cups unsalted broth: 8 cups unsalted chicken broth
5 cups of vegetables: 3 cups frozen corn, 1 cup chopped onions, 1 cup frozen diced carrots
Spices/flavoring: 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup uncooked starch: 1 cup egg noodles, dry
Protein: 2 cups cooked, chopped chicken breast

Now it's time to build your own low sodium, low potassium soup! Have fun mixing and matching ingredients to make a soup that fits your taste! We'd love to hear about your creations in the comments!

Don't forget to download your mini-poster !