Easy Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce (Slow Cooker Recipe)

Are you on a renal or low potassium diet and missing pasta sauce or tomato sauce? Or are you tired of eating dry, bland pasta - or no pasta at all?  If so, I’m pleased to let you know that with our Easy Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce (Slow Cooker Recipe), you can now enjoy one of your favorite foods again!

Not only is this pasta sauce “kidney-friendly”, but it’s sweet, a little creamy, and truly delicious!  And like all recipes by The Everyday Kidney-Cook, the preparation is fuss-free!  So even the novice cook can make it!

Jump to:

• What makes this a “kidney-friendly” pasta sauce?
• Our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce vs. regular pasta sauce
• Other nutritional benefits of our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce
• More reasons to love this Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce!
• Ingredients in Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce
• Variations to Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce
• Serving Suggestions for Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce
• Storage of Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce
• Enjoy Your Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce!
• Easy Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce (Slow Cooker Recipe)

What makes this a “kidney-friendly” pasta sauce?

Our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce meets the following criteria per ~ ½ cup serving:

• Low potassium: Let’s put this into perspective. The largest component of our sauce is the veggies (namely, red peppers, onions, carrots and celery). And if you need to watch your potassium, a common guideline is to choose vegetables that have < 200 mg/serving. With only 189 mg/serving, this sauce fits the bill!   
• Low sodium:  One serving contains a mere 40 mg of sodium!
• Low phosphorus: Our pasta sauce contains minimal phosphorus at only 25 mg per serving!

Our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce vs. regular pasta sauce

Below is a comparison of the potassium, sodium and phosphorus content of our pasta sauce compared to typical pasta sauce.

Nutrient content per 118g (½ cup serving)	Typical Pasta Sauce	Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce
Potassium (mg)	376	189
Sodium (mg)	494	40
Phosphorus (mg)	40	25

As you can see, typical pasta sauce is higher than our sauce in all 3 nutrients.  The most striking difference is the sodium!  Typical pasta sauce contains over 12 times the sodium as our sauce!

In addition, the typical pasta sauce is twice as high in potassium.

Other nutritional benefits of our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce

Additional nutritional benefits of our sauce include:

• Low Carb/No added sugar. Many store-bought pasta sauces have added sugar.  However, the red peppers in this sauce add enough sweetness that no added sugar is needed!  It contains only 7.4 grams of carbs (~ ½ carbohydrate serving for those who count carbs for diabetes).
• Good source of fiber. One serving contains almost 3 grams of fiber. Meaning it has many digestive and heart-healthy benefits as well as helping to promote stable blood sugars.

More reasons to love this Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce!

So, we’ve covered the nutritional benefits of this recipe.  In addition, in keeping true to The Everyday Kidney Cook’s mission, this recipe is straightforward and no-fuss. All without sacrificing taste! Specifically, our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce is:

• Super-easy to make!  The ingredients are cooked right in the slow cooker as you go about your day.  Then, they’re blended to the desired consistency using either a table-top blender or a hand-held immersion blender.  That’s it! 
• Made with only a handful of simple ingredients! This recipe uses only 4 ingredients, plus 2 spices!  In addition, all ingredients are readily available at any supermarket!
• Versatile! There are many different ways that you can tailor this recipe to suit your tastes. For example, you can blend it smooth or leave it a little chunky (my fave!).  Also, you can use it in a wide variety of dishes and change up the spices for different flavor profiles.  We’ll talk more about these later!

Ingredients in Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce

Red bell peppers

The base of this recipe is 4 whole red bell peppers, sliced. Red bell peppers are a lower potassium substitute for the high potassium tomatoes typically used in traditional red pasta sauce. 

In addition, the red bell peppers give the sauce a robust (but not overpowering) flavor. And they add the perfect hint of natural sweetness! 

Mirepoix (chopped onions, carrots and celery)

Mirepoix is a mixture of 2 parts diced onions and 1 part each diced carrots and celery.  As a short cut, this recipe calls for the pre-cut mirepoix mix. Mirepoix mix (pictured below) can be found in the produce section of the grocery store.

The pre-packaged mirepoix mix usually comes in a 10-ounce container (~ 2 cups total). Coincidentally, this just happens to be the exact amount needed for this recipe! 

Of course, you can certainly opt to dice your own veggies instead of using the pre-packaged.  Just use 1 cup diced onion and ½ cup each of diced onions and celery.

Unsalted chicken broth

Unsalted chicken broth is my favorite low sodium cooking hack!  It’s a great way to add some flavor without contributing unwanted salt! 

Just be sure to use the “unsalted” broth instead of “reduced sodium”, “lower sodium” or “less sodium”. These are often still quite high in sodium!

In addition, some brands add potassium chloride to replace some of the sodium chloride. Which then turns the broth into a high potassium food!

For other recipes that use unsalted broth to boost flavor, check out these other recipes by The Everyday Kidney Cook:

• Build a Low Sodium, Low Potassium Soup (Free Mini Poster!) - The Everyday Kidney Cook
• Simple Salmon Stew Recipe - The Everyday Kidney Cook
• Low Sodium Chicken & Noodles (Slow-Cooker) - The Everyday Kidney Cook
• Easy Roasted Pepper & Gouda Soup (Kidney-Friendly) - The Everyday Kidney Cook

Cream cheese

The cream cheese in this recipe adds just a touch of cheesiness and creaminess which perfectly rounds out the flavor! It's the main source of sodium in this recipe.  Even so, it only adds 25 mg sodium/per serving. 

However, for Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce that's extra-low in sodium (but that still tastes great!), you may eliminate the cream cheese.  The sodium content per serving would be reduced to a miniscule 15 mg per serving!

Seasonings

The red peppers and other veggies add so much flavor that only 2 spices are necessary. These spices are Italian seasoning and garlic powder! 

The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of each, but feel free to add more, if desired!  I’m a garlic-lover, so I always double the garlic powder to 2 teaspoons!

Variations to Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce

As mentioned earlier, this recipe leaves tons of room for individualization according to your taste!  Some examples include:

• Spicy Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce. Spice it up with any combination of the following: crushed red pepper flakes, red chili pepper, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper or smoked paprika.
• Extra-Creamy Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce. Double the cream cheese for more creaminess while still maintaining a kidney-friendly nutrient profile. (This is my favorite variation!).  The potassium increases to 198 mg, sodium increases to 62 mg and phosphorus increases slightly to 34 mg. 
• Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce w/ Meat. Add some ground beef, pork, chicken or turkey for a tasty meat sauce!  Just be sure to use fresh ground meat or poultry that does not have salt added. (Check the ingredient list!)
• Vegan Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce. Substitute unsalted vegetable broth for the unsalted chicken broth and eliminate the cream cheese for a vegan pasta sauce!

You could also add soy crumbles and/or use a plant-based cream cheese in your vegan sauce. Just be sure to check the nutrient facts to make sure the sodium isn’t too high. 

Also, take a look at the ingredient list for potassium and phosphate additives. These additives can significantly increase blood potassium and phosphorus levels for some people with kidney disease. This is especially so for those in the later stages of kidney disease.

Check out this article by The Kidney Foundation™️ to learn about the difference in absorption of phosphate additives compared to natural sources of phosphorus. 

In addition, this publication by the Journal of Renal Nutrition discusses how the absorption of naturally occurring potassium differs from potassium additives.

Serving Suggestions for Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce

There are SO many other ways to enjoy this sauce other than with pasta!  Try one of the following:

• As pizza sauce for kidney-friendly homemade pizza (yummm!)
• Over grilled chicken breast or grilled eggplant with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese for Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan!
• As a base for kidney-friendly chili!  To make kidney-friendly chili, substitute this sauce for the tomato sauce and tomatoes. Then, use no salt added kidney beans and salt-free spices.
• Simmer with our Easy Low Sodium Meatballs (Beef or Turkey)! Enjoy as a side or plop your saucy meatballs in a roll to make a meatball sub!
• In place of tomato sauce with stuffed peppers.  Yes, that’s a lot of peppers!  But the red bell peppers have a sweeter, milder flavor than the green bell peppers!
• As a substitute for marinara to enjoy as a dip for breadsticks!
• In place of tomatoes in ratatouille!
• Mixed with horseradish to make cocktail sauce for shrimp!
• Add more broth to turn your Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce into red pepper soup!  Or better yet, try our recipe for Easy Roasted Pepper & Gouda Soup (Kidney-Friendly)!  It uses many of the same ingredients as our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce!

Storage of Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce

This sauce stays fresh in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for about 3 days. If frozen, it will keep well for up to 6 months.

Enjoy Your Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce!

Our Kidney-Friendly Pasta Sauce is a great substitute for tomato-based sauce with pasta or in many other dishes.  Furthermore, it’s low in potassium and phosphorus and contains a fraction of the sodium that is in typical pasta sauce. 

In addition, it’s simple to make: It uses only a few ingredients and is cooked right in the slow cooker!  Most importantly, it’s creamy, sweet and so flavorful, you won’t even miss the tomatoes!

Enjoy! 

Leave a comment and let us know how you liked it!