50+ Blue Zone Dinner Recipes Healthy Ikarian Sardinian (2024)
By: Author Lisa Viger Gotte
Posted on Last updated:
Blue Zone dinner recipes are healthy, delicious and inspired by regions around the world known for their longevity and healthy lifestyles, like Okinawa, Ikaria, and Sardinia. These tasty recipes are easy to make and feature easy to find plant-based ingredients like vegetables, legumes, and whole grains and are just as delicious as they are healthy!
What are Blue Zone Dinner Recipes?
Blue Zone dinner recipes are all about delicious, healthy, and vibrant eating! These recipes feature loads of colorful veggies, hearty beans and legumes, and whole grains, keeping processed foods to a minimum. Lots of plant-based ingredients are included, and you’ll find heart-healthy fats like olive oil too. Portions are just right, and sugar is kept in check. Enjoy these meals with loved ones, as sharing and savoring food together is a big part of the Blue Zone dinner experience. Plus, many recipes celebrate local, sustainable ingredients, keeping you feeling good inside and out!
Why are Beans and Legumes Good for You?
Healthy Blue Zone meals often feature beans and legumes as a key ingredient. That’s because beans are exceptionally nutritious. They’re rich in fiber, which aids digestion, helps manage blood sugar levels, and supports heart health. They provide an excellent source of plant-based protein, important for muscle and tissue repair. And beans are low in fat and packed with vitamins and minerals like iron, magnesium, and folate. Regular consumption of beans can contribute to weight management, reduced risk of chronic diseases, and overall improved health. Red beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, mung beans, soy bean, and more are tasty additions to a delicious “Blue Zone” and plant-based menu.
Blue Zone Diet Features Green Leafy Vegetables
Green leafy vegetables are a staple in Blue Zone diets, celebrated for their exceptional health benefits. Loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they promote heart health, aid digestion, and lower the risk of chronic diseases. They’re also a source of fiber, supporting weight management and overall well-being. In Blue Zones, these nutrient-packed greens play a crucial role in longevity and vitality.
Green leafy vegetables are a diverse group of nutritious greens, and here are some common examples:
These leafy greens are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, making them excellent additions to a healthy diet.
Try these, too! 7 Day Blue Zone Meal Plan Menu 20+ Blue Zone Soup Recipes Ikarian Longevity Soup Recipe
The Blue Zone Dinner RECIPES
Blue Zone Dinner Recipes
Discover the secrets to longevity with our Blue Zone dinner recipe collection! Wholesome, vegan, plant-based, and flavorful dishes that bring the world's healthiest diets to your table.
Hello! I’m Lisa, a vegan artist, photographer, author, Vegan Life Coach Educator, and RYT 200 yoga teacher. I love showing others how simple and delicious a plant-based diet can be. I draw and paint, cook, write, take lots of pics, eat lots of chocolate, and practice gratitude daily.
People in the blue zones eat an impressive variety of garden vegetables when they are in season, and then they pickle or dry the surplus to enjoy during the off-season. The best-of-the-best longevity foods are leafy greens such as spinach, kale, beet and turnip tops, chard, and collards.
Eggs are consumed in all five Blue Zones diets, where people eat them an average of two to four times per week. Cut down your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Try unsweetened soy, coconut, or almond milk as a dairy alternative.
You can use any type of pasta shape, but to make it totally blue zones, be sure to use pasta made of 100 percent whole wheat. If you are sticking to a gluten-free diet, you can also find pasta made from brown rice or quinoa. You can adjust recipe serving sizes for leftovers (and company!) in your menu.
Avoid dairy when possible. If cheese is a must, try ice-cube size portions of sheep (pecorino) or goat (feta) cheese to flavor foods. If you eat eggs, limit intake to three times a week.
The classic Sardinian diet consists of whole-grain bread, beans, garden vegetables, fruits, and, in some parts of the island, mastic oil. Sardinians also traditionally eat pecorino cheese made from grass-fed sheep, whose cheese is high in omega-3 fatty acids. Meat is largely reserved for Sundays and special occasions.
People in Blue Zones areas typically eat an egg every other day, or 3 per week. Favor eggs from cage-free, pastured chickens just like the Blue Zones centenarians. Beans are an important source of protein in the Blue Zones areas with centenarians eating at least one cup of cooked beans daily.
People in Blue Zones areas eat whole foods. Whole foods are not processed in factories—they're made with ingredients that are recognizable as coming from the earth, like rice, corn, soy, fruits, and vegetables, or prepared food like tofu or manna bread.
People in Sardinia's Blue Zones eat Sourdough everyday. Low in gluten it also lowers glycemic load of your entire meal by up to 25%. That means, your calories are more likely to be used for energy than belly fat.
Minimize your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Cow's milk does not figure significantly in any Blue Zones diet except that of the Adventists, some of whom eat eggs and dairy products.
One of the most visually striking recipes in the book is made from purple sweet potatoes, which Buettner considers a key longevity staple for people in the blue zone of Okinawa. “The dietary intake of Okinawans until 1975 came from purple sweet potatoes,” he said.
In blue zones regions, the routine is similar. Ideally, breakfast or the first meal of the day consists of protein, complex carbohydrates (beans or veggies) and plant-based fats (nuts, seeds, oils) and a majority of the day's calories are consumed before noon.
Sardinians start their mornings with a nutritious and hearty meal that consists of simple yet wholesome foods. A typical Sardinian breakfast often includes whole-grain bread, sheep's milk or goat's milk cheese, and a strong cup of espresso.
The only food which comes close to being something you could survive on long term as a sole ingredient is the potato. The fact that the potato has Vitamin C means that scurvy is not a risk like it would be with almost any other food source lacking in this nutrient.
It's typical for people who follow the Blue Zones diet to eat three meals a day and maybe a snack or two. Focusing on how hungry or full you feel and making healthy food choices is more important than timing your meals and snacks.
There's a 'plant slant' to their diets. Beans, pulses, root (including potatoes) and green leafy vegetables play a big part in all Blue Zone diets, making up about 95 per cent of the diet. 6. Wine is enjoyed by four out of five of the Blue Zone communities but is drunk moderately and in company.
Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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