A recipe for blood pressure in the DASH pattern: beans, tomatoes, onions and celery supply plenty of potassium, and potassium contributes to the maintenance of normal blood pressure. Cocoa, cumin and oregano bring so much flavour that salt is hardly missed. Averaged across all ingredients Top 100, and of all goals the chili fits the Blood pressure goal best.
Open the recipe straight in the Food Secrets app. The app reads the ingredients, links each one to the nutrient database and recalculates the rank for your goal.
Ingredients for 4 servings
- Kidney beans, cooked250 g
- Black beans, cooked250 g
- Tomatoes500 g
- Tomato purée2 tbsp
- Onions150 g
- Celery100 g
- Garlic3 cloves
- Cocoa powder, unsweetened10 g
- Cumin, ground1½ tsp
- Oregano, dried2 tsp
- Cayenne pepper¼ tsp
- Olive oil2 tbsp
- Natural yogurt150 g
- Coriander15 g
- Pumpkin seeds30 g
- Lime½
Salt is left out of the list on purpose: cocoa, cumin, oregano and lime carry the flavour, and anyone who likes can add a little salt at the end. Rinse canned beans well – that removes part of their salt. Instead of fresh tomatoes, 400 g from a tin work too.
Method
- Finely chop the onions, celery and garlic, and dice the tomatoes.
- Heat the olive oil in a pot. Soften the onions and celery over medium heat for 8 minutes, then add the garlic.
- Sprinkle in cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and cocoa powder and toast for 1 minute until fragrant. Briefly fry the tomato purée as well.
- Add the tomatoes and the well-rinsed beans, top up with 100 ml of water and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes until the chili is thick.
- Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan until they pop. Roughly chop the coriander.
- Season the chili with lime juice and ladle it into bowls. Serve with yogurt, coriander and pumpkin seeds.
Why this chili suits the Blood pressure goal
The Blood pressure rank counts potassium, flavonoids such as the flavan-3-ols in cocoa, fibre and studies on individual foods; salt costs a lot of points. Every ingredient carries its band from the Food Secrets ranking – a band is stable, and the app shows you the exact figure.
- Top 10Cocoa powderFlavan-3-ols – and the dark, round depth a chili needs.
- Top 10OreganoThe herb of Mexican cooking, strongest when dried.
- Top 10Cayenne pepperHeat that makes you forget the salt.
- Top 20CorianderFresh green on the warm chili.
- Top 50Pumpkin seedsPotassium and magnesium, toasted into a crunchy garnish.
- Top 100Tomato puréeConcentrated tomato for a thick sauce.
- Top 100TomatoesThe base of the sauce, with plenty of potassium.
- Top 100CuminThe spice that makes a chili a chili.
- Top 100GarlicFlavour for the base.
- Top 100Natural yogurtCools the heat – a low-fat dairy product as in the DASH pattern.
- Top 100OnionsSweetness and body for the sauce.
- Top 100CeleryAroma and potassium; finely chopped it all but disappears.
- Top 250Kidney and black beansPotassium, fibre and plant protein – the heart of the dish.
Averaged across all ingredients, the chili lands in the Top 100. Olive oil and lime carry no band: for this goal they sit in the lower half of the ranking – they are there for flavour and acidity.
What the DASH pattern is
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension: plenty of vegetables, fruit and pulses, low-fat dairy and nuts, little saturated fat and salt. In the DASH trial with 459 adults, the upper blood pressure value after eight weeks on this eating pattern was on average 5.5 mmHg lower than on the control diet (Appel et al., NEJM 1997). The chili follows this pattern – but a single dish is no substitute for monitoring and treatment by a doctor.
Variations
- With sweet potato: cook 200 g of diced sweet potato with the tomatoes.
- Milder: leave out the cayenne pepper and use more cumin instead.
- With avocado: half an avocado, diced, instead of yogurt.
- To stock up: the chili tastes even better on the second day and freezes well in portions.
More on the heart and blood pressure
Which foods lead for the heart and blood vessels is shown on the page Nutrition and heart attack risk. As a sweet companion, try the blueberry chia pudding with cocoa – the recipe for the heart.
Ingredients onto the shopping list, recipe into the week plan – in one step.
Frequently asked questions about this recipe
Why cocoa in a chili?
Unsweetened cocoa gives the chili a dark, round depth, as in Mexican mole. It does not make it sweet. For the Blood pressure goal, cocoa powder sits at the very top of the ranking because of its flavan-3-ols – its rank for every goal is shown in the Food Rankings.
What are good recipes for high blood pressure?
Dishes in the DASH pattern: plenty of vegetables and pulses, nuts and seeds, low-fat dairy and little salt – herbs and spices take over the flavour. This chili is one example. With high blood pressure, treatment belongs with your doctor; more recipes by goal are in the healthy recipes.
How much salt does the chili contain?
Without added salt, the nutrient database counts about 70 mg of sodium per serving; well-rinsed canned beans add a little. Every pinch of salt you add counts in the app: after the import you see the nutrients per serving.
Which foods lead for the Blood pressure goal?
At the top are cocoa powder and herbs such as oregano, dill and marjoram, together with soya beans, linseed, chia seeds and dried beans. Herbs count per 100 grams, while a recipe uses a few grams. The full list is in the Food Rankings.
What does “Top 100” mean at Food Secrets?
The app rates more than 1000 foods and gives each a rank per goal. “Top 100” means: averaged across all ingredients, this recipe sits among the best hundred for the goal Blood pressure. We print bands rather than place numbers, because the database keeps growing. The app works out the current value after the import.
More healthy recipes and food rankings
- All healthy recipes by goal – recipes for blood pressure, the heart, weight loss, digestion and other health goals.
- Green shakshuka with spinach and kale – the weight loss recipe.
- Barley risotto with mushrooms, chestnuts and kale – the seasonal recipe for the Environment goal.
- Nutrition and heart attack risk – foods for the heart, blood vessels and blood pressure.
- Recipe generator: import and analyse healthy recipes – read any recipe from the web, calculate nutrients and create the shopping list automatically.
The bands on this page are a snapshot of the Food Secrets ranking. The database keeps growing, which is why we name ranges rather than place numbers – the app works out the current value at any time. The information provided is for general education and does not replace medical advice or treatment.
