Healthy Dominican Food and Best Substitutions

Is Dominican food healthy?

Dominican cookery takes advantage of the wealth of vegetables and fruits that grow in our country, and some heavier dishes can be very easily adapted to your diet.

You can do more to maximize its nutritional potential, and we share many of our traditional ways to make your meals more balanced and nutritious. We have carefully organized our recipes so you can enjoy healthy Dominican food regardless of your diet:

You can find vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, keto and low-carb, and low-calorie recipes in our blog. In many cases, that requires some substitutions and adaptations that we include in the post.

Healthy Dominican dishes

These are some dishes I'd recommend for maximun nutrition yet low caloric content, but still retaining the best of our Dominican flavors.

More healthy dominican food

Great tips for healthier meals

1. Wave the flag!

La Bandera Dominicana (the Dominican flag), our traditional lunch meal is an outstanding combination of all the necessary nutrients. Rice provides carbohydrates (try brown rice for an even healthier choice), you get proteins from beans and meat (or seafood), and a delicious salad prepared with fresh vegetables completes this healthy meal.

2. Use salt sparingly

If you follow a low-sodium diet, you don't need to add too much salt to your dishes, and most of our recipes leave that to your judgement. If you want to add some extra flavor, use herbs and spices instead. You will eventually acquire a taste for lower-salt food.

3. Fat in moderation

A common mistake some Dominicans make is using too much oil when cooking, which you may find takes away the benefits of the Dominican diet. Use a non-stick pan to cook your meats and pan-fry your arepitas and tortillas. That way, you will only need a minimum of oil. Add a clove of garlic to the white rice, that improves the taste without adding much oil to the rice.

4. Add vegetables

I have written about the Dominican art of "rendir", or adding vegetables to protein dishes to bulk them out. Check it out and add extra vegetables to your meal.

5. Choose fresh salad

The traditional Dominican fresh salad contains a wealth of nutritious vegetables: tomatoes, lettuce, beet, cabbage, etc. Always choose fresh salad over other richer salads, and prepare your vinaigrette with minimal oil.

But if you must absolutely have your ensalada rusa we suggest that you use low-fat mayonnaise instead of regular, or substitute half the regular mayonnaise for sour cream. This no mayo light potato salad will have a different but nice taste.

You can find more Dominican salad recipes here.

Better substitutes

These days we take a lot of shortcuts trying to save time in the kitchen, but we can cook our foods with natural ingredients and put healthier food on our table without sacrifices. We show you here how to substitute some pre-made ingredients commonly used in Dominican recipes with some you can prepare at home.

Chicken and beef broth

For other dishes, buy a whole chicken and use legs, wings, and breasts. Use the remaining parts and bones to make homemade chicken broth. Use beef bones to make beef broth.

Vegetable broth

This homemade vegetable broth recipe is quite versatile, and can conveniently made with bits of leftover vegetables you can keep in a jar refrigerated until it's time to get them in the pot.

Also, use it as a substitute when the recipe calls for chicken or beef broth if you want to adapt the recipe for a vegetarian diet.

Seasoning powder

Make your own homemade seasoning powder with a few ingredients and you can add Dominican flavors to your food without much effort.

Tomato paste

Make your own homemade tomato sauce much healthier and tastier than commercial tomato paste.

Liquid seasoning

Use our recipes for seasoning paste (sazón) and keep it refrigerated. It's Dominican mom's secret for quick but intense Dominican flavor.

Hot sauce

Why not substitute store-bought hot sauce for the very authentic and most delicious agrio de naranja, the Dominican equivalent?

Do you have any other healthy substitutes, tips, or favorite Dominican healthy dishes? Let us know in the comments.