Adding vibrant, colorful foods to your diet provides both visual appeal and important nutrients. Red foods, in particular, contain antioxidants like lycopene and anthocyanins that can help reduce inflammation, boost heart health, and fight disease. Here are 28 nutritious red foods to incorporate into your meals.
Fruits
- Cherries – These sweet red fruits contain anthocyanins and melatonin which can help reduce inflammation and promote sleep. Great for snacking or adding to oatmeal.
- Strawberries – Bursting with vitamin C, manganese, and fiber. Enjoy raw or blended into smoothies. The seeds provide omega-3s.
- Raspberries – Have a high antioxidant capacity and offer vitamin C, fiber, and manganese. Toss into salads or yogurt.
- Pomegranates – The edible seeds (arils) contain vitamin K, folate, and potassium. Sprinkle over dishes or blend into juices.
- Red Grapes – Full of vitamin K, vitamin C, and antioxidants like resveratrol. Enjoy raw or frozen, roasted, or blended into jams.
- Watermelon – A hydrating, low calorie fruit full of lycopene, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Eat raw in wedges or cubes.
- Red Apples – Contain quercetin, catechins, vitamin C, and fiber. Great for snacking, salads, baking, or applesauce.
- Red Pears – Packed with fiber, vitamin C, copper, and antioxidants. Sweet addition to salads, smoothies, or parfaits.
- Red Plums – Provide vitamin C, vitamin K, copper, and polyphenols. Delicious freshly sliced or roasted.
- Red Grapefruit – Rich in vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, lycopene, and fiber. Eat as is or incorporated into salsas.
Vegetables
- Tomatoes – Excellent source of lycopene, vitamin C, potassium, and folate. Enjoy raw, roasted, sundried, or blended.
- Beets – Contain nitrates, magnesium, iron, and antioxidants. Roast, blend into dips, or turn into beet chips.
- Radishes – Provide vitamin C, anthocyanins, and fiber. Use in salads, sandwiches, or as garnish.
- Red Potatoes – Packed with B6, potassium, vitamin C and resistant starch. Roast, mash, or add to stews.
- Red Peppers – Loaded with vitamin C, vitamin A, and carotenoids like capsanthin. Saute, stuff, or eat raw with dip.
- Red Onions – Contains quercetin, anthocyanins, and sulfur compounds. Saute, grill, or add raw to salads.
- Red Cabbage – Has vitamin C, anthocyanins, and fiber. Shred into slaws or ferment into sauerkraut.
- Radicchio – Offers fiber, vitamin K, and antioxidants. Adds color and crunch to salads or char and grill.
- Red Chard – Provides vitamin K, magnesium, potassium, and anthocyanins. Saute, blend into smoothies, or bake into chips.
- Rhubarb – Technically a vegetable, it contains fiber, vitamin K, and anthocyanins. Use in pies, jams, or poach and top with Greek yogurt.
Proteins
- Red Lentils – A great source of folate, fiber, and plant-based protein. Use in soups, stews, curries, or burgers.
- Red Kidney Beans – Packed with fiber, folate, magnesium, and plant protein. Enjoy in chili, rice bowls, or add to salad.
- Wild Salmon – An excellent source of omega-3s, vitamin B12, and antioxidants like astaxanthin. Grill, bake, or smoke.
- Red Quinoa – A complete protein high in manganese, copper, fiber, and magnesium. Cook and use similarly to rice or pasta.
- Rare Steak – Provides iron, zinc, and B-vitamins. Stick to only occasional intake due to cancer risk from compounds formed from high heat cooking.
Grains
- Red Rice – Has antioxidants like anthocyanins along with fiber, niacin, and magnesium. Use like brown rice in dishes.
- Red Corn – Supplies lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin C, and anthocyanins. Use like yellow corn, grind into flour, or pop into popcorn.
- Amaranth – A super nutritious pseudo-grain high in protein, fiber, manganese, magnesium, and iron. Use like quinoa or rice.
The variety of nutritious red foods provides great opportunities to liven up your menu. Work these colorful picks into your diet through smoothies, salads, main dishes, sides, snacks, and desserts. Pairing red foods together, like beets and red onions, can really make your meals pop. So embrace red and reap the nutritional benefits.
