15 Plant-Based Recipes to Soothe Inflammation

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Can What You Eat Lower Inflammation? Eating more fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and other simple plant foods may help reduce chronic inflammation. If you want easy ways to try this, these recipes are a great place to begin.

These recipes include colorful fruits and vegetables, leafy greens, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and ingredients like ginger and turmeric. To learn more about the research, check out Can a Plant-Based Diet Help Reduce Inflammation?

Chronic inflammation is linked to several health conditions, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. While diet is just one factor, studies show that eating more whole foods can help lower chronic inflammation.

If you want to try this approach, these 15 plant-based recipes use vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices. They offer easy and tasty ways to add more healthy plant foods to your daily meals.

Want to learn more about how a plant-based diet can help? Read Can a Plant-Based Diet Help Reduce Inflammation?

What Makes These Recipes a Good Choice

There isn’t one magic “anti-inflammatory” food. What really matters is how you eat overall. These recipes emphasize whole plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Eating these gives you fiber and a wide range of plant compounds, including carotenoids and polyphenols.

Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Recipes

SUPERFOOD SMOOTHIE:
With a name like “Superfood Smoothie,” you know it will have many anti-inflammatory ingredients like kale, cherries, cinnamon, cardamom, fresh ginger, turmeric, and flax seeds. Read Rick Bruess’ story about how this smoothie he developed based on his research helped him heal from an injury from competitive running.

MANGO SALSA:
Mango, black beans, red onion, and colorful vegetables make this salsa a flavorful way to add more fiber and plant nutrients to your meal.

KALE CITRUS GUACAMOLE:
With the combination of kale and citrus, you have one powerful anti-inflammatory appetizer that’s unique and popular with everyone who’s tried it.

Anti-inflammatory STUFFED PEPPERS:
These stuffed peppers include a variety of anti-inflammatory ingredients, including the peppers themselves, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes.

TURMERIC GINGER ICED TEA:
Ginger and turmeric are probably the best-known anti-inflammatory foods, and this recipe for iced (or hot) tea is easy to brew at home. You can find fresh turmeric root at your local natural grocer. It looks like fresh ginger. Both fresh turmeric and ginger will keep well in the freezer until you’re ready to use them.

THAI CARROT SOUP:
This carotenoid-rich Thai Carrot Soup is an anti-inflammatory recipe made with carrots, ginger, red curry paste, and turmeric.

SWEET POTATOES WITH SWISS CHARD:
We couldn’t have this anti-inflammatory vegan recipe post without including some amazing greens. For this recipe, Swiss chard is the star, but beautiful orange, carotenoid-filled sweet potatoes pair nicely with a dressing of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, and maple syrup.

CHERRY CHOCOLATE SMOOTHIE:
Start your morning the anti-inflammatory way with this delicious, nutritious Cherry Chocolate Smoothie. Frozen cherries make it easy make this smoothie any time of the year, and best of all, the organic cacao nibs add rich cocoa flavor with no added sugar.

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP:
While the spices, including turmeric, make this classic Indian soup delicious, the addition of lentils, carrots, potato, and apple makes it a powerful anti-inflammatory recipe. It’s one of the most popular dishes on this website!

CAESAR SALAD:
Caesar salad is another way to get a delicious helping of fresh greens, which help reduce inflammation.

AVOCADO PAPAYA GAZPACHO:
You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how delicious and refreshing this cold soup is with the unusual combination of tomato and pineapple juice, anti-inflammatory papaya (or mango), bell peppers, red onion, and cilantro.

PASTA PRIMAVERA:
Feel free to use any vegetables you have on hand in the fridge, or try broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, and cauliflower to boost your immune system. Vegetables and whole-grain pasta add fiber. What a great way to heal and stay healthy.

HEALING TURMERIC SMOOTHIE:
Like the ginger Turmeric Iced Tea (above), this recipe also uses grated fresh ginger and turmeric for their anti-inflammatory qualities, though you can substitute powdered turmeric in a pinch. Try it anytime you’re feeling down, or as a refreshing treat.

TOFU VEGGIE SCRAMBLE:
Anti-inflammatory powdered ground turmeric gives this dish its yellow color and makes it great for breakfast. “Is tofu inflammatory?” Tofu also contains vitamin K, which is anti-inflammatory. Start the day right by adding bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms, or enjoy it for lunch or dinner, too!

MARY’S VEGETABLE SOUP WITH FARRO:
The beautiful golden color of this soup comes from turmeric, one of the most well-known anti-inflammatory ingredients, but it also includes several other healing vegetables, such as carrot, potato, kale, bell peppers, and celery.

I’m always especially delighted to find foods that are not only healthful but also nourishing, aesthetically pleasing, and delicious. I hope you’ll enjoy these varied anti-inflammatory dishes as much as my family and I have.

You don’t need to build your meals around a handful of special “anti-inflammatory” foods. Instead, start by adding more whole plant foods throughout the day like vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices. Choose one or two recipes from this collection that you like and make them part of your regular meals.