The Kidney Kitchen was developed by Kidney Care UK with the British Dietetic Association's Kidney Dietitian Specialist Group (KDSG) to help people living with kidney disease, their family and friends, all enjoy great-tasting food that is safe and nutritious for everyone to eat.
That might seem like a tall order, but every one of our Kidney Kitchen recipes has been approved by the RNG as being safe to eat even for people living with CKD – at every stage of CKD – and even if you are also living with diabetes.
Eating well to feel well
Eating well is not just about optimising nutrition. Being able to enjoy a tasty Sunday brunch with a partner, hearty meal with family, or a piece of cake now and again, is important to everyone. It’s personal and connects us with the people who matter. This doesn’t change when you are diagnosed with CKD.
Each of our Kidney Kitchen recipes has been developed as part of an inspired collaboration between our Kidney Kitchen chefs and recipe developers, and kidney dietitians, working together to produce recipes that support good kidney health and align more closely with the dietary needs of people living with kidney disease.
As the leading source of expertise for kidney nutrition in the UK, the KDSG carefully analyses and provides detailed nutritional information to accompany each recipe we cook in the Kidney Kitchen. This means that as well as having a great selection of delicious and kidney-friendly meals, snacks, breads, cakes, and puddings to try, you are also receiving nutritional information you can trust.
What if I have diabetes as well as kidney disease?
Every Kidney Kitchen recipe includes a per portion carbohydrate content to help people who are living with diabetes, who are insulin-dependent and who have been trained on insulin dose adjustment, ensure they are taking the correct dose to cover their Kidney Kitchen meal. In addition to information on carbohydrate-content, we always try to reduce any added sugar in our Kidney Kitchen recipes, to a minimum – and we challenge you to notice the difference! All of our Kidney Kitchen puddings, cakes and biscuits are utterly delicious.
Isn’t following a kidney-friendly diet going to be more expensive?
We know that for many people living with kidney disease, recent hikes in the cost of living have made life extremely challenging. For people living on a limited income, or trying to stretch their health-related state benefit, to cover utility bills and their weekly food shop, impossible choices have had to be made.
In the Kidney Kitchen, we are aware of these challenges and whilst we do include some ‘special occasion’ recipes which are a little more costly, the majority of Kidney Kitchen recipes are developed to be as low-cost as possible. Each recipe is costed on a per-portion basis so that you can see at a glance, which ones best fit your budget.
These costs per portion are reviewed and updated every two years. You might also find our Kidney Kitchen Eat Well Spend Less recipe collection magazine helpful as it contains useful hints and tips on how to keep costs low whilst still enjoying a wonderful range of tasty kidney-friendly meals which are all great for the whole family too.
Food facts, tips and advice
If your kidney dietitian has talked to you about modifying your diet, you will find our recipe Food Facts section very helpful. Here you will find useful information on per-serving phosphate, potassium, protein, calorie, carbohydrate and (natural) salt content of each recipe.
What we mean when we say . . .
These recipes are suitable if you have been advised to lower the amount of potassium in your diet. They may contain ingredients higher in potassium than you expect to see in a Kidney Kitchen recipe, but are only included in small amounts and across several servings, so are safe to enjoy in the portion sizes suggested in the recipe.
These recipes are suitable if you have been advised to lower the amount of phosphate in your diet. They may contain ingredients higher in phosphate than you expect to see in a Kidney Kitchen recipe, but are only included in small amounts and across several servings, so are safe to enjoy in the portion sizes suggested. If you have been advised to take a phosphate binder, you will find advice on when these need to be taken.
These recipes are suitable if you have been advised to lower your protein intake, usually when your kidney function is low, but you have not yet started dialysis or are being worked up for a transplant. Dialysis can mean this advice is reversed as dialysis may remove too much protein from your body. Ensure you check with your kidney dietitian before modifying your protein intake.
We do not add salt to any Kidney Kitchen recipes, but many food sources and ingredients contain salt. Our low-salt recipes contain less than 0.3g of salt per 100g. We adapt every recipe to be as low in salt as possible and our creative Kidney Kitchen chefs, introduce other ingredients to enhance flavours (see below for tips). However, a few recipes do contain more salt than others and so fall slightly outside our agreed ‘low-salt’ parameters.
We DO NOT advise replacing salt with salt replacement products, such as Lo-Salt, as these contain potassium chloride which some people with kidney disease need to avoid.
Try replacing: Table salt, garlic salt, onion salt, celery salt, onion pepper, ‘low-salt’ products and meat tenderiser.
With: Fresh garlic, black pepper, onion or garlic powder, vinegar, fresh onions, lemon juice, herbs and spices.
Our calorie information calculation is based on quantities and serving sizes suggested in this magazine. You may wish to choose higher calorie-content meals if you have been advised by your kidney dietitian to try to gain weight. If you have been advised to lose some weight, opt for lower calorie content meal options, or refer to the healthier options section of Food Facts for how to lower the recipe's calorie content.
If you follow a vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free eating plan, you will be pleased to see that many of our Kidney Kitchen recipes have been developed with you in mind. Also, many more Kidney Kitchen recipes are easy to adapt and you will find hints and tips on where ingredient swaps can be made.
Eating a more plant-based diet is a sustainable way to plan meals, but also supports good kidney and overall health. Eating a predominantly plant-based diet does not mean giving up meat altogether; it means gradually introducing more healthy pulses, grains, vegetables and fruit into your diet. Start by making simple changes, like halving the amount of meat in meat-based dishes and replacing this with lentils or beans – which can also make your weekly shop cheaper!