Free Foods List

Add these foods to your menu plan without worry.

Listed in this chapter are items considered “free foods” on the Comfort Food Diet. A free food is an item that has fewer than 20 calories and 5 or less grams of carbohydrates per serving. Whether you add these items to your meal plan, rely on them for snacks or simply use them to enhance the flavors of your favorite dishes, feel free to enjoy as many free foods as you’d like.

Free foods are an ideal way to fill you up because they are mostly non-starchy vegetables. When you make a low-calorie turkey sandwich, for instance, give it a bit of crunch with sliced cucumber, pickles or even radishes. Or pump up the flavor with fresh herbs, horseradish or hot pepper sauce…and don’t worry about adding up any calories these items might contain.

At the end, you’ll find a section that offers more free foods with specific portion sizes. Feel free to enjoy a serving of these items and not count the calories— but if you eat them in portions larger than what’s noted in the list, the calories will have to count toward your daily goal.

Eat All You Want

• Artichoke

• Artichoke hearts

• Asparagus

• Baby corn

• Bamboo shoots

• Bean sprouts

• Beans (green, wax, Italian)

• Beets

• Broccoli

• Broth or bouillon

• Brussels sprouts

• Cauliflower

• Carrots

• Celery

• Cucumber

• Eggplant

• Flavored sugar-free gelatin

• Garlic

• Green onions or scallions

• Greens (collard, kale, mustard, turnip)

• Hearts of palm

• Herbs (fresh or dried)

• Horseradish

• Hot pepper sauce

• Jicama

• Kohlrabi

• Leeks

• Lemon juice

• Mixed vegetables (without corn, peas or pasta)

• Mushrooms (fresh)

• Mustard

• Okra

• Onions

• Pea pods

• Pickles

• Radishes

• Rutabaga

• Salad greens (lettuce, romaine, chicory, endive, escarole, arugula, radicchio, watercress)

• Sauerkraut

• Spices

• Spinach

• Squash (summer, crookneck, zucchini)

• Sugar snap peas

• Swiss chard

• Tomato (fresh or canned)

• Turnips

• Vinegar

• Water chestnuts

• Worcestershire sauce

Free Beverages—Drink as Much as You Want

• Carbonated or mineral water

• Club soda

• Coffee (unsweetened or with sugar substitute)

• Diet soft drinks

• Drink mixes (sugar-free)

• Flavored water (20 calories or less)

• Tea (unsweetened or with sugar substitute)

• Tonic water (diet)

• Water

Free Foods with Restricted Portions

• Barbecue sauce, 2 teaspoons

• Cream cheese (fat-free), 1 tablespoon (½ ounce)

• Creamer: Nondairy, liquid, 1 tablespoon Nondairy, powdered, 2 teaspoons

• Honey mustard, 1 tablespoon

• Jam or jelly (light or no sugar added), 2 teaspoons

• Ketchup, 1 tablespoon

• Margarine spread: Fat-free, 1 tablespoon Reduced-fat, 1 teaspoon

• Mayonnaise: Fat-free, 1 tablespoon Reduced-fat, 1 teaspoon

• Parmesan cheese (freshly grated), 1 tablespoon

• Pickle relish, 1 tablespoon

• Salad dressing: Fat-free or low-fat, 1 tablespoon Fat-free Italian, 2 tablespoons

• Salsa, ¼ cup

• Sour cream: Fat-free or reduced-fat, 1 tablespoon

• Sweet and sour sauce, 2 teaspoons

• Soy sauce, 1 tablespoon

• Sweet chili sauce, 1 tablespoon

• Syrup (sugar-free), 2 tablespoons

• Taco sauce, 1 tablespoon

• Whipped topping: Light or fat-free, 2 tablespoons Regular, 1 tablespoon