3 Easy Blue Zone Recipes for Beginners | Starter Guide to the Blue Zones | Blue Zones for Newbies

Are you here because you saw the Netflix special on Blue Zones? Well, welcome!

To recap, Blue Zones are places in the world where people live 90 too 100 years old, and are free of disease.

A lot of their success is living the lifestyle they do (in communities, with purpose, and prayer). But, some of it can be contributed to their diet.

Even if we don’t live in some sort of utopian community, we can gain benefits from eating the way they do!

So that’s where these recipes come in.

A little background- I spent a year during the pandemic trying all the Blue Zones recipes. There were some hits and misses. And I did all the hard work for you, so you don’t have to go through the misses.

Below are 3 easy Blue Zone recipes to get you started. They use minimal, everyday ingredients and no fancy cooking techniques.

I hope at least one catches your eye and you give it a try.

*Remember these are simple preparations. If you’re looking for full spice and smack-you-in-the-face flavor you’ll be disappointed. These meals are humble preparations that you would find in the simple countryside.

1. Five-Ingredient Okinawan Bowl

This recipe is made with buckwheat soba noodles. I hadn’t really worked with soba noodles before, but they are amazing. They are whole grain and just take 4 minutes to cook. There’s only a handful of ingredients in this recipe. So, it instantly became a favorite weeknight meal for me.

2. Sardinian Walnut Pesto

Did you know tomatoes don’t come from Italy? The first sauces were pestos made from pine nuts or walnuts like this recipe. Grinding up walnuts and sautéing them in olive oil oddly gives them a meaty, filling mouth feel. In other words, you don’t miss meat. This recipe was a surprise because it’s so minimal, but tasty. The only thing is it doesn’t keep well and should be eaten once it’s made.

3. 7-Ingredient Veggie Champuru with Cabbage

The most exciting thing about this dish is that my meat-eating boyfriend loved it. I enjoy eating it with the steamed sweet potatoes, but he loves eating it with rice. Either way it’s a nice, super light dish full of veggies and protein. I always feel like I just enjoyed a day at the spa when I eat this one.