Condiments on the Portion Fix/ 21 Day Fix

Finding approved condiments on the 21 Day Fix can be a little confusing. They count as different containers and labels need to be examined.

The definition of a condiment is ” the things added to foods prior to serving, for example, a sandwich made with mayonnaise, mustard, or ketchup .” Condiments are literally the “sauce of life” for most of us. 

A condiment can be ” a sauce, dip, or concoction that is added to food, usually after cooking… or it can be added while cooking to flavor food, like a bbq sauce when basted on while grilling. Or even a “finishing” product like a salad dressing or oil drizzle.”

Some cultures call things like peanut butter a condiment so your definition might not match mine. 

What is going to make something “unapproved”? 

A word of caution, almost anything that says “sugar-free” is probably going to have something artificial in it. Instead, look for words like “no sugar added” or “no artificial ingredients” on the labels to steer you towards cleaner ingredients.

These are the common names for artificial sweeteners that you are trying to avoid.

 

Our 21 Day Fix food list gives us white sugar as an option now. There is an “8 grams or less of added sugar” rule that applies to all off-the-shelf products.

Another ingredient to consider is the sodium number. Most condiment serving sizes are tiny. So if something has 200+ mg for 1 teaspoon-2 tablespoons, you will want to keep it to the serving size. Here are some sodium numbers in this post. 

Condiments on the 21 Day fix the top five

I was staggered at the 100’s of condiments there are from around the world! I can’t possibly cover them all! So, I picked the top 15 in the U.S. Every one of them is approved as a condiment on the 21 Day Fix. This is list is the “store-bought” versions of them. Further down I cover my favorite recipe versions of a bunch more!  

Mayonnaise– Any brand will do because if there were some kind of restriction our list would mention it. It is 1 oil teaspoon on our list. 

Mustard – Mustard is free to use,  honey mustard is the exception since you have to count the honey. 

Ketchup– Find one that uses natural sugar and keeps that sugar to 8g or below. I personally count the serving size as a sweet teaspoon because of the added sugars to keep me accountable about how much I use. 

Here is my favorite one right now!

Soy Sauce– Low sodium. Coconut aminos can be a low sodium option with the same basic flavor as soy sauce. This is the lowest sodium one I have been able to find. 

Hot Sauce-Our list says Mexican/Tabasco. It is a free food but I find the sodium to be very high in some of them so I watch my labels. This is my favorite one and the sodium is only 64mg for 1 teaspoon.

The next five

BBQ Sauce-Finding a natural sugar-based one with a less than 8grams of added sugar can be hard, but they exist. Read those labels! 

I have found a couple in my area but I am not sure if you can find them or not. Here is one I use, straight out of the Memphis scene! There are a few other brands Stubb’s Original is a clean one and so is Organicville’s BBQ sauce, but I have never tasted either of them.  ***UPDATE I have tried Stubb’s regular sauce and LOVE it!!*** 

Just like ketchup, I count those sweet spoons 4 grams of sugar is 1 teaspoon of sugar. If it doesn’t have any sugar in it I just use the serving size for free. 

Sriracha-I use it as a free food. The sugar content is so tiny that I don’t see the need to count it.

Salsa-I use 2 Tablespoons of no sugar added red or green salsa as a free food. After that amount, I start counting it as a green container. If it is a sugar added one, again I count the 1st 2 tablespoons as free and if I use more I count it as a part of a purple container. 

Pesto– Pesto is an oil teaspoon on our list. 

Horseradish-Pure horseradish is free. If you use a prepared “sauce” you need to read the labels for high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners.

Boar’s Head brand is really clean and with a good strong flavor!

The last five…

Worcestershire Sauce-I limit it to 1 tablespoon or less per 1 serving because of the sodium content of most of them. 

Pickles/Relish-Pickles are on our green list but I think most jarred pickles have too much sodium in them to fill that green container up with them, same for relish, so I stick to the serving size on the jar. And then just count them in with the rest of my green containers for the day. There are some fresh options in the produce section of stores that don’t have as much sodium in them, so you can use more as a green container. Here is some information about SODIUM numbers and the Fix. 

Vinegar-Vinegars of all flavors are free. Balsamic is approved and free,  but I look at the labels because some of them can be high in calories from their added sugar content. I saw one recently with 50+ calories in 1 teaspoon. You would need to start counting sweet teaspoons with one that high in calories.

Dressing/Dips-many flavors- Some store-bought dips/dressings are made from a red container ingredient like greek yogurt, but there are mayonnaise and oil-based dressings too and most of them can be measured in your orange containers. There are lots of store-bought options that are clean. I cover some of them in this post.  

And to kick off the section of recipes for some favorite condiments…..

Olive Salad Spread– It can be used on sandwiches like a muffuletta but I like in a bowl of pasta with some fresh basil added, YUM-YUM! I like to put it on an appetizer tray too as an alternative to whole olives.   I have created a recipe that I can containerize. Olives, pickled veggies, capers, lemon juice, and olive oil is about all it is.

So after I chop it all up together I can just measure it in my orange. And can go on my version of a muffuletta sandwich! 

It was perfect on this ham and provolone cheese sandwich! A perfect briny flavor to compliment that cheese for sure because it is the same cheese they use on a true muffuletta.

Are there more condiments you can use on the 21 Day Fix?

There are! I am also going to break some of them down into flavor profiles with some recipes for some homemade versions. Just check out all the links!

Asian:  Fish Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Miso, Brown Sauce, , Teriyaki sauce. Watch all of these for unapproved ingredients along with too much sugar/salt.

Hot flavors: Wasabi, Horseradish, Horseradish Sauce, Sweet Chili Paste–Read those labels.

Veggie-based:  Slaw, Kraut, Chimichurri Sauce, Piccalilli, Salsa, Pickled Veggies, Salsa Verde, Tzatziki .  Watch all of the pickled options like kraut and pickled veggies for high sodium numbers. Stay to the serving size if it is high. Be sure to count any oil that is used in any of these products.

Fruit-based: Cranberry Sauce, Chutney(mango),  Fruit Salsas and here.

Tomato-based: Chili Sauce, Cocktail Sauce, Homemade Ketchup, Pico de Gallo, Steak Sauce–again read those labels

Mayo-based sauces:  Comeback Sauce, Remoulade, Fry Sauce, Tartar Sauce, Sriracha Mayo, Aioli of all flavors (garlic), Spicy Asian Mayo

Carb based condiments: Hummus, Corn salad

Oil-based: Chili Oil, Sesame Oil, Herb-flavored Oils

Nut based: Tahini is actually an oil teaspoon on our list, Peanut Sauce, Mole Sauce

Salad dressings/sauce/dips:  Honey Mustard, Ranch, Thousand Island, Creamy Mustard Vinegarette, Greek Dressing

BBQ sauces: Maple BBQ, Regular BBQ, Mustard BBQ sauce, Apple Cider BBQ sauce, Raspberry Chipotle BBQ sauce

Red container dips/dressings: Cottage cheese and greek yogurt-based ranch, Greek yogurt ranch, Southwest ranch,

This list doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of all the condiments on the 21 Day Fix that could be approved. So I may be updating this post in the future!