20 Healthy Liquid Diet Post-Surgery Recipes

A liquid diet is adopted for a whole host of different reasons ranging from weight loss, digestive issues and is often recommended by healthcare professionals post-surgery. To bust the myth that a liquid diet is expensive and unsatisfying, we’ve linked 20 of our favorite easy and healthy liquid diet ideas to help you create a satisfying and nourishing liquid diet menu should you need some inspiration.

While we’re here, we thought we’d shed some light on a couple of the most commonly asked questions on this topic.

What can you eat on a liquid diet?

The range of foods you can consume on a liquid diet is surprisingly extensive and includes fruit juices. Frozen yogurt, popsicles, soups, milkshakes, smoothies, puddings and protein shakes.

What soups are good for a liquid diet?

A cream-based soup is a great option as the fat content of the cream aids the absorption of the nutrients within the soup and is satiating. Our suggestion would be coconut cream in a soup made up of chickpeas, sweet potato, and spinach cooked with spices such as garam masala and turmeric.

Pureed vegetable soups such as a butternut squash soup blended with chilies and garlic are delicious.

If you crave something lighter, a clear broth made from either chopped vegetables such as fennel, carrots, onions, and celery, or a broth made from chicken bones is a great option for a full liquid diet.

1. Spinach Vegetable Barley Bean Soup

Researching liquid diet recipes after surgery can be a daunting prospect but this nutrient-rich and gut-friendly vegetable barley and bean soup is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber.

This can be made in a large batch and then stored in a container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, which allows the aromatic flavor of the vegetables and herbs to intensify.

You could also blend this if you would prefer a smoother consistency. Our flavor hack with this one is to swirl in a generous spoonful of pesto once you’ve served the soup for a savory kick.

2. Sour Cream Crème Fraiche Recipe

The primary goal of both of these diets is to encourage better microbial gut diversity and so this probiotic-rich, cultured sour cream is compliant and can be used in various ways.

Simply put, this is a fermented sour cream made with only two ingredients: organic heavy cream and plain yogurt.

Sounds simple, right? It makes for an incredibly rich and creamy base that can be used to form the base of frozen yogurts and ice creams. You could also use this to top Mexican or spicy soups to provide some relief from the heat!

3. Healthy Pumpkin Chai Latte

This whole food latte spiced with warming cloves, allspice and cinnamon have all of the comforting flavors we want from a chai latte, but without the artificial flavors and sweeteners, we see in many of the store-bought options. Even better, it has just 143 calories per serving and is a fairly adaptable recipe.

This recipe in particular calls for cashew milk, however, you could use any plant milk of your choosing. Almond, coconut, and soy milk would all work well as they are lower in calories while still lending that deliciously creamy consistency.

4. Tomato Basil Soup

A collection of home liquid diet recipes wouldn’t be complete without the homeliest soup of them all: the humble tomato and basil soup.

With just 4 ingredients (onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes, and basil), this is a ridiculously easy, healthy, and nutritious soup.

Did you know that fats help the body absorb nutrients? With that in mind, our best tip with this soup is to add lots of good quality olive oil.

5. Healthy Chocolate Mousse

The words rich, sweet, calorific, and dairy come to mind when we think of a classic chocolate mousse. If weight loss is your goal, however, these probably aren’t the words you’re looking for when trying to find a dessert recipe.

Luckily, this easy and healthy sugar and dairy-free alternative satisfy that chocolate craving but come in at just 145 calories per serving. Even more surprising, the creaminess comes from the avocado!

It sounds strange but trusts us – it works. If you wanted to switch up the flavorings, we love the idea of adding in grated orange zest, too.

6. Blueberry Smoothie

Smoothies can be as easy or as complex, as you want them to be and so to save you the hassle of locating specialist and often expensive, inaccessible-for-the-masses ingredients, we’ve included this blueberry smoothie recipe that requires just 4 ingredients for a perfectly filling, antioxidant-rich and easy liquid diet recipe. Our top tip with this one is to use frozen blueberries as this helps to create a thicker consistency.

7. Magic Mineral Broth

This nutrient-dense broth is one of the easiest, fool-proof liquid diet recipes out there. And when we say easy, we mean it as this recipe doesn’t even require you to peel your vegetables. For that reason, we would recommend using organic vegetables if you can.

The sweet and white potatoes make this broth satiating and filling, however, if you would like to add in more protein, we recommend adding some white beans.

8. Chile Relleno Chicken Soup

The addition of cheese and poblano peppers in this soup makes for a satiating, rich dish while being lower on the carb front.

The recipe calls for the poblano peppers to be roasted which adds to the depth of flavor and smokiness of the finished soup.

If you like spice, try adding in some chipotle paste or chilies for additional smokiness and heat. Who said liquid diets had to be boring and unsatisfying?

9. Thai Coconut Curry Lentil Soup

The lentils add a textural variance to this soup and help to bulk it out while adding protein, fiber, and other essential minerals.

The lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves make this soup flavorful and aromatic and perfect for chillier days.

As a lazy kitchen hack for those days when you need something a little quicker to pull together, try sourcing an authentic Thai paste to skip on the individual aromas.

10. Lemon Vanilla Bean Custard

This delicious dessert dispels the myth that sweet treats can’t be enjoyed on a liquid diet.

The addition of the lemon helps to cut through the richness of the base however if you favor chocolate over citrus flavors, you could replace the lemon zest and lemon juice with cacao powder.

This recipe calls for powdered gelatin however if you’re vegetarian or vegan, we recommend replacing this with powdered agar-agar and using it in the same way.

11. Cream of Asparagus Soup

This recipe is a real celebration of spring and although spring has been and gone in the Northern hemisphere, asparagus is still in season and so we would recommend making a large batch of this and freezing it for the months when it’s out of season.

The addition of butter, chicken stock, and cream make this an indulgent and delicious soup that is a sure-to-be easy and healthy favorite feature on your liquid diet menu.

12. Homemade Instant Pot Yogurt

We’re all looking for ways to get more use out of our instant pots and so to save them from collecting dust in your kitchen cupboards, we recommend giving this nutrient-rich and really easy homemade yogurt recipe a try.

It requires some precision as the yogurt has to be heated to a specific temperature however if you follow the recipe it is straightforward.

Our suggestion for this is to spread it evenly across some parchment paper before dotting it with the fresh fruit of your choice and then freezing to make yogurt bark. Sounds great for a warm summer’s day, right?

13. Banana Coconut Chia Pudding

Whether you’re enjoying this as breakfast, a snack, or dessert, this chia pudding is healthy, delicious, and surprisingly full of texture for a liquid diet-compliant recipe.

The chia seeds also lend those all-important healthy omega 3s and so as well as being delicious, this pudding is also nutrient-dense.

With the addition of coconut milk and banana, this is full of tropical flavors and if you wanted to add to that, we would recommend adding in some pureed mango and lime juice.

14. Keto Banana Pudding

Generally speaking, bananas aren’t keto diet-friendly because they contain a whopping 27 grams of carbs per medium-sized banana and so if you’re avoiding carbs, they aren’t a great option.

How do you make a banana pudding without bananas, you ask? Banana extract! Our top tip would be to read your labels and source a high-quality banana extract to ensure you get that ripe banana flavor. You could also experiment with a whole host of other flavorings such as strawberry extract.

15. Cream of Mushroom Soup

This is a really quick and easy liquid diet recipe and one that benefits from using lots of freshly ground black pepper and dried thyme to intensify the flavor of the mushrooms.

For an even more intense mushroom flavor and an umami kick, we would recommend adding in some soaked dried porcini mushrooms, too.

The recipe calls for arrowroot to thicken the soup however if you can’t get your hands on this ingredient, we recommend adding in cornstarch mixed with cold water before adding to the soup.

16. Sugar-free Apple Sauce

With just 4 ingredients (apples, cinnamon, lemon juice, and water), this applesauce makes for a versatile essential that can feature in a variety of other liquid diets compliant dishes such as chia puddings, mousses, and yogurt-based puddings.

Our favorite flavor hack with this is to add more warming spices when stewing the apples such as star anise and cloves.

The apples can also be replaced here with any soft fruits such as peaches and pears, making it an adaptable recipe that suits whatever produce you have to hand.

17. Green Smoothie Recipe

Green smoothies often have a bad reputation for tasting what we imagine blended grass would taste like, but this green smoothie is a tropical treat in disguise with the addition of pineapple, mango, and banana.

This is perfectly nutritious as it’s loaded with potassium, iron, and vitamin C however if you wanted to add to this, we recommend adding in a scoop of spirulina powder.

18. Overnight Chocolate Chia Pudding

Nothing appeals more for busy week mornings than an overnight breakfast recipe.

This chocolate chia pudding feels indulgent but is packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fats and can be made in bulk for dipping throughout the week.

To add extra vitamins and a burst of sweetness, we would recommend adding a handful of mixed berries and mint leaves on top. What fruits would you top this with?

19. Key Lime Mousse

This is the perfect dessert to follow a rich and filling meal for when you want something to satisfy your sweet tooth but need it to be light, airy, and tart. Even better, it takes around ten minutes to make and uses just 5 ingredients, most of which are kitchen staples.

We love this in the summer months but as a palate-cleansing pud following a heavier meal, it’s perfect all year round. Adding in chopped mint leaves makes this even more refreshing!

20. Cream of Broccoli Soup

If you’re struggling to get your greens in, this is the perfect recipe that allows you to get the full benefits from the humble broccoli which includes the ability to lower cholesterol and is full of vitamins such as vitamins C, A, and K.

This recipe calls for cheddar cheese but if you like the flavor of blue cheese, we would recommend crumbling some in for that tangy, salty hit.

Similarly, if you have other green vegetables to hand that need using up, they can be used in place of the broccoli. Peas work well, as does spinach.