3 nourishing recipes to cut down on ultra-processed food in 2025

• Melissa Hemsley's cookbook offers recipes to reduce ultra-processed food intake.
• Ultra-processed foods are linked to health risks like cardiovascular disease and cancer.
• Hemsley's recipes include white chicken chili, noodle salad, and no-bake peanut bars.

If cutting down on ultra-processed food is on your 2025 goals list, finding tasty new recipes is a big help.

Melissa Hemsley is a chef whose latest cookbook, "Real Healthy," is designed to help people "unprocess" their diets.

The recipes are packed with vegetables and designed for those who are short of time.

Ultra-processed foods have come to the fore of public health consciousness in recent years, as research increasingly points to the potential health risks of UPFs, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Hemsley recommends dishes including a white chicken chili with peppers and beans, a zingy vegetarian noodle salad, and no-bake peanut butter chocolate oat bars.

White chicken chili

Hemsley said: "A tomato-less chili, hence the name 'white chili'. I use yellow peppers here to keep the chili 'white' but use whatever color you can find. I like to serve the toppings separately and let everyone help themselves. In terms of the beans, use whatever white beans you like, such as cannellini or butter beans. I find sweetcorn is always worth keeping in the freezer, but if you've got canned corn, then drain, rinse, and add it right at the end."

Serves: Four

Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra if needed
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 yellow peppers, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chile flakes, to taste
• 1.2 litres vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 x 400-gram tins of white beans, drained and rinsed
• 200 grams frozen corn
• Juice of 1 lime, plus a little zest if you like
• Sea salt and black pepper

Optional toppings

• Soured cream or yogurt
• Fresh cilantro and/or scallions onions, sliced
• Sliced avocado
• Sliced radishes or cucumber
• Lime wedges
• Jarred jalapeño slices or chile flakes

Method

1. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and, once warm, add the chicken thighs, skin-side down. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes over a medium-high heat until very well browned, then turn and cook on the other side for 2 to 3 minutes. Lift out of the pot and set aside on a large plate.
2. The chicken should have given out plenty of fat but if not, add a splash of olive oil to the pot and, once warm, add the onions, peppers, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for about 12 minutes over a medium heat until very soft, stirring every so often. Add the garlic, fry for a minute, then add the cumin, oregano, and cayenne or chile flakes and fry for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Return the chicken thighs to the pot and pour in the stock. Simmer for 25 minutes, then add the beans and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken thighs once cooked through and take the meat off the bones and shred. Set aside, discarding the chicken skin if you wish. Use a potato masher or the back of your wooden spoon to crush roughly a third of the beans (this will help thicken the chili).
5. Add the frozen corn, then cook for 5 minutes or so until tender. Remove from the heat, add the chicken, lime juice, plus a little zest if you like, and taste for seasoning.
6. Ladle into bowls and finish with the toppings you like.

Big veg noodle salad with lime, ginger, and peanut dressing

Hemsley said: "Even in the colder months, I think a big noodle salad is always a great thing to have up our sleeves. In the depths of winter, in and among all the cheesy bakes and big soups and stews, I crave fresh, zingy, crunchy salads like this. Use any noodles you like, even spaghetti would work if that's what you've got. I love buckwheat (soba) noodles. Swap the peanuts and peanut butter for cashews or almonds if you prefer. Do the lime trick to release more juice by rolling the limes on the kitchen counter before you slice them in half."

Serves: Two

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 nests of noodles
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 big handfuls of raw peanuts
• 1 large carrot, cut into ribbons with a peeler or cut into thin strips with a knife
• 1⁄4 sweetheart cabbage, very thinly sliced
• 1 small apple or pear, cored, and cut into matchsticks
• 1⁄2 small cucumber, diced

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoons smooth or crunchy peanut butter
• 2 big limes: zest of 1 and juice of both
• 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• Thumb of fresh ginger, finely grated
• Pinch of chile flakes
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl or shake in a jam jar. Taste for seasoning.
2. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain and rinse immediately with cold water. Toss the noodles with the sesame oil and set aside.
3. Toast the peanuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan every so often, until golden.
4. In a large bowl, toss together the noodles, carrot, cabbage, apple or pear and roughly half the dressing. Slowly add more splashes of dressing if you like, tossing as you go, until everything is nicely coated. Top with the cucumber and peanuts.

Chocolate peanut butter (no-bake) bars

Hemsley said: "A no-bake family favorite treat. Pretty irresistible but if you don't devour them over a few days, they will keep for a week in a sealed container. Store in the fridge in warmer months. If catering to any nut allergies, swap the ground almonds for more oats and switch the nut butter for pumpkin seed butter. If you have a preferred nut butter, try that — I love a cashew butter but keep it to the smooth variety for a silkier texture. Look out for 60% minimum cocoa solids for your chocolate."

Makes: 16

Time: 20 minutes, plus setting time

Ingredients

• 250 grams smooth peanut butter
• 100 grams ground almonds
• 100 grams porridge oats
• 6 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A little pinch of sea salt

For the chocolate layer

• 180 grams dark chocolate, roughly broken
• 1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Optional topping

• 2 handfuls of toasted peanuts

Method

1. Line a small baking pan or dish (about 15 x 8cm or square equivalent) with greaseproof paper, making sure it comes up high enough on the sides so that you can lift the mixture out of the pan once it's set.
2. Mix the peanut butter, ground almonds, oats, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt together in a bowl. Transfer to the lined pan, pressing down with the back of a spoon or spatula to make it even and compact.
3. For the chocolate layer, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl set over a pan of very lightly simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water). Once melted, stir through the peanut butter and pour this evenly over the base. If topping with the whole peanuts, scatter these over the chocolate layer. Sprinkle over a little pinch of flaky sea salt.
4. Set in the fridge for 1 hour or until firm, then cut into 16 pieces to serve.