You may not need to change your cooking habits much to accommodate your reflux. Yay! The main cooking point to keep in mind is that fried foods exacerbate acid reflux. So, here’s an easy fix: Stop frying foods, or at least do it rarely. And when you do fry, eat a very small portion.
Almost anything that can be fried can be baked, roasted, or sautéed instead. Often, the most delicious alternative to frying is sautéing.
It’s easy. Let’s say you love sliced potatoes and you’re used to deep-fat frying them. Well, no matter how tasty those fried taters may turn out, you don’t need acidic fiery memories of them at midnight when you’re trying to sleep, right? Right. So, try sautéing them instead. Here’s how:
Turn a burner onto medium heat.
Put a frying pan or sauté pan on the burner and let the pan heat up for a minute or two.
Pour a tablespoon or two of oil into the pan, depending on how many potato slices you’re cooking.
Olive oil is a particularly good choice because it’s a healthier fat than vegetable oil. Plus, olive oil is also far healthier than any fat that stays solid at room temperature, such as butter, lard, or Crisco.
Allow the oil to get hot.
This will only take a minute or two. If you want to season the oil, go for it — try a little salt and pepper and/or herbs (fresh or dried).
Swirl the pan around so the oil distributes evenly. When there’s a little smoke coming off the oil or when the pepper starts to cook, you know the oil is hot enough for the potatoes.
Put the potatoes into the pan. Cover with a lid.
Cook until the potatoes are soft and one side is golden brown, and then flip them.
Keep the lid off and cook until both sides are golden brown.