Timesaver: Keep Frozen Fruits and Vegetables On Hand
Yes – they are just as good as fresh!
We love fruits and vegetables in our house and buy a lot of them – both fresh and frozen. I see lots of questions online from people asking if frozen fruits and vegetables are as good or as healthy as fresh and the answer is yes! Sometimes they’re even better than fresh because they’re frozen shortly after they’ve been harvested and don’t have to make a long trek to get to your grocery store
The benefits of frozen fruits and vegetables
Below are some of the benefits of keeping frozen fruits and vegetables on hand.
No Chopping
I’ll say it again – NO CHOPPING!!! For me this is a huge benefit. If you’ve read other timesaver posts on here you’ll know that I do everything I can to avoid cutting up anything. I really love and appreciate that frozen fruits and vegetables come already chopped. For the veggies, all I have to do is oil them and throw them into whatever appliance I’m using to cook them. For the fruits, I just add them frozen to yogurt, cottage cheese or a smoothie, or put some in a container in the fridge to thaw overnight. I also love that there are so many different combinations available.
Little to No Waste
I don’t know about you, but even with the best planning I sometimes end up with fresh fruits and vegetables that I have to throw out because our plans changed that week and we didn’t use them before they went bad. I really hate that! I’m better about it than I used to be, especially working at home full-time now where I can throw the veggies in the air fryer at lunchtime, but it still happens. It’s not only a waste of food, it’s a waste of money. That’s one thing I love about frozen fruits and vegetables – you’re not under such a time crunch to use them before they go bad. You do, however, need to keep track of what you have in your freezer and use them before they get freezer burned.
Convenience
Along with reducing waste from spoiled fresh fruits and vegetables, one huge benefit of frozen is that you always have some on hand for a quick and easy ingredient or side dish. This allows you much more flexibility when you’re trying to get a meal on the table. You don’t have to worry about whether you planned for enough or the right fresh fruits and veggies during your weekly grocery shopping. For example, when I have stir fry vegetables, rice, garlic, ginger, and ground turkey in the freezer, I can always whip up a quick stir fry dinner with very little effort.
More Economical
It is often less expensive to buy frozen fruits or vegetables vs fresh. For example, a fresh stir-fry blend of chopped vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store is going to be more expensive than a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies. This is especially true if you buy your frozen veggies in bulk at a warehouse store.
Favorite Frozen Fruits and Vegetables
These are some of our favorite frozen fruits and vegetables from major retailers. I keep most of these in stock all the time, depending on where I’m shopping when we run out.
Costco: Organic Broccoli Florets, Stir Fry Vegetable Blend, Organic Green Beans, Three Berry Blend, Organic Blueberries
Trader Joe’s: Shelled Edamame, French Green Beans, Fire Roasted Bell Peppers and Onions and Melange A Trois, Green Vegetable Foursome (I haven’t found this at my local TJ’s for quite a while but I keep hoping they bring it back), Pitted Dark Sweet Cherries, Organic Blueberries
Whole Foods: Organic Mediterranean Blend, Stir-Fry Blend, and California Style Blend,
Time Saved
Time saved really depends on which fruits or vegetables you’re using and how much. Just know you’ll definitely save time from not having to cut up anything, or from not having to make a special trip to the grocery store for fresh.
Do you have a favorite frozen fruit or vegetable brand? Let me know in the comments! I always like to try new things.