Canned or frozen produce can be more convenient—but are you giving up nutrition for convenience or is that a myth? Find out what the science says.
Canned or frozen produce are more convenient—but are you giving up nutrition for convenience or is that a myth? Find out what the science says.
Nothing beats fresh produce . Still, in the kitchen, using canned or frozen fruits and vegetables can be a lot more convenient—but is it worth it? Are you giving up nutrition or taste for convenience?
Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables have an undeserved "bad" reputation. You'll want to check the labels to make sure there isn't any (or a lot of) added sugar and salt. Frozen produce is picked and frozen at peak season, so they're actually surprisingly fresh and always in season.
Canned vegetables are budget-friendly and keep for a long time so you'll likely cut down on food waste and save money if you choose them (here are our favorite canned veggies). Sometimes, fresh beats them out in terms of taste and quality, but not always. Frozen fruit is unbeatable in smoothies and soups are a forgiving base for vegetables of all kinds.
Although a fresh fruit or vegetable would never be considered unhealthy, surprisingly there are a few circumstances where frozen and even canned could offer you more health benefits than fresh.
frozen vegetables including peas, corn and spinach stacked on a blue background
Credit: Ted + Chelsea Cavanaugh
Here's a closer look at a few examples of fresh foods vs. their canned or frozen counterparts and when to choose each type.
If you've ever eaten a tomato in February, then you are well aware of the challenges that a fresh tomato faces. It's a seasonal food. But even in season, canned tomatoes offer something that fresh can't. Tomatoes are preserved using heat, which releases lycopene-a carotenoid that may help prevent prostate and breast cancer. And canned tomatoes are super-easy: they're already peeled, chopped and ready to cook with!
Choose organic canned tomatoes when possible, and consider the packaging. Canned tomatoes are now available in glass jars or aseptic boxes in addition to "BPA-free" cans. Why worry about BPA? It's a compound used in can linings, particularly for acidic foods like tomatoes; studies have linked high BPA exposure levels to infertility, heart disease and diabetes. Though the FDA says there's insufficient evidence that BPA from cans causes any ill effects, research is ongoing. Most U.S. can manufacturers have voluntarily phased out BPA, but there's concern that similar substitute materials may carry risks as well. At this point, there's not enough known research to make a conclusion about the safety of these substitutes.
Winner: Canned tomatoes!
Try these Easy Recipes for Canned Tomatoes.
Unless you have a garden or are shopping the farmers' market, frozen peas are the way to go. Why? Peas' sugars turn into starch as soon as they are picked. After 24 hours, those sweet little green gems can be grainy and dull-tasting.
Frozen peas, on the other hand, are picked and frozen at the peak of ripeness, halting the process of sugars turning to starch, so it's a better bet that frozen peas will have the sweet taste you're looking for. Plus, you don't have to do any shucking! Look for frozen peas with no added sauces, salt or sugar and dress them up on your own at home.
Winner: Frozen peas!
Do you squeeze the juice from a fresh lemon when you need it or do you just reach into your fridge and use the bottled stuff? If it's the latter, then you might want to reconsider putting in the effort to use fresh lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice may have additives-like citric acid, sugar and water. And if you've ever tasted bottled lemon juice, you'll notice that the flavor is a little off-not bright and lemony like the real stuff.
Stick with squeezing fresh lemons. To have lemon juice on hand without always buying fresh lemons, squeeze a bunch of lemons and freeze the juice in ice cube trays to use as needed.
Winner: Fresh lemon juice!
Yes, it's true that frozen vegetables may be even better than fresh vegetables, nutritionally speaking (depending on their season and how long the fresh stuff has been on the shelf). But there are circumstances where frozen vegetables can't beat fresh vegetables. Take broccoli, for example. Frozen broccoli can be watery and often mushy when it's cooked.
Add it to anything in its frozen state and you'll end up with a watery mess. It is convenient that it comes in prechopped florets, but you're better sticking with fresh. If it's convenience you're after, look for bags of fresh florets instead of crowns to cut down on prep time.
Winner: Fresh broccoli!
OK, it's not a vegetable, but people are often skeptical of canned seafood. Tuna isn't the only fish that comes in a can! Salmon does, too, but should you use it over fresh? The answer is, it depends. The pros of canned salmon are that it's inexpensive ($2.50 for a can compared to $13 a pound for fresh), it has a long shelf life and it's cooked and ready to use.
The cons are that it's higher in sodium than fresh and some cans come with skin and bones (some people find that off-putting). And you can't substitute a can of salmon for a pretty fillet in a recipe. Stick with canned salmon if you want a quick sandwich filling or use it to top a salad. If it's a fillet you're after, stick with fresh.
Winner: It's a tie!
There's a reason Popeye reached for a can of spinach rather than a fresh bunch. He knew that he could get more bang for his buck. You can squeeze a lot of spinach into a can or a box, delivering more spinach in less volume. (You would have to eat a mountain of fresh to get what you can in a 10-ounce box of frozen.) We prefer frozen spinach over canned-it's got better flavor and is lower in sodium-but the same principle applies.
One cup of frozen spinach has more than four times the amount of nutrients, such as fiber, folate, iron and calcium, than a cup of fresh spinach, so if you want to power up, do it with frozen spinach.
Winner: Frozen spinach!