Discover how frozen vegetables can help you create nutritious, budget-friendly dinners. Learn simple tips and recipes for cooking with frozen veggies to save time and money while maintaining a healthy diet.
When it comes to eating healthy on a budget, frozen vegetables are a game-changer. It’s time to give a round of applause to the hard-working category of frozen vegetables. While you might have the idea that fresh is always best when it comes to produce, there is actually a lot to love about the frozen food aisle—using frozen vegetables to create a healthy meal can be a smart cooking strategy. Did you know that when vegetables are harvested for frozen packaging, they are picked fresh from the farm at their flavor and nutrition peak? That’s right! The vegetables are quickly harvested from the fields and flash frozen, thus locking in all of those vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. So, when you open the package of frozen peas, corn, or spinach and use it in your cooking, you’ll receive a nutrition bounty in return. Not to mention that using frozen vegetables to create a budget friendly dinner can save time (no chopping or trimming required!) and money. Another huge benefit is that you can enjoy seasonal produce grown more sustainably during the cooler months, rather than supporting imported fresh produce that hails from miles and miles away. Wondering how to use frozen vegetables to prepare quick, nutritious, and wallet-friendly dinners? I’ve got you covered with my top five tips for using frozen vegetables to create easy wholesome dinners. Whether you’re looking for meal prep ideas or last-minute dinner solutions, incorporating frozen veggies can help you save both time and money while still enjoying a nutritious meal. Let’s dive into some delicious and easy recipes and tips featuring frozen vegetables that will make your weeknight dinners stress-free and satisfying!
5 Tips on Using Frozen Vegetables to Create a Budget Friendly & Healthy Dinner
1. Go Green with Frozen Leafies!
Keep a bag of frozen greens—spinach, mustard greens, or kale—in your freezer at all times. In fact, if you see a cooked recipe call for fresh leafy greens, you can usually make an easy swap to frozen. Those pre-cleaned, trimmed greens are charged with nutrition—carotenoids, proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals, and they’re excellent thrown into a soup or stew, pasta dishes, quiche, stir-fries, or veggie scrambles. Better yet, throw a handful into a nutritious breakfast smoothie for a boost of green veggie power.
2. Get Corny in Your Cooking
A bag of sweet, frozen corn is one of the most versatile items in your freezer. Frozen corn is the perfect basis of a nourishing chowder or tamale pie, plus it can add color, nutrition appeal (lutein, fiber), and vibrancy to a taco salad, bean burrito, cornbread, or succotash. When you see corn on a recipe ingredient list, turn to frozen corn, which can save a lot of time from shucking fresh corn, which is typically only available in the summer months. Plus you can even find frozen fire-roasted corn, which adds a festive color and flavor.
3. Mix it Up
A bag of your favorite vegetable blend, be it Asian-inspired, Mediterranean, or simply peas and carrots, can be the start of a beautiful meal. Toss it in a pan with a healthful protein source, soy sauce, and ginger and create a stir-fry to accompany brown rice. Sauté frozen vegetables with garlic and olive oil and toss them into whole wheat pasta. Stir a vegetable blend into a creamy sauce and top with mashed potatoes or biscuits for a Veggie Pot Pie.
4. Oh, Sweet Pea!
Let’s give it up for frozen peas! These tiny green orbs, high in protein and fiber, are the start of a lovely meal. Stir peas and boiled new potatoes into a creamy sauce as a side dish (featured in my book The Plant-Powered Diet). Fold peas into a curry dish to serve with whole grains. Mix them into mac & cheese to add a serving of veggies. Or toss them into a salad bowl or nutrient-rich risotto as a one-dish meal.
5. Plant-Power it with Edamame
One of my favorite plant-based frozen protein sources is edamame—green, immature soybeans. These nutritious, tasty legumes can add star nutrition power—protein, fiber, phytochemicals, minerals, vitamins—to your meals in so many ways. Stir them into an entrée salad, stir-fry them with vegetables and a whole grain as a one-dish meal, and cook them in a hearty stew.
10 Healthy Frozen Vegetable Recipes
Check out some of my favorite recipes featuring frozen vegetables:
Vermicelli with Vegetables and Indian Spices
Curried Lentil Quinoa Soup
Vegan Mac and Cheese with Peas
Southwest Black Bean Quinoa Mango Salad
Avocado Corn Salsa
Edamame Grain Vegan Burgers
Lentil Risotto with Peas
Tofu Kale Power Bowl with Tahini Dressing
Vegan Tamale Pie
Quinoa Corn Chowder with Beans
