4 freezer staples that make plant-based cooking so much easier

March 06, 2020 at 03:00AM by CWC

It’s a common misconception that in order to eat a primarily plant-based diet, everything has to be fresh. While a crisper bursting with colorful produce is certainly welcome, it’s not the only way to make plants the primary part of your meals.

A majorly helpful hack in making plant-based eating easy—especially when there’s no time to go to the store is keeping your freezer stocked with some versatile go-tos. “I think of the freezer as the new modern pantry,” says clinical nutritionist Sharon Brown, CN. “Frozen is the new pantry for modern cooks.” Brown says that she aims to make 90 percent of her diet plant-based and the other 10 percent from humanely raised proteins.

Healthy plant-based frozen foods that make cooking easier

1. frozen fruit

“I always have frozen fruit on hand to add to smoothies, grain-free hot cereals, grain-free pancakes and quick desserts,” Brown says. The cool (no pun intended) thing about frozen fruit—and veggies for that matter—is that they are flash frozen at peak ripeness, so you are still getting all the amazing nutritional benefits that you would from buying your fruit fresh from the fresh produce section of the grocery store.

2. frozen vegetables

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Brown says one of her easy, go-to dinners is bone broth with veggies. “Frozen vegetables are a must when you’re in a pinch,” she says. “Simply sautee them with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and the bone broth, which adds collagen to the meal.”

3. frozen soups

Once confined to the pantry, frozen soups are starting to pop up in the freezer aisle, too. “Frozen soups typically filled with citric acid, guar gums, and additives that shelf-staple soups have in order to make them shelf stable,” Brown says.

4. frozen pizza crust

One of Brown’s fave ways to get a good serving of veggies is pizza. Her go-to brand is Capello’s (which is grain-free), but there are also a slew of frozen cauliflower pizza crusts for a plants-on-plants dinner option.

What a registered dietitian says about vegetarian protein:

Here are some plant-based meal prep tips that help make mealtime easier, too. And this plant-based food pyramid can help you figure out what to eat.

Author Emily Laurence | Well and Good
Selected by CWC