Frozen vegetables are the best thing since sliced bread

[pandarific]

I was going to say 'the dog's bollocks' but then I felt that would be unappetising.

Seriously though, I LOVE them. I have a 5 mo and previous pattern of buying fresh vegetables just keep meaning we'd drag ourselves to the fridge, open it, stare bleakly in and then order a takeaway, and a week later throw away the soggy puddles of courgettes etc.

I've made chicken fajitas with sliced frozen peppers and onions, chilli and this evening made a very successful shepherds pie utilising a casserole mix. Tell me your frozen veg recipe discoveries? I need to continue converting she.

Another recent convert to frozen mash; brilliant if you just want a single portion. And it's smoother and creamier than I can make anyway.

Frozen veg vvvvv popular here too!! Peas and sweetcorn get added to loads of meals or eaten as snacks, and frozen mushy peas were a revelation to me, only half the family eats them so we always waste some out of a tin!

Frozen veg are fine for putting into something (e.g. shepherds pie), but half your plate should be vegetables. I would struggle to do that only using frozen veg, and for it to still taste good.

Surplus sliced frozen mushrooms for topping pizza.
Kale is always in my freezer.

I grate my own cauliflower for cauliflower rice and freeze it. Tastes fine once microwaved.

I mainly buy fresh veg and freeze it if I haven't got around to using it.

Frozen avocado mashed up is lovely.

Morrisons substituted me some fresh courgettes for some frozen - that was awful, just too watery.

Frozen asparagus spears have been a hit though.

I love frozen peas, sweet corn and onion - all gets used as a base for baked vegetables with garlic,cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and a good olive or rapeseed oil with added fresh spinach leaves, sweet peppers, courgettes, cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Add protein (chicken or king prawns are my favourite) also straight from the freezer. I like frozen black cherries, strawberries and blueberries also either cooked from frozen with my porridge (so I get the first couple of my daily fruit portions at breakfast) with cinnamon and full fat plain yoghurt- and maybe some nuts & seeds if I'm particularly hungry.

Fruit microwaved from frozen with a little cinnamon plus plain yoghurt and toasted flaked almonds are a healthy and quick snack or dessert.

Right - I'm off for breakfast! 😊

I use peas, spinach and sweet corn regurlarly.

I keep frozen courgettes and chargrilled aubergine to make a basic ratatouille because it’s cheap and healthy but buying fresh courgette and aubergines in the winter feels a bit wrong.

I tried frozen peppers but they’re not very nice. Ditto carrots.

As a rule, frozen veg is nice in things, but nit nice enough for a side.

Also, you can freeze canned beans in their water.
That was a revelation to me - I was wasting black beans because a whole can is way more than I needed! Now I freeze them I’m portions and feel virtuous.

I'm not that keen on frozen side veg types tbh, although I always have an emergency bag in the freezer, but I love frozen onion/garlic/peppers/stirfry veg/Med. roast veg, etc. And I'll freeze any leftover homemade mash too. Makes life so much easier!

Love frozen veg here, have a drawer in the freezer full of various mix bags plus peas and spinach. Spinach gets chucked into any stews/casseroles for some extra greeness, and is also great for making spinach pancakes. And I steam a bag of mixed veg every dinner.
I only use fresh veg if I'm going to roast it. I do use fresh onion and garlic but I use them a lot so they don't have a chance to go old in the fridge.

I think I might have to give frozen mash a go.

I don't think the frozen sliced mushrooms have been given enough attention. Amazing stir fried with frozen peppers, onion and spinach in garlic oil, then added to tortellini or gnocchi and pasta sauce. All of 10 minutes to make.

Any other quick and easy recipes?

It is the Dogs Bollocks! We put it into everything. We are somewhat limited (living in SE Asia) but our freezer is full of a mixed veg of carrots, corn, green beans, and something else. Because of the frozen veg we have about 3 meat free days and 2 carb free days a week, I love it.

@ThursdayLastWeek
Also, you can freeze canned beans in their water.
That was a revelation to me - I was wasting black beans because a whole can is way more than I needed! Now I freeze them I’m portions and feel virtuous.
Oh my word - how have I not thought of that? I've been avoiding the large (cheaper!) tins of veg as I tend to lose interest after the first portion and bought the smaller more expensive tins instead! No more! I've plenty of ziplock freezer bags so can save myself money. 😄

Frozen chopped onions are so handy! We also usually have frozen broccoli and cauliflower, sometimes cabbage.

I love the steamer bags of mixed veg that you just bung in the microwave for a few minutes. Such an easy way to add a variety of veg to a meal with no waste.

I'm not mad on frozen carrots though. They come out kind of hard and watery.

How do people steam their veg? On a steamer (like the bamboo things with a lid) over a saucepan of boiling water?

Place marking...I'm inspired!

frozen fruit/berries/ cannot be beaten.
frozen mixed peppers are vital
frozen spinach brill

dh bought tinned peas, how horrible

Dudes, you are overcooking your veg if your broccoli is mushy - mine is always perfect! (Couple of minutes in a microwave in a bowl with a dash of water and the lid on). Peas and sweetcorn so much better than tinned. Frozen spinach is amazing - I add it to loads of my toddler's food and he doesn't notice.

Need to get on this frozen mash bandwagon...

Some are, some aren’t.
Sweetcorn, peas, spinach, baby broad beans, cauliflower for cauli cheese all yes.
Broccoli, carrots, sprouts - no.

I have a drawer full of frozen veg and cauliflower rice. Aldi also do frozen veg risottos in bags which are fab for a quick meal I add more frozen veg to them. My partner doesn't eat much veg so it's perfect for me and saves money on wasting it. I didn't like frozen berries though the texture was weird evened in porridge or yoghurt.

Fresh sprouts - adore them lightly cooked, add vacuum packed chestnuts and a light dressing while warm. Frozen sprouts - 🤢. Why do frozen carrots taste like wet cardboard but fresh ones so sweet and delicious?

I'm a real frozen veg advocate but I don't actually care for the peppers. But peas, broccoli, green beans, cauli... so convenient, tastes good too. And frozen spinach, brilliant to throw into soups.

@pandarific

YANBU. I agree!

I haven't had fresh veg since the 1990s! Frozen veg all the way. (Except we do like fresh, baked potatoes!)

DD, who is vegan, in her mid 20's, a millennial, (and has a job where she works from home half the week,) always has fresh veg, and peels and cooks everything from scratch, and she turns her nose up at me, and claims 'you can't beat fresh!'

But I say 'wait til you have kids, and a job too, and you have been looking after a family and home, and cooking every night for 25 years, after a hard day at work, see if you still think peeling and cooking veg, and cooking from scratch is so much fun then!

But yeah, frozen veg saves so much time and effort. I don't know why anyone would choose to peel and chop etc, when there is an easier alternative that tastes just as good.

Shame there aren't the same options for salad and fruit, because we throw quite a bit of that away. Probably at least a quarter of what we buy, because it goes off before we can eat it all!

(I guess it's possible to get some frozen fruit, but it's not possible to freeze all of it, like bananas and apples and grapes and pears etc...)