Is Frozen Food Healthy?

There’s often a misconception that the healthier the food, the higher the price tag, but that doesn’t need to be the case. Balanced, nutritious, whole foods can be just as affordable and just as convenient as fast food or ultra-processed food if you know where to look. One of our top tips for making healthy eating more accessible is to utilise your freezer and check out the frozen aisle at the supermarket, but we’re often being asked: is frozen food healthy? Keep reading to find out.

Benefits of frozen food

So, is frozen food healthy? Well, it depends on the food. If you’re choosing frozen ultra-processed foods, like chips or ice cream, then the answer would be no. However, if you’re opting for frozen Mediterranean-style foods then the answer would be yes. In fact, studies have found that the processes involved in commercial freezing increase the nutritional value of some vegetables.¹

With that in mind, there are plenty of benefits of opting for frozen, over fresh, food in your cooking: 

1. At peak freshness: Frozen meat and vegetables from the store are frequently frozen at the height of their freshness, within hours of being picked or farmed and don’t deteriorate while in the freezer, so you know you’re getting foods that are at their peak of nutrition and flavour.

2. Time-saving and convenient: Frozen foods are often pre-prepped for you, creating a time-saving option when cooking. This also means you have healthy options on hand if you haven’t been able to get to a shop recently. We’re a big fan of batch-cooking, so if you cook a tasty recipe, freeze a couple of extra batches for a healthy home-cooked meal on a busy day.

3. Economical: Buying frozen food can be much cheaper, providing the same nutrients and often containing more servings than the fresh option. Plus, preserving food and extending shelf life reduces waste, as well as the fact that frozen food is typically 100% edible so you’re not paying for unwanted byproducts like shells, peels or bones.

Great foods to keep in the freezer

It’s now no secret that we’re fans of keeping your freezer stocked with healthy, frozen food, ready to whip out and boost the nutritional content of any meal you might be cooking. But what are our favourite healthy foods to keep stocked up on in the freezer? 

Cauliflower rice: Our Programme has a variety of recipes that use cauliflower rice as a low-carb alternative, which you can swap into your weekly meal plan, and it helpfully stores just as well in the freezer, prolonging its freshness.

Reduced meats: Make use of the freezer to prolong reduced or discounted lean meats’ shelf life, saving on money and waste.

Keep ginger in the freezer: Ginger is much easier to use and prepare from frozen, so when it’s needed for your dish, just grab out the freezer and grate.

Dairy products: You can actually keep milk and yogurt in the freezer, ready to have on hand if you run out. Coconut milk is also a great option to store in ice cube trays and popping into a curry when you don’t need a full tin. 

Spinach: Frozen spinach is ideal for adding to recipes like curry, scrambled eggs or smoothies. Incredibly, frozen spinach has four times the amount of nutrients than fresh spinach, including vitamin C, calcium and iron.

Top tips for making the most out of your freezer

Following on from our favourite frozen foods, here’s a few ways you can make the most of your freezer:

1. Store homemade soup in sealed freezer bags to help cram into spare corners, or flatten to take up less space than tupperware. 
2. Store batch-cooked dinner portions in individual tupperware. Our Programme has plenty of delicious recipes that can be prepped ahead of busy days, and make excellent healthy freezer food alternatives to ultra-processed ready meals. 
3. Save stock, pesto, coconut milk, or other sauces to easily add to meals in ice-cube trays for pre-portioned cubes.

Our favourite freezer-friendly recipes

Our Programme houses hundreds of delicious recipes, most of which can use frozen ingredients and are freezer-friendly, just as tasty reheated later on. However, if you want a little inspiration to get started for healthy frozen food recipes, here are some of our favourites: 

• Turkish Red Lentil Soup – Add any of your favourite frozen veggies to this recipe for a warming soup that you can freeze and enjoy later. Simply store in freezer bags and keep for up to two months before defrosting and reheating.

• Healthy paella recipe – This recipe uses plenty of ingredients that you can grab from your freezer, like brown rice, prawns and veggie stock. It serves four, so double the recipe to freeze extra portions for the coming weeks. Using frozen seafood is a great way to reduce the cost of this dish!

• Chocolate Avocado Mousse  – Did you know avocado can be easily frozen? If you make this recipe with a frozen avocado and frozen raspberries, you’ll end up with a deliciously ice-cream-like texture to enjoy as a healthy frozen dessert!

• Spicy Chicken Bowl with Kimchi – This is a perfect example of a recipe that can use frozen cauliflower rice. Not only that, but you can use chicken from your freezer (once defrosted) and frozen edamame beans – the frozen variety are usually deshelled too, taking preparation time out of cooking.

Is frozen food healthy? The bottom line

Often, healthy food has a reputation for being expensive. However, that’s not always the case: healthy frozen food can be an excellent way to save you some pennies. But is frozen food healthy? Yes, it absolutely can be. 

Our Programme includes hundreds of delicious recipes that can easily be made using healthy frozen food from your freezer. Cutting back on takeaways and trying healthy tinned and frozen foods have helped many members save money and earn back their upfront cost of the Programme. So, sign up to The Fast 800 Programme for your 7-day free trial to see how you can save money by making the most of your freezer today!