# Vegetables: fresh or frozen (or otherwised processed)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899 "2013-11-27T05:25:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/1 "2013-11-27T05:25:13Z")
After hanging out in the thread in MPSIMS about [things people find strange about the US](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=707850), and getting onto the topic of food, I thought to ask what vegetables you eat frozen, canned or dried, and which ones you prepare from fresh. For me, the only vegie I regularly eat frozen will be peas, because mostly they’re too expensive to buy by the kilogram. _Sometimes_ I buy frozen spinach if I’m making a quiche. Sweet corn (for soups and casseroles) I will purchase in a can, and same with chopped tomatoes. The other things I eat: beans, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach for a side dish, corn cobs, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cauliflower…etc etc, I ALWAYS prepare from fresh. In another thread, someone mentioned opening a can of beans, and tipping a can of cream of mushroom soup over the top for a Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not being a food snob, but I just couldn’t imagine anything worse. YMMV of course! 😉 Truly, not a snob: I do heat up frozen hash-browns on occasion, but I figure they’re not really a vegetable anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/2 "2013-11-27T05:45:49Z")
We mostly eat fresh. The only canned veg we get is corn. We don’t eat canned fruit at all. We buy frozen strawberries and mango chunks for smoothies because it’s easy. We do sometimes buy spinach or lettuce in those bags, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/3 "2013-11-27T05:48:42Z")
I also use frozen peas. And every once in a while, Gerber peas, which I realize is totally weird, but I like them. I have bought frozen corn a few times, but not for years. And I use jarred minced garlic. All the other vegetables I use are fresh. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/4 "2013-11-27T05:56:41Z")
I buy frozen veggies as long as they’re plain. Seem to be harder to find amongst the various cheese and butter sauces added stuff. I sometimes just have a bag of frozen veg for dinner, so like to have a variety. Also if I’m making soup or stew it’s often a mish-mosh of stuff anyway, so a variety of available frozen veggies that’s already cleaned and chopped up for me is good, since I’m a lazy cook. Corn and peas are always in the freezer, but cauliflower, green beans, broccoli, spinach are often in there, too. I have canned beans and soup, but no canned fruit or vegetables. I buy fresh or sometimes dried fruit, and once in a while I might get some frozen fruit, usually berries or peaches, but never canned. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/5 "2013-11-27T05:59:50Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > I buy fresh or sometimes dried fruit, and once in a while I might get some frozen fruit, usually berries or peaches, but never canned. Yeah, I get frozen raspberries (for making coulis) which works really well. And some brand is always on _special_ so they’re pretty economical as well. But I’ve never seen frozen peaches! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/6 "2013-11-27T06:16:12Z")
Mostly we eat frozen veggies, which are generally fresher than what is sold as fresh. I do have some canned beans, cream style corn, asparagus, and pineapple in the pantry. Oh, and mushrooms. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/7 "2013-11-27T06:17:55Z")
I sometimes make a compote as a dessert dish to pass at parties. Frozen peaches, pitted cherries and strawberries, throw them in a bowl with some sugar and Marsala. As they thaw, their juice mixes with the wine and sugar to make the syrup. Serve over sliced pound cake with whipped cream. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/8 "2013-11-27T06:32:34Z")
_Modernist Cuisine_, the six volume, 5000+ page cookbook, made the case that, unless you’re growing them yourself, many canned or frozen vegetables will be _more_ flavorful and nutritious than the ones you buy “fresh” in the store. Canned or frozen vegetables spend very little time sitting around before being canned or frozen, while the “fresh” ones usually have sat breaking down on trucks, in processing facilities and in warehouses and the store before finally winding up in your home. I do know that the canned strawberries used in CostCo’s Berry Sundae have a far more intense strawberry flavor than the miserable hard white, red-coated abominations sold in every store as “strawberries”. Unless you have a strawberry patch of your own, don’t even bother. That’s a wonderful example of the “fresh” one being far worse than the canned. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/9 "2013-11-27T06:38:22Z")
Currently in the cabinet, refrigerator/freezer… Canned: Green beans Corn Black-eyed peas Chili beans Diced tomatoes (for jambalaya and chili) Frozen: Broccoli Spinach Collard greens Fresh: Lettuce Tomato Carrots Green onion Onion ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/10 "2013-11-27T10:29:37Z")
I preserve a lot of what I grow in my garden by freezing, so by fall I usually have a variety of frozen greens (chard, bok choy, spinach, turnip, beet, kohlrabi, kale, etc.) beets, kohlrabi stems, carrots, and squash in my freezer. I dry my own parsley and dill that I grow in my garden. I keep canned vegetables and meat on hand for emergencies. I buy my broccoli frozen. I have potatoes that are fresh, canned, and frozen on hand. Cucumbers, peppers, garlic, onions, and some others I pretty much only use fresh. Lettuce is always fresh. Mushrooms I have both fresh and dried. The sea vegetables are all dried. While I generally prefer fresh I won’t turn my nose up at preserved varieties. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/11 "2013-11-27T11:29:29Z")
Frozen peas and sweetcorn. Tinned tomatoes for making sauces Dried porcini mushrooms and chillis for flavouring dishes Jarred: preserved lemons, jalapeno peppers, olives, capers, chipotle paste Everything else is fresh. I have several really good local greengrocers which are way better (and cheaper) than the supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/12 "2013-11-27T11:44:18Z")
The only vegetable I buy frozen is peas, for use in salads and casseroles. Canned peas are repulsive. I freeze local sweet corn every August, and I freeze raspberries from our bushes. I’ve never liked commercial frozen corn; it has an off flavor that I find especially offensive in something so naturally tasty. I’ll eat canned corn and baked beans, and my husband eats those as well as canned green beans and canned fruit. Everything else is either fresh (produce) or dried (legumes). I own some canned black beans but can’t bring myself to use them. ---
**Author:** ![MaltLiquor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@MaltLiquor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaltLiquor)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/13 "2013-11-27T12:42:15Z")
There are only two acceptable frozen veggies, peas and in a pinch corn. I wouldn’t even keep any others in the freezer as I would just go without. I ca n see green like a mustard, turnip and c ollard being viable after frozen but have never tried it. Beans, tomatoes. The two canned things that are good. Tomatoes are for the most part better canned. They use them as they are ripe and not hottbox or refrigerate them so they have more flavor then an out of season tomato. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/14 "2013-11-27T12:49:13Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > In another thread, someone mentioned opening a can of beans, and tipping a can of cream of mushroom soup over the top for a Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not being a food snob, **but I just couldn’t imagine anything worse.** > > YMMV of course! 😉 Imagine this, then: My Thanksgiving dinner typically consists of a bag of those vanilla-flavored animal crackers. (As for the rest of the year: I’m waaaaay to lazy to do any real cooking except perhaps very rarely. So for my veggies, I heat up frozen vegs. If I’m not badly mistaken, modern-day flash-frozen vegs are substantially as good as fresh vegs, retaining the flavor, texture, and vitamins of fresh, or nearly so. I used to eat canned vegs a lot, but eventually decided that they are generally mushy, gross, disgusting, and not particularly nutritious either. Now I use canned vegs _very_ rarely, although I occasionally use canned yams, pears, or pineapple.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/15 "2013-11-27T12:53:28Z")
Anything fresh if I can get it, but frozen peas and sweetcorn are standard. I also keep a couple of cans of sweetcorn in the cupboard, because I like the taste - it’s sweeter and more intensely ‘corny’ than frozen - and sometimes this is nice. Lately though, I’ve been buying cauliflower frozen because if it’s to be served in a cheese sauce, it’s indistinguishable from fresh, but about half the price to buy, and there’s no waste. I buy large pumpkins, peel and cut them into cubes, then freeze for use in soups. Carrots I never buy frozen - there’s no point - they have a long storage life. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/16 "2013-11-27T13:14:51Z")
We eat fresh peppers, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, corn on the cob and random other stuff. We eat a variety of frozen vegetables. If we can’t use fresh, Pepper Mill prefers frozen – peas, processed carrots, corn NOT on the cob, spinach, pearl onions, mushrooms etc. The only canned vegetables we eat are beans of various types or processed tomatoes (crushed or paste or diced). Pepper Mill loathes canned vegetables, saying that they have a distinctive taste that she doesn’t like. I grew up on canned vegetables, and it doesn’t bother me. Now that it’s been pointed out to me, I recognize the difference between canned and frozen corn, but I’ll take either kind. There’s another option – dried. Partly being of Pennsylvania Ditch ancestry, Pepper Mill’s traditional Thanksgiving fare includes dried corn (which has a taste wholly unlike fresh, frozen, or canned corn). There are various other vegetables available and stored dried. It’s somewhat different, but I have to admit a love of freeze-dried fruit, especially apples. Crunchy freeze-dried apples are a completely different experience from traditional dried apples (which are still somewhat damp and vhewy), or from fresh apples. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/17 "2013-11-27T13:45:35Z")
I only use canned tomato products. I routinely use fozen peas and corn I occasionally use frozen carrots, lima beans, broccoli, spinach leaves and squash. Mostly I use fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/18 "2013-11-27T14:59:25Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > _Modernist Cuisine_, the six volume, 5000+ page cookbook, made the case that, unless you’re growing them yourself, many canned or frozen vegetables will be _more_ flavorful and nutritious than the ones you buy “fresh” in the store. Canned or frozen vegetables spend very little time sitting around before being canned or frozen, while the “fresh” ones usually have sat breaking down on trucks, in processing facilities and in warehouses and the store before finally winding up in your home. While this is true and it also would help reduce the food waste that exists I still prefer fresh when possible in most cases. It’s mostly a texture issue. So, in the summer I buy all our vegetables from the farmers market. If it’s not in season we just don’t eat it then. One exception my husband has recently added asparagus to his acceptable vegetables list so I buy it whenever it’s in decent shape in the supermarket. In the winter we use mostly frozen vegetables supplemented by some fresh, mostly lettuce, kale, asparagus, bell peppers, cucumber, broccoli and cauliflower. I rarely use canned vegetables. The exceptions are creamed corn (Oh I love you green giant) and tomatoes. I eat as many tomato sandwiches as I can in the summer and during the winter I occasionally give in and am always disappointed but for cooking unless there is a great deal on a bushel of tomatoes I almost always use canned. Side note: For those who wanted Modernist Cuisine but choked on the multiple hundreds of dollars price tag it’s now available as an app in the apple store for $80. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/19 "2013-11-27T15:18:18Z")
Canned/Jarred: beans, artichokes, garlic Frozen: peas, corn, broccoli, spinach, green beans Fresh: broccoli, spinach, asparagus, carrots, celery, brussel sprouts, squash, bell peppers, onions, lemons I also loathe canned peas and corn. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899/20 "2013-11-27T16:35:11Z")
I regularly use: Canned: tomatoes, beans, sweetcorn Frozen: peas, sometimes spinach I have sometimes used other canned veggies for specific dishes, like bamboo shoots or water chestnut, but that’s rather rare Everything else is fresh, and in the last few months I’ve used: Bok choy (pak choi) Broccoli Cabbage Rocket Kale Lettuce Spinach Asparagus Chives Kohlrabi Lemongrass Leek Onion Beetroot Carrot Peas (mange tout) Ginger Jerusalem artichoke Potato Radish Sweet potato Bell pepper Tomato Cucumber Aubergine Pumpkin Courgette Butternut squash I’m sure I’ve missed a few off that list, but that as many as I can remember in a hurry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vegetables-fresh-or-frozen-or-otherwised-processed/674899.md?page=2)