Frozen Fruits and Veggies don’t deserve the hate

Frozen fruits and veggies are often seen as lower quality or less healthy than fresh ones — but that’s not true!

Because they are picked when fully ripe and frozen shortly after, they contain as much – if not more – nutrients than fresh produce on our grocery shelves (1). Yep, that’s true! Fruits and veggies meant for the fresh aisle are usually harvested a little early so they can handle the trip and ripen on the way – but harvesting them early can also limit the amount of nutrients they will develop. Plus, they often start to lose moisture and nutrients soon after being picked. In some cases, frozen options can have more vitamins than fresh ones that have been sitting in the fridge for a few days (2-6). 

Freezing, on the other hand, helps preserve nutrients for months. Some vegetables are briefly boiled before freezing (a step called blanching) to kill germs, which can cause some nutrient losses. But these are minor – about the same as what happens in fresh produce over time. Most frozen fruits don’t go through blanching at all (2,6). 

Frozen produce has other perks too! It can be cheaper, especially if you stock up when it’s on sale. You can use only what you need and keep the rest for later, which helps cut down on food waste. Plus, frozen fruits and veggies give you access to more variety year-round — even when they’re out of season (1).

Overall, research shows that freezing helps preserve most of the good stuff and when nutrient losses do happen, they’re usually minor – or comparable to fresh produce (3,4,7,8). So whether you’re grabbing fresh or frozen, you’re still getting a healthy dose of nutrition.