Though microwaving frozen vegetables will not destroy their nutrient content, it can make them soggy and less-than-appetising, so you should steam them instead
We’ve all been cooking frozen vegetables wrong – which is why they come out soggy and unappetising when you use a certain method.
Many will grab their frozen vegetables from the freezer and chuck them straight in the microwave, as most food companies advise. But despite being the recommended method, there is a far better way of cooking them – one which will ensure your carrots and broccoli remain crunchy and crispy – the way they’re supposed to be.
Instead, you should use the reliable method of cooking vegetables – steaming them. By steaming them, you will retain that crunchy bite which makes vegetables a pleasure to chomp on. Myths about nutrition are rife across the internet and on social media in particular, with many saying that fresh food is significantly better than frozen food – though this is far from the truth.
Despite being cheaper and longer-lasting, frozen fruit and vegetables are apparently no worse than their fresh counterparts. This would certainly come as a surprise to ‘fat loss expert’ @alejandrofts, who often tells his 55.5k followers that frozen food is “terrible for your body”.
London-based nutritionist Kim Pearson disagrees: “Actually, frozen fruits and vegetables can contain higher levels of nutrients,” she says. Frozen veg is frozen right after being picked and goes through much less processing than much fresh veg – meaning they keep lots of their nutrients.
Fresh produce is often sat in a supermarket for days or weeks – vitamin C content in a vegetable, for example, can decrease by half in just a couple of days. “In one study, fresh peas were found to lose 15 percent of their vitamin C after seven days when stored in the fridge, and 60 per cent when stored at room temperature. However, when frozen, they only lost 10 per cent after 12 months,” Ms Pearson added, according to MailOnline.
Though blasting the vegetables in the microwave may make them soggy and unappetising, the myth that it destroys nutrients is also false. Some say microwaves cook the nutrients out of your food, including @cleanseclub, who claims to his 258,000 followers that putting food in the microwave “kills 94 percent” of your food’s nutrients. You are “better off using a stove or an oven”, claims @cooperhealth.
The truth: all methods of cooking, whether steaming, roasting or microwaving, cause nutrient breakdown, due to heat changing their chemical structure. Dr Duane Mellor, a dietitian at Aston University in Birmingham, claims that microwaves actually preserve vitamins better than other methods of cooking as they cook food quicker.
In theory, your microwaved meals may be richer in vitamin C, potassium and magnesium than if you have been cooking your food for very long or at a very high temperature using another method. Microwaves better retain fibre – vital for gut health – in comparison to pressure cooking vegetables. .
