How to cook frozen vegetables. Convenient and healthy - frozen vitamins from the Rud company

20.04.2024

Secrets of cooking frozen vegetables. The simplest and most delicious recipes for preparing frozen vegetables with other products.

In winter, when fresh vegetables can only be found in supermarkets, and then at crazy prices, you have the opportunity to take advantage of a cheaper, but no less healthy option - buying frozen vegetables. As a rule, such vegetable mixes include the most popular and tasty crops.

But how to properly handle frozen vegetables? What can be prepared from them that is so unusual and appetizing? Let's try to figure it all out and study delicious and simple culinary recipes with frozen vegetables.

How to properly cook frozen vegetables? How long does it take to cook frozen vegetables?

Before cooking frozen vegetables, it is worth finding out how the freezing process works.
Just before freezing, vegetables are blanched (doused with boiling water) and immediately dipped in cold water to avoid being completely cooked.
Therefore, when creating culinary masterpieces, this must be taken into account, because such products require less time to prepare than fresh ones.
Each package of frozen vegetables contains instructions for their preparation. It is advisable to adhere to it, otherwise there is a risk of ruining the dish

And here is the process of cooking vegetables:

Take a suitable pan and pour water into it. The proportions of water and vegetables are one to five. Some crops (corn, peas and beans) will require twice as much water.
At the boiling stage, salt the water to taste
Place frozen vegetables in boiling water
If the vegetables are stuck together and are held together in already boiling water in one solid lump, carefully separate them with a spatula or spoon. The fact is that when cooking, the vegetables inside the lump will still be damp, but the outside ones will be ready
Since the water stopped boiling after adding the vegetables, we wait until it boils, add your favorite spices and seasonings to the pan, and cover it with a lid. At the same time, turn the fire down to the lowest setting. Cover with a lid to prevent the water from evaporating quickly. In addition, in this way the vegetables will be steamed, as it were, which is very useful
When the vegetables are cooked, turn off the gas and drain the water from them. If you don't drain the water, you can overcook the vegetables.

As mentioned above, each package of frozen vegetables indicates their cooking time. If such information is missing or the pack is not at hand, then here is the approximate cooking time for vegetables:

All cabbage (cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, broccoli), zucchini and carrots should be cooked for no more than seven minutes
Cooking time for beans and corn is no more than five minutes
All greens and leafy vegetables are cooked for no more than two minutes.

How to deliciously cook frozen vegetables in a frying pan?

The simplest and least troublesome way to prepare frozen vegetables is to fry them in a frying pan. To do this, place a clean frying pan over high heat and place vegetables on it.
It is better not to turn down the gas for a few minutes - this will allow excess moisture to come out of the vegetables faster. When the water has evaporated, it is advisable to turn down the gas and add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil
Then cover the pan with a lid and let the vegetables simmer until fully cooked.
In this way, fried frozen vegetables will perfectly serve as a self-contained dish or can serve as a gravy for any side dish.

Cooking frozen vegetables in a slow cooker is also considered quite simple. In this case, it is best to follow both instructions - for the multicooker and for vegetables.

Each housewife has her own recipes and methods for preparing frozen vegetables. However, they all agree that it is better not to defrost vegetables before using them.

Here is an approximate algorithm for cooking vegetables in a slow cooker:

We pour vegetables into a specially constructed mesh
Pour water to the level indicated in the multicooker
Salt and pepper the vegetables, add your favorite seasonings and spices
Turn on the multicooker to the “steam cooking” mode
Set the timer for half an hour

It should be noted that cooking vegetables in a double boiler and multicooker allows you to preserve as much as possible all the beneficial substances and vitamins in them.

How to cook frozen vegetables in the oven?

When baking frozen vegetables in the oven, it is recommended to first fry them in a frying pan or saucepan. Then all excess moisture will be evaporated, and the dish in the form will not spread
In order to remove excess water from frozen vegetables, they can also be thawed first.
After excess moisture has been removed, you need to place the vegetables on a baking sheet or in a special baking dish, greased with sunflower or olive oil. It is better to salt and sprinkle vegetables with seasonings at the end of cooking, since salt can provoke additional production of juices and their premature evaporation. As a result, the dish may turn out a little dry.
It is better to bake vegetables in the oven at a temperature of 180-190 degrees for no more than half an hour. About ten minutes before the pan is fully cooked, you need to take out the baking sheet, salt and pepper the vegetables and add the necessary seasonings. It will be very tasty if you grate hard or processed cheese on top of the dish. The combination of vegetables and cheese is a classic of the genre.
Then the pan must be returned to the oven for the remaining ten minutes. After this time, the vegetables can be served. Dishes with baked vegetables are good both hot and cold

How to make puree soup from frozen vegetables?

In principle, almost all pureed soups from frozen vegetables are prepared according to the same scheme. Only the additional ingredients change.

Main stages of work:

Boil the vegetables in salted water until tender (according to the instructions above). When salting water, it is worth considering the salt concentration in other products that will be added to the dish
When the vegetables are ready, do not drain the water from them. Pour the remaining ingredients of the soup directly into the vegetable broth (hard cheese, processed cheese, fried or boiled mushrooms, meat)
Pour all the ingredients together with the broth into the blender bowl and blend them

The resulting puree soup can be decorated with herbs, croutons or sour cream can be added to it.

This kind of soup has become very popular today. They are dietary and very light. Mothers of children are especially happy about the invention of such soups. The latter, with great pleasure, gobble up their unloved foods in a broken form, and are not even aware of their presence in the dish.

Frozen vegetable stew, recipes

There are quite a lot of different recipes for making stews from frozen vegetables. Here are a few of the simplest and most delicious ones.

Simple frozen vegetable stew

Ingredients:

Frozen assorted vegetables (carrots, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, green peas and leeks) - 400 g
Frozen broccoli - 400 g
Onions - 2 pcs.
Vegetable oil (sunflower or olive) - 4 tbsp.
Water – 50 ml
Black pepper

Cooking steps:

Take a pan with a thick bottom
Pour oil into it
Finely chop the onion and add it to the oil
When the onion is fried, add vegetables to it.
Mix the vegetable mixture and pour all the water into it.
Pepper and salt the stew and leave to simmer for twenty minutes

Potato stew with frozen vegetables

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 6 pcs.
Frozen vegetables - packaging
Onions - 2 pcs.
Garlic - three cloves
Greens - dill, parsley
Bay leaf
Seasonings and herbs to taste
Vegetable oil

Cooking steps:

Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces the size of vegetable pieces
Lightly fry the potatoes in a frying pan in vegetable oil
Finely chop the onion and fry in another pan
Place the vegetables in a third frying pan, let the liquid evaporate, add oil and lightly fry
Add the onions and potatoes to the vegetables, add all the other ingredients and simmer over low heat until tender.

Omelette with frozen vegetables, recipes

Omelette with frozen vegetables in a frying pan

Ingredients:

Chicken eggs - 4 pcs
Frozen vegetables - 200 g
Vegetable oil

Cooking steps:

Place frozen vegetables in a frying pan
When all the water has evaporated, add vegetable oil and fry the vegetables
At this time, beat the eggs
Pour beaten eggs over roasted vegetables
Salt and pepper the dish to taste. You can add herbs or seasonings
Cover the omelette with a lid and let it cook for up to seven minutes.

Omelette with frozen vegetables in the oven

Ingredients:

Frozen vegetables - 500 g
Olive oil - 1 tbsp.
Chicken eggs - 6 pcs
Milk – 125 ml

Cooking steps:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Take a square baking dish with a side of 20 cm
Grease it
Cover the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper, so that the paper still hangs a little over the sides.
Pour oil into a frying pan and put vegetables in it
Let the vegetables roast for three minutes
Place the roasted vegetables in the pan
Beat eggs and milk thoroughly
Salt and pepper the egg-milk mixture and pour it over the vegetables.
Place the pan in the oven for half an hour

How to cook frozen vegetables in sour cream?

There are countless recipes for cooking frozen vegetables in sour cream. They are prepared both in a frying pan and in the oven and slow cooker. You can add a bunch of different ingredients to such a dish - meat, fish, seafood, etc. In this case, vegetables can be stewed in sour cream, or you can add it at the last stage.

Here is the simplest and most inexpensive recipe for vegetables in sour cream.

Ingredients:

Frozen vegetables - 1 kg
Sour cream - 2 tbsp.
Soy sauce - 3 tbsp.
Pepper
Seasonings

Cooking steps:

Pour frozen vegetables into a hot frying pan
We are waiting for the water they released to boil.
Add seasonings to boiling water and reduce gas to medium
Cover the vegetable mixture with a lid and simmer for about fifteen minutes.
After ten minutes, add half a glass of water to it
After fifteen minutes, turn off the gas
Add sour cream, soy sauce to the prepared vegetables and mix everything
Taste the resulting mixture and, if necessary, add salt and pepper.

Recipe for delicious buckwheat with frozen vegetables

Buckwheat with vegetables can be cooked in a slow cooker or in a frying pan. Here are two fairly simple but very tasty recipes for its preparation:

Buckwheat with vegetables in a frying pan

Ingredients:

Buckwheat - 1.5 tbsp.
Water - 3 tbsp.
Frozen vegetables - 400 g
Vegetable oil

Cooking steps:

We carefully sort out the buckwheat and wash it
Pour water into the pan, add the cereal and add a little salt
We cook some pretty cool porridge
Pour vegetable oil into a hot frying pan
Pour vegetables into oil and add a little salt
Fry vegetables over medium heat for about ten minutes
At the end of this time, add buckwheat porridge to the vegetables.
Fry the resulting dish over low heat for five minutes.

Buckwheat with vegetables in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

Buckwheat – 2 multi-cups
Water – 3 multi-glasses
Frozen vegetables - 300 g
Olive oil - 2 tbsp.
Soy sauce
Greenery

Cooking steps:

Sort and wash the buckwheat
Place unfrozen vegetables into the slow cooker
Cook them in the “baking” mode for about ten minutes
Add water and buckwheat to vegetables
Set the “buckwheat” mode and wait for the signal that the dish is ready

While the buckwheat and vegetables are cooking, you can make a sauce for it. To do this, you need to mix olive oil, soy sauce and chopped herbs (parsley or cilantro). The sauce will need to be poured into the buckwheat and only then, if necessary, add salt to the dish.

How to cook meat with frozen vegetables?

Meat with frozen vegetables in a frying pan

Ingredients:

Pork – 0.5 kg
Frozen vegetables - packaging
Vegetable oil
Pepper
Seasonings

Stages of work:

Pour some water into a deep frying pan and let it boil
Wash the meat, dry it and cut it into small pieces
Place the meat in a frying pan, salt, pepper and sprinkle with your favorite seasonings
Simmer it over medium heat for about twenty minutes
After the water has boiled away, add vegetable oil.
Fry the meat in oil for a couple of minutes
Add frozen vegetables to meat
When the vegetables have released all the water, add more salt and seasonings.
Gradually stirring the meat with vegetables, bring it to readiness

Meat with vegetables in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

Beef – 500 g
Frozen vegetables - packaging
Water – 1 multi-glass
Salt, pepper, seasonings to taste

Cooking steps:

Wash the beef, dry it and cut it into small pieces
Place the meat in a slow cooker and cook on the “baking” mode for half an hour
Add frozen vegetables, salt, pepper and sprinkle with seasonings
Pour in water
In the same mode, cook the assortment for another forty minutes.

When cooking frozen vegetables, it is worth considering the fact that they cook twice as fast. This is due to their preliminary heat treatment before freezing. Therefore, in a common dish with fresh vegetables, frozen vegetables should be added at the final stage.

No matter how many housewives would like to wash frozen vegetables, there is no need to do this. There is simply no need for this. Firstly, during the washing process, some vegetables may fall out of the colander, and secondly, in addition to frozen water, the vegetables will be additionally weighed down by running water.

Using frozen vegetables, you can enrich any dish with vitamins and nutrients. Besides, there is no hassle with them. They are prepared quite easily and quickly.

Video: Cooking frozen vegetables

Ready-made vegetable mixtures, which today are sold not only in reputable supermarkets, but also in ordinary grocery stores, can make the life of any housewife much easier. They help save time spent on cooking.

In this article we will look at several of the most popular mixes, talk about preparing side dishes, soups, salads and many other dishes that use frozen vegetables. And a few suggested ideas, easy to implement at home, will help you add recipes to your home cookbook.

Lecho

This dish was given to the world by sunny Bulgaria. It mixed colors and ripe autumn aromas. Today there are many recipes for preparing lecho, but using frozen preparations is the simplest and most reliable. Moreover, thanks to ready-made mixtures, even residents of northern latitudes can enjoy this dish.

In any Lecho mix, two ingredients dominate - bell peppers and tomatoes. Optionally, it may contain onions, garlic, carrots, and sometimes zucchini.

Preparing the vegetable mixture will take very little time. Just heat the fat in a wok or cauldron, remove and simmer under the lid for about 20 minutes, remembering to stir occasionally.

Hawaiian blend

Today, Hawaiian is a very popular side dish in many countries. But this dish appeared for reasons of banal economy: poor people simply mixed and stewed what was given to them by the fertile land and the generous southern sun. In the pack you will find not only half-cooked rice, but also corn kernels, peas and paprika.

Rice with mixed vegetables can be cooked in a regular saucepan or frying pan. Add a small amount of water and place the dish over medium heat. In just a quarter of an hour you will feel the magical aroma.

Without additives, this dish is perfect for a Lenten menu. And if you stew meat together with vegetables and rice, you will get a wonderful treat for the holiday table (it’s not always possible to serve puree).

Hawaiian-style vegetables and shrimp, fried or boiled, are good.

Mexican vegetables

I wonder why this mix got such a name? After all, there is nothing Mexican in it, no excessive spiciness so beloved by the inhabitants of this country, no special Latin American ingredients like cacti...

Perhaps the only Mexican thing in this mixture is the red beans. The composition of mixes from different manufacturers may vary slightly, but this product is a must. In addition to this, you will find green beans, peppers, corn, eggplants, green peas and onions in the pack, and sometimes also carrots and celery.

Vegetable is suitable not only for preparing healthy and tasty side dishes, chimichangas and burritos, but also for salads. Add chopped chicken eggs, white bread croutons and boiled fillet. Season with mayonnaise or a mixture of mustard and lemon juice.

Mixture "Village"

The origin of the name of this mix is also most likely commercial rather than historical. It is used by different manufacturers, but any combination can be hidden under the packaging. Surely every technologist has his own ideas about the village. However, one component remains constant - potatoes.

In a pack it may contain carrots and onions, green beans, corn, peas, peppers, zucchini, squash, and eggplant. The composition is necessarily indicated on the pack, so you can choose the most suitable combination.

Be careful, as in some Western cuisines it is not customary to peel potatoes before cooking. If this confuses you, perhaps Country Blend isn't your thing?

Many people are also scared by the fact that the potatoes were frozen. However, this mix has many fans, whose reviews unanimously confirm that the mixture is an excellent option for a quick and interesting side dish with a rich taste.

Like other frozen vegetable mixtures, this one can simply be simmered in a frying pan. To make the taste even more rustic, add fresh herbs and young garlic before serving. The mixture is also suitable for preparing rich puree soups.

Spring vegetables

“Spring” is an even more flexible concept than “village”. All the mixes on the market are united only by the predominance of green color.

In the pack you will find broccoli and cauliflower, green beans and green peas, green peppers and kohlrabi, celery root, parsnips, young onions and herbs. This mixture is better suited not for preparing an independent dish, but for adding to stews, vegetable casseroles, pizza, lasagna. You can simmer until done and puree a small amount of the mixture in a blender to get a flavorful sauce. The spring mix is also suitable for preparing hot salads.

Stew

There are many stew recipes, so it is not surprising that the composition of the mixtures varies. As a rule, the package contains onions, carrots and zucchini. Some manufacturers add aromatic roots and beans.

Ready-made vegetable mixtures will help you quickly prepare a rich meal. Boil the potatoes until half cooked, fry the beef cut into cubes over high heat. Mix in a saucepan, add frozen mixture and simmer until done.

Ratatouille

A dish with an unusual name, which is now served in French restaurants all over the world, was once also invented by peasants. They stewed zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and onions in one bowl. Later, eggplants were added to the list of ingredients. Ratatouille vegetable mixtures from different manufacturers are similar in composition, only the proportions can vary.

Based on the mix, you can easily prepare a side dish for meat or fish. Ratatouille is also served as a separate dish. And if you add a little broth during stewing, you will get a thick, aromatic soup.

Güvech

The history of this dish also began in Bulgaria. In our historical homeland, the word “gyuvech” refers not only to the food itself, but also to the container in which it is prepared - a clay pot with a lid. And it is advisable to cook it in such pots, in the oven.

Divide the mixture into containers and fill halfway with vegetable or meat broth. Cover with lids and bake for about 30 minutes.

The main taste of the dish is given by okra, which is reminiscent of both eggplant and white asparagus. In addition to this, you will find peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and onions in the bag.

But the mixture from the bag is not all that is needed for the original recipe. While the vegetables are stewing, scramble a couple of eggs in a bowl and add approximately the same amount (by volume) of milk. 5 minutes before readiness, add to the pots.

Vegetables in Chinese

This mixture attracts lovers of the magical cuisine of Asia. In the pack you will find mung bean sprouts and young bamboo shoots, black mushroom, small corn cobs, peppers, carrots and white cabbage. Optionally, roots (celery), leeks, and green beans can be added.

Chinese vegetable mixtures are an excellent base for oriental dishes. Fry the mixture in oil (sesame oil is best), add a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce instead of salt, and sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving. Along with vegetables, you can fry seafood, pieces of chicken, pork or duck. If you like it spicy, add chili pepper to the dish. And to emphasize its Chinese origin, pour a teaspoon of honey into the pan when frying. The combination of spicy, salty and sweet is one of the main features of the national cuisine of the Celestial Empire.

Paprikash

How do you usually prepare goulash? You probably also use carrots, onions and tomatoes (paste) along with the meat. And in some national cuisines of Eastern Europe, beef, poultry and pork are stewed with bell pepper. The combination is simply excellent! Paprikash is a vegetable mixture created specifically for such dishes.

The recipes for this dish are simple. Fry pieces of meat, add brightly colored frozen vegetables, and simmer.

The mixture also includes beans, zucchini, tomatoes, but the bulk is sweet peppers.

Roasting for borscht and soups

Some frozen vegetable mixes are versatile. They are suitable for any dish, be it a roast, soup, meat gravy. An example of such a mix is a mixture of onions, carrots and herbs. Just add it to the dish halfway through cooking.

The mixture for red borscht is prepared using the same principle. It contains beets, carrots, onions, peppers and tomatoes. Borscht cooked this way will smell fragrant with the ripe aromas of September at any time of the year.

You can also make a mix for green borscht. For it you will need sorrel, spinach, dill, parsley. You can add a little leek. Young nettle and May nettle are used less frequently, but thanks to them the borscht turns out even more aromatic and healthier.

How to freeze vegetables yourself

As you can see, many classic mixes can be easily made at home. This is an excellent option for preparing for future use. Before preparing the vegetable mixture, wash and peel the ingredients, chop or grate them, and place them in dry bags or lunch boxes. You can also use disposable tableware.

These preparations are stored in the freezer and do not require defrosting or any preparation before cooking.

We offer 5 recipes from frozen vegetables that you can prepare for guests or just for dinner. These dishes are versatile, but fast cooking time, nutritional value and health benefits are the characteristics that unite them.

Spinach pkhali

frozen spinach 500 g
onion 3 pcs.
walnuts (without shell) 1 cup
cilantro, parsley
hot capsicum
a couple of cloves of garlic
vinegar (wine) 1.5 tbsp. l.

Boil spinach, adding cilantro. Drain in a colander and cool. Mix nuts with garlic, add spices, salt, vinegar and grind in a mortar. Chop the onion, add herbs, mix with the nut mixture and squeezed spinach. Roll into balls to serve between two pieces of toast.

Lamb with ratatouille

lamb tenderloin 800 g
frozen vegetable mixture 900 g
onion 1 pc.
vegetable oil

bay leaf 1 pc.
garlic 1 clove
rosemary, pepper, salt

garlic 2 cloves
a couple of sprigs of basil
dry white wine 50 ml
tomatoes 2 pcs.

Marinate the lamb (mix the ingredients for the marinade), leave under the film. Fry and simmer the onion with vegetables.

For the sauce, fry the garlic without oil, add tomatoes (blanched, without skin) and wine, cook for 5 minutes, add basil at the end. Fry the lamb on the grill or in a frying pan, serve with vegetables and sprinkle with sauce.

Pea mousse

frozen green peas 300 g
onion 1 pc.
cottage cheese 150 g
butter – 1 tsp.

Add peas to the fried onion in a frying pan, pour in 125 ml of water, simmer and grind into puree. Add cottage cheese to the cooled mixture and combine the ingredients. Add salt and pepper. Place the mixture in molds lined with cling film, leave in the refrigerator for 4 hours and remove from the molds.

Khachapuri made from puff pastry with vegetables

frozen puff pastry
eggs 3 pcs
vegetable oil
frozen vegetable mixture 200 g
onion 1 pc.
black pepper
nutmeg
greenery

Defrost the dough, form it into boats, pinching the edges. Bake them for 15 minutes at medium temperature. Fry the onion, boil the vegetables, mix, add salt and spices.

Separate the whites and yolks. Beat the whites with salt. Take out the boats, put vegetables in them, pour in the white, and place the yolk on top. Bake for 15 minutes.

Minestrone soup: quick version

frozen mixed vegetables (with green beans) 325 g
red beans 400 g (canned)
a little more than a liter of vegetable broth
bacon 100 g
canned tomatoes (without skin) 400 g
pasta 50 g
parmesan (chopped) 120 g
olive oil
black pepper
pesto

Fry bacon in a saucepan, add tomatoes, broth, vegetables. When it boils, add the pasta, then the beans. Boil for 5 minutes, add seasoning, sprinkle with cheese in a plate.

Frozen vegetables can be purchased at any major grocery store today. The unique technology of shock freezing allows you to preserve the mineral and vitamin composition in products that was originally in them. Such vegetables are an excellent alternative to greenhouse vegetables in winter. Moreover, the price for a package of such vegetables is quite affordable, cooking does not take much time and effort, and you can prepare a wide variety of dishes. It is only important to know a few recipes.

Boiled frozen vegetables
Boiled frozen vegetables are considered the healthiest, since during the cooking process they lose a minimum of their beneficial properties. As a rule, the volume of water and cooking time are indicated on the package with the product. Usually 100 milliliters is enough for half a kilo of vegetables. If the vegetable mixture contains corn, green beans, peas, add 200 milliliters, since they need more liquid than other vegetables.

So, pour the required amount of water into the pan, and when it boils, add salt and place the vegetables in it. The boiling will stop because they are cold. Wait for the water to boil again and stir gently to separate the frozen pieces, then reduce the heat on the stove.

If desired, you can add seasonings and chopped dill. It is recommended to cover the pan with a lid and ensure that the vegetables are stewed in water. The cooking time is from 3 to 5 minutes, after which the water can be drained, small portions placed on plates and served with sour cream, for example.

Frozen vegetables in the microwave
This is one of the easiest ways to prepare frozen vegetables. Make several holes directly in the bag of vegetables, place it in the microwave, set the power to maximum and set the timer for 2 minutes. Another 2 minutes after the end of cooking, carefully cut the bag and transfer the vegetables to a dish.

It's very easy to make vegetable casserole. To do this, place pre-boiled vegetables in a bowl, pour the prepared mixture with an egg beaten with milk or cream and a pinch of salt, sprinkle grated cheese on top. After just a couple of minutes of cooking in the microwave at maximum heat, you get an excellent vegetable casserole.

Vegetarian pilaf or vegetables with rice
For two servings of vegetarian pilaf you will need:

rice – 500 g;
frozen vegetables - 200 g;
vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. spoons;
broth/water - 100 ml;
spices, salt, pepper - to taste.

Cooking steps:

Place a pan of water on the fire, add a little salt, and while it boils, rinse the rice. Place rice in boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes. Cooking time depends on the type of rice and is indicated on the package. Rinse the finished rice with cold water using a colander.
So that frozen vegetables can be placed in a frying pan for cooking, you can first defrost them at room temperature. Just take them out of the freezer before you start cooking the rice. Open the bag of vegetables and place them in a heated frying pan, pour in the broth, add a little oil, salt and pepper, and simmer with the lid closed for 20 minutes.
Add the rice to the vegetables, stir and simmer for another 5 minutes. The finished dish should be served hot.

Vegetables with chicken fillet
To prepare this dish you will need:

frozen vegetables - 1 package;
chicken fillet;
onion – 1 pc.
butter/olive oil – 50 g;
salt, broth/water, herbs.

Cooking steps:

Chop the onion and fry in oil.
Wash the chicken fillet, cut into neat slices and place for frying with the onions. When the chicken is slightly browned, add the broth/water. Close the lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add vegetables and cook for 15 minutes. Sprinkle chopped fresh herbs on top of the finished dish.

Frozen vegetables are another great solution for modern women who care about the health and proper nutrition of their family. Previously, it was only possible to can vegetables, but they went through a long process of preparation, as a result of which they lost their beneficial qualities. In frozen vegetables, losses are minimal, and they can even be used to prepare healthy purees for the youngest members of the family.

Frozen vegetables– an invention that makes life easier for busy people and housewives. It is difficult to say who and when came up with the idea of freezing vegetables for future use, but the fact that these products are used everywhere today cannot be refuted.

Frozen vegetables are a very convenient way to store almost any gifts of nature for a long time without losing their original qualities. This is why you can quickly develop your business through the mass preparation of blanks and make a profit from it in the shortest possible time.

Today, consumers can find on shelves a huge number of options for frozen vegetables from a large number of manufacturers. Single preparations and assorted mixes can be easily purchased at retail in almost any supermarket or grocery store with an average assortment. Externally, frozen vegetables look approximately the same as in the photo.

Prices for such goods are slightly higher than for fresh vegetables, and range from quite affordable to high. But the latter does not scare away consumers, and the goods do not linger in refrigerated chests. And all because many of the fruits offered as frozen are seasonal products, and it is simply impossible to preserve their presentation except by freezing. Such products include greens, berries and some fruits, as well as vegetables that ripen in early or mid-summer and have no analogues.

Frozen vegetables not only retain their taste, but also the vitamins and microelements contained in fresh fruits. If the temperature conditions are observed, vegetable preparations can be stored for a calendar year from the moment of initial freezing. The taste of the finished dish obtained from semi-finished vegetables depends on compliance with the preparation requirements and compliance of the product with GOST. In this matter, you need to trust the honesty and conscientiousness of the employees of the manufacturing plant and retail outlet.

Thrifty housewives have learned to freeze vegetables at home and preserve them all winter. Storing frozen products is not difficult thanks to the capabilities of modern refrigerators and autonomous freezers.

Self-prepared semi-finished products can be used every day and given to children without fear. From such vegetables, caring mothers can quickly cook a small portion of soup or prepare a vitamin puree for feeding infants.

What vegetables can be frozen?

What vegetables can be frozen? A question that can often be heard from many novice cooks. You will find the answer to this in this section of the article. And it’s actually very simple: you can freeze absolutely all the gifts of nature. Most often, this method is used to prepare fruits for future use that cannot be stored fresh for a long time.

The only exception to the rule can be, perhaps, cucumbers, because there are critically few dishes in which this vegetable is used, say, in boiled form. The watery structure of the fruit when defrosted will not allow it to retain its original shape and taste. Although you can consider freezing this green vegetable to prepare a smoothie, in this case it is most rational to use whole young cucumbers or gherkins for this purpose.

I would like to draw attention to the fact that all plant products are frozen to varying degrees of readiness. There are vegetables that need to be frozen exclusively raw, there are those that can be prepared steamed or blanched and even fried or baked. When purchasing a packaged product, you can find information about the method of primary processing of the contents on stickers. There you can also see the date of manufacture, shelf life of the semi-finished product and its calorie content per hundred grams of product.

Freezing raw vegetables is especially popular among consumers, because they can be used to prepare the maximum number of delicacies.

The most popular, judging by statistics from customer surveys and reviews in online stores, are mixes such as Mexican or Hawaiian mixture. The latter, in addition to the main vegetable mix, contains steamed rice grains. From such a product you can prepare a delicious delicacy without adding additional ingredients.

In many supermarkets you can even find cubes or slices of potatoes for sale for making fries or chips. But most often you can see frozen ones on the shelves.:

zucchini;
eggplant;
pumpkin;
squash;
milk corn grains;
artichokes;
broccoli;
legume pods, in particular the asparagus variety;
cauliflower and white cabbage;
bell pepper;
tomatoes;
green pea.

A huge number of mixtures can be made from these and other components in various combinations. Some of them also contain cereals or mushrooms, most often cultivated ones, such as champignons or oyster mushrooms. But in the Chinese mixture that has become popular recently, you will even find bamboo shoots and black Chinese mushroom.

At home, modern housewives also freeze all kinds of garden vegetables and various root vegetables, for example:

carrot;
beet;
celery;
parsnip;
parsley rhizomes.

They are grated or cut into thin cubes. This makes cooking significantly easier and allows you to spend less time cooking soups and borscht. In addition, this life hack protects the delicate skin of women’s hands, because after cleaning and rubbing beets or carrots, you have to make an effort to get rid of the pigment that easily fills the pores of the skin.

This section can be summarized by saying that the choice of types of frozen vegetables depends entirely on the preferences of the population and its food traditions.

Composition of frozen vegetables

The composition, or rather the chemical characteristics of frozen vegetables, is no different from fresh products. Freezing does not affect the content of vitamins and microelements; on the contrary, it helps to maintain their quantity at the maximum level.

The nutritional value of the semi-finished product must be indicated on the packaging of this product, which is useful in all respects. If you buy vegetables individually by weight or cook them yourself, then it’s easy to find out the calorie content. The total value of mixtures can be calculated by summing up the nutritional value of each ingredient per hundred grams of product.

How are frozen vegetables made?

You will find out how frozen vegetables are made right now.

The technology for producing vegetable preparations is very simple and absolutely the same both at home and in enterprises. To properly freeze vegetables, you must follow certain manufacturing steps. This will be discussed briefly in this section.

Initially, all the fruits are sorted and washed thoroughly. Then those that need cleaning are, of course, cleaned. At the next stage, the products are crushed. The shape and size of the pieces depend on the requirements for the dish. For stews, for example, vegetables are cut into cubes or cubes, and for soups or seasonings they are most often grated into strips. After grinding, similar products are frozen in refrigeration units with dry or standard freezing. At the final stage, frozen vegetables are mixed (if necessary) in accordance with the specified composition, packaged and labeled.

At home, many housewives, when preparing vegetable mixtures, do not waste time freezing the products separately, but put all the components into containers or bags at once. This, of course, somewhat affects the appearance of the products, but does not affect the taste of the finished dishes. To ensure that searching for the necessary sets in personal refrigerators does not take much time, all containers are labeled, because sometimes such homemade mixtures of frozen vegetables without a mark are quite difficult to identify.

You can learn how to freeze peppers for stuffing for the winter from the video attached to this review article. You can see for yourself that freezing food for future use is very easy!

Use in cooking

Frozen vegetables are widely used in cooking. These vegetables can be prepared in a variety of ways.

Most often, frozen semi-finished products are boiled in broths or steamed, deep-fried or in a dry frying pan, stewed or baked. Thanks to the variety of multifunctional appliances that have appeared in everyday life – multicookers, microwave ovens, pressure cookers and steamers, as well as “smart” ovens – the preparation of tasty and healthy dishes has been simplified to a minimum.

Stews cooked in pots or in a special sleeve are delicious. With this method of preparing dishes from frozen vegetables, it is possible to preserve the maximum amount of nutrients, because in this case the products are stewed in their own juice.

Frozen vegetables can be used when following a diet for weight loss, and this option will be the most suitable, because summer fruits contain the maximum of necessary substances. Admirers of the principles of healthy lifestyle and PP can also appreciate this rational invention. To stay in shape, nutritionists advise eating bulgur and buckwheat with vegetables.

With frozen gifts of nature, you can easily prepare such delicious treats as:

risotto;
casseroles;
stew and sauté;
soups;
sauces and gravies;
omelettes and scrambled eggs.

Surprisingly tasty dishes can be made by combining pork, chicken legs and breasts, as well as young beef with frozen vegetables. A side dish made from vegetable semi-finished products will be a wonderful substitute for pasta and porridge and will go perfectly with juicy and flavorful cutlets, meatballs and meatballs made from minced fish or meat. Roasted vegetables can be placed in the oven and topped with sour cream or cheese shavings.

Quickly prepare delicious stewed fish for dinner - nothing could be easier!

The recipe for the delicacy couldn’t be simpler. Place fillets, such as pollock, on a high-sided baking sheet and add a mixture of frozen country-style vegetables, just a little salt and black pepper, or a few spoons of soy sauce instead. Place the sheet in an oven preheated to two hundred degrees Celsius for half an hour and devote time to yourself for your loved one. You can be sure that dinner will be simply excellent!

You can talk for a very long time about dishes that can be prepared from frozen vegetables. The only thing I would like to say is that frozen fruits cannot be pickled.

In the everyday life of modern households, the most popular are mixtures that can be used to prepare dishes without adding other ingredients. Lenten vegetable soup can be prepared in no time if you freeze the seasoning of carrots, celery and sweet peppers in one bag, which you just have to fry in a frying pan. And if you add a little grated hard or processed cheese or cream to such a soup a couple of minutes before it’s ready, it will turn out not only unusual, but also very tasty.

Benefits and harms

The benefits and harms of frozen vegetables cannot be described in a nutshell.

Let's start with the benefits. Since frozen vegetables are primarily vegetables, they bring exactly the same benefits as fresh fruits. I would like to draw attention to the fact that during storage, all products of plant origin lose their nutritional value because they dry out. Experts have proven that root vegetables already have twenty percent less minerals in March. Only sugars, fiber and starches remain in them in unchanged quantities. Such products can only satisfy hunger. In frozen vegetables, especially those prepared using dry freezing technology, the amount of water and nutrients remains unchanged.

Experts have differing opinions regarding harm. Some argue that frozen foods cannot cause harm to human health, but others say that vegetables become harmful during frozen storage.

Biologists motivate their vision by the fact that all the nitrates that were accumulated by plants and their fruits during growth remain in unchanged quantities, and those preservatives that many manufacturers use to preserve the presentation of finished products (and which are silent on the labels) in the combination with nitrates they become simply an explosive mixture. Of course, in our opinion, there is some truth in the latter.

In order not to harm your body and your loved ones, try to prepare vegetables yourself, and you can easily find recipes that describe step by step how to make them yourself on our website.

Try at least once to cook a dish with any frozen vegetables. We assure you that you will become a fan of this method of preparing for future use, because all four seasons you will have the opportunity to prepare healthy and nutritious dishes without hassle and wasting time, regardless of whether you serve the finished dish with stew, sausage, or just like that.