FAQs – Is Frozen Produce in Smoothies a Good Idea?
I‘ve been getting lots of questions about fresh juices and smoothies since I started blogging about them. So I’ve put together a list of FAQs (frequently asked questions) about using frozen produce in smoothies and juices. I hope you find this helpful!
Can You Use Frozen Fruit and Vegetables?
Yes, absolutely! They’re very handy. A nice bonus to using frozen veggies instead of fresh is that you probably won’t have to add ice, as they are already like ice.
Do you need to wash them first? For most store-bought prepackaged frozen vegetables, no. What happens is, after harvesting the veggies are trimmed and washed. They may also be blasted with boiling water or steam. This process is called blanching and usually removes harmful bacteria. And then they are immediately flash frozen
If you don’t have a very powerful blender, you may have to cut some vegetables smaller so they can get properly smushed into your smoothie. But frozen veggies can be difficult to cut, because they’re so hard. So there are 2 solutions.
- While they’re in a bag, just whack them with a rolling pin or a saucepan to break them up.
- Leave them out for a little while until they soften up a bit.
Are frozen fruits and vegetables as nutritious as fresh?
Yes! Fresh produce that is destined to be frozen is typically picked at peak ripeness. Then it’s immediately transported to the freezing factory. So you’re getting ripe, nutritious fresh produce that’s frozen and easy to use!
Can I freeze fresh produce that I’ve bought?
Yes! But be sure to wash them thoroughly first. You could even blanch them if you’re really worried about germs – you won’t be heating them up to cook them, remember, so they need to be really clean before you eat them.
Cut into the right size for your juicer or blender – the smaller they are, the faster and better they’re going to be blended up later. Then put them into air-tight freezer containers or bags and stick them in the freezer. You might want to separate them into single serving sizes before freezing, for even more convenience.
You can also take your fresh produce, blend it, and then pour it into ice trays to freeze. Just remember to take them out of the tray once they’re frozen, and put them in an airtight freezer bag or container, so they are covered and won’t touch other stuff in the freezer.
What about pre-mixed frozen produce in smoothies and juices?
What about pre-mixed frozen produce for smoothies?
You can buy pre-mixed, ready-prepared frozen fruit and vegetables for juices and smoothies – but some of them have big problems.
Let me give you some examples.
Here’s a green smoothie mix, it looks good. The ingredients are frozen mango, kiwi, spinach and kale. There aren’t any additives, which is excellent.
Normally when companies list ingredients, they list the biggest ingredient first, so there’s more fruit than vegetables in this mix, and by now you know that that’s not the best mixture for your health.
However, if you add extra leafy greens and vegetables to this pre-mix , you’ll have a lovely healthy juice or smoothie.
Here’s another example. It looks good at first glance, there’s a lovely picture of fresh produce. But let’s look at what’s inside. Firstly, the ingredients – well, the only vegetable is spinach. All the rest are fruits or a herb. Plus, they’ve added agave syrup to make it sweet – ugh! And what’s worse is that it’s already blended, and frozen into mass-produced identical chunks. What else have they added, I wonder? It’s an interesting marketing idea to appeal to people who don’t have a blender, but I wouldn’t be convinced that it’s healthy. I wouldn’t buy this.
This next example has a window in front so you can see what’s inside. I like that.
And it’s real fresh produce, not cubes of goop so that’s good.
However, although they called it a green smoothie mix, I see it’s nearly all fruit.
Again, you’d want to check for additives. If there are none, then you could add fresh leafy greens and other veggies to make this healthy.
And lastly here’s a green smoothie mix from a supermarket chain called Waitrose. Again, it’s about half fruit and half vegetable, but again, you can see through the window into the ingredients and you can see it’s real, honest-to-goodness fresh produce.
Always check for additives and if there aren’t any, if it’s only fruit and vegetables, you could buy something like that for convenience and then add your own greens and other veggies to make sure it’s mostly veg.
Summary
Yes, absolutely use frozen produce in your smoothies! Use pre-prepared mixes if you want, they’re very convenient. But also use your common sense, make sure you’re getting no additives with them, and then add in extra leafy greens and other veggies to make sure you’re drinking healthy juices and smoothies with more vegetables than fruit..
Please Share this post – it’s easy – sharing buttons on the right!
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
Warm regards,
P.S. Don’t forget to download your FREE recipes for yummy smoothies that will keep you feeling full! Click here.
[…] Instead, try to make healthier choices, by swapping your junk food for healthy food. A tub of yogurt is convenient and easy, and so is a piece of fruit. Or make a quick smoothie. […]