Healthy Packaged Vegetables to Add to Your Shopping List

By Karen Cicero
March 21, 2018
Lisa Shin
Feed the fam—fast! Some of the most nutritious veggies are also the most convenient.
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Crunchy Snap Peas to Go

Lisa Shin

Baked and lightly sprinkled with salt, these crunchy Harvest Snaps supply plenty of potassium and some fiber, iron, and calcium. SERVING: 20 to 22 crisps

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Colorful Carrots

Lisa Shin

Purple, yellow, orange, and white baby carrots from Cal-Organic are a kid conversation piece—and supply a wider variety of healthy plant compounds than the orange ones alone. SERVING: 6 carrots 

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Spiralized Veggies

Lisa Shin

Substitute Green Giant Veggie Spirals—spaghetti like strands of beets (shown), carrots, zucchini, or butternut squash—in your family’s favorite pasta recipe, or mix half-and-half with your regular noodles. Our family testers boiled them in the same pot. SERVING: ½ cup 

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Risotto in a Rush

Lisa Shin

Instead of using rice, Alexia pairs tiny pieces of vitamin A–packed butternut squash with Parmesan cheese and a smidge of butter to create a dish that reminded our kid testers of mac ’n’ cheese. You microwave the frozen risotto; no stirring necessary. Top with a protein, like shrimp or chicken, to make it a meal, or serve it plain as a side. SERVING: ½ cup

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Secret-Ingredient Onion Rings

Lisa Shin

If your kid already likes onion rings, try Veggie Rings’ version, with a better veggie to-breading ratio and more fiber. A blend of chopped cauliflower, white beans, and onions is coated with gluten-free breadcrumbs. SERVING: 6 pieces

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Lunch-Box Hack

Lisa Shin

Our kid testers happily took Mucci Farms’ mini containers of tiny cucumbers, peppers, and grape tomatoes to school. Moms appreciated that variety packs included some of each kind. SERVING: 1 package

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Beets as Treats

Lisa Shin

Even kids who claimed to hate beets ended up loving Terra’s lower-fat chips made from sweet potatoes, blue potatoes, and swirly Chioggia beets, which are packed with potassium and B vitamins. Make these chips your go-to sandwich side. SERVING: 14 chips

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Veggie Mash-Up

Lisa Shin

This sweet-potato-and-carrot combo from Birds Eye appealed to our pickiest kid testers thanks to a smooth texture as well as light cream and a little brown sugar for extra deliciousness. Don’t sweat the extra sugar: A single serving delivers all the immune-boosting vitamin A that kids need daily, plus plenty of vitamin C. SERVING: ½ cup

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