Article cover image. Title on the top left corner in reddish brown letters:, written on a beige frame: How to use up your fruit & vegetables before they go bad! The right half of the background is light purple and the half left is light green. An alarm clock is exactly in the middle, syrrounded by the phrase: "No food waste!" in burgundy red bold letters. On the rop right corner there are small animated pictures of an aubergine, a carrot a white onion and a lettuce head. On the bottom left corner there are small animated pictures of a strawberry, a red apple, purple grapes and two cherries. On the bottom right the watermark "@Nutrition by Maria Tikka" is written on a beige frame.
Nutrition Topics
February 26, 2022

How to use up produce when you cook healthy meals

By Maria Tikka ANutr, MMedSci

Fresh fruit and vegetables (or produce) are undeniably healthy, but there is a small issue: Many of them go bad in just a few days and you may end up wasting food and money! Thankfully, there are many fresh produce recipes to use them up before their used-by date.

If you notice you often don’t know what to do with leftover produce:

  • Feel free to try frozen fruit and vegetables or tinned in water. Maybe they work better for you and your cooking habits!
  • Try to freeze as many fresh fruit and vegetables as possible.
  • Prepare your shopping list in advance to avoid purchasing more produce than you need within a week. 
  • Check the used-by date before you buy them, especially for leafy greens you cannot freeze.

Here are 12 healthy cooking ideas if you to need to use up produce and a few example recipes:

Ideas to use up leftover vegetables:

1. Toppings and side dishes for jacket potatoes:

Jacket potatoes are easy to prepare and you can easily use leftover vegetables to make toppings:

  • You can mix fresh leafy greens, cucumbers and raw bell peppers with low fat cream cheese.
  • Try making red sauces with fresh tomatoes, onions and mushrooms.
  • Add extra vegetables to your side dish!
Jacket potato filled with philadelphia with chives, low fat feta cheese, dried oregano and red bell pepper. Served with four chestnut mushrooms and four broccoli florets. Mushrooms and broccoli florets are served in turn around the jacket potato. Chopped bell pepper chunks cover the rest of the small white plate. The dish is served on a green and orange napkin with orange roses pattern. Watermark: @Nutrition by Maria Tikka Main article: How to use up produce when you cook healthy meals.

Jacket potato filled with philadelphia with chives, low fat feta cheese, dried oregano and red bell peppers. Served with chestnut mushrooms and steamed broccoli florets.

2. Legume soups with vegetables

There are so many vegetables to add in legume soups! Carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, swede, butternut squash, celery, onions, potatoes and spinach are only a few of them! Legumes are a source of protein, so you can easily have a balanced meal.

red lentil soup served in a bowl on a napkin with strawberry pattern. A heart made of square carrot and swede chunks decorates the soup.

Red lentil soup with carrots and swedes. 448 kcal/ per portion and 19g protein. Feel free to replace with other vegetables you have available, like parsnips, onions and butternut squash!

3. Salads with eggs, tuna or canned legumes

If you don’t know what to do with leftover vegetables you can eat raw, salad are the easiest option.  Especially leafy greens are the easiest type of vegetable to go bad and you cannot easily add them in other recipes or freeze them. Eggs, fish and legumes and delicious protein sources for salads. Remember to add one of them!

Potato salad served in a chartreuse green round bowl. Three cherry tomatoes are linearly placed among the bowl, so that one cherry tomato is in the middle of the salad. Five feta cheese cubes create a circle around this cherry tomato. Six chestnut mushroom pieces create a circle at the edges of the bowl. Watermark: @Nutrition by Maria Tikka

Potato salad with cherry tomatoes, low fat feta cheese and mushrooms. Add any extra leafy greens you have available!

4. Wraps and sandwiches

Apart from salads, this is the second easiest option to use your leftover vegetables. Do you often pack sandwiches and wraps for work? Use any leftover leafy greens, tomatoes and cucumbers to make fillings! Have you tried lettuce wraps? You can add any filling, just like with regular wraps and sandwiches.

Advertisements

5. Spinach and cabbage rice

If you have fresh spinach and onions close to their used-by date, spinach rice is a super healthy high iron recipe, easy and full of fibre! Cabbage rice is a similar recipe.

greek spinach rice served with lemon slices by the geeky nutritionist

Greek-style spinach rice (low calorie version). 430 kcal/ portion.

6. Baked stuffed vegetables

Do you have large tomatoes, bell peppers, aubergines and courgettes? Stuff them with bolognese sauce and bake them on cooking paper! If have more advanced cooking skills, try filling with vegetables and rice and bake them.

bellpeppers sprinkled with bolognese sauce and low fat feta cheese

Baked bell peppers stuffed with low fat bolognese sauce and sprinkled with low fat feta cheese. 139 kcal per piece.

7. Meat, legume or vegetable stews

Stew recipes are so versatile! It doesn’t matter if you use a pressure cooker or your pot. Courgettes, aubergines, carrots, parsnips, broccoli and cauliflower florets, onions, potatoes and tomatoes are delicious additions to any stew you make!

Ideas to use up your fruit before they go bad

1. Oatmeal and oatmeal truffles

Blend your fruit in the food processor and mix with oats to prepare overnight oatmeal. Oatmeal can last in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. Be creative and add more than a type of fruit! You can also to blend oats in the food processor, make oat flour and make some truffles.

Blueberry oat meal served on a small white plate with small pink flower patterms. The oatmeal is purple and decorated with a big pink edible rose in the centre, two small light pink edible flowers on the right and left. Edible colorfoul small round sprinkles are scattred on the oatmeal. Igredients: 120g fresh blueberries 3/4 cup oats 2 tbsp coconut flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp gingerbread syrup. Nutrition information per portion: 222 kcal, 4.8g total fats, 34g net carbs (11g sugars), 6.6 g protein, 9g fibre (36% RI), Glycaemic Index 43, Manganese 1.8 mg (89% RI), Vitamin B1 0.35 mg (31% RI)
Blueberry Oatmeal: Mix the blueberries, syrup & vanilla extract until smooth Add the oats & coconut flour and blend until smooth. Replace the blueberries with any fruit you want to use up before they go bad!

2. Ice creams and popsicles

Ripped bananas and chopped strawberries chunks are delicious ingredients for ice creams, sorbets and popsicles.

  • Because bananas are creamy, they are a good base for vegan ice cream if you don’t want to add any dairy.
  • Mix fat- free yogurt with berries for lovely popsicles and frozen yogurt.

Low fat frozen yogurt with strawberries and coconut. 167 kcal per portion.

3. Add in breakfast cereal and yogurt

If you have just 1-2 portions of fruits, mix them in your yogurt for a late evening snack or add in wholegrain breakfast cereal.  You have 1 of your 5 a day and you are done!

Advertisements

4. Fruit salads

Easy to make and you can satisfy your sweet craving at the same time. Add a drizzle of vanilla extract and ground cinnamon and enjoy!

Fruit salad made of black grapes, pineapple chunks and gingerbread biscuit crumbles. On top of the pineapple chunks the grapes form a bow. A big white edible rose is decorated in the middle of the bow. The biscuit crumbles are scattered on the pineapple chunks. Igredients list 90g black seedless grapes 50g pineapple chunks 1/2 gingerbread biscuit. Nutrition information 105 kcal, 1.1g total fats (0.2g saturated fats), 22g net carbs (20g augars), 0.9g protein, 1.9g fibre
Fruit salad made of black grapes, pineapple chunks and gingerbread biscuit crumbles!

5. Smoothies

Frozen smoothies are lovely fruity snacks, especially during the summer. Please remember that eating whole fruits is the healthiest way to enjoy them! Juices and smoothies have a lower fibre content, higher simple sugar and energy content comparing with the same amount of whole fruit/ vegetables. Add a lean protein source, like plain low fat yogurt, or protein powder to make your smoothie more filling!

Banana & clementine smoothie. Its color is pale yellow. It is served in a tall transparent latte glass cup. A burgundy red metal straw decorated with a plastic pink bow is placed in the cup. On the right of the cup two clementins are decorated. The drink is served on a napkin with orange roses pattern. Igredients: 1 medium frozen banana, 2 small chilled clementines, 1 heaped tsp fat free Greek yogurt or any vegan yogurt you prefer, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp fruit syrup. Nutrition info: 171 kcal, 0g fat, 33g net carbs, 29g sugars, 8g protein, 2.2g fibre. @Nutrition by Maria Tikka
Banana and clementine smoothie with fat free Greek yogurt. You can use any fruit you want. Just blend the igredients in the food proccessor!

Do you know have any other recipes to use up fresh produce? Leave a comment!

Summary
How to use up produce when you cook healthy meals
Article Name
How to use up produce when you cook healthy meals
Description
Healthy recipe ideas to use up produce before it goes bad. Ideas to use up fruits and vegetables in low calorie meals and snacks.
Author
Tagshealthier lifestyle tips

About The Author

My name is Maria Tikka. I am a Registered Associate Nutritionist and a biologist. I post about nutrition topics, healthy lifestyle tips, weight management advice and healthy recipes!

2 thoughts on “How to use up produce when you cook healthy meals”

Comments are closed.