Frozen vegetables: how to choose and cook them? Frozen mixed vegetables - calories and recipes Mixed vegetables how to cook.

Greetings to all readers!

How to cook frozen vegetables? This question usually arises when for some reason there is no ready-made food, and the family has already gathered and knocks with spoons. Prepare frozen vegetables according to this recipe - and in 15 minutes you will have a tasty and healthy side dish on your table, bright, like a piece of summer.

Of course, you won’t be full with one “herbal” dish, I have an excellent quick recipe for chicken with spices for it.

How to cook frozen vegetables delicious

It's no secret that vegetables contain a lot of vitamins and minerals. However, most fresh products can only be consumed during the warm season. This raises the question of how you can enrich your body with the necessary enzymes, without relying on the season.

Selection of frozen vegetables

1. When buying a product in a packaged container, first of all pay attention to the integrity of the package. If it is not airtight, the vegetables can be considered spoiled.
2. Take a pack of vegetables and shake it. If you find large lumps stuck together, this aspect indicates repeated freezing.
3. Pay attention to the expiration date of the product, also look at the date of freezing. Vegetables frozen in the season of their sale will contain the maximum amount of vitamins.
4. When choosing a mixture, pay due attention to the composition, it should contain an equal ratio of components. If a package with a frozen product is covered with frost, this sign indicates non-compliance with the storage temperature regime.
5. The pack should not be swollen, the consequence of this is the development of microorganisms in the composition. When choosing frozen vegetables by weight, do not rush to get bright or faded specimens. The product must be of natural color.

Rules for cooking frozen vegetables

1. Keep in mind that frozen vegetables cook twice as fast as fresh food. Therefore, when cooking soups, these ingredients are added last.
2. Frozen vegetable mix is ​​quite edible without much preparation. The only condition is the correct defrosting of the product.
3. If you are not going to cook right now, place the bag in a plastic container with a tight lid. Send to refrigerator.

Proper cooking of frozen vegetables

• For boiling a package of vegetables weighing 400 gr. Pour into a small saucepan 0.7 liters. drinking water. Put the pot on the fire, wait until it boils. If necessary, add spices and various seasonings to your taste.
• Then pour the vegetable mixture into a heat-resistant container with boiling water. Stir the ingredients, cover with a lid, allowing excess steam to escape. Boil the composition for about 12 minutes.
• After the time has elapsed, throw the vegetables into a colander, wait for all the liquid to drain. Place the vegetables in a bowl convenient for you, mix with any dressing. The dish is ready to eat.

Classic quick snack recipe

• drinking water - 65 ml.
• bulb - 1 pc.
• salt - the amount at the discretion
• sunflower oil - 40 gr.
• frozen vegetables - 450 gr.
• seasonings - to taste

1. Peel the onion, chop it into small cubes. Place the product in a thick-bottomed container, pour in the oil. Turn on the heat, sauté the onion until translucent, then add the vegetables.
2. Stir the composition by adding spices and water. Then loosely cover with a lid. Simmer vegetables for about half an hour. After a while, try the mixture. When the dish is ready, serve it to the table.

Healthy vegetable breakfast

• chicken eggs - 3 pcs.
• frozen green beans - 110 gr.
• granulated garlic - 5 gr.
• edible salt - to taste
• milk - 35 ml.
• corn oil - 20 ml.

1. Pour the beans into a dry hot pan, wait until the moisture has completely evaporated. In parallel, mix eggs, milk and seasonings, beat the composition until smooth.
2. After the moisture in the vegetables has evaporated, add oil to them and mix. Fry the mixture until bronzed. Then pour in the egg mixture. Stir the food and reduce the stove to a minimum. Wait for the omelet to cook.

Roasted frozen vegetables

• package of vegetables - 1 pc.
• fine salt - to taste
• olive oil - 65 gr.
• seasonings - 10-15 gr.

1. Pour the package of frozen food into the pan. Place a heat resistant container over high heat. Roast the vegetables until all the moisture has evaporated.
2. Then add oil and spices. Stir the mixture and cover. Reduce the power of the stove to a minimum, simmer for about 8 minutes.
3. After readiness, use at your discretion as an independent treat or serve with potatoes, meat, fish.

Vegetable mix in a slow cooker

• frozen vegetables - 380 gr.
• water - 0.5 l.

1. Pour water into the multibowl, place a container on top of it for steaming products. Place frozen ingredients.
2. Close the appliance with a lid, set the “Steam cooking” program, the approximate cooking time is about 15 minutes.
3. After that, transfer the prepared vegetables to a container, season with spices and other additives, stir well. The dish can be consumed.

Baked vegetables with bacon

• bacon - 350 gr.
• frozen vegetables - 900 gr.
• spices - to taste
• fresh herbs - in fact

1. Cut the bacon into small pieces, place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 6-8 minutes, simmer at a temperature of 190 degrees.
2. After that, place the vegetables on top of the meat product, add spices to taste. Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes. If desired, the finished dish can be sprinkled with grated cheese.

Stir-fried pineapple mix

• carrots (frozen) - 100 gr.
• cauliflower (frozen) - 110 gr.
• broccoli (frozen) - 120 gr.
• pineapple in a jar - 90 gr.
• fresh lemon - ½ pc.
• potatoes - 50 gr.
• starch - 10 gr.
• fresh cilantro - 25 gr.
• olive oil - 75 gr.
• salt - amount in fact

1. Pour olive oil into a frying pan, put vegetables in it. Fry the mixture over medium heat. After that, chop the pineapple into cubes, chop the lemon and greens. Send to blender.
2. Then pour the resulting sauce into a small container, add starch to it, mix well. Add the composition to the fried vegetables, simmer over low heat until a pasty state.

Vegetables with buckwheat

• purified water - 450 ml.
• buckwheat - 230 gr.
• mixture of vegetables - 390 gr.
• sunflower oil - 50 ml.

1. Pour buckwheat into a small container, pour water and rinse the cereal. Remove excess particles. After that, send the buckwheat to the stove, add salt to taste, cook until tender.
2. Then fry the vegetables in oil and add spices, mix the mixture. Add buckwheat to the total mass. Cover the heat-resistant container with a lid, set the burner to a minimum, simmer for 4 minutes.

Soup from frozen vegetables with stew

• bulb - 1 pc.
• potatoes - 3 pcs.
• carrot - 1 pc.
• stew - 330 gr.
• crushed pepper - to taste
• tomato paste - 55 gr.
• white cabbage - 130 gr.
• a mixture of vegetables - 350 gr.
• salt - to taste
• green beans (frozen) - 200 gr.
• various spices - to taste

1. Collect purified water in a small saucepan, boil it. Chop the potatoes into large slices, grate the carrots, chop the cabbage and onions.
2. Add spices, potatoes and cabbage to boiling water, mix. In parallel, fry the onion, beans and carrots in tomato paste in a thick-bottomed pan.
3. Pour frozen vegetables into a common pan, cook for about 12-15 minutes more. After the time has elapsed, add the stew to the mixture, simmer for 6 minutes.
4. After that, add the frying, stir the soup, turn off the heat. Let the dish rest for half an hour.

Casserole with vegetables

• mixture of vegetables (frozen) - 950 gr.
• hard cheese - 170 gr.
• milk - 140 ml.
• chicken eggs - 3 pcs.
• vegetable oil - 35 gr.
• salt - 12 gr.

1. Place frozen vegetables in boiling water, cook for about 7 minutes. After that, throw the mixture into a colander, wait for the liquid to drain completely.
2. Grease a baking sheet with oil, place boiled vegetables on it. Beat eggs with milk, stir in grated cheese, add salt to taste. Pour the mixture over the vegetables.
3. Send the baking sheet to a preheated oven to 190 degrees. Wait about 12 minutes, serve the finished dish with fresh herbs.

Vegetable stew

• frozen vegetables - 450 gr.
• broccoli (frozen) - 300 gr.
• onion - 2 pcs.
• spices - to taste
• vegetable oil - 85 gr.

1. Pour vegetable oil into a thick-bottomed saucepan, add finely chopped onions and vegetables to it. Sprinkle seasoning mixture, stir.
2. Fry the composition on fire for 3 minutes, then reduce the stove to minimum power, cover the pan with a lid. Simmer for about 25 minutes.

Vegetables with seafood

• Mexican mix - 650 gr.
• seafood cocktail - 400 gr.
• green salad - 90 gr.
• soy sauce - 55 ml.
• olive oil - 95 ml.
• lemon juice - 40 ml.
• French mustard - to taste
• chopped white pepper - 9 gr.
• table salt - 15 gr.

1. Pour olive oil into a thick-bottomed pan, place seafood in it, add seasonings to taste. Fry the food over high heat for 7 minutes, then pour over them with lemon juice.
2. Then put the vegetable mixture on top of the sea cocktail. Simmer until the liquid has completely evaporated. Then pour soy sauce over the dish. Stir the mixture and fry. Rinse lettuce leaves, chop and mix with mustard. Add to the total. Mix well, serve.

Baked chicken fillet with vegetables

• chicken breast - 450 gr.
• drinking water - 65 ml.
• homemade sour cream - 85 gr.
• vegetable mixture - 1.2 kg.
• table salt - 12 gr.
• pepper - 6 gr.
• greens - to taste
• sesame seeds - 20 gr.
• spices - to taste

1. Preheat oven to 195 degrees. Place the vegetable mixture on a baking sheet, spreading the water evenly. Finely chop the chicken fillet, roll in spices.
2. Add salt to vegetables, put pieces of meat on top. Drizzle with sour cream mixed with sesame seeds. Then send the baking sheet to the oven, wait 20-25 minutes.
3. After cooking, put it on portioned plates and garnish with fresh herbs. If desired, you can also add various mushrooms to the sour cream sauce.

Self freezing vegetables

1. If you decide to freeze vegetables yourself, select the necessary products. Carefully inspect them so that there are no damage to the fruits. Rinse thoroughly afterwards.
2. Dry vegetables, remove inedible parts if necessary. Chop to your taste. If you are going to freeze carrots, bell peppers, beets or greens, they must be scalded with boiling water, then placed in cold water for a few seconds.
3. Dry the vegetables, then distribute them in portioned bags made of dense polyethylene with a plastic clasp. Remove air before freezing. You can also arrange the vegetables on a tray and send them to the freezer. As soon as the product freezes, pack the mixture in packs.

Experiment with recipes, serve mixed vegetables as a side dish. Fill it with various additives and sauces. To keep food frozen for a long time, the temperature in the freezer should be around -20 degrees.

Consider recipes with frozen vegetables in a slow cooker or on the stovetop. Take advantage of the classics of the genre, the English version. Make a masterpiece with buckwheat

During the winter months, many people use store-bought vegetable mixes to make stews or vegetable soup at home. Today I want to offer you a recipe for freezing vegetables for stews for the winter at home.

The mixture for the stew can consist of various vegetables. The main components can be:

• vegetable marrow;
• eggplant;
• sweet or bell pepper;
• tomato;
• carrot;
• string beans;
• cauliflower;
• green pea;
• corn;
• greenery.

Here you can act independently, changing the amount and composition of vegetables. Now let's talk about the preparation of each vegetable separately.

Young zucchini, without formed grains, do not need to be cleaned before freezing. Large specimens are peeled, the insides with seeds are removed, and then cut.

For stews, you can use raw zucchini or blanched for 3 minutes in boiling water. If you follow all the rules, then the second option is preferable.

See the video from the channel "Tasty with us" - How to blanch vegetables

Eggplants should not be peeled, but it will be necessary to get rid of bitterness. To do this, eggplants cut into rings or plates are generously sprinkled with salt and left in this form for 30 minutes so that bitter juice comes out. Then the eggplant is washed in water and cut into cubes.

Just like zucchini, eggplant can be frozen either raw or blanched. Blanch the eggplant for about 4 minutes and then cool quickly.

Sweet bell pepper

Peppers for this preparation are simply washed and cut into strips or slices, depending on your preference. The color of the pepper in the stew does not matter.

Tomato for vegetable stew cut into large slices. It is better if the skin is first removed from the tomato. To do this, a cross-shaped incision is made at the base of the stalk and the tomato is dipped in boiling water for a few seconds. After this manipulation, the skin can be easily removed.

Carrot

Carrots are washed thoroughly, peeled with a thin skin, and then cut into wheels, cubes or straws.

To keep the color and shape of carrots, it is better to blanch them for 5 minutes in boiling water. Although it is possible to use raw carrots for freezing stew.

string beans

The stalk is cut from the green beans, and the pod itself is cut into pieces 3-4 centimeters long. Then the beans are necessarily boiled in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is disassembled into inflorescences. Then you need to soak the vegetable in salt water for 30 minutes so that all the small insects that have chosen the curly head of cabbage come out. Before freezing, cauliflower should be blanched for 3 minutes in boiling water.

Green pea

Green peas can be used both in pod form and in the form of grains. But both options should first be held in boiling water for 4 minutes.

Corn

Corn can be blanched immediately on the cob, or after separating the kernels. The procedure for immersing a vegetable in boiling water takes 4 minutes. After that, the corn should be cooled in ice water.

Greenery

To freeze the stew, you can use any greens. It can be onions, parsley, dill, basil or other herbs. Greens should be chopped with a knife and added to the workpiece.

Vegetable stew for the winter: freezing methods

The first, and most cost-effective way, is to freeze vegetables in a bag or container without first freezing them.

To do this, sliced ​​\u200b\u200bvegetables are folded into a large container and mixed thoroughly.

Attention! Under no circumstances should vegetables be salted! Otherwise, the vegetables will give juice, which is not desirable for freezing.

Spread the vegetable mixture in portions, at a time, into the prepared container. Packed tightly and sent to the freezer for storage.

See video from Lubov Kriuk - Freezing vegetables. Harvesting vegetables for stew for the winter.

The second method involves freezing the vegetables separately on cutting boards and then mixing them together.

This method takes more time, but the result is on the face. Freezing turns out to be crumbly, as in a store, and it is easier to cook such a blank, since it does not stick together into a single lump.

In order to save time and effort, freezing vegetables can be done separately from each other as they ripen. And when a sufficient number of various blanks are frozen, it will be possible to start forming vegetable mixtures.

See video - Preparations for the winter. Freezing vegetables for stews and soups

Complexity

Frozen vegetable mixes appeared on the shelves of supermarkets not so long ago, but have already won the love of many buyers. They are especially liked by people who care about their appearance and healthy nutrition, because such sets are a storehouse of various vitamins and minerals. Dishes and recipes from frozen vegetable mixes are very tasty and easy to prepare.

Before you start cooking, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the range of this product.

Varieties of frozen vegetable sets

Each manufacturer of this product can use different packaging, take vegetables from different countries, write their own recipes on the label, but the main component of the product almost always remains the same. Regardless of the season, these vegetables are always fresh, and cooking from them is a pleasure.

There are several main components:

• Lecho: onions, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots and paprika;
• Mexican: carrots, corn, green beans, peas, corn, celery, red beans, peppers;
• Hawaiian: corn, rice, peas and peppers;
• Chinese: bamboo and soy sprouts, onions, peppers, celery, green beans, corn, cabbage, Chinese black mushroom;
• Rustic: potatoes, onions, broccoli, peppers, bean pods, carrots, corn;
• Spring bouquet: 3 types of cabbage (broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts), carrots, peas, onions, bean pods;
• Mushroom soup: champignons, carrots, onions, potatoes;
• For scrambled eggs: tomatoes, onions, paprika, zucchini, celery.

You can also buy frozen vegetable mixes for making sorrel soup and borscht, individual vegetables (for example, green beans, tomatoes, french fries).

It is recommended to purchase sets with a limitation period of no more than six months. Chopped vegetables should move freely around the package, and not be stuck together in one lump. Which firm to give preference - everyone decides for himself. Sufficiently high quality are frozen vegetable mixes "4 seasons". It is a pleasure to cook any dishes from them.

The simplest recipes are to pour the contents of the package into a double boiler or a frying pan, add meat, cereals or other vegetables as desired, and steam everything well under the lid. But this is for the lazy. Below we will tell you how to cook frozen vegetable mixes quickly and tasty.

Recipes for cooking dishes from frozen mixes

Since the packaged vegetables have undergone shock freezing, they can be cooked quite quickly. It is not necessary to defrost them beforehand; they are put in soup and stew as is.

Recipes can be found on the back of the package, come up with it yourself or find it on the Internet:

These recipes are simple and do not require much time. You can still save on the mixtures themselves if you know how to prepare them during the autumn-summer season.

Freezing vegetables

Ingredients:

• cabbage of different types (cauliflower, white, Brussels sprouts, broccoli);
• tomatoes;
• carrot;
• green peas or green beans;
• pepper;
• zucchini or eggplant.

You can add greens, but it is better to freeze them separately.

Cooking method:

1. All products are carefully sorted and washed.
2. After that, they must be cut.
3. For these purposes, you can use a shredder, curly or regular knife or grater.
4. How to cut - decide for yourself. In order for vegetables to be useful throughout the season, they must be properly frozen. To make it easier to cook later, and the products retain their bright color and rich taste, it is better to blanch them. Each culture is dipped separately from the others.
5. We recline the vegetables in a colander and rinse with cold water, after which you need to dry them with a towel.
6. Some recipes, such as soup, are designed for raw rather than semi-finished products, so you do not need to dip vegetables in boiling water for these dishes.
7. In a large container, mix all the ingredients except tomatoes and arrange them in plastic bags with zippers.
8. It is better to put in portions of 500 g.
9. It remains to add tomatoes and you can close.
10. Squeeze tightly around the edges and release excess air from the bag, then fasten the lock.
11. The mixture is ready to be placed in the freezer.

Are frozen vegetable mixes healthy?

This type of product has many advantages. The main one is naturalness. Modern technologies make it possible to cook them without losing their vitamins and minerals. Such products are mainly made from domestic vegetables, and they are much healthier than imported ones.

By purchasing vegetable mixes, you save not only money, but also time. This product is usually inexpensive, and can be stored in the freezer for more than 1 year.

Recipes are printed right there, but even without them you can whip up a full breakfast or dinner. The soup will turn out rich and fragrant, the salads will be low-calorie, and the stew will be hearty. Therefore, such sets are very useful and popular. Bon appetit!

Frozen vegetable mix is a set of vegetables that have gone through several stages of processing (see photo). As a rule, such a product has the possibility of long-term storage - from six to eighteen months. During the freezing process, vegetable ingredients retain their beneficial properties as much as possible without losing their taste.

Depending on the components, such a mixture is divided into three types:

• homogeneous - such a product consists of one ingredient;
• assorted - this set includes from two or more types of vegetables;
• ready meals - this mixture is otherwise called a semi-finished product, its ingredients are ingredients suitable for making a particular salad, soup, etc.

We will share the most popular vegetable mixtures in the table below.

Sometimes such sets include cauliflower, potatoes, as well as parsley, lettuce, mushrooms and broccoli. Each type of mixture has a low calorie content, so they are often used to prepare diet meals.

How to make a frozen vegetable mix with your own hands?

Thanks to the easy process, every housewife can cook frozen vegetables with her own hands. At home, it is possible to make interesting vegetable combinations, which are very rarely found on sale today. For example, a set for borscht. This preparation is often prepared for the winter. It includes all the necessary vegetable ingredients, including white cabbage and beets.

At home, you can freeze absolutely any vegetables, but before doing this, the products should be properly prepared. First, they need to be sorted out to get rid of litter, and then rinsed well, cleaned and cut into the required shape. For freezing, vegetables are usually chopped into cubes or straws. Prepared ingredients must be blanched to preserve their texture, taste and color as much as possible. After that, the blank is packaged in special containers and sent to the freezer for storage.

Advice! To prevent the vegetable set from stale for a long time in the freezer, attach a piece of paper with the date of manufacture of the product to the container. Use a homemade mixture of vegetables should be within one year.

Use in cooking

In cooking, using frozen vegetables, you can cook a huge number of dishes. Such products are convenient in that they do not have to be thawed before heat treatment. It is enough to take them out of the package and place them in the necessary dish. Especially quickly with this mixture it is possible to cook soups.

There are many recipes for preparing frozen vegetables themselves. They can be brought to readiness in a double boiler, slow cooker, as well as in a regular pot, oven and pan. Often, vegetables are supplemented with chicken, pork and other meats, which makes for a complete lunch dish.

It is very easy to make a delicious salad from the Mexican mix. To do this, the product must be brought to readiness in lightly salted water, then cooled and supplemented with some kind of sausage. You can season such an unusual salad with both ordinary mayonnaise and mustard sauce.

Very often, sets of frozen vegetables are bought to make the famous stew. In this case, both the Mexican convenience food and the rustic mix are great.

Mushroom mixes can be used to make casseroles, scrambled eggs, hot sandwiches, and more.

Benefit and harm

Due to the fact that even after freezing, vegetables retain their chemical composition as much as possible, the mixtures created from them are incredibly useful for humans. Absolutely every such set contains vitamins C and B, as well as some minerals (calcium, potassium, etc.).

Each type of this product increases appetite, speeds up metabolic processes in the body and improves digestion.

The benefit of such a semi-finished product lies in the fact that in the winter season it effectively helps with beriberi and increases the protection of the immune system.

It has been scientifically proven that frozen vegetables can harm the body only with individual intolerance to a certain product, so when buying, first of all, study the composition.

Frozen vegetables are a necessary product in cooking, with the help of which you can quickly prepare many light and tasty dishes!

Preparing vegetables. First of all, of course, you need to wash all the vegetables and herbs, and then peel and chop. Separate the cauliflower and broccoli into medium-sized florets. Peel the carrots, cut into rounds with a curly knife or grate on a coarse grater. Remove the core from the lettuce pepper, cut into rings or strips. Cut out the middle of the tomatoes and make a notch crosswise. Eggplant cut into strips, medium-sized - rounds. Trim the ends of the string beans and then cut into 2-3 pieces. Peel green peas. Cut the zucchini into strips or a curly knife into rounds. Greens (dill, parsley, green onions, basil) coarsely chopped or left as is if the branches are small. Peel the onion, cut into rings.

Blanching. Heat water in a large saucepan. When it boils, put one kind of vegetables into it. Let it boil again. If it is tender broccoli, zucchini or peppers, then immediately remove from heat. But cauliflower, carrots, etc. you can let it simmer for a minute or two. Drain the vegetables in a colander and rinse under running cold water. Repeat the first and second points with all types of vegetables. The last ones I usually have are tomatoes, after which you need to remove the skin from them. Do not blanch greens. What does blanching give? It preserves the bright color of vegetables, as well as the vitamins in them, during subsequent freezing. But it is not necessary to do so. When time is short, for example, I do not blanch zucchini, eggplant and, of course, grated carrots.

Assembly of vegetable mixture. Put blanched vegetables, except for tomatoes, in a large bowl and mix. Divide the mix into slider bags or zip lock bags that can be used for at least two seasons. At the same time, practice has shown that it is better to freeze the mixture in portions at a time, for me it is about 400-450 grams. Add greens and tomatoes, cut into large pieces, to each package.

Freezing. Release excess air from the bags and put them in the freezer. Well, that's all! As for the composition of the mixtures and the ratios of the ingredients in them, this is a matter of taste and the availability of specific vegetables at the moment. Here are my favorite mixtures and dishes with them: 1. Cauliflower soup (cauliflower, carrots, lettuce peppers, green peas, tomatoes, onions, dill). Boil pearl barley or oatmeal until half cooked. Add to the resulting broth package with the mixture. Cook until vegetables and grains are soft. At the end, you can pour in a tablespoon of vegetable oil and let it boil. Before serving, season the soup with sour cream or mayonnaise. 2. Spaghetti with broccoli and beans (broccoli, salad peppers, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, parsley). Chop a couple of garlic cloves and sauté in a little vegetable oil. Add the thawed vegetable mixture, fry quickly and add a little water. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until done. Add boiled spaghetti to vegetables, mix. 3. Ratatouille (eggplant, zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes). Stewed vegetables can be served as a side dish or addition to rice and pasta; very tasty with buckwheat. 4. Eggplant garnish (eggplants, grated carrots, tomatoes, onions). This mixture can be used as a side dish for fish, as well as a topping for lasagna or cannelloni. 5. Rice with vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, lettuce peppers, green beans, tomatoes, greens). Simmer the garlic in the oil, put the vegetables out of the bag, and then the washed rice groats. Fry quickly and add water just enough to cover the rice and vegetables. As soon as the cereal absorbs water, add the same amount, and so on until cooked.