• Food
  • Family
  • Beauty & Health
  • Style
  • Great Women
  • Events/Win
  • Domestic Diva Awards 2022
  • Food
    • Eating Out
    • Cooking Tips
    • Festive Food
    • Asian Recipes
    • Food
    • Celebrity Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Quick & Easy Recipes
    • Western Recipes
  • Family
    • Family
    • Save Money
    • Parenting
    • Sex & Marriage
    • Travel
  • Beauty & Health
    • Beauty & Health
    • Skincare
    • Makeup
    • Hair
    • Awards
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • Fitness
    • Wellness
  • Style
  • Great Women
    • Career
    • Great Women of Our Time
    • Real Life
  • Entertainment
  • EVENTS/WIN
  • #SchoolForLife
  • Hair Awards
  • Great Escape
  • Explore Singapore
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu
SPH Media

Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. All rights reserved.

  • Food
  • Family
  • Beauty & Health
  • Style
  • Great Women
  • Events/Win

Cooking Tips

The Most Nutritious Canned Foods To Keep Stocked In Your Pantry

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Cooking Tips

The Most Nutritious Canned Foods To Keep Stocked In Your Pantry

Zero in on these canned food items that are actually nutritious

September 16, 2020

Photo: Shutterstock

Canned foods are convenient and easy to cook: Just pop the lid, reheat and they are mostly ready to go. However, they are often regarded as unhealthy choices due to perceived high levels of sodium, sugar and preservatives.

Although they are often thought to be less nutritious than fresh or frozen foods, not all canned products are unhealthy. Some of them are just as nutritious – if not more so – than their fresh counterparts, said Yuliana Zhang, a plant-based nutritionist.

“When it comes to nutrition, all forms count. Many health organisations such as the USDA have recognised that canned, fresh, frozen and dried foods all help to contribute to healthy eating as long as everything is in good balance,” she said.

WATCH THIS VIDEO TOO
How To Make Baked Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes

Fresh is not always the best.

A study by the University of California, Davis found that fresh vegetables like spinach can lose up to 75 per cent of their vitamin C within seven days of harvest. Blanching and freezing them may help to preserve some nutrients, but not for long.

It’s worth noting that the process of canning preserves food. “The key is to find healthier canned food products, and combine them with fresh ingredients in a meal,” says Yuliana.

“Choose canned products that have a lower amount of sodium, sugar and saturated fat, such as those with the Healthier Choice Symbol. Also check the ingredient list: It should contain simple, key ingredients.”

So the next time you’re at the supermarket, hone in on these healthier canned food options that can last you a long time.

READ NEXT

12 Clever Food Storage Hacks To Keep Asian Ingredients Fresh For Longer

Here Are 5 Ways To Read Food Labels For Effective Weight Loss

10 Surprising Health and Immunity Boosting Foods From The Kitchen

https://www.womensweekly.com.sg/gallery/food/cooking-tips/canned-foods-nutritious-than-fresh-frozen-ones/
The Most Nutritious Canned Foods To Keep Stocked In Your Pantry
Canned tomatoes and tomato products (such as tomato puree and tomato paste)
image

Lycopene, the antioxidant that gives tomato its red colour, is more easily absorbed by the body after cooking or processing. The same goes for other canned vegetables that are high in vitamin A and carotenes, such as sweet potatoes, carrots and pumpkin. These nutrients are activated through the canning process.

Read Next

Eating Tomatoes Daily Can Be The Secret To Losing Weight & Looking Younger

123RF
Try this recipe: Spinach And Cheese Cannelloni
image

For this Italian dish, the main ingredients consist of spinach, tomato puree, stringy cheese and cannelloni tubes. Firstly, place the spinach (after you have squeezed excess liquid from it) with the ricotta cheese and parmesan and season it with salt. Then, fill the cannelloni tubes with the ricotta filling. Next, pour the canned tomato puree into a bowl and stir in sugar, basil and a generous sprinkling of black pepper. Finally, spread the tomato mixture over the cannelloni tubes and bake in the oven for 30 mins at 180 C.

Get the recipe

Read Next

19 Tasty Tomato Recipes To Boost Your Health

20 Ingenious Tomato Sauce Hacks That Will Blow Your Mind

John Paul Urizar/bauersyndication.com.au
Canned fruits
image

Fresh fruits are always preferred, but if you’re short of time to buy and cut them up, having canned fruits is not such a bad idea. Based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, adults who incorporated canned fruits and vegetables into their diets had an overall higher consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as nutrient intake than those who did not.

Tip: Be sure to choose canned fruits in their own juice. If your canned fruit has added sugar, drain and rinse the fruit to reduce the sugar and salt level.

123RF
Try this recipe: Baked Peach Crumbles
image

This dessert serves up warm baked peaches with ice cream, with an added crunch from the cereal clusters. To make it, rub butter into a bowl of sifted flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Continue to mix the mixture with sugar, almonds and cereal. Sprinkle crumble mixture evenly over peach halves from the can and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden. Top it off with ice-cream of your choice.

Get the recipe

Read Next

It's Peach Season! See 10 Refreshing Recipes With This Sweet Fruit

12 Recipes With Fruits For Better Health

"Ugly Fruits Are Bad Fruits" And 8 Other Food Myths You Shouldn't Believe

bauersyndication.com.au
Canned fatty fish
image

Fatty fish like sardines and mackerel contain omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, the two essential nutrients that most Singaporeans lack. Omega-3 is a good fat that helps to maintain healthy blood cholesterol levels that’s essential for brain and heart health. Vitamin D is important to aid calcium absorption for bone health. An increasing number of studies have found a lack of vitamin D to be linked with various chronic diseases.

Including canned fatty fish in your meal plan can help you meet the Health Promotion Board’s recommendation to have at least two servings of fish a week. One serving is equivalent to one palm-size or 90g of cooked fish.

Tip: Don’t chuck the bones from canned sardines; they are an additional source of calcium. Mash them with the meat for easier consumption.

Pixabay
Try this recipe: Roti John
image

A popular breakfast or snack in Singapore and Malaysia, this sardine Roti John recipe is easy to make. To make it, mince a can of sardines in a bowl and add in the chopped onions and sliced red chillies. Whisk in the eggs into the mixture. After it’s done, spread the mixture onto bread and fry it with the mixture face down, in a pan that has been heated up with olive oil. When one side turns golden brown, turn it over and fry the other side.

Get the recipe

Read Next

25 Tasty Fish Recipes For Family Dinners

Canned beans (legumes)
image

A good source of fibre and minerals, canned peas, beans, lentils and the like are naturally low in fat and cholesterol-free. So consider swopping dried beans for canned beans if you’re short of preparation time. Canned beans are cheaper too.

 

Shutterstock
Try this recipe: Vegetable And White Bean Soup
image

This hearty and filling vegetable soup recipe is inspired by the classic minestrone, and packs a double punch with canned beans and canned tomatoes. To make it, first saute the hard vegetables and bacon, then add stock, water, tomatoes and soup mix. Simmer, then stir in the beans and simmer further. Eat it with bread or rice!

Get the recipe

Read Next

Best Bean Recipes Even Those Who Hate Beans Will Enjoy

10 Healthy "Fast Food" Items That Should Always Be In Your Kitchen

8 Most Useful Pantry Staples That Will Last You Through Circuit Breaker

Text: Estelle Low/Shape, Additional reporting: Sheila Chiang & Elizabeth Liew

Rob Shaw/bauersyndication.com.au
  • TAGS:
  • canned beans
  • canned fish
  • Canned Food
  • canned fruits
  • cooking tips
  • Coronavirus Stay Healthy Guide
  • DomesticDiva2020
  • healthy food
  • healthy recipes
  • Tomatoes
SHARE THIS ON

What’s Hot

Cooking Tips

Huat Ah! 18 Auspicious Phrases To Shout ...

Cooking Tips

10 Noodle Recipes For Longevity This Chi...

Cooking Tips

15 Recipes That Will Please Any Pasta Lover

Editor’s Picks
  • Cooking Tips Huat Ah! 18 Auspicious Phrases To Shout For Good Luck During Lo Hei
  • Festive Food 4 Creative And Delicious Ways To Prepare Nian Gao
  • Cooking Tips 10 Noodle Recipes For Longevity This Chinese New Year
  • Food Last-Minute Steamboat Ingredients To Buy For Chinese New Year
  • Quick & Easy Recipes 8 Fun & Easy Recipes To Make With Your Kids Over The Weekend
  • Cooking Tips 15 Recipes That Will Please Any Pasta Lover
Don't Miss Out Ever Again!
Tips & tricks to stay sane + win invites to our events!

By signing up, you indicate that you have read and agreed with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Policy
?>">
SPH Magazine

Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. All rights reserved.