7 Processed Foods I’m Completely Fine Feeding My Family

I have a confession to make.

There are processed foods in my kitchen.

Quite a few of them, actually.

This probably isn't shocking to most people. But spend enough time wandering around the wellness side of the internet and you'd think opening a can of beans means you've abandoned all nutritional standards.

I don't buy that.

As I wrote in my piece about what eating whole foods actually means, processing isn't automatically the problem. The better questions are: What happened to the food? What's been added? What nutritional value does it bring to the table? And does it help us make a good meal?

Because remember:

Time is an ingredient too.

Here are seven processed foods I'm perfectly comfortable keeping around.

1. Frozen vegetables

Frozen vegetables may be one of the best convenience foods ever invented.

They're washed. They're cut. They don't wilt into expensive compost in the back of your produce drawer.

And nutritionally, frozen doesn't mean inferior.

Vegetables intended for freezing are generally frozen relatively soon after harvest, and research comparing fresh and frozen produce has found that frozen fruits and vegetables can retain nutrients quite well.

I still buy plenty of fresh vegetables, particularly when texture matters.

But frozen peas? Corn? Spinach? Broccoli for a quick soup or casserole?

Absolutely.

A freezer full of vegetables is dinner insurance.

2. Canned beans

Could I soak dried beans overnight and cook them myself?

Of course.

Do I always remember that I want beans tomorrow?

Absolutely not.

Canned beans are inexpensive, convenient, full of fiber and useful in everything from soups and salads to tacos and quick weeknight bowls.

My preference is usually pretty simple: beans, water and salt.

If sodium is a concern, look for lower-sodium varieties and drain and rinse them before using.

This is exactly the kind of processing I have no interest in being afraid of.

3. Plain cultured yogurt

Milk doesn't magically turn into yogurt by sitting around and thinking positive thoughts.

It's processed.

It's also a food humans have been making in various forms for a very long time.

I generally look for plain yogurt with a straightforward ingredient list and live cultures. Greek yogurt is especially useful because it works as breakfast, a snack, a sauce base, a marinade and a substitute for heavier ingredients in certain recipes.

And yes, flavored yogurt can be delicious.

I just prefer controlling the sweetness myself with fruit, honey or another addition rather than starting with something that's already dessert-adjacent.

4. Canned tomatoes

I am a professional chef.

I am not peeling fresh tomatoes every time I want tomato sauce.

Good canned tomatoes are one of the greatest pantry ingredients available.

They're consistent, convenient and often a better choice for cooked tomato dishes than sad out-of-season grocery-store tomatoes.

Whole peeled tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and tomato paste all have permanent real estate in my pantry.

Just read the label.

Tomatoes, tomato juice or puree, perhaps salt and sometimes citric acid or calcium chloride aren't going to keep me awake at night.

5. Frozen fruit

This is basically the same argument as frozen vegetables, except frozen berries have the added benefit of not turning fuzzy approximately eleven minutes after you bring them home.

Frozen fruit is fantastic for smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, sauces and desserts.

It's also a great way to buy fruit outside its normal season without paying premium prices for something that doesn't taste particularly good.

I usually look for bags containing one ingredient:

Fruit.

Hard to argue with that.

6. Jarred marinara

Now we're getting into more interesting territory.

There is a huge difference between brands here.

A good marinara can be an incredibly useful shortcut.

A not-so-good one can contain surprising amounts of added sugar, sodium and ingredients that don't seem necessary to make tomato sauce taste like tomato sauce.

My ideal jar isn't complicated:

Tomatoes. Olive oil. Onion. Garlic. Herbs. Salt.

Maybe a few other sensible ingredients.

I'm not expecting every jar to reproduce somebody's grandmother's Sunday sauce. I'm looking for something that lets me turn pasta, vegetables and a protein into dinner quickly.

This is exactly the sort of product we'll start putting through the Dad Man Pantry Test in future Product Reviews.

7. Good bread and tortillas

Yes, bread is processed.

So are tortillas.

I'm still eating them.

This category is another one where I think turning the package around matters.

I'm looking for a product with ingredients that make sense, decent nutrition for what it is and—this is important—something that actually tastes good.

Since Dad Man recipes and meal plans are being developed from a gluten-free foundation, I'll also be doing plenty of digging into gluten-free breads, tortillas, crackers and other products.

And gluten-free does not automatically mean healthier.

Sometimes removing gluten creates a product with more refined starches, gums and other ingredients than its conventional counterpart.

That's not necessarily a reason to reject it.

It is a reason to read the label.

Convenience should help you cook

There's a common thread running through everything on this list.

Frozen vegetables aren't dinner.

Canned beans aren't dinner.

A jar of marinara isn't dinner.

They're ingredients that make cooking dinner easier.

That's where I think convenience foods are most useful.

Instead of asking whether every item in your kitchen qualifies as perfectly “whole,” ask whether the combination of foods you're buying helps you put a good meal on the table.

Frozen broccoli + chicken + rice + a homemade sauce?

Dinner.

Canned beans + vegetables + avocado + corn tortillas?

Dinner.

Jarred marinara + gluten-free pasta + ground beef + a big salad?

Dinner.

No nutritional purity test required.

The Dad Man rule

I'm not interested in building a kitchen where every ingredient has to pass some arbitrary test of perfection.

I want a kitchen that makes really good food easier to cook.

That's why Product Reviews are going to become a regular part of Dad Man.

We'll turn packages around.

We'll look at ingredients.

We'll look at nutrition.

We'll consider price.

And then we're going to do something surprisingly absent from a lot of healthy-food reviews:

We're going to taste the food.

Because if nobody wants to eat it, I don't particularly care how impressive the package looks.

Dinner just got easier.

Dad Man is being rebuilt around chef-created recipes, 52 weeks of family meal plans, organized shopping lists, practical cooking advice and honest product reviews.

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