Top 9 Tips for Enjoying Canned Tomatoes

Did you realize that canned tomatoes have a number of well being advantages? Yes, these antioxidant-rich plant meals can assist battle illness and promote optimum well being. Plus canned tomatoes are straightforward, budget-friendly and scrumptious. Check out these Top 9 Tips for Enjoying Canned Tomatoes plus my favourite canned tomatoes recipe assortment.

Did you realize that each time you chew right into a crunchy taco lined with salsa, a pile of pasta smothered in marinara, or steaming bowl of tomato soup, you might be gaining well being advantages linked with consuming tomato merchandise? Yes, canned tomato merchandise, together with canned diced, crushed or entire tomatoes, marinara sauce, pizza sauce, tomato paste, salsa, and tomato soup, are wealthy in quite a few health-protective vitamins, together with fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and lycopene—the antioxidant compound that offers tomatoes their stunning scarlet hue. And when tomatoes are cooked—as they’re in canned tomatoes—the lycopene is much more out there to your physique, as a result of the cooking opens up cell partitions within the tomato plant to permit the lycopene to be absorbed into your physique. That’s why consuming a couple of servings of tomato merchandise every week is linked with well being advantages, comparable to decreased dangers of prostate most cancers, coronary heart illness, hypertension, osteoporosis, sun-related pores and skin harm, and extra.

I requested prime dietitians to dish up their favourite suggestions for having fun with extra canned tomato merchandise in your day. Check out these fabulous concepts and canned tomato recipe ideas, and revel in a serving of tomato merchandise at present!

Top 9 Tips for Enjoying Canned Tomatoes

1. Go For Canned Tomatoes Over Fresh More Often

While nothing beats a contemporary tomato on the vine through the highpoint of summer season, there’s so much to like about having fun with extra canned tomatoes through the 12 months, particularly when contemporary is out of season. Out of season contemporary tomatoes can lack taste and texture, plus have a better environmental footprint from transportation or cultivation in a heated greenhouse. And keep in mind, these canned tomatoes are simply as (if no more) nutritious as contemporary. “Lycopene, an important plant nutrient, found to be protective against cancer in laboratory work, is more easily absorbed in processed tomatoes,” says Jean Lamantia, RDN. So, attempt to get pleasure from extra processed tomatoes over contemporary—you’ll be able to even use canned tomatoes in dishes like bruschetta, sandwich fillings, and hummus.

2. Get Creative with Tomatoes

There is simply a lot you are able to do with a single can of tomatoes, from stews and casseroles to curry and rice dishes. “Processed tomatoes are very versatile and can be used in many dishes, like chili, pasta or pizza sauce, and soups. Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, an important antioxidant known to protect against cancer, and they’re good for blood pressure and heart health. They are also an excellent source of vitamin C,” says Janet Brancato, MS, RDN of My Nutopia.

3. Load Up on Potassium

Another motive to like tomatoes is that they’re good at reducing blood strain, as a consequence of their stash of potassium. “Tomatoes are a good source of potassium, a nutrient needed to help lower blood pressure. They’re also part of a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet,” Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LD, proprietor of Sound Bites Nutrition. So, load up on extra potassium-rich tomato merchandise in recipes, comparable to soups, stews, and rice dishes, like this recipe above.

4. Choose Low Sodium Tomato Products

Along with potassium, it’s a good suggestion to restrict your sodium consumption for wholesome blood strain ranges. “I recommend using low sodium canned tomatoes. Potassium helps to offset high sodium intake, a notable problem in today’s highly processed food diet. High sodium intake is blamed for the increasing incidence of high blood pressure,” says Wendy Rice, RDN. So, go for decrease sodium tomato merchandise, comparable to decreased sodium tomato juice, marinara sauce, and salsa. And make your individual home-made tomato soup (pictured above) to get pleasure from decrease sodium meals.

5. Fight Free Radicals with Lycopene

One of the advantages of tomato’s antioxidant compounds is that it fights oxidative stress, which protects you towards power illnesses. “Tomatoes are packed with vitamins C, A, and K. Tomatoes also contain the antioxidant lycopene, which helps your body fight damaging free radicals. In some studies lycopene has demonstrated anti-cancer activity. Processing tomatoes makes the lycopene more easily absorbed, so tomato sauce, salsa, and soups are great ways to consume them,” says Wendy Kaplan, MS, RDN, CDN of Food 4 Health RD.

6. Increase Your Produce Intake with Processed Tomatoes

Every time you feast on tomato merchandise in a recipe, you might be powering up your all-important vegetable consumption. “The term ‘processed food’ is charged with so many emotions, unfortunately fear usually tops the list. I encourage my clients to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. We know fruits and vegetables protect our bodies against disease and we know Americans don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables; canned tomatoes offer an affordable and convenient way for us all to increase our produce intake and improve the nutrient density of our diets. Pick up a can or two next time you’re at the grocery store, you can even find “No Salt Added” varieties which might be excellent for mixing into your favourite dinner recipes,” says Lindsey McCoy, RD, CSSD. Find her on Instagram @cravenutritionrd.

7. Stock Your Pantry with Canned Tomatoes

Make positive to all the time have a couple of cans of tomato merchandise—particularly diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and marinara sauce—rolling round in your pantry, for simple, instantaneous meal options, comparable to sloppy joes, lentil stew, or sofritas tacos. “For home kitchens, ‘preserved’ tomatoes are shelf stable, affordable, a great ingredient as part of a quick meal, a beautiful red color, count as a vegetable, and are nutritious AND delicious. So in addition to nutrition, don’t forget how many wonderful dishes contain preserved tomatoes!” says Cathy Foreman, MS, RDN, LD.

8. Cooking Tomatoes Really Counts for Nutrition!

The energy of cooked tomatoes, as in canned tomato merchandise, is actual. “You need to break the cell wall down to better access the lycopene. Cooking and crushing tomatoes makes it accessible. Watermelon is also very high in lycopene, but we don’t absorb it as well because we typically don’t cook watermelon. You’ll get more lycopene from the ketchup on your veggie-burger, than the piece of watermelon at a barbecue,” says Tina Marinaccio, RDN. So, go forward and pile on these tomato merchandise in your subsequent pasta dish or chili bowl.

9. Boost Fertility with Lycopene

More analysis hyperlinks plant-based vitamin with elevated fertility, particularly sure plant meals. “I recommend tomatoes, whether they are processed or fresh, to my male clients struggling with infertility. Lycopene intake is related to improved male fertility parameters, so depending on the specific condition, I will encourage intake of lycopene-rich foods like tomato products,” says Lauren Manaker MS, RDN, LD. It’s an ideal time to get pleasure from extra recipes that includes tomatoes, comparable to a yummy pizza, chile rellenos casserole, or eggplant parmesan.

For a few of my favourite plant-based recipes that includes canned tomatoes, take a look at the next:

Summer Vegetarian Chili
Instant Pot Chickpea Curry
Vegan Tortilla Soup
Ratatouille with White Beans
Vegan Pasta Amatriciana
Swiss Chard Pecan Vegan Lasagna
Vegan Jambalaya with Red Beans and Okra