The Top 5 Canned Veggies, Ranked

Canned vegetables are underappreciated, which is why we always keep these five options on hand.

Canned vegetables have a bad reputation. While there is nothing like eating farmers’ market-fresh vegetables, canned vegetables have their time and place. It’s an easy way to get more vegetables into your diet, and canned vegetables can be lifesavers when fresh versions of your favorites are too expensive or unavailable. Plus, canned vegetables last for months in your pantry, so you won’t waste money on a bunch of green beans that go bad before you can eat them.

We taste-tested canned vegetables so you didn’t have to in order to provide you with the best canned vegetable experience. What were the outcomes? We were surprised at how tasty they can be. These are our top five picks for a quick veggie fix at dinnertime.

1. Corn

These canned golden kernels taste as sweet as candy but contain far more nutrients than candy and contain no added sugar. We’re ready to use them on tacos, in casseroles, salsas, and salads. And, while corn is sweet, it has a low glycemic index, which means its carbs are released slowly into your bloodstream and are unlikely to cause blood sugar spikes.

2. Tomatoes

With whole, diced, crushed, and flavored tomatoes all available in cans, the only thing keeping them from being number one is that you have to cook them (most of the time). Keep canned tomatoes on hand for quick sauces, tossing into pasta dishes, and making simple soups. Lycopene, which is abundant in fresh and cooked tomatoes, protects your skin from UV rays and may lower your risk of certain cancers.

3. Carrots

These sweet little carrot discs were perhaps the most surprising on this list. In a pinch, we’d eat them straight from the can on a salad, but they’re also great for bulking up soups (whole or pureed) and adding to casseroles like chicken potpie.

4. Green Beans

Even if canned green beans aren’t your favorite canned vegetable, they’re a good pantry staple to have on hand. You can’t go wrong with them in a soup (especially when fresh green beans aren’t so fresh), and they’re the star of a classic green bean casserole. Green beans are high in silicon, a mineral necessary for strong bones.

5. Peas

Peas in a can aren’t our first choice, but they’re not off-limits. When fresh peas are out of season, canned peas are great to have on hand for packing veg into mac and cheese (or carbonara!) or throwing into a stir-fry. With 4 grams of fiber and plant protein per 1/2 cup, peas are an excellent source of both.