Ree Drummond Always Keeps This Frozen Item Stocked In Her Kitchen

There are some things that you'd assume are on the list of kitchen essentials for chefs like Ree Drummond. Maybe canned food or chicken stock, but probably not frozen peas, right? Well, in an interview with Mashed, the Food Network star and cookbook author shared that frozen vegetables are a non-negotiable in her home. 

"Frozen green vegetables are a triumph," Drummond told Mashed, with a call out to green beans and peas especially (in fact, Bobby Flay even prefers frozen peas over fresh). She claimed that the entire category "really opens up worlds," and this is particularly true for dishes like casseroles, soups, and stews where knife skills are significantly less important. When there isn't going to be a huge difference in result between using fresh or frozen vegetables, you can't really argue with convenience. 

This feels like it sums up how Drummond approaches home cooking in general. She isn't the type of cook to hide her shortcuts – why do that when they can be useful tools to get more people in the kitchen? "Giving yourself permission to work in a shortcut or convenience ingredient should never be something anybody feels guilty about," she explained in the interview.

In the Mashed interview, Ree Drummond described how this hack became her go-to once her home was filled with teenagers and meals became about getting the job done fast. And frozen vegetables are perfect for that, they're cheap, nutritionally solid, often pre-cut, and can be thrown into the freezer ready for when you need them. In fact, the pre-cut angle is one of the best advantages of cooking with frozen vegetables because it ensures they all have a similar size and are more likely to cook evenly. For home cooks with limited time, that's actually more important than you think as it saves time chopping and you know they're all going to cook at the same speed.

The only thing to bear in mind is that some vegetables fare better with being frozen than others. In fact, there are some vegetables you should avoid buying frozen altogether. Some of them, especially those with higher water content, can go mushy upon defrosting. Think of watery vegetables like cucumbers, lettuce, or zucchini – you don't want to eat any of these once they've been frozen. 

Finally, because the vegetables don't need to be washed, trimmed, or chopped, it gives you more time to focus on the flavor. You can spend more time seasoning them at every stage or on entirely other aspects of the meal, like sauces, that will make it taste better overall. When you are doing everything from scratch, it makes cooking feel like more of a chore than it needs to be. Drummond's frozen vegetable go-to allows you to put a healthy dinner on the table without overwhelming yourself with all the boring prep.

Static Media owns and operates Chowhound and Mashed.