Like fresh ingredients, frozen foods are picked at their peak. Flash freezing preserves the quality of these foods and maximizes nutrient content for several months. With an extended shelf life, your chefs can thaw them as needed in the kitchen, giving you more control to meet demand without creating excess waste. Let’s take a look at ten foods that are better to buy frozen.
Chicken Breast
If undercooked or improperly handled, fresh raw chicken can pose serious health issues through cross contamination and bacteria growth. By cooking with frozen chicken, restaurants can avoid potential health risks and serve a juicier chicken.
Ground Beef
Similarly, frozen ground beef doesn’t pose the same food safety issues as fresh ground beef. Ground beef patties can easily be grilled straight out of the freezer, resulting in the same juicy burger you know and love.
Seafood
Unless you have access to fresh caught seafood, we recommend buying flash frozen fish and shrimp. Buying defrosted seafood doesn’t guarantee that it’s fresh, so frozen seafood gives you more control over the thawing and prep process.
Potatoes
Potatoes are much easier to buy frozen. That is, of course, unless you plan on baking or roasting them. Buying frozen fries or hash potatoes ready-made for your kitchen cuts out time spent washing, peeling, and cutting, and can reduce waste at your restaurant.
Chopped Vegetables
Vegetables are picked and flash frozen at peak ripeness to lock in nutrients. Canned vegetables, on the other hand, have fewer nutrients because they’re cooked several times. Some of the best veggies to buy frozen include:
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Corn
- Peas
- Leafy greens
- Hard squashes like butternut
Dessert
When you’re prepping to feed hundreds of customers in a large restaurant, opting for premade, frozen desserts can save you time and money. Desserts like cheesecake already require refrigeration, so that can be a great option to buy frozen.
Premade Appetizers
These quick-prep appetizers can save you a lot of time in the kitchen. Frozen foods like egg rolls and stuffed mushrooms come ready-made, so all you have to do is warm them up, and they’re ready to serve to your customers.
Edamame
Popular in sushi restaurants, edamame is a smart item to buy frozen as it’s ready to be served after a quick warm up. You can even buy edamame in bulk because it will keep well in the freezer for up to a year.
Berries
When farms flash freeze berries to be shipped out, they’re able to lock in more nutrients. The longer berries sit after being picked, the more nutrients they lose. Plus, buying frozen berries gives you access to them, even out of season.
Stone Fruit
Like frozen berries, buying various stone fruits frozen allows you to use these ingredients year-round. These fruits, including peaches, plums, and cherries usually come pre-pitted and cut, helping save time and reduce waste in your kitchen.
McDonald Wholesale carries a wide variety of frozen food brands that provide quality produce, meats, and more to Portland-area restaurants. Contact us today to learn more about the frozen food options we offer.