The Real Way To Eat More Veg If You Don’t Like Veg

Let us start by assuming you’re aware you can blend them into a soup. Juicing is also an option.

Turning vegetables into a liquid will keep most of their nutrients, but be aware that soup-ifying will lose some fiber, and juicing will lose all (or nearly all) of the fiber.

See also: Can you drink your fruit and vegetables? How does juice compare to the whole food?

If you do opt for juicing, please have it alongside something that’s not juice, because otherwise it will wreak havoc on your gut:

3 Day Juice Fasting? Not So Fast!

…not to mention your blood sugar levels:

Fruit Is Healthy; Juice Isn’t (Here’s Why)

For a deeper dive into the physiology of why that happens, check out: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?

Ask yourself one question

No, this isn’t about whether you feel lucky. Rather, the question is:

Why don’t you like veg?

To be clear, this is not challenging you to justify your dislike. Your likes and dislikes require no justification; they simply are.

But! It is important, to be able to proceed with this, for you to understand what it is about veg that you don’t like.

• For some people it’s the flavors (in which case cooking vigorously will kill most flavors)
• For some it’s the lack of flavors (in which case, time to go light on the cooking, heavy on the seasoning)
• For some, it’s the textures (needing them to not be soft)
• For some, it’s the textures (needing them to not be varied)
• For some, it’s about needing to do too much prep (needing something easier)

With regard to “too much flavor”, as we say, that’s easy; just cook it more and the flavor will go. Yes, you’ll probably lose some nutrients too, but you’ll still get some.

With regard to “not enough flavor”, then by all means cook them less, where safely possible (for example, potatoes are poisonous raw, so please still cook those). See also:

Make Your Vegetables Work Better Nutritionally ← this is about which veg you should cook more or less or differently, for optimal nutrients

And to add the healthiest extra flavors of all: Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?

With regard to needing them to not be soft, most are good raw, e.g. carrots, celery, bell peppers, cucumber, as some top items.

Remember also that salad doesn’t have to have soft leaves! You can make it out of anything you want; nobody can stop you!

See for example: Supergreen Superfood Salad Slaw ← so very crunchy!

If you are cooking, though, remember that you can choose vegetables will stay crunchy if cooked lightly (for example just quickly stir-frying), such as sugarsnap peas, cabbage, water chestnuts, Brussels sprouts (slice them!), bamboo shoots, etc.

With regard to needing the textures to not be varied, that usually means making them soft, and simply means cooking them generously. It’s possible that you might not like the smell of some vegetables while cooking (cruciferous vegetables are a common one for this complaint), so you might want to just skip those ones.

There are also ways of getting in things that are soft and homogenous without cooking, so such hummus, guacamole, and other similar dips!

With regard to needing it to require less prep, buy things ready-prepped as much as you can! Get in that frozen veg, or canned, it’s all good. Or even just ready-prepared stir-fry veg that you just need to toss into a wok.

We’ll tell you an extra secret: you can even literally just order take-out of your favorite vegetable dishes. Yes, there’ll probably be a bit more salt and maybe even sugar than you might use at home, but you’re getting vegetables in, and a positive attitude to diet (i.e., focusing on what to include, rather than what to exclude) will almost always result in the heathiest balance.

Also, getting things ready mixed (e.g. mixed frozen veg over separate) also cuts down on prep time and things you need to do. similarly, some of the things we mentioned earlier are zero-prep if bought ready-made, e.g. the hummus, guacamole, etc.

Still not a fan of veg?

All is not lost. As it turns out, fruit and vegetable extracts are still beneficial even in supplement form!

See: Are Fruit & Vegetable Extract Supplements Worth It?

Take care!