Vegetables are nutrient-dense and rich in antioxidants, which help fight off disease and improve your health. Their low calorie content makes them beneficial for weight management.

There’s a ton of benefits of vegetables. Thus, making them a regular part of your eating habits is extremely important.

Adults are recommended by health authorities to eat several servings of vegetables each day; however, this is not attainable for some.

Some are not just into eating vegetables because they find it inconvenient, while others simply don’t know how to prepare them in a way it’s appetizing. If you’re looking to find the best vegetables to eat, there are actually quite a number of them.

Here are 20 simple ways to make vegetables a regular part of your eating habits.

1. Try making vegetable soups

Making vegetable soups help you consume multiple servings of veggies at once. Cooking veggies into cream- or broth-based soups is very simple.

You can add a small amount of extra veggies like broccoli to soups to increase your fiber, vitamin and mineral intakes.

Here are a few veggie-based soup ideas for you:

• Pho packed with spinach and bok choy
• Kale, tomato, and white bean soup
• Green papaya fish soup
• Kitchen sink soup
• Ribollita

2. Experiment with veggie noodles

Veggie noodles are another great yet simple way to incorporate more veggies in your eating plan. They are an excellent alternative to high-carb foods like pasta.

Veggie noodles are made by inserting the veggies into a spiralizer, which is a kitchen device that cuts vegetables into strips resembling noodles. You can also have them shredded, sliced with a mandoline, or just cut as you please.

A spiralizer can process almost any type of vegetables, but they’re commonly used for nutrient-dense veggies like spaghetti squash, carrots, zucchini, and sweet potatoes.

Once the veggie noodles are processed, you can eat them just like pasta and combined with meat, other vegetables, or sauces.

Here are some veggie noodle ideas you can try:

• Peanut-chicken zoodles
• Zoodles with lentil bolognese
• Spaghetti squash in white wine and mushroom sauce

3. Try making zucchini lasagna

A pasta-free zucchini lasagna is another creative way to consume more veggies.

The traditional lasagna, which is made by layering lasagna noodles with meat, cheese, and sauce, is typically packed with carbs.

Replacing the lasagna noodles with strips of zucchini makes a delicious, low-carb, and nutrient-dense dish.

Zucchini is loaded with vitamin C and B vitamins. It also contains trace minerals and fiber.

When replacing those noodles with strips of zucchini, make sure to salt the zucchini and wait for 15 minutes, then draw out the extra water by patting it dry with a paper towel.

4. Add extra veggies to dressings and sauces

Another sneaky way to boost your veggie intake is by adding extra vegetables to dressings and sauces.

For example, while cooking marinara sauce, you can add some veggies and herbs of your preference, such as leafy greens like spinach, chopped onions, bell peppers, and carrots.

5. Incorporate veggies to smoothies

Smoothies can be a perfect refreshing snack or breakfast. Although hidden in fruity packages, green smoothies in particular are loaded with dark leafy greens.

Smoothies are typically made by combining fruit with milk, ice, or water in a blender, but you can also incorporate veggies, such as fresh, dark leafy greens, without compromising its flavor.

For example, you can combine kale with cucumber, bananas, and blueberries. Kale provides excellent amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K.

Frozen zucchini, sweet potatoes, avocado, beets, and pumpkin also work well into smoothies. You can also try pineapple, avocado, and banana green smoothie.

6. Make a cauliflower pizza crust

An extremely versatile vegetable, cauliflower can be used to make a pizza crust. It’s as simple as mixing finely chopped and drained cauliflower with some seasonings, almond flour, and eggs.

You can add toppings of your preference, such as tomato sauce, fresh veggies, and cheese.

A 100-gram cauliflower holds only about 26 calories and 5 grams of carbs, as well as decent amounts of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

7. Add extra veggies in casseroles

Casseroles are especially common during the holidays. Adding extra veggies in casseroles gives texture, bulk, and taste all at once. It is also an efficient way to boost your consumption of vegetables.

Casseroles often mix meats with potatoes, cheese, vegetables, and a grain like pasta or rice, making it very high in calories and refined carbs.

Fortunately, you can replace grains in your casseroles with veggies, such as carrots, mushrooms, celery, and broccoli, to lower its calorie and carb content.

8. Prepare savory oatmeal

Oats are great with fresh fruits, cinnamon, or raisins; however, you can also incorporate lots of veggies, eggs, and spices for a savory oatmeal.

A savory oatmeal with kale and mushroom can make a hearty, warm meal. Both are nutrient-dense, making them a great addition to a plant-based eating plan.

9. Cook a veggie omelet

Cooking a veggie omelet is another easy way to increase your intake of vegetables. Omelets are versatile and nutrient-dense.

Use a small amount of oil or butter to cook up some beaten eggs in a pan. Fold them around a filling of vegetables, meat, cheese, or a combination of the three.

Veggies, such as onions, spinach, scallions, mushrooms, bok choy, tomatoes, and bell peppers, taste great in omelets. You can try the following ideas for fluffy and filling omelets.

• Waffle omelet with tomatoes and peppers
• Spinach, goat cheese, and chorizo omelet
• Vegan chickpea omelet
• Moringa omelet

10. Try making a veggie bun or lettuce wrap

Instead of having bread and tortillas, you can try a veggie bun or lettuce wrap. It’s another easy way to consume more veggies.

Lettuce wraps are often used to make bunless burgers or low-carb sandwiches; they can also be a part of certain dishes.

Additionally, there are several types of veggies that make excellent buns, including sliced sweet potatoes, mushroom caps, sliced eggplant, tomato halves, and halved red or yellow peppers.

Using veggies as buns and lettuce as a wrap are an easy way to lower your intake of calories: refined bread contains higher calorie content, while one lettuce leaf harbors only 1 calorie.

You can try making any of the following to start with veggie buns and lettuce wraps:

• Portobello mushroom bruschetta
• Chickpea taco lettuce wraps
• Paleo lettuce wrap
• BLT lettuce wrap

11. Switch to veggie burger

An easy alternative for heavier meat burgers, veggie burgers can be topped with more veggies. Black beans and sweet potatoes are commonly used to make them.

Veggie burger patties are made by simply mixing vegetables with eggs, nut flours or nuts, and seasonings.

It is important to note that not all meat-free burgers are loaded with vegetables. Choose those that have veggies as the main ingredient.

12. Grill veggie kebabs

Veggie kebabs is a delicious way of eating more vegetables. A party-ready stick is loaded with various flavors. You can place different vegetables, including zucchini, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms, in the skewers.

13. Add veggies to guacamole

An avocado-based dip, guacamole is made by mashing avocados, sea salt, garlic, lemon or lime juice, and additional seasonings. It makes a tasty topper to baked sweet or white potatoes and salads.

Fortunately, several vegetables work well when incorporated into guacamole. These can include onions, garlic, tomatoes, and bell peppers.

14. Add veggies to tuna salad

Generally, tuna salad is made by combining tuna with mayonnaise. However, you can increase its flavor and nutrient content by adding any type of chopped vegetable, including cucumber, carrots, spinach, onions, and herbs.

15. Stuff some bell peppers

Stuffing halved bell peppers with rice, beans, cooked meat, and seasonings and baking them in an oven can absolutely help level up your veggie intake.

If you prefer to have them raw and crisp, adding in sliced turkey or chicken, layers of cream cheese, and seasonings can make them a perfect cold dish.

Bell peppers provide excellent amounts of vitamins A and C.

In addition, adding more extra veggies, such as riced cauliflower, spinach, or onions, can level up the nutrition content of stuffed bell peppers.

16. Make cauliflower rice

Cauliflower rice makes a healthy base for other foods. It also bulks up soups and stews. Compared to regular rice, it is significantly lower in carb content, having only 5 grams of carbs per cup.

Additionally, cauliflower is rich in folate, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin K.

Other vegetables like carrots, zucchini, beets, sweet potatoes, and broccoli can also be riced.

17. Combine veggies with meatloaf

Meatloaf is usually made with ground meat and other ingredients, including breadcrumbs, eggs, and tomato sauce.

However, you can also add in any type of chopped vegetable, such as onions, carrots, bell peppers, greens like spinach, and zucchini.

In addition, veggie-based meatloaf is also a thing. You can have chickpeas, onions, carrots, and celery.

18. Juice them

Juicing is a very creative way to consume a serving of plant-based nutrients in a glass.

Vegetable juices are unlikely to cause an insulin spike. Compared to fruit juices, they have significantly lower sugar loads.

The best vegetables to juice include beets, carrots, kale, broccoli, spinach, cucumbers, parsley, celery, tomatoes, and cabbage.

19. Make vegetable chips

Getting a full serving of vegetables from your diet every day can be an uphill battle. Fortunately, vegetable chips make the tastiest and healthiest snack you can crunch on.

Veggie chips are simply vegetables chopped, diced, or sliced and typically fried or baked to make them look appetizing.

Preparing healthy homemade veggie chips can save you tons of sodium and fat and help you eat more vegetables.

Common veggie chips are made from taro root, potato, kale, zucchini, and beets.

20. Keep them visible

Interestingly, keeping vegetables more visible can help increase your veggie intake. Where we place foods has been shown in some research to affect what we consume.

Conclusion

Apparently, there are several simple ways to make vegetables a regular part of your eating habits. By doing so, you’ll also significantly increase your antioxidant, nutrient, and fiber intakes.

You can either juice them, add them to eggs, add them in casseroles, or just keep them visible.