5 processed foods to buy for your kids, and 5 to avoid, according to a nutritionist
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Berries have always been a splurge, but lately a lap through the produce aisle could have you teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
With groceries this expensive, most of us are trying to wring real value out of every cart, and that includes nutritionists. Since the produce, meat and dairy perimeter of the supermarket is where the total climbs fastest, we chatted with Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LD, a registered dietitian nutritionist, to find out how families can save.
Her advice may surprise you: Shop the inner aisles, where your dollars stretch further. “The inner aisles get lumped together as the junk food zone, and some of that is fair,” Manaker says. “But painting the whole area with one brush misses a lot. The same shelves hold canned beans, whole grains, canned fish and tomatoes, foods that are nutritious, affordable and shelf-stable.”
Plenty in there really is junk, and that’s where a little label-reading pays off. Read the ingredient list, not the front of the box, Manaker says. The packaging is built to sell, and the ingredient list is where you find the truth. A short one full of foods you recognize is usually a good sign.
From there, check the nutrition facts panel for added sugars and scan for fiber and protein to see if the food offers anything real. Claims like “natural” or “made with whole grains” don’t tell you much on their own, so let the panel do the talking.
Here’s where Manaker fills her cart in the middle of the store, and what she leaves on the shelf.
5 healthy processed foods worth buying
- Canned or dried beans and lentils. These offer cheap plant protein and fiber that keeps for ages, and rinsing canned beans cuts a good chunk of the sodium.
- Canned tomatoes. It’s a great base for countless meals and a solid source of lycopene.
- Whole grains like oats and brown rice. You’ll get fiber that fills you up for very little money.
- Plain nut butter with a short ingredient list. It’s an easy hit of protein and healthy fats.
- Canned tuna. You’ve got to love a lean, shelf-stable protein you can keep on hand. Manaker points to Safe Catch, which she says tests each fish for mercury against a stricter limit than the FDA’s, a step she likes for families feeding kids.
With a little prep, most of these double as lunchbox options. Roast a can of chickpeas to make them snackable, portion nut butter into small containers with whole-grain crackers, or pack a shelf-stable tuna pouch that travels without a fridge and offers real protein for staying power. Cook a pot of oats or brown rice on Sunday and it stretches across breakfasts and sides all week. Add a piece of fruit and you’ve got a cheap, sturdy lunch that actually holds up.
5 processed foods to skip
- Sugary breakfast cereals. These often include refined grains and added sugar dressed up as a health food.
- Sweetened drink mixes and sodas. It’s liquid sugar that adds up fast without keeping anyone full.
- Snack cakes and cookies with long ingredient lists. Lots of sugar and refined flour and little else.
- Flavored instant noodle cups. They’re very high in sodium for what you actually get.
- “Fruit” snacks marketed to kids. Let’s be honest. It’s usually candy with a produce-shaped label.
Manaker would prefer that parents cut these than ration them, since they crowd out better options and set a taste baseline that’s hard to walk back with kids.
It doesn’t mean your kids never get a Fruit Roll-Up. . It means not making them a staple.
And if you carry any guilt about the cart, let go of the idea that processed automatically means bad. Canned beans, frozen vegetables, canned fish and whole-grain pasta are all processed, and they’re also some of the most practical, nutritious things you can feed a family on a tight budget.
The gap that matters is between minimally processed staples and ultra-processed snacks loaded with sugar and sodium.
“Feeding your family on a budget and a tight schedule is hard enough,” Manaker says. “Reaching for shelf-stable staples isn’t a failure. For most families, it’s just smart, realistic cooking.”
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