Sauté or Boil? What’s the Healthiest Way to Cook Vegetables?
We all know that vegetables are healthy — but how you prepare them also makes a big difference.
The nutritional value of your food depends not only on the ingredients, but also on how they’re cooked.
According to Spanish researchers, sautéing vegetables is healthier than boiling them.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Nutrition Center advises varying your cooking methods for the best overall balance.
What does the research say?
Scientists from the University of Granada in Spain studied various cooking methods, including sautéing in extra virgin olive oil and boiling in water.
Their findings? Antioxidants in the vegetables were better preserved when sautéed. In some cases, the nutritional value of the vegetables even increased when cooked in extra virgin olive oil.
How cooking method affects vitamins
Cooking method also impacts the retention of vitamins.
When you sauté vegetables in a pan, the temperature generally stays below 100°C. Since no water is involved, vitamins don’t leach out into cooking water, as they would when boiling.
Pros and cons of sautéing
Of course, the advantage of preserving vitamins is somewhat relative — in countries like the Netherlands, vitamin deficiencies are not a widespread public health issue.
However, when sautéing, vegetables do absorb oil or fat. While healthy fats are essential, they also add more caloriesto your meal. So it’s likely that people who sauté their vegetables consume slightly more calories.
If you do choose to sauté, use plant-based oils or liquid cooking fats. The Dutch Nutrition Center actually advises against using extra virgin olive oil for sautéing, because it can form unhealthy compounds when overheated.
Other healthy cooking methods
To keep variety in your cooking, try other techniques as well:
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Boiling with minimal water
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Steaming
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Roasting in the oven
These methods don’t require oils or fats, meaning that fat isn’t absorbed into the food as it is with sautéing, frying, or deep-frying.