The Kitchen Staple That’s Becoming More Popular Than Ever, According to a New Study

Plus, some of our favorite recipes to help you use up these nifty ingredients.

Reviewed by Dietitian Emily Lachtrupp, M.S., RD

Key Points

• Frozen food use is rising, with 40% eating it daily or every few days.
• Many buy frozen foods for planned meals, sometimes mixing fresh and frozen.
• Convenience, price and taste top the list of why shoppers choose frozen

There’s a misconception that the frozen food aisle contains nothing but heat-and-eat pizzas and cartons of ice cream, but there are also plenty of healthy items in your grocer’s freezers.

In fact, because products like frozen fruits and vegetables are often harvested at peak ripeness, you’ll often find lots of nutrients tucked away in the frozen foods aisle, too. We’ve long been fans of products like frozen cherries, spinach and edamame, so the latest study findings from the American Frozen Foods Institute make sense to us.

According to the American Frozen Foods Institute’s 2026 Power of Frozen in Retail report, which looks at consumers’ consumption, purchase drivers and use of frozen foods, frozen foods are more popular than ever with grocery shoppers. The report shows the number of frozen food users is increasing: 40% of consumers use these grocery items every few days or daily, up 5% since 2019. In addition, 77% of consumers purchase frozen foods as ingredients for a specific meal, while three in four consumers have no problem combining fresh and frozen ingredients in the same meal.

The top three reasons consumers give for purchasing frozen food? The report says it’s all about ease of preparation, price and taste. Consumers also report they are responding to increasing economic concerns by cooking more meals at home, planning their meals and working to prevent food waste—all goals that frozen foods can assist with.

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association, which spearheads the coming March Frozen Food Month, says this boost in frozen food usage may also have something to do with the amount of convenient foods available for those who follow special diets—like gluten-free or plant-based—in the frozen food aisle.

If you’ve not yet stepped on the frozen food bandwagon, there are plenty of healthy, tasty frozen goods on offer at all your favorite grocery stores. From cauliflower rice and frozen berries at Walmart to frozen mango chunks and organic broccoli florets at Costco, it’s worth taking a stroll through those aisles full of freezers to see which products appeal to your grocery shopping needs.

There are also plenty of must-have items we love grabbing from the freezer section, like jalapeno-cranberry meatballs at Costco, vegetable gyoza at Trader Joe’s and fruity Greek yogurt bites at Target. There are plenty of frozen food–inspired recipes on our site, like these delicious meals that start with a bag of frozen broccoli or some healthy dinners that call for frozen spinach.

Want to start working through your own freezer stash with some delicious eats? These recipes should help: