Which is healthier, cooking or steaming? And how can you keep more vitamins?

Boiling and steaming are both good ways to prepare food such as vegetables, potatoes, rice and couscous. With both methods, taste, vitamins and minerals are well preserved. Steaming retains slightly more vitamins and minerals. How much more cannot be said exactly. This depends, among other things, on the product, the cooking time and the cooking temperature.

Tips to preserve more vitamins and minerals when cooking:

• Cut vegetables and potatoes as little as possible. Vitamins on the inside are then less able to escape to the cooking water.
• Use as little water as possible, a bottom of 1 to 2 cm is sufficient, and do not cook longer than necessary. View here the cooking times of different vegetables.
• If necessary, use the cooking liquid to make gravy or sauce.

Look here for more cooking tips

When steaming, you can follow the instructions on the steam oven. Don’t have a steam oven? Even then you can steam, for example with a:

• pan with heat-resistant colander and lid;
• pan with a metal, wicker or bamboo steamer basket;
• steamer;
• an electric steamer;
• or with a couscous pan.

Look here for tips for steaming

Do you also have a question? Then ask one of our experts. Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. They also do not diagnose. You can find the other conditions here.