Cooking veggies preserves them and some can be frozen depending on the purpose. If you have meal plans for them make sure to get them within the correct freshness timeframe. Otherwise I think @dessa has good tips
this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026
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Eat everything all at once and then not eat anything for the rest of thr week likr a vidro gamr cjaracter
In general: Produce storage is about proper management of moisture, temperature, and in a few cases, separation from things that promote rot.
- Moisture. You generally want to keep things at their preferred level of humidity while preventing condensation. Bacteria likes it when water beads.
What humidity a vegetable prefers depends on the veggie. Things that get wiggly but should be firm have dried out too much (which will inevitably hapoen to most things if they hang out for way too long. Examples: Leafy veggies, stemmy things (cilantro, green onions).
Things that get slimy have stayed too moist. Examples: Also leafy veggies. Root vegetables.
Things that develop tiny mold spots have condensation issues. Example: Mushrooms*, leafy veggies again.
A good common setup fsornthings that like humidity is to put things in plastic bags and put paper towel in the bag. The pastic traps humitidy while the paper towel catches condensation.
- Temperature: A few veggies are weird about temperature. Bananas hate fridges. Whole tomatoes lose flavor in the fridge as their sugars turn to starches. People will fight me on this,.but I prefer.to store.onions in the fridge
3 Separation: Do not store apples with other things. They emit a gas that promotes rot. A number of fruits do this, but I don't have a list. Berries are fine.
Random tips: Root veggies like cool, dry places. Basements can be good for this if you can store it in a spot vermin won't go after it. Otherwise, crisper drawrr set to dry. I always open my bags of carrots if they're in the frdige.. Slime will get them sooner than drying out either can happen. If carrots get wiggly, you probably needed to use them sooner
I keep cut onions in tightly wrapped aluminum foil. I don't know why this works best, but it beats wax, paper, or airtight containers.
Mushrooms can either go in a paper bag, or stores in their contaianers with paper towels above and below. Mushrooms go slimy and get mold spots. Note that fuzzy white mold near the base ofnthe srtem is normal and expected on shrooms. That's mycellium, a healthy mold that promotes soil health. Don't trust me. Google this and verify so you're sure what safe looks like.
Ginger goes in wax paper in the fridge. So do cut lemons. Uncut lemons can just be left whole and fridged. Wax paper seals moisture but slowly absorbs moisture over time as breaks in the water-seal eventually give in.
Some things with stems can go right into water, or stored in plasting with a wet paper towel around the base (I do this with green onions which are otherwise really finicky to store). Asparagus can be kept In a cup of water. If you're really being thorough, score a plasting bag and put it over the top of the sparagus. They're literally just cut flowers.
Generally wiggly is safter to eat than slimy and slimy is safer thatn moldy if youre careful to cut and wash the bad parts.
Do not try to cut mold off unless you're in dire straits or tolerate risk well. If you do, cut an inch or two past where you think it needs to be cut because mold sends out tendrils in ways you cant see. So if you cut off well beyond, hopefullt you'll save the fresh portion for prep.
You need air to be able to circulate around fresh veggies. Closed bag always rots faster than an open one. Also storing green onions with roots in water can help they stay crisp longer. Lil paper towel to absorb moisture also helps!
Some things are just going to rot faster than others. Leafy greens especially. Part of why I prefer heartier veggies like brassicas.
Tangentially related but do not sleep on flash steaming. It is hands down the fastest and tastiest ways to cook a lot of veggies. Carrots, beets, aforementioned brassicas, lotta things steam up real nice. I do it over the stove with a pot and metal strainer but even just a glass dish in the microwave w/ a little water will get great results, if a lil soggier.
CONGRATS ON GOING VEGAN!
I’ve got many many tips from a lifetime in restaurants so feel free to reach out anytime!
Also storing green onions with roots in water can help they stay crisp longer.
On this matter, and this is overcomplicated, but avoid having water in contact with the bulbs.
The roots should be roughly 75% submerged or less. 100% immersion in water will kill the green onions because they have air roots and those need to be able to breathe.
Suspending green onions over water can be a bit tricky. If you're going to use them in a typical timeframe then the damp paper towel method on the roots is going to be best for a simple option for getting the most lifespan out of your onions without it being fiddly.
If you want to really step it up a notch or you want your green onions to last for weeks or longer, get a net cup and place it into a jar or a drinking glass. This will suspend the green onions above the water and as long as you have a few roots reaching the water through the net cup, the onions will keep on growing. (You can also DIY a net cup by modding a small pot and cutting holes into it.)
Put it by a bright window sill, if possible.
At this point you're only about one step away from non-recirculating hydroponics (aka the kratky method) and, by adding hydroponic nutrient to the water, you're there. There's a little bit more to it but that's probably overcomplicating things a whole lot.
Nowadays I only buy for the present day before going home. A strategy I had before was to only buy things I know when I was gonna be able to cook and how. You can either think on the spot or lookup recipees before going out. Plan for a couple of days or the whole week
Don't overthink every meal. Most of the time I just select a couple of vegetables and pan cook them with some tofu
Right on. That's something I was honestly thinking about doing myself since it seemed that I'd always have the freshest stuff on hand. Things like kale, cabbage, carrots and potatoes keep for a good while in the fridge, so maybe I'll just think about what I need extra to make things with those. Do you have any good recipes or tips for making tofu? I've never tried it myself.
Quick tofu primer: there are a bunch of different kinds, but the main distinguishing factor is its firmness. Softer tofu has more water and firmer tofu has less water (it's pressed for longer). I normally just get extra-firm tofu (the kind that comes completely wrapped in flexible plastic, and is sometimes called super-firm tofu) because that's what Costco sells in my area and use it for almost all tofu instances. Some people press tofu to get more water out of it before using it, but I've never noticed much of an improvement from doing that. Maybe at most you'd want to pat it dry if you're going to toss it in corn starch or something.
My roommate makes a lot of stir fries where she just cubes up tofu and puts it in, and it can absorb the flavor of the sauce pretty well. It's pretty neutral and bland by itself, but in a very simple stir fry I think it's pretty tasty.
My all time favorite tofu recipe is this vegan palak paneer with tofu. It's even easier to make than the recipe says imo, follow the boiled tofu part but you don't need to boil the tofu (just plop it in raw) and you can use frozen spinach, which comes pre-blanched. I normally double the recipe and use 340g of frozen spinach and it makes a lot of meals for my partner and I.
I have no idea what region you're from, but if you're looking to recreate a lot of fast food/standard American diet meals, check out Thee Burger Dude on YT, he has a lot of good recipes for prepping tofu or soy curls or a bunch of other things to imitate meat.
Tofu can also be delicious in its own right, rather than as a replacement for something. This vegan mapo tofu recipe is very tasty, and tofu is normally an integral part of the dish (and not trying to be meaty in any sense). This is also one case where I'll seek out the softest tofu I can find, either silken tofu or soft tofu.
Happy to send more recipes if you'd like, or if you want to find a good vegan version of something I can try to give recommendations! Also, congrats on going vegan! 
btw
Where I live salad leaves/baby spinach and stuff often come in plastic packaging. I find that putting a lil paper towel in the bag and sealing it up with a clip or whatever stops it from getting that damp/soggy texture way longer.
I try to just buy veggies that I know I’ll be cooking that night or within a day or two. I’m luckily in a situation that I live near a supermarket though.
I always try to have a couple of cans of chickpeas, canned tomato, some dried lentils, some garlic and onion and ginger. Obviously stay fresh for a very long time, so if some day I’m too tired or lazy to pick up fresh veggies I can easily make a quick curry or pasta or whatever.
Frozen veg is also handy! It’s never as good as fresh in terms of texture, but it’s good to have around if, again, I’ve been lazy. I just make some rice or noodles, steam the frozen veg and fry up some tofu. Unopened tofu lasts an extremely long time in the fridge.
So I guess my advice boils down to “shop more often, with specific meals in mind, and have some less perishable but still healthy stuff for days when you cbf going shopping”. Helps prevent those expensive (and usually unhealthy) food delivery orders on a lazy day or when tired after work.
i also will take any spinach or kale that gets a little forgotten and rinse, chop and freeze for smoothies or soups
Some arent as tasty though. But frozen peas and corn are often better than fresh. The lrocess where their sugars turn to starches can only be slowed by cold , and fresh peas/corn off the cob has spent more.time in relative warmth
I take veggies out of their plastic bags so they don't get mildew, and likewise separate leaves in bunches, like kale.
For boxes of lettuce, I'll stick a paper towel inside to soak up excess water to keep it off the lettuce
What do you store veggies in then? Just on the shelf, or maybe in a glass/plastic container then?
In the veggie drawers generally
Ah, okay. Yeah, I live in a trailer and my fridge is so small it doesn't have drawers. I should probably invest in some tubs.
If I’m not eating some of it every day it goes in the freezer and is now for soups and smoothies.
frozen veggies are just as good for you as fresh veggies. so get frozen where you can.