As the cost-of-living crisis deepens across Australia, more and more people are looking for ways to save money.

Buying canned or frozen fruit and vegetables is a great way to keep the grocery bill down, because these products are often much cheaper than fresh produce. 

But do we lose any nutritional value when we opt for tinned or frozen ingredients? And what are the best ways to use them when cooking?

Are tinned and canned ingredients healthy?

Claire Collins is a laureate professor in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle. She says frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables can actually be healthier than fresh produce.

"Sometimes what you buy as frozen is actually fresher than what you just bought as fresh," she says. 

"It's because the freezing factories and the canning factories are usually close to where the produce is grown, so they can get it to those factories faster than what they can get it to our supermarkets."

Professor Collins says when fruit and vegetables are frozen, their nutrients are "locked-in" and don't degrade like fresh produce. 

When buying canned fruit and vegetables, Professor Collins says consumers need to be wary of additives. 

"For [canned] veggies, you're going for lower salt and for canned fruit, you're going for lower sugar," she says. 

"One guide is the health star rating ... go for the more health stars and that way you're picking the item that's healthier."

Tips for cooking with canned ingredients 

Harry Callinan is a commercial cookery teacher at TAFE NSW, with more than 30 years' culinary experience as a chef. 

He says tinned and frozen ingredients are vital for many commercial kitchens around the world. 

"The freezer and tins can help with ingredients that are not necessarily in season," he says. 

"They are also much cheaper and last much longer."

Tinned tomatoes 

Mr Callinan says he almost always prefers a good quality tinned tomato over a fresh tomato. 

"Because they're picked at the height of the season. They're picked when they're possibly a little bit overripe, which really brings that flavour in," he says.

Mr Callinan's go-to dish with canned tomatoes is a classic, flavourful pasta sauce. 

"I get onions and garlic and cook it till it starts to caramelise and then I add the tomatoes in, bring it all to the boil, let it simmer away for a good hour on a real low heat," he says. 

"You get this really intense, lovely tomato flavour ... and before you know it, you surpass the bottled sauces in the supermarket."

Beans, lentils and chickpeas

Mr Callinan says lentils and beans are great sources of protein to add in curries and daal.