6 Food Swaps to Try at the Grocery Store

Tomatoes, onions, bell peppers. It’s almost second nature for me to reach for these items at my local grocery store from one week to the next. These ingredients are safe and reliable: I know how they work in a variety of recipes, and I consider them mainstays in my kitchen.

This kind of grocery autopilot is fairly common, says dietitian Kelly Powers, MA, RDN. “Simply put, we’re creatures of habit, and new things can be overwhelming. On top of that, we often have little time to devote to planning, shopping, and cooking meals,” she explains. “It’s natural to fall back on things that work.”

And yet, diversifying your grocery list offers benefits that extend far beyond your kitchen. In Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, journalist and educator Simran Sethi writes about the effects of the dwindling diversity in our food supply.

“It’s what we face every time we shrink agrobiodiversity from thousands of varieties down to a handful. We stop growing it, we stop eating it and, slowly, it disappears,” she writes. “The loss of genetics is accompanied by the loss of knowledge on how to grow foods and how to prepare and eat them. It’s the cultural erosion that ­accompanies the genetic one: Our culinary traditions are going extinct, too.”

Beyond supporting biodiversity, mixing it up on your grocery run is also good for you. An ever-­growing body of research ties a thriving, diverse microbiome to overall health. “A varied diet provides the gut with a variety of nutrients, including prebiotics and probiotics, that shape its structure, composition, and function,” Powers notes.

In the kitchen, choosing new ingredients can ­expand your palate and may help you embrace the concept of riffing as you cook. In many cases, you can swap similar ingredients without affecting a recipe too much. In the process, you might discover some winning combinations.

“Just practice and have fun — that’s how you’ll improve,” Powers says. And that is where so much of the joy of cooking lies.

Brimming with vitamins A, C, and K, along with various additional nutrients and antioxidants, kale is a fixture on many weekly grocery lists. Its earthy, bitter flavor mellows with cooking, making it popular in stews, stir-fries, and soups, or when roasted until the leaves take on a hint of char.

Collard greens are kale’s cousin, a fellow brassica green with notably less bitterness and a hint of nutty flavor. The two also have a similar nutrient profile, though collards contain more iron.

Collards can take the place of kale in most recipes. “Blanch tough greens like kale or collards until they are tender, then squeeze them dry, chop them up, and sauté,” recommends chef Samin Nosrat in Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking.

Try them cooked in oil or butter, perhaps with bacon or a squeeze of lemon juice. With their milder flavor, collards are also a brilliant swap for spinach or kale in smoothies.

(Try this soulful side dish of Collard Greens With Ham or this hearty Collard Salad With Broccoli and Butternut Squash.)

Spuds are the most popular vegetable in the United States, and they contain a host of essential nutrients, including potassium and fiber (dor me, see “The Health Benefits of Eating Potatoes.”) But if you’re looking for a nonstarchy (or non-nightshade) option, look no further than the humble rutabaga.

Also called swedes, rutabagas are a flavorful root vegetable that can be used almost interchangeably with potatoes. They’re an excellent source of potassium and vitamin C, as well as calcium, folate, and vitamin E. And because they’re a member of the brassica family, rutabagas are a delicious alternative to potatoes for anyone with a nightshade sensitivity (learn more about nightshades here).

If you can’t bear the thought of replacing potatoes in your grocery basket, consider picking up a new variety. Instead of russets, try yellow or purple potatoes. The latter is notable for its gorgeous, vibrant blue-hued skin and flesh, caused by anthocyanins — the same anti-­inflammatory antioxidants found in blueberries and red grapes.

(Try this Healthy Root-Vegetable Gratin recipe to start.)

Carrots’ earthy sweetness lends itself to recipes both savory and sweet. Whether you prefer them glazed and roasted or stirred into a shepherd’s pie, carrots contain vitamin C and fiber as well as abundant amounts of beta-carotene, which our bodies convert to vitamin A.

Like carrots, beets possess a distinct sweetness that is enhanced through roasting and can balance savory or spicy ingredients. Beets get their vibrant color from anti-inflammatory pigments called betalains; red beets, with their vibrant color, contain the highest amount.

Shave them into salads, roast them, or try pickling your own with the recipe at Pickled Beets. The deeply red varieties can alter the color of your dish, so if that’s something you’d like to avoid, try gold or white cultivars.

(Explore the recipes and improve your beet know-how at “Beets: Recipes, Techniques, and More.”)

Dark turkey meat’s higher fat content gives it a deeper flavor than white turkey meat, making it a good swap for ground beef. It works well in many of the same dishes, especially chilies, stir-fries, and stews that are loaded with aromatic ingredients.

For a vegetarian option, reach for lentils or beans, or try crumbled tofu or tempeh. Mushrooms are also a great choice because they’re brilliant at bulking up hearty Bolognese sauces and casseroles, Powers notes. They boast an umami-rich flavor along with B vitamins and fiber. But consider them a vegetable, not a protein. Pairing mushrooms with a source of protein, like lentils, beans, tofu, or tempeh, she adds, is ideal for creating balanced meals. If your mushroom experience is limited to cremini and white button, it’s worth exploring the incredible diversity of edible mushrooms, like those in the recipes on at “4 Recipes That Will Change the Way You See Mushrooms.”

Like green beans, okra is an excellent source of vitamins A, C, and K. It’s also a rich source of folate, an essential B vitamin ­responsible for the formation of red blood cells and many other important processes in the body.

And it’s got another trick up its sleeve: “Okra is a finger-shaped vegetable that can be green or red and is mucilaginous when sliced and cooked,” writes Toni Tipton-Martin in Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking. “Devotees love that slime; it thickens gumbo and gives the stew body.” It can do the same for other soups, stews, and braises.

The more you cut okra, the gooier it gets; the same is true for cooking it in liquid. That gel-like substance is quite good for you — it’s rich in soluble fiber, which is a crucial part of a healthy gut microbiome. If you want to cook okra without the slime, quick and hot is the way to go.

A great source of live probiotics, kefir is a fermented beverage typically made from milk and kefir grains — granules containing various gut-healthy bacteria and yeasts. “Kefir grains contain a whole microbial community in suspended animation, with over 10 times more microbe varieties than yogurt,” writes Tim Spector, MD, in Food for Life.

Some studies suggest that regular kefir consumption can improve overall lactose tolerance — but water, soy, and coconut kefirs are excellent dairy-free options.

When cooking, use unflavored kefir in the same way you would yogurt. “Both yogurt and kefir can be added to the end of dishes like curry to enrich a sauce and if not overheated will still have live microbes,” Spector writes.

Kefir is more liquid than yogurt, a texture that makes it perfect for sipping as a refreshing drink. Or you could replace your morning yogurt with a bowl of kefir paired with fiber-rich berries, seeds, and nuts.

(Make your own Coconut-Water Kefir with this recipe.)

This article originally appeared as “Mix It Up” in the March/April 2025 issue of Experience Life.