Eating vegetables can help improve your skin, boost your gut health, and prevent heart disease.

For optimal health benefits, eating a variety of different vegetables is key. But finding ways to add more veggies to your diet can be a challenge. Here’s a list of ways to easily pack more vegetables into your diet.

1. Pack Vegetables Into Soups

There are many reasons for not liking vegetables. Whether it’s their funky shape, texture, or consistency, it’s easy to see why you may dislike some vegetables.

Making soup is an effective way of eating vegetables that you wouldn’t eat otherwise. Examples of this include onions and leeks, but there are plenty of veggies you can add to soups that you wouldn’t normally pull out of the fridge. You might even find that you like some vegetables that you never thought was the case!

SoupAddict is a perfect source of inspiration for making healthy vegetable soups for any time of the year. You’ll find healthy soups in a variety of exciting flavors for whatever suits your taste buds.

Each recipe page doesn’t only provide a list of ingredients and instructions. You’re also given a table of contents giving a range of tips on storage and leftovers, substitutions, and additional cooking tips to ensure an outstanding flavor.

2. Track Your 5-a-Day Recommendation

You’re probably aware of the recommendation that you should have five different portions of vegetables and fruits each day. You may struggle to keep track of this target, especially if you have a busy schedule.

5 A Day Tracker resolves this issue, letting you easily keep track of your fruit and vegetable consumption. You can adjust your daily target in the settings to five portions or more (if you’re feeling ambitious). This is then reflected in the Overview section, which marks successful and unsuccessful days in a calendar view. Filled-in hearts represent your daily target being met, while empty ones show you didn’t quite make it that day.

Committing to an app like this helps you stay motivated and keeps you on track to eat more vegetables. The Share option also allows you to spread your success with friends, so you can grow with others.

Download: 5 A Day Tracker for Android (Free)

3. Choose Healthier Snacks

When feeling hungry between meals, the first thing many people reach for is the cookie jar. Eating sugary snacks will only spike your blood sugar and usually leave you still hungry afterward. Vegetable and grain-based snacks are full of nutrients, giving your body the health it needs between meals.

Fit Snack offers healthy snack boxes through a monthly subscription service, so you can eat healthier snacks hassle-free. There’s a range of crunchy vegetable snacks, including black bean chips and chickpea tortilla chips. Fit Snack is committed to using raw and organic ingredients, so you know you’re getting top-quality nutrients rather than artificial flavorings.

4. Make Healthy Smoothies With a Smoothie App

You may think that smoothies are just for fruits. But you’ll be surprised by the number of ways you can pack vegetables into smoothies to ensure you’re getting a fully balanced diet.

Kale is a nutrient-dense vegetable that you can pack into almost any smoothie. It doesn’t provide an overpowering taste, and it's a vegetable that’s full of key vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin K.

If you’re stuck on ideas of what smoothies to make, you may want to explore a smoothie-making app for some ideas. This can help you learn the best flavor combinations and gives you ready-made recipes to try out. Some apps also provide nutritional information for each smoothie, so you know exactly how many vitamins and nutrients you’re getting from your delicious drink.

A smoothie at breakfast time is an energizing way to start the day. And, if you pack in a few vegetables, a breakfast smoothie is an opportunity to start your daily vegetable goal early at a time you wouldn't normally eat vegetables.

5. Grow Vegetables in Your Garden

Owning a vegetable garden is a great way to look after the food you eat. This pleasant hobby can help you keep motivated and enjoy adding vegetables to your diet. By eating home-grown vegetables, you can also be assured there won’t be any added chemicals or pesticides sometimes used by grocery stores.

Planter: Garden Planner is a useful app to set up and manage your home garden. You can simulate how you want to organize your vegetable garden using the easy grid interface. There’s also the option to enter your garden’s dimensions.

Every vegetable comes with a unique guide covering key information on watering, germination times, and spacing. You’ll also find further information on how to look after your plants properly, as well as advice-based blogs.

Download: Planter: Garden Planner for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

6. Buy Smart Cooking Gadgets to Make Prepping Vegetables Easy

One thing that stops many people from regularly eating vegetables is the time taken to prepare them. Whether you’re peeling, slicing, or dicing, vegetable prep is a long and tedious task that leads many to not bother.

The good news is that there is a range of smart kitchen gadgets designed specifically for vegetables to drastically cut your time in the kitchen. The Ninja Express Chop Professional is one of these options, providing settings to dice, chop, and puree vegetables. The different consistency options mean you can cut vegetables exactly how you want, whether you’re adding them to a dish or throwing them in a pan.

You can also purchase electric potato peelers for your potatoes and vegetables. You simply stand your vegetable up straight, press a button, and leave the rest of the work to the blade.

Using these gadgets means you can get on with other tasks in the kitchen and leave the rest of the work to the electronics. Now you’ll have no excuse for not eating vegetables due to time management.

Eat More Vegetables Without Any Fuss Using These Tips

There are several reasons why you may find it hard to pack vegetables into your diet. Use a variety of these tips to expand your diet and add a new range of beneficial ingredients to your plate. Feel better and live healthier by eating more vegetables today.