Heyday’s preseasoned canned beans are a no-brainer for a can-to-plate dinner with brown rice. They’re built from intensely flavorful ingredients like lemongrass, kimchi, and gochujang—think coconut curry chickpeas and enchilada-style black beans. (If you just have a regular can of beans on hand, jazz it up yourself with these 6 quick meals our editors make with a can of beans.) Epic Foods’ Chicken Bone Broth adds next-level richness to ramen or noodles thanks to a gelatin-rich base that’s almost creamy. The flavor is good enough to drink on its own. Fishwife’s tinned smoked fish is a game-changer for salads, sandwiches, or snacking straight from the tin. The smoked salmon with Fly By Jing chili crisp is a showstopper. Pro tip: If you have nori, cucumber, or scallion on hand, use it to make little hand rolls.
Heyday Canning Co. Coconut Curry Chickpeas
Epic Foods Chicken Bone Broth
Fishwife Smoked Salmon with Fly by Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp
Supplements
Stroll down the supplement aisle in your local Whole Foods, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of gummies, powders, and potions promising to change your life in a scoop or two. There’s a lot of noise to cut through in this space.
Let’s start with greens powders. They all make some different specific claims, but the idea is that “[greens powders] are a concentrated source of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and in some cases pre- and/or probiotics. It’s getting you this high dose of superfoods in a small package,” says registered dietitian and culinary nutritionist Kristy Del Coro, MS, RDN, LDN. And because we can get all of these benefits from eating plants, Del Coro stresses that these greens supplements should be treated as exactly that—a supplement, meant to be taken in addition to but not in place of a balanced diet of whole fruits and vegetables. “The idea is that for people who have trouble eating all those dark leafy greens, they’re getting this as a form of insurance—kind of like people take a multivitamin,” says Del Coro.
Looking for a gummy to deliver nutrition? Senior commerce director Abbey Stone is partial to Grüns and has been taking them every day for over eight months. These work like a greens powder but are easier to grab on the go thanks to their single-serving pouches. Vitamin-rich and made from fruits and vegetables like kale, spinach, spirulina, and strawberries, each eight-gummy pack contains 100% of your daily recommended value of vitamins A, C, D, and E, folate, biotin, and doses of iron, zinc, and other nutrients.
While gummies are great for on-the-go convenience, greens powders aim to pack in all the good stuff into one tall glass of water. If you’re not into the strong taste of grass, Factor Form Daily Greens may be the powder for you. In our review of greens powders, our testers found that Factor’s Daily Greens were “pleasantly refreshing.” “This is a powder we could see ourselves drinking daily—not a small feat in the world of greens supplements,” writes Chou.
Grüns Super Greens Gummies
Protein is an essential nutrient that plays a number of important roles in the body, including supporting muscle growth and maintenance and aiding in recovery after exercise, so it’s no surprise that protein powders should be an essential part of your wellness journey. There are a number of whey protein varieties, but our favorites after testing more than 40 powders are Factor Form and Thorne Whey Protein Powder. Looking for a vegan powder? Try Form Pureblend Protein, made with a mix of pea, brown rice, and pumpkin protein.
Thorne Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate
Orgain
Organic Vanilla Protein Powder
Finally, hydration and balance are important, particularly for those of us who like to have a good sweaty workout. Electrolyte powders help with the fluid balance in our bodies, replacing lost sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride, making sure your body stays in sync after a strenuous workout. If you’re a longtime Gatorade devotee looking for an alternative that may be better suited to the average active person, the doctor-developed electrolyte packets from DripDrop should be in your arsenal. With seven grams of added sugar and a more modest amount of sodium than some of the other options on this list, they’re an ideal pick for anyone who’s exerting themselves to a decent extent, but not at the intensity level and duration of a pro athlete. They’re also tasty–sweet but not overly so, incredibly refreshing to down post-workout, and available in 13 different flavors.
DripDrop Hydration Juicy Variety Pack
LMNT
Electrolytes Variety Pack
Appliances, tools & accessories
Now that you’ve got a pantry properly stocked with a roster of powders, broths, tonics, and supplements, a few home appliances and cooking tools are key to bringing it all home. First, consider an air fryer if you have the counter space. It can deliver crispy results without the deep dive into oil. A favorite in our Test Kitchen is the 6-Quart Cosori TurboBlaze Smart Air Fryer, which produces evenly browned and crispy fries, alongside juicy chicken breasts and perfectly cooked Brussels sprouts.
Cosori 9-in-1 TurboBlaze Air Fryer 6 Qt
If you like to make your own juice, don’t be deterred. We know juicers have a reputation for being messy, bulky, and more trouble than they’re worth, but the best juicers available today tell a different story. Modern machines have made big strides in design and efficiency, and juicing at home has never been simpler. A staff fave is the super quiet, super powerful Nama J2 Cold Press Juicer. And while a nut milk maker might seem like overkill, machines like the Nama M1 Plant-Based Milk Maker are surprisingly simple; they not only save money on buying carton after carton of alt-milk, but also allow you to choose exactly what does (and does not) go into your morning milk.
Nama M1 Plant-Based Milk Maker
A good blender, or smaller personal blender, is key if you’re planning to make protein shakes and breakfast smoothies. While older models struggled to get the job done, today’s crop of blenders—like the high-powered Vitamix 5200 blender—make velvety soups, the best-tasting smoothies, and pulverize solid ingredients without overheating.
Vitamix 5200 Professional Grade Blender, Red
If you’ve got the space, a few other options to add to your home appliance repertoire are an ice cream maker for whipping up a batch of protein ice cream, a matcha set, and a nice milk frother, for lattes and such.
Maestri House LunaFro Milk Frother
Owala Freesip Water Bottle
