Why Most Restaurants Use Some Type Of Canned Food

Most home cooks know that canned ingredients are an essential part of a well-stocked pantry. They allow you to have ingredients on hand that were preserved at the peak of their ripeness, not to mention that the shelf life of canned foods is unbeatable. True, there may be some canned foods you're better off avoiding. But for the most part, canned foods help create delicious meals. It turns out that professional chefs also believe this food philosophy.

John Politte, chef, author, and founder of "It's Only Food," recently told The Takeout that it's very common for restaurants to use canned foods in their dishes. "Canned food provides key benefits in professional kitchens [including] convenience, a long shelf life, consistent quality, cost-effectiveness, and nutritional value," he said. Politte also enlightened us on the types of canned food that are most often found in professional kitchens. "Common canned items include vegetables, beans, fruits, fish, soups, and sauces, such as curry or pasta sauces."

Just because a restaurant keeps canned food on hand doesn't mean that every single dish it prepares will include something from a can. According to Politte, soups, stews, chilis, casseroles, pasta dishes, and salads are most likely to contain canned ingredients. Tomatoes are one of the most widely used canned goods, and they often make appearances in soups and stews, pasta sauces, and chili (we're a big fan of adding canned goods to our chili, too). Canned beans will, of course, be in chili and some salads (think chickpeas and black beans).

As far as desserts go, Politte pointed out that this is where canned fruit is common. When they aren't in season, things like canned peaches and pineapple make for great-tasting substitutes. And, instead of risking buying a bad batch of tiny oranges, they can opt for flavorful, canned Mandarin oranges.

Even high end restaurants use canned food items. Sometimes, the most hoity-toity of foods come in cans. Caviar, for instance, is tinned, as are some imported canned fish like anchovies and sardines. Many chefs also swear by tomatoes that come from San Marzano, Italy. Since they're difficult and expensive to come by fresh, they opt for canned versions, which are delicious.