These Are The Grocery Finds That Will Make Holiday Prepping Easier

We're just going to say it: the holidays are hard work! Make prep work for your holiday spread and Noche Buena easier with these time-saving grocery finds: 

Photo by Majoy Siason

1 Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

You shouldn't underestimate the iconic can of Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup! It's more than just a bowl of mushroom soup. A key ingredient in many of our recipes, the thickened soup helps you do two things for any dish: it's perfectly seasoned so it amps up the flavor of your dish while helping it become thick and creamy.

Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup SRP: P61.5/298g

2 Canned Sliced Vegetables

They say that most of the cooking is actually prep work, which means that you'll probably spend most of the holiday with a chopping board. Make it a little easier on yourself and cut down on the chopping by buying canned vegetables that are already sliced. You can get tomatoes, peas, carrots, baby corn, and mushrooms already pre-sliced. These canned staples also have two other benefits: a long shelf life and the ingredients are already cooked.

S&W Premium Peas & Carrots SRP: P75/411g

Sunbest Young Corn Cuts and Bits SRP: P39/425g

Jolly Mushrooms Pieces & Stem Champignons SRP: P32.25/198g

Contadina Diced Tomatoes SRP: P76/14.5oz

Photo by Majoy Siason

3 Jersey's Flavored Condensada

You've probably seen the no-churn ice cream recipes we have. An easy way to flavor those recipes is to use Jersey's flavored condensed milk! You can use it, too, in your fruit salad, as a spread for your sandwich, or as a twist to your favorite leche flan recipe. You can find it at your leading grocery stores, available in mango, buko pandan, and chocolate flavors. Sometimes, you'll even find an ube-flavored condensed milk at Pioneer Centre in Pasig and Unimart in Greenhills.

Jersey Flavored Condensed Milk SRP: P35/390g

4 Canned Fruits

It's always great to have extra canned fruit in your pantry for the holidays. Whether it's making sure there's enough of your favorite fruit in the fruit salad or using it for other classic recipes like hamonado and a refrigerator cake. Not only that, they're already sliced so that saves you time and since it's canned when the fruit is at their ripest, you get no unripe sour surprises! If you're being frugal and practical this holiday, be sure to save the syrup which you can easily use to sweeten fruit juices and shakes.

Dole Pineapple Slices SRP: P63/560g

Jolly Maraschino Cherries with Stem SRP: P168/10oz

S&W Peach Halves Extra Firm SRP: P102/825g

5 Contadina's Napoletana Sauce 

If you buy tomato sauce, you're still required to season and jazz it up. You can't serve it straight up with pasta, so save time by buying a bottle of a perfectly-made Napoletana sauce. Use it as is or combine it with your choice of meat: be it cooked ground beef, meatballs, sausages or maybe even sliced up burger patties. 

Contadina Napoletana Pasta Sauce SRP: P131/420g

6 Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate

It's a holiday tradition to have hot chocolate for Noche Buena. The rare cold weather combined with the warmth of hot chocolate-it's a highlight you can only get during the season. Sadly, homemade hot tablea chocolate drinks take a while to cook. So when you're short on time, know you can still get that experience in a matter of minutes with a packet of a good hot chocolate mix! If you're buying the ones with little marshmallows, be sure to buy extra marshmallows for the perfect melty, sweet topping that will take you back to your childhood.

Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix Marshmallow SRP: P120/28gx10

7 Boxed Bibingka

Bibingka is one of those classic Christmas treats we just have to have for Christmas. Perhaps though, it's not available in your area or maybe, you don't really have the time to make it from scratch. Then, don't be shy! Use the boxed mix! It'll save you time while still letting you savor that feeling that it's homemade. Plus, only homemade can give you the freedom to go gaga with the toppings. Everyone gets to have as much salted egg, niyog, and muscovado on their bibingka!

White King Classic Bibingka SRP: P84/500g

8 Fried Chicken Breading Mix

Who doesn't love good, crunchy, and juicy fried chicken? It's an everyday staple that easily finds its way to potluck parties and Noche Buena spreads for good reason: it's irresistably delicious. Though you can easily cook it from scratch, cut down on prep time with a seasoning mix that will give you more time to prep your other special dishes or squeeze in a few minutes to wrap a gift or two.

Crispy Fry Breading Mix SRP: P46/238g

We've said this before and we'll say it again, cooking begins before you even step into the kitchen. Prepping starts when you step into the grocery store and choose your ingredients. Your grocery finds will make a world of difference when it comes to prep time! With the hustle of the holidays, we're sure you could use all the time you can get.

Got any more grocery finds we missed that make your holidays way easier? Tell us below!

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