Whole foods are the best answer here: foods that are in their natural state or very close to it, with no added sugars, preservatives, or heavy processing. Examples include fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, plain yogurt, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains like brown rice or oats, and fresh meat, fish, or poultry.

Good examples

  • Fresh fruits: apples, bananas, berries, oranges.
  • Vegetables: spinach, broccoli, carrots, kale, sweet potatoes.
  • Proteins: eggs, plain fish, chicken, turkey, tofu, tempeh.
  • Grains and legumes: oats, brown rice, quinoa, lentils, beans.
  • Dairy: plain milk, plain yogurt, some cheeses without lots of additives.

What to look for

A simple rule is: if the ingredient list is very short and the food looks like it did in nature, it is usually minimally processed. Frozen fruit, plain canned beans, or pre-washed greens can still count as minimally processed if they have no added sugar, sauces, or preservatives.

Quick note

Strictly speaking, almost all foods are processed to some degree, so people often mean minimally processed when they say “not processed.” Fresh apples, plain eggs, and raw vegetables are the closest examples.

If you want, I can also give you a simple grocery list of non-processed foods or turn this into a clean HTML table.