5 foods high in antioxidants (and why you should eat them)

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“Antioxidants” is one of those wellness buzzwords you see all over social media and on brand packaging, yet it’s still a term with an unclear definition for many people, especially those just beginning to establish healthy habits.

a wooden table topped with different types of food: All of those foods are rich in antioxidants. Getty Images

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All of those foods are rich in antioxidants. Getty Images

Like other buzzed-about nutrients, antioxidants do have the power to help you live a healthier life, but it’s important to know what the term actually means, the extent of the benefits and where to find these so-called nutritional powerhouses.

a bowl of fruit sitting on a table

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What are antioxidants?

Antioxidants are important chemical compounds that may help your body delay or prevent cellular damage. They do this by fighting off free radicals, unstable molecules that your body generates as byproducts of its daily functions, such as turning food into energy.

Free radicals also form in response to environmental stressors on your body, including exposure to sunlight, cigarette smoke and pollutants.

These harmful molecules come about when atoms in your body lose or gain electrons: Free radicals essentially “steal” electrons from nearby atoms. This can cause changes to the structure or function of your cells, which over time can lead to cellular damage. That damage is called “oxidative stress.”

a cup of coffee sitting on top of a wooden table: Coffee is a good source of antioxidants. Getty Images

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Coffee is a good source of antioxidants. Getty Images

Antioxidants are part of your body’s natural defense against oxidative stress. They can be human-made or sourced naturally, and they’re found in thousands of foods. Your body can make them on its own, too.

Some antioxidants are vitamins, some are minerals and some are other chemical compounds. You may already be familiar with some antioxidants, including vitamin C and vitamin E, as well as selenium and beta-carotene.

There are several families of antioxidants, including vitamins, carotenoids, terpenes, alkaloids, minerals, flavonoids, curcumins, catechins, tannins, anthocyanins, lignans, glucosides and more. That’s a lot of letter jumble, but all you really need to know is that there are hundreds — and possibly thousands — of types of antioxidants.

Most waffle makers are pretty darned good at making waffles, but if you’re willing to get creative, they’ll cook and crisp just about anything you care to throw in them. After recently testing several of the things while sheltering at home, I couldn’t help but wonder — which waffle maker hack was the best?So, I gathered up some of the internet’s most popular alterna-waffle recipes and cleared my calendar for a week or two of interesting lunches, dinners and snacks. Scroll on through for a step-by-step look at everything I cooked, ranked from worst to first.

Let’s start with one of the easiest hacks: cinnamon rolls. The recipe really couldn’t be simpler — you just grab some ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls, spray your waffle maker’s irons with nonstick spray, and plop those bad boys down for about 3 minutes each on medium heat. I even had the exact same Cuisinart waffle maker used by the recipe I followed.

Here’s how they look afterward. Kind of tastes like dense cinnamon toast. They’re fine, but I prefer the traditional texture that you get by baking them.

I do have to make a confession here, though. The recipe calls on you to microwave the icing for 15 seconds or so to soften it up enough so that you can pour it over top of the waffles as a drizzle. I accidentally left the cup in the microwave for a full 30 seconds, which liquefied the stuff, wasting most of it. D’oh!CNET’s Caitlin Petrakovitz had this advice to offer: “Instead of microwaving the cinnamon roll icing, if you put it in a hot bowl of water while the rolls cool the timing is great (and less mess). Then, as you ice the rolls, it’ll melt even more and leave you with delicious and picture perfect buns (if done patiently).”Another option posited by Pillsbury is to mix the icing with milk, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in order to make it into a drizzle without the microwave. That sounds like a good approach if you have those ingredients to hand.

I also checked to see if the Dash Mini Waffle Maker, a favorite of ours that costs just $10, could accommodate the recipe. It worked, though the front of the lid couldn’t close down all the way, which forced me to extend the cooktime and turn the dough around halfway through.

That said, the end product was pretty good, and doughier than the first because the waffle maker didn’t squish the roll down quite so much. It came out kind of like a cinnamon roll waffle biscuit.

I wanted to be sure to try multiple waffle makers with this one, because the Cuisinart and Dash models I started with are designed to make thin, crispy waffles with relatively shallow nooks and crannies. What about a larger waffle maker with deeper nooks and crannies, like this Preso FlipSide?

Here’s how it came out. Like before, the finished product popped right off the waffle maker with relatively little mess. And, as you can see, the nooks and crannies are much more pronounced. With additional surface area exposed to the irons, it was a crunchier bite than before, and there was more room for icing to pool (not that I had any left at this point. Again, d’oh!). Overall, I think I still prefer the texture of regular cinnamon rolls to that of cinnamon roll waffles, but they’re a fun novelty, perhaps.That said, I sampled three of these from three different waffle makers, and each time, I wished I was biting into an actual cinnamon roll instead.

OK, if you’ve made it this far, you’re ready for some controversy. I tried tater tot waffles and ended up ranking them pretty low on my list, which will undoubtedly upset the scores of people on Twitter who demanded I test them out as I tweeted about waffle makers this past month.It’s all thanks to a Twitter user named Ada Powers (@mspowahs) who wrote an absolutely hysterical thread about tater tot waffles back in March. She called her invention “totwaffles” and her post went viral, so I decided to give them a try for myself to see what all the fuss was about.

First, you’ll need to defrost your tots. As Powers puts it, “You can use the defrost setting or cook them outright. How many minutes? Yes. There is no way to f*** this up.”

Powers adds that you want your defrosted tots to be “soft, warm and a little wet,” so once you’ve hit that threshold, you’re ready to start arranging them onto your iron. You’ll want to crowd them together as much as you can — and feel free to tear some into smaller pieces in order to fill in any gaps.

You’ll want to squish your waffle maker down on the things and let them cook for several minutes, until you’ve got a nice, evenly cooked waffle. While you wait for them to cook, you could consider getting some toppings ready. Powers recommends “syrupchup,” which is just equal parts maple syrup and ketchup heated up in the microwave or on the stove. Alas, I had no ketchup handy.

I will say, tater tots make for some fine-looking waffles. They’re tasty, too, and super crispy — sort of like a giant hash brown patty.So why do I have them ranked in the bottom half of this list of waffle maker hacks? For starters I’d argue that the waffle maker didn’t really change much here — these are still frozen potatoes cooked until crispy. Forming them into a waffle opens up opportunities for toppings and sauce drizzles, but it also forces you to defrost the tots and drag an extra appliance into the mix. I think I’d be happier just tossing a few handfuls into the oven.That said, my undressed totwaffle is clearly a blank canvas begging for some additional inspiration (and I still have about half a bag of frozen tots in the freezer). I’ll report back after trying this one again, perhaps with the addition of some cheese on top or some diced bacon.Speaking of bacon…

One of the replies to that totwaffle thread was a call to pair the tots with some waffle maker bacon. You know I had to try that.Doing so was simple enough — I literally just loaded a few strips onto my waffle maker and then waited to see what would happen.

The end result looks a little weird, but it’s really just… bacon. Like, if you blindfolded me and made me eat it without telling me what it was or how you cooked it, I’d just tell you it was bacon.Maybe that’s enough to get you waffling bacon for breakfast if you’re short of space on the stove, but I don’t think it’s a worthy pursuit. Ask yourself: Do you really want to spend your Sunday morning cleaning bacon grease out of a waffle iron?

Next up: Waffle maker macaroni and cheese. I was particularly excited to try this one out — leftover mac ‘n’ cheese refried into little patties was a childhood favorite of mine, and this had the potential to take things to a whole other level.There are lots of different recipes out there that take different approaches. This one calls for mixing your mac with some breadcrumbs and eggs in order to help bind things together. This one tells you to refrigerate your mac on a sheet pan in order to create thin layers of the stuff that are perfect for the waffle maker. This one tells you to stuff the middle of your waffles with shredded cheese to help keep things from getting too dry.Between ideas like that and the choice of cheese, sauce and additional toppings, there’s a lot of room for experimentation here.

Whatever recipe you use, you’re going to need to start by cooking a batch of mac and cheese. Bonus points for making your own from scratch, but your favorite boxed macaroni is fine, too. I went with a Kraft white cheddar mac.

The mac ‘n’ cheese I used already included breadcrumbs, so I decided to try the method of adding extra cheese into the middle to help bind the waffle and keep it from drying out. I had some gouda in the fridge, which seemed like a grate, er, great choice.

With my Hamilton Beach waffle maker hot and ready to go with a little bit of oil brushed across the surface, I plopped a spoonful of mac onto the irons. I went with the Hamilton Beach waffle maker because it features removable, dishwasher-safe plates. I wasn’t sure how much mess this was going to leave behind.

From there, I added some of that grated gouda on top, and then finished it off with another half spoonful of macaroni. After doing my best to smush it all together with my serving spoon, I closed the waffle maker lid and hoped for the best.

Here’s what I saw when I opened the waffle maker up five or six minutes later. Promising!

The waffle was crispy and a little too dry. You lose almost all of the creaminess of the cheese sauce when it hardens into a binding agent for the waffle. A separate drizzle of cheese sauce might be in order next time I try this hack out. Maybe some sriracha, too. Who knows. Like I said, there’s room for experimentation here.Still, it was hot, crispy mac ‘n’ cheese goodness, and way better than any leftover mac I’ve ever had.

Here’s another mac ‘n’ cheese waffle that I made using a waffle maker from Breville that cooks waffles a bit thinner, and with nooks and crannies that aren’t as deep as the Hamilton Beach model. You get a little more room for the macaroni, plus a crispy burnt cheese crust on both sides.Unfortunately, it also came out a little too dry for my tastes. Back to the drawing board!

I’m not much of a stuffing (aka dressing) guy — mostly because I don’t really care for the mushy texture. Enter stuffing waffles, with a recipe from Food Network that promises to crisp your leftovers into a delicious day-after-Thanksgiving snack. I was intrigued, so I whipped up a quick batch of stuffing, tossed it into the fridge, and gave it a go.

The recipe calls for two eggs to help bind the stuffing together into a full-fledged waffle. As always, remember to beat those eggs a little longer than you think is necessary.

Add those eggs to your stuffing and give it a good stir. The recipe tells you add a bit of fresh parsley, too. I didn’t have any on hand, but it didn’t feel like a tremendous loss.

From there, you just scoop your mix onto the waffle iron and then cook it for several minutes. Longer is better here, I say — the whole appeal of stuffing waffles is the textural transformation, so get it as crisp as you can.

Pretty good looking stuffing waffle, if I do say so myself!

The recipe recommends adding a scoop of leftover mashed potatoes, along with a drizzle of gravy and a dollop of cranberry sauce for the full Thanksgiving effect. I only had mashed potatoes on hand. The combo was good, but I definitely would have enjoyed it more with some gravy.Still, stuffing waffles were a big success. Pretty much everyone has leftover stuffing after Thanksgiving, and I can’t think of a better way to reheat the stuff. But as good as stuffing waffles were, they weren’t the best thing I tried over these past few weeks…

This brings us to the waffle maker hack I enjoyed the most: pizza waffles! Here’s the recipe I followed, and everything you’ll need to make them.

After plugging in your waffle iron to get it preheated and spraying it with some nonstick spray (or brushing the plates with a little bit of vegetable oil), you’ll need to start prepping your pizzas. To do so, just open a can of that crescent roll dough and unroll it onto a cutting board. Pillsbury marks eight triangles for the rolls, and you’ll want to use two triangles for each pizza, forming four rectangles like in the picture.

Next, you’ll want to add your ingredients. Start with a little pile of mozzarella, then add some toppings on top. I went with classic pepperoni, but you can use whatever you like. If it’s a watery ingredient, like mushrooms, be sure to strain it and get as much water out of the picture as possible. No one likes soggy pizza.Oh, and don’t forget seasoning. Along with salt and pepper, a little bit of basil goes a long way here.

From there, just fold the dough over to make a pizza pocket, then place it right on the waffle iron and shut the lid. You’ll need to let it cook on medium heat for about five minutes.

I mean, just look at the results. Look at them.

Once cooked, the pizza should come right off the waffle maker. Did any of the cheese spurt out? Good. Burnt waffle maker cheese is a delicious bonus, and a nice, salty mozzarella burns particularly well.This is also where the sauce comes in. Serve it in a separate dish for dipping. I added some red pepper flakes to mine, because that is the correct way to season pizza.

Good lord these were good. If your waffle maker has relatively deep nooks and crannies like the Black & Decker waffle maker I used here, then your ingredients might get “pinched” where the nooks come together. My thin pepperoni fared fine through this, but I wonder how it would come out with chunkier toppings.

Like with the cinnamon roll waffle, the Dash cooked the pizza waffles faster in the back than in the front, so I needed to cook it for a few minutes extra and also turn the dough about halfway through.

Rotation successful. Almost there…

Boom! Tell me you don’t wish you could eat this thing right now.

With a waffle iron that doesn’t squeeze the pizza quite so much, you’re left with more room for filling on the inside. The cheese came out stretchier and less burnt as a result, which made for some incredibly satisfying bites. I would 1,000,000% make this again.The real hero here is that crescent roll dough. With each pizza I made, it came out perfectly crispy and delicious. If you aren’t craving pizza, you could fill it with whatever you like for a quick stuffed waffle — the possibilities are endless.

In the weeks since first publishing this gallery, I’ve had a lot of fun making all sorts of stuffed waffles using that crescent roll dough. For instance, what do you think is inside this one?

Answer: chopped chicken breast marinated overnight in hot sauce. I gave them a quick sear, then stuffed them inside of a crescent roll dough waffle and topped it with a nice drizzle of spicy syrup. 10/10, would make again.

I’ve found that buttermilk biscuit dough works well, too — though you’ll want to slice the dough in half like a hamburger bun if you’re using thick, Grands-style rolls. That’s what I did here, with leftover garlic chicken pasta stuffed between the two halves and waffled to perfection.

CNET contributor Tamara Palmer helped with a lot of the heavy lifting when we were researching waffle makers for our best list. When all was said and done, she went ahead and spent $10 on a Dash Mini Waffle Maker. One of the first things she made? This matcha mochi waffle, the recipe for which you can find here.”After that, I made a vaguely okonomiyaki style savory waffle with leftover spicy pickled cabbage and mushrooms cooked in butter and a piece of bacon and yuzu furikake sprinkles on top,” Tamara told me. “Heaven!” Next up on her list: falafelwaffles and fried rice waffles. “Waffles are now a lifestyle over here! Best $10 ever spent.”

I’m still stuck at home with a house full of waffle makers, so don’t expect me to stop making waffles out of things anytime soon. If I uncover any new hacks of note, I’ll give this gallery an update, so stay tuned (my Twitter followers have already pointed me in the direction of beer waffles…)And, in the meantime, if you’ve suddenly realized that you might be in need of a waffle maker for unforeseen pizza purposes, my waffle maker best list is here to help.Speaking of pizza, you may also enjoy my CNET colleagues’ adventures in pizza making.

45/45 SLIDES

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, science to date clearly shows that eating a diet high in antioxidant-rich foods can promote good health and assist in the fight against chronic diseases. What’s not so clear, the NCCIH reports, is whether that link is attributed directly to the antioxidant content of those foods, or to the vitamin and mineral content or some other component of these foods.

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The NCCIH also points out that antioxidant supplementation hasn’t been linked substantially to better health or disease prevention — only antioxidant consumption by way of food has.

Either way, a diet rich in antioxidant-rich foods is also a diet high in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, so adding antioxidants to your diet can help in more ways than one – that said, here are five ideas for upping your antioxidant intake.

1. Add leafy greens to sandwiches, scrambles and smoothies

a bowl of salad: Love it or hate it, spinach and other leafy greens are packed with antioxidants. Getty Images

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Love it or hate it, spinach and other leafy greens are packed with antioxidants. Getty Images

I’m sorry if you’re tired of hearing about leafy greens. I don’t like them that much, either, but studies consistently show that leafy greens are some of the most nutritious plant foods available to humans. In addition to their high concentration of vitamins and minerals, leafy greens also have a high concentration of antioxidants.

Adding leafy greens to your meals is a surefire way to increase your antioxidant consumption. If you don’t like the way they taste, I don’t blame you: Try to incorporate them into meals where the taste can be masked by other components of a meal. For instance, add spinach to a burger or breakfast sandwich; blend kale up into a fruit smoothie; or add spring mix to a sweet potato hash.

2. Make your own easy berry syrup

Are you a sweet breakfast kind of person? If so, you have a delicious opportunity to add more antioxidants to your first meal of the day. Pancakes, waffles and French toast go great with a classic maple syrup, but try replacing your usual syrup with a homemade berry syrup for an antioxidant boost.

Berries of all varieties contain antioxidants, but some are particularly plentiful: Blueberries, aronia berries and cranberries are some of the most potent fruit sources of antioxidants.

To make a berry syrup, simply simmer a variety of berries, such as raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, in a skillet with a little bit of water. Stir regularly to prevent sticking or burning, and keep the simmer going until the water evaporates. This’ll leave you with a tangy syrupy goodness to drizzle on your breakfast of choice. You can also add honey, cinnamon or stevia to sweeten it up a bit.

3. Sprinkle chopped nuts on everything

Heralded for their healthy omega-3 and omega-6 content, nuts of many varieties also contain impressive antioxidant concentrations. Current evidence shows walnuts as the variety with the highest concentration of antioxidants, with other nuts trailing closely behind.

See, there’s a reason nuts make every list of healthy snack ideas on the internet.

To add nuts to your diet, try sprinkling chopped nuts on oatmeal and parfaits. You can also blend nuts into smoothies (provided you have a good blender) or smear nut butter on toast. Or, you can simply snack on a handful of any variety you like.

4. Make things spicy

a variety of food on a grill: Not only do spices make everything taste better, they are also a solid source of antioxidants. Getty Images

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Not only do spices make everything taste better, they are also a solid source of antioxidants. Getty Images

Like spicy foods? If you tend to sprinkle spices into all of your meals, you may already be consuming more antioxidants than you think. If you tend to cook without seasonings, this may encourage you to spice your meals up: Spices and herbs have “excellent antioxidant activity” and can help your body fight disease. They taste great, too!

Different spices have different antioxidants in them, so there’s even more reason to vary the flavors of your meals. For instance, rosemary, sage and oregano are high in phenolic compounds, while basil and dill are high in quercetin.

5. Drink a second cup of coffee (or tea)

Look, I’m the last person to tell you to give up your morning coffee. I’m a self-proclaimed coffee addict, and caffeine isn’t all that bad for most people anyway (there are always exceptions). Turns out there’s a bonus to your daily caffeine fix: Coffee is brimming with antioxidants.

If one of your health goals is to get more antioxidants every day, sipping on a second cup of Joe could help you get there. Coffee is rich in several powerful antioxidants, including polyphenols and hydroxycinnamic acids.

If you do struggle with caffeine — perhaps you get the jitters, a racing heartbeat or anxiety — you could try naturally caffeine-free or decaffeinated tea instead. Many tea varieties are also chock-full of antioxidants, with white tea, green tea, black tea and oolong tea being some of the most potent.