Quick, name a ZeroPoint food. I’ll bet you said eggs. Or chicken breast. Maybe shrimp if you were feeling fancy.
Here’s the thing. WW’s ZeroPoint foods list runs to twelve categories and a few hundred foods, and I sat down and read every line of it. Most of that list never comes up. Not in your group chat, not in the comments here, and honestly, not in our own zero point roundups either.
So this post is about the other end of the list: eleven ZeroPoint foods members forget, why each one deserves a spot in your cart, and a recipe of ours that already uses it.
How I picked these (so “forgetting” isn’t just my opinion)
I didn’t want to guess, so I checked two things.
First, what people search for when they find us on Google. Second, our own six zero point roundups. Between them they mention eggs and chicken dozens of times each. Seven of the eleven below don’t appear once, and the other four only turn up in passing.
That’s my definition of forgotten: on WW’s list, and almost nobody’s asking about it.
1. Hominy
Hominy is corn that’s been soaked until the kernels puff up big and chewy. It sits in WW’s Corn & Popcorn category, right next to corn on the cob. It’s what makes pozole taste like pozole, and a can costs about a dollar.
Our light pozole is built on it and comes in at 2 Points. The Southwest chicken soup uses hominy the same way for 1 Point.
2. Tempeh and smoked tofu
Tofu & Tempeh is its own category on WW’s list. Tempeh is the firm, nutty one made from whole soybeans. Smoked tofu tastes like it’s already been seasoned, because it has. If you’ve only ever bought the silken block for smoothies, you’re missing the good part of the aisle.
Start with the Southwest tofu scramble, 0 Points and made with the smoked kind. When you want takeout without ordering it, General Tso’s tofu is 3 Points.
3. Black-eyed peas and split peas
Everyone knows black beans and chickpeas. Black-eyed peas and split peas sit in the same Beans, Peas & Lentils category and cost less. Split peas break down into something creamy without a drop of cream. Black-eyed peas hold their shape in a pot of soup for a whole week of lunches.
The black eyed pea soup is 1 Point a bowl. The Instant Pot split pea soup is done in about thirty minutes at 2 Points.
4. Tomatillos, fat-free salsa and pico de gallo
Three separate lines under Non-Starchy Veggies, and I think most of us skip them because they feel like a condiment, not a food. Tomatillos are the tangy green ones in the papery husk; roast them and you’ve made salsa verde. Fat-free jarred salsa and pico de gallo are on the list too, so a spoonful on eggs or chicken adds flavor and nothing else.
Our roasted poblano salsa starts with tomatillos and is 0 Points. Make a batch and it covers eggs, chicken and tacos for the week.
5. Okra
Okra gets a bad reputation from people who’ve only had it slimy. Cooked right it’s tender, and in a soup it does the thickening for you. That’s why gumbo leans on it. It’s on the Non-Starchy Veggies list.
The okra soup is 1 Point and stays simple on purpose. For the full Louisiana version, our gumbo is 5 Points, and the okra is doing half the work.
6. Sauerkraut and unsweetened pickles
Both are on the Non-Starchy Veggies list, and I’d guess nobody thinks of a pickle as a vegetable at 3 p.m. when the crunch craving hits. Sauerkraut is cabbage and salt. Pickles are cucumbers in brine. Read the jar, though: the sweet bread-and-butter kind has sugar in it, and WW’s line says unsweetened.
Pork and sauerkraut in the slow cooker is a 6-Point dinner where the kraut is the flavor. The dill pickle dip is 2 Points and takes five minutes.
7. Hearts of palm
Tucked between green leaf lettuce and iceberg on WW’s list. Hearts of palm are mild and a little tangy, they come in a can or a jar, and lately they’re being cut into pasta strands. That’s the reason to know them: a plate of noodles that’s on the list.
Our rundown of low-carb pasta options walks through the hearts of palm kind and what it’s actually like to cook with.
8. Parsnips
When WW put starchy vegetables on the list, everybody talked about potatoes (rightly) and nobody talked about parsnips, which sit on the very same Starchy Vegetables list. They look like pale carrots, roast up sweet, and they’re the cheapest way to make a plain roast feel like a holiday.
We don’t have a parsnip recipe of our own yet, so borrow one. Tuck a few under the slow cooker turkey breast (0 Points as written; the recipe suggests root vegetables in the bottom of the pot) and let them cook in the juices.
9. Plantains, baked or boiled
Same list, with a catch in the wording. WW’s line says “plantains, baked or boiled.” A ripe plantain baked until it caramelizes is dessert-sweet, and a green one boiled is closer to a potato. The fried version isn’t the one on the list.
Our huevos motuleños (3 Points) top the eggs with an optional air-fried plantain. If you bake or boil yours instead, track it the way you cooked it.
10. Scallops (and the rest of the shellfish column)
Everyone buys shrimp. WW’s Fish & Shellfish list is sixty lines long, and scallops, clams, mussels, crab and lobster are all on it. Scallops are the easy win: a few minutes a side in a hot pan and dinner feels like a restaurant.
Our seared scallops with lemon, garlic and basil are the place to start. The scallops are the part on the list; the olive oil in the pan is the part you track.
11. Unsweetened applesauce
Yes, it’s on the Fruits list, right under apples. Hardly anyone eats it on its own, but our bakers use it constantly as the swap for oil or butter that keeps a dessert low. If you bake at all, keep a jar in the fridge.
The lemon cheesecake bars (4 Points) use it to bind the crust, and the black forest cake (5 Points) uses it in place of oil.
The fine print under the list
Three things WW puts under its own list, worth knowing before you shop.
The list depends on your plan. WW’s page says members living with diabetes have a different ZeroPoint list, and five categories carry a star for it: Corn & Popcorn, Fruits, Oats, Starchy Vegetables, and Yogurt & Cottage Cheese. The page also says the menopause program has its own list. So hominy, plantains, parsnips and applesauce from this post aren’t zero for everyone. Check your app.
Add-ins count. WW’s page reminds you that once you add anything with a Points value to a ZeroPoint food (oil, butter, dressing, sauce), it isn’t 0 Points anymore. That’s the oil under the scallops and the dressing on the kraut.
And the list moves. WW changes it from time to time. Our recipes carry their Points on the card and get re-checked when WW changes things, but for the list itself, WW’s page is the one to trust.
Where to go from here
Pick one food from this list and put it in your cart this week. If you want the easiest start, five of the recipes above are soups, and our ten zero point soups will keep the pot going after that.
