Check out which frozen dinners ranked the best and healthiest | ABC13 Houston | abc13.com (2024)

FAQs

Are Marie Callender meals healthy for you? ›

If you're watching your waist, read labels carefully. Of those tested, the Marie Callender's meals were highest in calories and fat. Roasted garlic chicken weighs in with 17 grams of fat per serving!

Real Good Foods makes a complete line of convenient, healthy meals you'll feel good about eating! From breakfast sandwiches to pizza, stuffed chicken to enchiladas, their meals are high in protein, low in carbs, grain free, certified gluten free, and made from real, clean ingredients.

Lean Cuisine meals contain between 340 mg and 700 mg of sodium. The Lean Cuisine website allows you to search for lower sodium options. Although Healthy Choice does not allow you the convenience of searching for lower sodium meals, the frozen options top out at 600 mg of sodium.

Frozen meals retain their nutritional value after freezing, meaning that seniors can get the same vitamins and minerals that they would get from fresh foods. That's an important factor when health issues rely on a good diet full of nutrients.

It's best to limit ultra-processed frozen meals that contain additives like carrageenan, disodium inosinate, and sodium benzoate. Some frozen meals have small portions and contain fewer than 200 calories. This is not enough for a satisfying, nutrient-dense meal.

This product contains a high percentage of the Institute of Medicine's recommended adequate intake for sodium of 1500 mg a day (IOM 2005). This value is much lower than what the FDA requires be listed on food labels -- 2400 mg. Americans average 3,400 mg of sodium a day.

On most days of the week, you'll want to rely on fresh meals — or tasty leftovers. “At the end of the day, I would limit frozen meals to no more than twice a week,” notes Taylor. But when you need the convenience of a frozen entrée, these tips can guide your choices.

Chun enjoys the frozen meals from Amy's Kitchen, which offers a variety of nutritious plant-based bowls. “My favorite is the low-sodium Mexican casserole bowl because it packs a punch in flavor, fiber and protein,” she says.

Ultra-processed foods tend to be lower in nutrients and fiber and higher in sugar, fat and salt compared to unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Some examples of ultra-processed foods include soda, packaged cookies, chips, frozen meals, flavored nuts, flavored yogurt, distilled alcoholic beverages and fast foods.

Real Good Foods, LLC, was recently targeted by a class action lawsuit alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The lawsuit claims that the company engaged in unsolicited text messaging and continued to send messages to consumers after they had opted out of receiving further communications.

Which ready meals are healthy? ›

Healthy Choice is the name of a brand of refrigerated and frozen foods owned by ConAgra Foods.

Since collaborating with the FDA in our early days, we have only created products that comply with the guidelines for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Today, we remain the only major brand in the frozen meals category that can proudly call all of its food “healthy.”

Stouffer's Macaroni & Cheese promises a "rich and creamy" meal that's made with "a sharp cheddar cheese sauce." While it also apparently forgoes preservatives, it does have almost as many calories as a Big Mac and definitely has more sodium than the fast-food offering.

As highlighted above, frozen foods, canned foods, or other microwave meals have lots of sodium content, which is dangerous for blood pressure health. Such an amount of sodium added to your bloodstream can alter how your blood pressure regulates in your body and disturb your cardiovascular system.