Healthier Convenience Options: Frozen Dinners
Whipping up an effortless dinner in minutes is tempting, but that often means relying on frozen pre-packaged meals. Are there healthy options? I perused the freezer section of my supermarket to see what I could find.
Buyer Beware
The biggest problem with most ready-to-eat meals is the large amount of preservatives needed to keep them fresh. The sodium content in many prepared foods is much higher than if you were to cook the food yourself. Too much sodium can aggravate blood pressure conditions and cause water retention. Heart disease and stroke are also concerns. The daily recommendation for sodium is less than 2300 milligrams per day (which is about one teaspoon of salt).
I wasn’t surprised to see many of the conventional frozen dinners I checked had loads of sodium. It was more of a shock to see that they were also filled with fat! For example, a Hungry Man Classic Fried Chicken Dinner added up to 790 calories, 40 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat and 1940 milligrams of sodium per serving (and remember that’s two-thirds of your daily sodium just in one meal). Of course, the name — Hungry Man — warns you to expect a calorie overload. But even Stouffer’s small Chicken Asiago Panini has 460 calories, 22 grams of fat and 40% of sodium for the day, which is a lot for a little sandwich. Many of these foods also have long ingredient lists, with numerous things that I could not pronounce (never a good sign).
Healthier Frozen Options
There are lighter alternatives, and I came across a few more impressive brands of frozen dinners. Of course, they still contain their fair share of sodium and preservatives, but less than many other options. Kashi makes a Black Bean Mango vegan entrée (that means there’s no dairy in it), which contains 340 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat and 430 milligrams of sodium; Chicken Pasta Pomodoro has 280 calories and 470mg of sodium. Amy’s offers a variety of “light in sodium” meals and uses some organic ingredients.
Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine are two of the leaders in healthier frozen meals and offer some options with moderate sodium and lower calories. Their portions are small, however, and will likely leave you hungry. Also, to keep calories low, they often replace fat with sugar and additional preservatives so review the ingredients carefully.
Birds Eye Steamfresh Meals for Two is a new kid in the freezer section (you may have seen their commercials lately). There are a ton of variations depending on the flavor. Some options had only 290 calories but 1290mg of sodium where others were much lower in sodium, but higher in fat. The good news is nutrition info for these and most other brands are available on their websites so you can narrow things down before you hit the store.
The Bottom Line
With our busy schedules, sometimes you need a little help from the freezer section and that’s okay — just don’t regularly rely on completely pre-made dishes. Add frozen vegetables and pastas to fresh ingredients when possible. When you do have time to cook, make extra of things — spaghetti sauce, chili, casseroles and soups — to pop in the freezer. You’ll have your own “frozen dinners” (preservative-free) ready in no time.
Wondering about canned foods? Learn what to shop for >>
Are there any foods you’ve tried and would recommend?
Great info on sodium…Too bad people are not more aware of the amount of sodium in food(frozen or canned)
Am quite impressed with the recipes, as
well as the useful information on nutrition – Will stay tuned THANKS!!
I cannot understand why companies do not lower the sodium without saying lower sodium,which sometimes turns people off.
I think a lot of prepackaged foods could be made with a lot less sodium and no one would notice.
As long as the sodium count is on the list on the back of the can, it is meeting the requirements.
Why do companies put so many preservatives in food that is frozen. If I can put fresh cooked food in my freezer why can’t they? After reading label and label I have gotten to the point that if it doesn’t say organic on it I don’t want to eat it.
I highly recommend the Tandoor Chef Channa Masala frozen meal!! No presevatives; is vegan and gluten-free; super flavorful as well!!
My frustation with packaged foods and soups in particular is with the MSG added. My daughter suffers from migraine headaches and this is one of her triggers. Why can’t they elimate it?
I, once,mistakenly, bought V8 Low Sodium juice and upon trying it, immediately poured it down the sink drain. It was horrible !! No more low sodium. Will buy frozen veggies & cook all from scratch. No frozen meals either, for me.
Great info. Thanks. I think I will stop being so lazy and spend a little more time cooking my own fresh foods.
I buy the Kashi dinners all the time and doctor them up with extra veggies or quinoa or tofu.
I read the food labels before buying anything because I must watch my sodium content. Thank’s for the info. I do send e-mails to ask if they have any products with lower salt. Even if they don’t, at least they know someone is looking for that. Also the less salt I use, the best the food is. We are so used to eating all of that hidden sugar and salt, everything else can taste bland. Use herbs and spices!!!
I TRIED “PICT SWEET” STEAMABLES. THEY
ARE DELICIOUS AND MOST DO NOT CONTAIN A LOT OF SODIUM AND SUGAR. CHECK LABELS ON
EACH MEAL.
Thanks for the great info. on frozen foods. I know what to look for now, when I can’t spare the time to cook a meal.
I have an allergy to yeast in all forms. Yeast, yeast extract or autolyzed yeast is used in all of frozen meal. Kashi is the only one who does not use yeast products but adds wine to some of their meals which prevents guys like me from enjoying them with my allergy. So individuals with food allergies need to read the ingredient list on all canned and frozen meals.
This was a great read. I do a lot of cooking in my house but with the frozen foods who would have known they have that much salt in them. I think I will try using more spices and less frozen meals altogether.
I am on SSDI and While I like Stoffer's I cant afford to buy those all the time, I have had to buy whats on sale and that was Banquet Frozen diners for $1.00 at Super Wall Mart they have the best prices on a lot of grocery items that I buy every week, I was going to Albertson's but the prices were higher than Wal Marts so I drive across town here and buy more for my money, I just try to stay in the Grocery dept that way I wont buy new clothes or something not on my list, I do have a smaller Wal Mart right by my house but they dont have a grocery but they do have regular items like cat food cereal or dry goods even milk at the same prices. When I have the money I like to buy Marie Chandlers Frozen Diners.