Sure, clean and fresh foods are always best, but in a pinch it’s a good idea to have a few healthy frozen dinners meals on reserve in the freezer. Not to mention that packing a lunch for work when you haven’t been to the grocery store in two weeks gets way less stressful when you have a few healthy frozen dinners to choose from—instead of trying to concoct a meal from peanut butter, tuna and popcorn (been there, done that). But not all frozen dinners are created equally. Oh, no. Some have sodium counts that make us thirsty just looking at them. Others taste like cardboard. And there are some out there that are just plain uninspired.
So we set out on a quest to find the best healthy frozen dinners. Notice that they’re mostly all either organic or made of totally natural ingredients—all good things in moderation, yes, but who wants to eat chemicals? Not us, say the FBGs!
5 Best Healthy Frozen Dinners
1. Evol Bowls Teriyaki Chicken. Evol Bowls (get it? Evol is “love” spelled backwards. Awww…) makes some pretty good healthy frozen dinners. This Teriyaki Chicken Bowl has just 250 calories and packs in 14 grams of protein. With a cook time of four minutes, the mix of grilled free-range white-meat chicken, steamed brown rice, red and green bell peppers, snap peas, carrots and broccoli is dang tasty. They’re pretty pricey at $4.99 for each Evol Bowl, but we think they’re well worth it.
2. Cedarlane Garden Vegetable Enchiladas. If Mexican food is your healthy eating downfall, take note to stock up on this healthy frozen dinner. Filled with cheese, beans, chilies and corn and topped with an enchilada sauce, these gluten-free and low-fat vegetarian enchiladas fill you up. With 280 calories in the package, you can easily pair it with a piece of fruit for a well-rounded meal.
3. Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken. Pretty much seems that anything Kashi makes , we generally like. And the Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken is no different. A colorful frozen dinner with a generous amount of veggies, whole-grain pilaf (does that word crack anyone else up, or is it just me?) and a lemongrassy sauce, each 10-ounce portion (a totally decent size for most healthy frozen dinners) has 300 calories and seven grams of fiber, so it fills you up pretty darn well. Kashi does it again!
4. Amy’s Garden Vegetable Lasagna. Amy’s rarely does wrong in our book, but this Garden Vegetable Lasagna is our favorite. Another vegetarian-friendly frozen dinner on our best-of list, this healthy frozen dinner is gluten-free, fresh-tasting and filling. With 290 calories, it doesn’t taste exactly like the kind you make from a real garden , but it’s not that far off considering it’s in a box. The tomato sauce is super tasty!
5. Cedarlane Low-Fat Pizza Veggie Wraps. It wouldn’t be a best healthy frozen dinners list without pizza, now would it? While pizza isn’t always the healthiest or easiest to eat of healthy options, this Cedarlane Low-Fat Veggie Wrap strikes a fantastic balance of being low calorie (220 in a wrap) and portable. Organic and stuffed in a wheat tortilla with everything you love about pizza—tomato sauce, spices, black olives and veggies—this wrap is crave-worthy!
With all of these frozen meals—unless you’re doing the five to six mini-meals-a-day thing—you’ll definitely want to partner these up with a piece of fruit or a Greek yogurt to fill your belly up. Do you guys eat healthy frozen dinners in a pinch? What’s your favorite one? —Jenn
Sure, clean and fresh foods are always best, but in a pinch it’s a good idea to have a few healthy frozen dinners meals on reserve in the freezer. Not to mention that packing a lunch for work when you haven’t been to the grocery store in two weeks gets way less stressful when you have a few healthy frozen dinners to choose from—instead of trying to concoct a meal from peanut butter, tuna and popcorn (been there, done that). But not all frozen dinners are created equally. Oh, no. Some have sodium counts that make us thirsty just looking at them. Others taste like cardboard. And there are some out there that are just plain uninspired.
So we set out on a quest to find the best healthy frozen dinners. Notice that they’re mostly all either organic or made of totally natural ingredients—all good things in moderation, yes, but who wants to eat chemicals? Not us, say the FBGs!
1. Evol Bowls Teriyaki Chicken. Evol Bowls (get it? Evol is “love” spelled backwards. Awww…) makes some pretty good healthy frozen dinners. This Teriyaki Chicken Bowl has just 250 calories and packs in 14 grams of protein. With a cook time of four minutes, the mix of grilled free-range white-meat chicken, steamed brown rice, red and green bell peppers, snap peas, carrots and broccoli is dang tasty. They’re pretty pricey at $4.99 for each Evol Bowl, but we think they’re well worth it.
2. Cedarlane Garden Vegetable Enchiladas. If Mexican food is your healthy eating downfall, take note to stock up on this healthy frozen dinner. Filled with cheese, beans, chilies and corn and topped with an enchilada sauce, these gluten-free and low-fat vegetarian enchiladas fill you up. With 280 calories in the package, you can easily pair it with a piece of fruit for a well-rounded meal.
3. Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken. Pretty much seems that anything Kashi makes , we generally like. And the Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken is no different. A colorful frozen dinner with a generous amount of veggies, whole-grain pilaf (does that word crack anyone else up, or is it just me?) and a lemongrassy sauce, each 10-ounce portion (a totally decent size for most healthy frozen dinners) has 300 calories and seven grams of fiber, so it fills you up pretty darn well. Kashi does it again!
4. Amy’s Garden Vegetable Lasagna. Amy’s rarely does wrong in our book, but this Garden Vegetable Lasagna is our favorite. Another vegetarian-friendly frozen dinner on our best-of list, this healthy frozen dinner is gluten-free, fresh-tasting and filling. With 290 calories, it doesn’t taste exactly like the kind you make from a real garden , but it’s not that far off considering it’s in a box. The tomato sauce is super tasty!
5. Cedarlane Low-Fat Pizza Veggie Wraps. It wouldn’t be a best healthy frozen dinners list without pizza, now would it? While pizza isn’t always the healthiest or easiest to eat of healthy options, this Cedarlane Low-Fat Veggie Wrap strikes a fantastic balance of being low calorie (220 in a wrap) and portable. Organic and stuffed in a wheat tortilla with everything you love about pizza—tomato sauce, spices, black olives and veggies—this wrap is crave-worthy!
With all of these frozen meals—unless you’re doing the five to six mini-meals-a-day thing—you’ll definitely want to partner these up with a piece of fruit or a Greek yogurt to fill your belly up. Do you guys eat healthy frozen dinners in a pinch? What’s your favorite one? —Jenn