Best Frozen Meals, According to Nutritionists

The food industry is cranking out healthy frozen meals that you can pop in the oven, microwave or quickly sauté on the cooktop. Another bonus: These meals can help reduce food waste, as you don’t have to buy a slew of ingredients to satisfy a recipe, while having to throw the unused portions of the ingredients in the trash.

If all of this isn’t motivation enough to start shopping down the frozen food aisle at the supermarket, here’s another incentive: Frozen meals can allow you to expand your taste palates with globally-inspired, culinary cuisines. These fully prepared meals allow you to awaken your taste buds to flavors from around the world without having to purchase a plane ticket. These African, Latin American, Asian and Indian heritage cuisines, which are all full of fruit, veggies, whole grains, along with lean protein foods and vegetables oils, are also receiving the seal of approval from in-the-know registered dietitian nutritionists and cardiologists for their health benefits.

If you’re ready to expand your culinary palate but are short on time, I’ve composed, with the help of my registered dietitian nutritionist colleagues, eight healthy frozen meals, with unique flavor profiles, for your cooking ease.

If you’re picking a frozen meal beyond this list, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Make sure it contains adequate calories for a meal. Otherwise, consider enhancing the meal with healthy sides or stretching it with an addition or two. Feel free to add some veggies, dairy and whole-grain sides to boost the nutrition at the meal. Here are some ideas.
• Check the Nutrition Fact Panel for the amount of heart-unhealthy, saturated fat content per serving. If a meal provides 20% or more of the daily value for saturated fat, it’s considered high in this fat. Adjust the saturated fat at your other meals intake at your other meals accordingly.

This is my favorite for multiple reasons. This savory dish delivers a boatload of protein (31 grams), which is more than 60% of the recommended daily value and includes a colorful medley of carrots, peppers and edamame, which help deliver 5 grams of fiber (18% DV) in each serving. DV is the recommended amount of a nutrient to consume daily. The % DV is how much of that nutrient is found in a single serving of food.

The salmon also provides some heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Here’s the best part: I order these babies from Nutrisystem online or over the phone so they’re delivered to my doorstep. That’s what I call one-stop healthy shopping.

(Full disclosure: I’m a consultant with Nutrisystem, but I’d order these anyway.)

Kathleen Zelman, a Georgia-based nutritionist who’s founder of No Nonsense Nutrition and co-host of the podcast True Health Revealed, is a fan of this bowl as it’s full of vegetables, including cauliflower rice, simmered in a delicious vinaigrette.

She often adds a handful of chopped nuts or leftover vegetables to the low-carb bowl to increase calories and satiety. It’s healthy, has 20 grams of protein and only 170 calories. It’s a winner.

According to Nicole Rodriguez, a registered dietitian and certified personal trainer who resides in the metro New York area, the flavor of this frozen meal rivals that of the vindaloo at her favorite local restaurant but can be had in less time and at significant savings to her wallet.

She loves the beef, ginger and cilantro infused flavor. Here’s the best part: It serves up only 15% DV of heart-unhealthy, saturated fat so there’s room to spare at other meals. Plus it offers 19% of your DV of iron. She rounds out this savory meal with leftover veggies.

This East Asian bowl, featuring curried lentils, sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots and brown rice, seasoned with cinnamon, cardamon and turmeric, is an easy vegetarian lunch for Vandana Sheth, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in the Los Angeles area and expert reviewer for U.S. News.

The lentils help provide legumes in your diet. While the recommendation is for adults to consume two cups of legumes weekly, most of us don’t even come close to this amount. This meal can help.

Amy Gorin, a plant-based dietitian and owner of Master the Media, follows a gluten-free diet so this meal is prepared without wheat-containing soy sauce. Bonus points: It’s also dairy free, lactose free, vegan and kosher.

She adds a tossed salad with a ginger dressing for a Thai-themed dinner.

When a chef recommends a flavorful frozen meal, I know she’s on to something. Chef and registered dietitian nutritionist Abbie Gellman enjoys this vegan frozen delight.

Chickpeas are the primary source of not only the protein, but also provides most of the 50% DV of fiber, a ridiculously high amount for one meal. According to Gellman, she loves this brand of frozen meals because they always use whole ingredients, spices and herbs.

While the latest recommendation is that adults consume at least 8 ounces of seafood weekly, on average, we’re consuming only about half of the amount.

That’s why Lauren Harris-Pincus, founder of NutritionStarringYOU.com and author of “The Everything Easy Pre-Diabetes Cookbook,” enjoys this tasty, Mexican-inspired fish dish that is made with a mix of corn, poblano peppers and rice. This savvy RDN serves it on top of a cup of steamed frozen veggies, such as broccoli, cauliflower or green beans, to soak up the extra sauce and add another serving of Mother Nature’s finest.

Another bonus: This meal is actually modest in sodium with only 440 milligrams. And the Alaska pollock is a good source of important heart-healthy omega-3s. 

• Nutrisystem’s Asian-Style Salmon With Pasta.
• Healthy Choice Greek Style Chicken Power Bowl.
• Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala With Basmati Rice.
• Chef Bombay Beef Vindaloo.
• Sweet Earth’s Curry Tiger Bowl.
• Amy’s Pad Thai.
• Deep Indian Kitchen Chickpea Masala.
• Tortilla Crusted Fish by Lean Cuisine.