{"id":837515,"date":"2026-09-05T16:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T16:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/837515\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T16:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T16:18:15","slug":"looking-for-a-healthier-frozen-dinner-consumer-reports-tested-30-of-them-wtop-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/837515\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for a healthier frozen dinner? Consumer Reports tested 30 of them \u2013 WTOP News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consumer Reports recently compared frozen meals to identify top options for taste, quality and nutrition.<\/p>\n<p>Related stories<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe looked at over 250 meals across 10 different brands by examining company websites and all that they offer,\u201d said registered dietitian Amy Keating, who participated in the study. \u201cWe selected three products within each brand line,\u201d for 30 products altogether.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerreports.org\/health\/frozen-foods\/best-frozen-meals-lab-tested-and-reviewed-a3542904665\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Testers evaluated<\/a> brands that emphasize wholefood ingredients, make health-related claims or market themselves as healthier options, including Amy\u2019s, Blue Zones Kitchen, Evol, Healthy Choice, Kevin\u2019s Natural Foods, Lean Cuisine, Saffron Road, Smart Ones, Tattooed Chef and Trader Joe\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several brands performed well, but two stood out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAmy\u2019s and Blue Zones were really the most consistent in our test in earning at least a \u2018very good\u2019 in both taste and nutrition,\u201d Keating said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All three products tested from each of those brands earned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consumerreports.org\/health\/frozen-foods\/best-frozen-meals-lab-tested-and-reviewed-a3542904665\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Consumer Reports recommendations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey hit all our targets in terms of being lower in sodium and saturated fat and higher in fiber,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trader Joe\u2019s also had several standout products, including its Chicken Burrito Bowl and a cauliflower-based bowl.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study found that vegetarian, grain and power bowls generally outperformed meat-based entrees, which are often higher in sodium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keating said shoppers shouldn\u2019t automatically trust front-of-package claims such as \u201chigh protein\u201d or \u201clow calorie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, Consumer Reports recommends reviewing the full nutrition label, paying close attention to sodium, saturated fat, fiber and added sugar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a general guideline, its experts suggest choosing frozen meals with 700 milligrams of sodium or less, at least 6 grams of fiber, limited saturated fat and little or no added sugar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"single-page__signature bottom\">Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"single-page__signature bottom\">\u00a9 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Consumer Reports recently compared frozen meals to identify top options for taste, quality and nutrition. Related stories \u201cWe&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":["post-837515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}