Time-Saving Frozen Foods You Should Never Put in Your Cart

There's been long debate about whether it's a good idea to eat frozen foods. Simply freezing a food item is not what makes it less healthy — some leading health organizations say frozen food is actually as nutritious as fresh, and certain nutrients in food are even better preserved when frozen. The key difference to look for when considering buying frozen food is the nutritional content of the food item and any potential additives: Frozen fruits and vegetables on their own are typically healthy, but it's better to stay away from items such as pizzas, snacks, or entrees that may include a lot of added sugar, sodium, or high-calorie sauces. Here's a closer look at some frozen foods to avoid putting in a shopping cart.

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Boneless chicken bites with honey and barbecue sauce sound good, but Bart Wolbers, researcher and chief science writer for Alexfergus, suggests consumers review the ingredients before buying. A partial list includes brown sugar, sugar, corn syrup, canola oil, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, modified food starch, polysorbate 80, smoke flavor, sodium benzoate (as a preservative), and sodium phosphates. "As you can see, many different types of sugars are added," says Wolbers, who has a master's degree in clinical health science. According to the packaging, each 3-ounce serving (roughly the size of your palm, so just a few bites) contains about 7 grams of sugar, not to mention 510 milligrams of sodium (21% of the recommended daily allowance).

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Again, just take a gander at the ingredients before buying, Wolbers suggests. "I count 38. For those specializing in nutrition, that's a horrible list, let alone the average person walking through a supermarket." The list includes salt, sugar, and what Wolbers calls toxic vegetable oils, such as soybean and corn oil, which are not heat-stable. There's also yeast, different types of meat (pork, chicken, and beef), artificial flavorings, and preservatives. "The more ingredients included, the higher the reward for your brain becomes — and the greater the addictive potential." Each serving of the pizza (which is a quarter of the pie) contains 17 grams of fat and 780 milligrams of sodium. 

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Macaroni and cheese should be simple, including perhaps two to four ingredients such as macaroni, cheese, milk, and maybe some salt, Wolbers says. But Stouffer's version is more complication, which is why the sauce alone is in the double digits, and each 1 cup serving contains a whopping 920 grams of sodium, 17 grams of fat, and 350 calories. "Again, there are at least two different cheeses added, which makes the food more rewarding to your brain. Then there's salt, wheat flour, and two different oils added — butter and soybean oil, to make your brain go wild," Wolbers says. "By simply adding a few highly rewarding ingredients, food companies ensure that the next time you see this macaroni and cheese product in the supermarket, you'll buy it again instead of a healthier alternative." 

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Anyone who's ever made a smoothie knows they're sweet enough without adding sugar or stevia to the mix, says Jamie Hickey, a personal trainer, nutritionist, and founder of Truism Fitness. "Jamba juice didn't get the message," says Hickey of the company's overly sweet smoothies, which included added sugar. "You're better off making a drink from scratch using unsweetened frozen produce like berries, pineapple, and spinach. This way you have total control over what you eat."

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This meal consists of fried chicken in a tangy mesquite sauce, mashed potatoes with butter, green beans, and a brownie. It also contains a whopping 1,050 calories per serving and 72 grams of fat, which is more fat than you should have in an entire day, Hickey says. "The sugar content is 18 grams mostly from the brownie, and last but definitely not least is the 2,060 milligrams of sodium." The American Heart Association recommends no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily for adults.

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Approach this pot pie, with its doughy crust stuffed with creamy sauce and bacon, with caution, Hickey says. It contains more than 60% of the recommended daily allotment for sodium. "The nutrition facts are split into two [servings], which is a trick to make it seem healthier," Hickey says, "But the majority of people are going to eat the whole meal, and it has 1,020 calories and 64 grams of fat."

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At first blush this frozen pizza looks okay — but there are four servings within, and Melissa Morris, a University of Tampa nutrition professor, says many people will eat at least half the pizza, for just under 800 calories, 18 grams of saturated fat, 1500 milligrams of sodium, and 8 grams of sugar. "If you eat the entire pie, you can figure 1,600 calories, 36 grams of saturated fat, and 3,000 mg of sodium," Morris says. A better alternative would be to make your own pizza using a thin whole-grain or cauliflower crust, less cheese, and adding vegetables of your own.

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Not only are these pastries void of any nutrients a body needs to fuel up for the day, but they include high fructose corn syrup and soybean oil, a fat that has been connected to fast weight gain, Hickey says. "Not to mention that you should never buy a product that boasts having 30% more icing," he adds. "You would be better off eating a breakfast casserole you make yourself, or an egg white omelet with cottage cheese and fruit." Each pastry also contains 10 grams of sugar, almost half of the maximum amount of added sugars recommended by the American Heart Association for women and almost a third of the recommended amount for men. 

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This product's packaging points out that it's made with real cheese and has a lot of protein. "Both statements are true, but it still doesn't take away from the fact that this is a highly processed bowl of meat. It contains 660 calories, 1,270 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of saturated fat, and 9 grams of sugar," Hickey says.

Morris describes Hungry Man dinners as a nutritional no-no, but the classic fried chicken meal, in particular, is a bad choice. "It has 940 calories, 12 grams of saturated fat, 1,370 mg of sodium, and 14 grams of sugar," Morris says. "Did you guess that your fried chicken had 3.5 teaspoons of sugar in it?" A better alternative is preparing a grilled chicken breast and veggies, which would be much healthier and provide far more nutrients.

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This sweet, chocolate dessert comes in at 450 calories, 18 grams of saturated fat, 320 milligrams of sodium, and 32 grams of sugar. "That's like spooning 8 teaspoons of sugar into your mouth," Morris says. "This is for one-fifth of the pie, which is not a large piece." Instead consider having chocolate pudding made with low-fat milk, or sugar-free chocolate pudding. Or better yet, have fruit for dessert, Morris says.

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This breakfast bowl serves one person and has 460 calories, 13 grams of saturated fat, 1,130 milligrams of sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. "That much sodium is a terrible start to your day," Morris says. "Instead, have an omelet made with veggies of your choice and low-fat cheese."

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Evol's Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese is a great example of a frozen food that's marketed as healthy but is actually quite bad for you, says Dr. Nikola Djordjevic, of LoudCloudHealth. "For starters, it contains 23 grams of fat, and 14 grams of the worst kind – saturated," Djordjevic says. The meal's smoked flavor comes from liquid smoke flavor and other additives. If you want a healthy version of mac and cheese, make it at home from scratch using fresh ingredients.

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Do we really need pancakes and sausage on a stick? Unusual serving approach aside, this food item contains some alarming ingredients, says Nate Masterson, health expert and the head of natural product development for Maple Holistics. "It contains BHT, which is a possible carcinogen, not to mention the very high saturated fat and sodium levels," Masterson says. There's 410 milligrams of sodium in a serving, as well as 3.5 grams of saturated fat.

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A meal meant for one person, Stouffer's Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo includes a relatively small portion of chicken with noodles and Alfredo sauce. One serving includes 540 calories and 31 grams of fat, as well as 940 milligrams of sodium and 43 grams of carbs. "None of those numbers are healthy, and the amount of food you receive isn't big enough to satiate the average person," Hickey says.

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The 8 grams of saturated fat in this sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast item is more than half of what a person eating a 2,000-calorie diet needs in a day. The 810 milligrams of sodium is more than half of the 1,500 milligram daily limit recommended by the American Heart Association, and is particularly bad for individuals at higher risk of heart disease, Morris says.

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Much like the Bob Evans' burrito, this item has a significant amount of sodium — 700 milligrams. It also contains 3 grams of sugar, which includes 2 grams of added sugar. "Two grams of added sugar is like sprinkling half a teaspoon of sugar on your sandwich," Morris says.

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The nutrition label for Fast Fixin' Chicken Nuggets doesn't set off immediate alarms: Each serving of six nuggets includes 180 calories, 11 grams of fat, 510 milligrams of sodium, 13 grams of carbs, and 9 grams of protein. "I have two concerns, though," Hickey says. "A lot of processed chicken products use fillers to cut down on the amount of chicken used, to save money in the manufacturing process. Also, once you look closer at the serving size you see that the six nuggets weigh 75 grams. That means that these are more like popcorn chicken than they are nuggets, and you won't be satisfied for very long — and you'll be eating more and adding even more calories to your day."

This meatloaf dish includes nearly a full day's worth of sodium at 1,350 milligrams. The  11 grams of added sugar aren't insignificant either, Morris says, being "almost 3 teaspoons of sugar sprinkled on your meatloaf meal."

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Like Banquet's meatloaf meal, the brand's Salisbury steak has a hefty 11 grams of added sugar. And don't overlook its staggering 1,340 milligrams of sodium. You get nearly an entire day's sodium in one meal with this steak.

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Healthy Choice is supposed to be, well, healthy. But this meal contains 22 grams of sugar — pretty much the entire daily recommended intake of sugar for a woman, according to the American Heart Associaton. For men, the recommended limit is 37.5 grams, so this one meal is about 60% of a day's allotment.

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If you're going to buy frozen prepared foods, compare nutrition panels to buy items with as few ingredients as possible. An ingredient list should look like "Ingredients: organic spinach." Or this: "Ingredients: organic tomato sauce, vinegar, salt." Simple is good. "You should also know what you're putting into your body," Wolbers says. "If you don't understand what you're eating, then don't buy the product."