12 Frozen Healthy Choice Meals That Are Actually Unhealthy

Back in the shoulder-pad era of the 1980s, Conagra's chairman got a wake-up call in the form of a heart attack and a weeklong stay in intensive care. While recovering — and probably rethinking every steak-and-potatoes business lunch he'd ever had — he discovered that "healthy" and "tasty" didn't have to be sworn enemies. That realization sparked the birth of Healthy Choice — frozen meals promising fewer calories, less fat, and reasonable sodium levels.

Fast-forward a few decades, and it's time for a little nutritional checkup — are these meals actually healthy? Many Healthy Choice entrées do pack solid nutrition with lean proteins, respectable veggie portions, and vitamin lists longer than a CVS receipt. But others ... well, let's just say their sodium content might raise your eyebrows and your blood pressure. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls a dish "high sodium" when it hits 20% or more of your daily recommended limit — several meals on our list cruise past that mark at 26%. A few also soar past the same threshold for added sugars, turning your chicken bowl into a surprise dessert. (If you're curious how we picked which meals made this list, check out the methodology section at the end.)

But we're not here to cancel convenience or ban your microwave to the garage. If your favorite Healthy Choice meal made the list, don't panic — moderation is still the gold standard. Enjoy it now and then, while mixing in some other options. After all, variety is the real spice of life — and sometimes, it comes with way less salt.

A classic meat-and-potatoes meal and the convenience of the microwave — that's Café Steamers Barbecue Seasoned Steak with Potatoes. It's full of beef strips, russet potatoes, corn, bell peppers, and onions — all coated in a whiskey barbecue sauce. Unfortunately, this so-called healthy choice has a catch, and it's hiding in that tangy condiment because barbecue sauce often has more sugar than you think. In this meal, the first two ingredients in the barbecue seasoning are brown sugar and sugar. That combo helps bring the total added sugars to 16 grams — about one‑third of your daily recommended allowance packed into a single microwavable tray. That's a whole lot of sugar for something that's not dessert — even a 2/3 cup serving of vanilla ice cream has less added sugar!

If you're getting sugar shock but still want a convenient meat-and-potatoes fix, there's good news. Healthy Choice Plated Meals Balsamic Garlic Steak comes with steak in balsamic garlic sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. This meal is actually larger than the barbecue meal, and yet it only has 4 grams of added sugar. One-fourth the sugar! So, if you're looking for a healthier steak and potato choice, consider going for the garlic flavor instead of barbecue.

Veggies top the ingredient list for Simply Steamers Grilled Chicken Pesto & Vegetables. It's packed with broccoli, cauliflower, and peas. Grilled chicken breast brings in protein, and it all gets topped with a creamy basil pesto sauce. Thanks to that garden lineup, one tray delivers 6% of your day's recommended calcium and iron, 18% of your fiber, 25% of your potassium, 35% of your vitamin C, and — drumroll — 42% of your protein.

Unfortunately, this healthy celebration doesn't last. The basil pesto sauce storms in as the party pooper. Because it's built on cheese, butter, and cream, that tasty sauce contributes to 13% of the daily recommended value of saturated fat and 85 milligrams of cholesterol. Romano cheese is a stealthy culprit here. Just a single tablespoon of shredded Romano cheese carries about a gram of saturated fat, or 5% of the daily cap, and this meal tallies 2.5 grams in total. Healthy Choice aims for no more than a gram of saturated fat per 100 grams of food. With a 259-gram serving, the math says 2.59  grams is the ceiling for this meal — and it slides right up to that with 2.5 grams of saturated fat.

Salt doesn't exactly stay on the sidelines either. The basil pesto sauce and seasoned chicken push sodium to the brand's 600‑milligram max — 26% of your daily allotment. When one bowl nudges both the sodium and saturated fat limits, it might be worth considering another Healthy Choice flavor.

Power Bowls Mediterranean-Style Shrimp brings together leafy greens, cherry tomatoes, Italian green beans, red bell peppers, and feta cheese on a multigrain bed of brown rice, red rice, red quinoa, and black barley. This color assortment all comes together with a lemon oregano sauce.

Healthwise, this bowl has a lot going for it. Shrimp are basically protein and water, and, sure enough, the bowl gives you 14 grams of protein. The leafy greens boost nutrients while feta brings in calcium and extra protein. But feta also sneaks in salt and saturated fat, and that Mediterranean sunshine dims a little when you read the fine print. This bowl contains 26% of your recommended daily sodium allowance, 13% for saturated fat, and 80 milligrams of cholesterol.

If you want shrimp and convenience with a little less baggage, Power Bowls Shrimp Fajita offers an alternative. The sodium isn't lower, but it slashes the saturated fat to less than half, keeps the same daily percentage of protein, and brings an even bigger helping of fiber. Different vibe — sizzling skillet instead of Greek taverna — but a slightly healthier way to get your shrimp fix.

Craving takeout flavor? Café Steamers Sweet & Sour Chicken delivers a classic combo — tempura-battered chicken, bell peppers, onions, and pineapple over rice — and drenched in sweet-and-sour sauce. With a whirl of the microwave, you get restaurant vibes for just 390 calories, plus bonus nutrients like 6% of the daily recommended amount of potassium, 8% iron, 10% vitamin C, and 14% protein.

While the entrée offers a lot of good stuff, there's a catch right there in the name — "sweet" isn't kidding. That sweet-and-sour sauce contributes to 21 grams of added sugar, a hefty 42% of your daily limit stuffed into a single bowl.

If you like a bit of sweetness with your chicken, two sister meals offer gentler options. Café Steamers Sweet Sesame Chicken takes out nearly half the added sugar, while Café Steamers Pineapple Chicken trims it to almost a third (8 grams of the added sugar) and even cuts the total fat and saturated fat in half. Same speedy convenience, far less sugar buzz.

Healthy Choice Power Bowls Adobo Chicken stars on a reviews-based list of the "11 Best High Protein Frozen Meals To Buy." Once the microwave gets turning, your kitchen smells like the Southwest — seasoned chicken, spicy guajillo chili, fire-roasted corn, poblano peppers, and tomatoes tumble with a wholesome blend of kale, spinach, red quinoa, and whole grain rice. All that flavor shows up on the nutrition panel too, handing you a healthy serving of iron, potassium, and vitamin A, along with 29% of your day's fiber and a muscle‑flexing 40% of protein.

But every hero has a flaw, and this bowl flirts with Healthy Choice's self‑imposed fat limits. The brand caps total fat at 3 grams per 100 grams of food. With 276 grams in the tray, total fat should come in under 8.28 grams. The Adobe Chicken slides in at 8 grams. Saturated fats tell a similar story — the company's target is 1 gram per 100 grams, so 2.76 grams max, and the bowl comes in at 2.5 grams. Not a deal-breaker, but it's the nutritional equivalent of parking awfully close to the red zone.

Salt content is also close to the red zone. The bowl hits the brand's 600-milligram sodium ceiling, or 26% of your daily max. If you crave chicken and Southwest flavors but want a little less salt, the Simply Steamers Southwest-Style Chicken Burrito Bowl offers 140 milligrams less sodium. Though it keeps the same saturated fat, it knocks down total fat while still dishing up plenty of fiber and protein.

You could whip up an easy chicken Alfredo recipe, but it's definitely not as easy as popping Simply Steamers Grilled Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo into the microwave. This tray is exactly what it claims — chicken breast and broccoli in creamy Alfredo sauce. For just 190 calories, you'll get a whopping 28 grams of protein — that's more flex per forkful than many protein shakes. Along with all the protein, Grilled Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo serves up plenty of vitamins and minerals. A cup of broccoli matches an orange for vitamin C, so this broccoli-filled entrée gifts you 30% of your daily C, plus 25% of your potassium and 14% of your fiber. Not bad for something that cooks while you scroll TikTok.

Despite all the nutritious benefits, the Grilled Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo might not be the healthiest choice because of its high cholesterol and sodium content. Sea salt seasons the chicken, and the Alfredo flavor comes from salted cheeses and salted butter. It all adds up to 600 milligrams of sodium — about one‑quarter of your daily recommended cap in one small meal.

It also contains 85 milligrams of cholesterol. Blame the Alfredo. Cheese plus butter plus cream equals deliciousness, but those foods are also high in dietary cholesterol. Since most of the cholesterol lives in the dairy-heavy Alfredo, you can make this meal considerably healthier if you don't use all the sauce.

At first glance, the Café Steamers Honey Glazed Turkey & Potatoes sounds like a comforting, holiday-inspired meal. A honey pepper glaze covers pieces of turkey, which are served with both roasted sweet and russet potatoes, green beans, onions, and cranberries.

The meal contains 240 calories, 14 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fiber, making it a seemingly balanced option for a lighter meal. However, it runs into a bit of trouble with the sugar content. It packs in 18 grams of total sugars, including 13 grams added in — that's 26% of the recommended daily intake of added sugars.

The high sugar content is worth paying attention to, especially for a savory entrée. Honey Glazed Turkey & Potatoes might have to count for dinner and dessert. Given the sweet honey glaze, the sweet potatoes, and the apple juice-infused cranberries, maybe that's okay. But with its high sugar content, the meal might not align with everyone's expectations for a healthy choice.

Healthy Choice Power Bowls Korean-Inspired Beef mixes seasoned beef with assorted veggies, including carrots, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, kale, and spinach. Served atop a blend of red quinoa, brown and red rice, and black barley, the dish all comes together with soy sauce and a sweet and spicy Gochujang sauce. It's got a bit of a kick, labeled as a four out of five on the pepper-image spice level scale. Given all this excitement found in one bowl, no wonder Korean-Inspired Beef landed on Mashed's list of "Frozen Food Dinners That Are Definitely Worth Your Money."

But is it really healthy? With superfoods like kale, spinach, and quinoa, the Korean-Inspired Beef bowl sure sounds healthy. While it is packed with good stuff like protein, fiber, iron, and potassium, it's also sneaking in 600 milligrams of sodium, or 26% of the recommended daily intake. That high sodium content in a relatively small portion size makes the dish, as a whole, less likely to be categorized as a superfood. When you're looking for something spicy with super convenience, you might grab the Korean-Inspired Beef bowl — just don't grab it every day.

In the Healthy Choice Café Steamers line, Cajun-Style Chicken & Shrimp serves up grilled white meat chicken and shrimp on a bed of rice, topped with a spicy Cajun-style sauce. The dish is rounded out with a mix of bell peppers, onions, and celery.

Reviewers on Healthy Choice's website and Reddit mention that this one can be tricky to find in stores, but those who track it down often consider it worth the effort. It has close to a 4-star rating, with many compliments for the flavorful sauce.

Cajun-Style Chicken & Shrimp is gluten-free and, with both land and sea protein, it packs in 15 grams of protein to fill you up. Unfortunately, it'll also fill you up with sodium. The meal contains 600 milligrams of sodium — 26% of the daily recommended amount. That's a lot for a single small meal, so this flavorful option might be better as an occasional treat than a daily staple.

Start with a layer of grains made up of brown and red rice, red quinoa, and black barley. Add all-natural chicken sausage mixed with veggies like bell peppers, kale, spinach, and diced tomatoes. Finish it off with zesty arrabbiata sauce and a bit of parmesan cheese. And that's the Power Bowls Italian Chicken Sausage & Peppers.

All those flavors pay off on the nutrition panel — 20% of your daily vitamin C, 18% fiber, 14% protein, and 10% each of calcium, potassium, and vitamin A. Unfortunately, like so many frozen meals, the bowl also moonlights as a miniature salt mine. It serves up 26% of the recommended daily sodium limit, maxing out Healthy Choice's self-imposed cap of 600 milligrams of sodium per serving. With 8 grams of total fat and 2.5 grams of saturated fat, the meal also nudges right up against the brand's please-stop-here line for total fat and saturated fat.

Want the sausage vibe without quite so much salt and fat? Consider the Power Bowls Cajun-Style Chicken and Sausage instead. It still brings Italian chicken sausage and bell peppers, but swaps arrabbiata for a spicy Cajun red-pepper sauce, shaving the sodium a bit and slicing total fat and saturated fat in half. Same quick sausage convenience with a slightly friendlier nutrition panel.

Healthy Choice's Simply Steamers Pasta with Chicken Bolognese is a highly rated meal with cavatappi pasta in a Bolognese sauce with tomatoes and chicken sausage. It's just 230 calories, but it's packed with 18 grams of protein to help you feel full. Unfortunately, sausage tends to be high in sodium, and this Healthy Choice meal comes with 600 milligrams of sodium — over a quarter of your day's recommended quota. No need to do the math, but that adds up to a lot of salt per calorie.

If you're craving chicken plus pasta with a bit less sodium, consider Healthy Choice Power Bowls Roasted Red Pepper Romesco Chicken Pasta — a mouthful to say, but far less of a mouthful of salt. This meal made Mashed's list of "The Healthiest Microwave Meals You Can Buy" and trims 200 milligrams of sodium compared to the Bolognese option. It's slightly less protein — 15 grams instead of 18 grams — but will still provide a satisfying meal filled with chicken, veggies, and pasta.

Low-carb Italian does exist! You can find it in Power Bowls Chicken Marinara, where riced cauliflower stands in for pasta, pulled all-natural chicken breast joins broccoli, kale, spinach, and red bell pepper. A zesty marinara with a sprinkle of parmesan pulls it all together like Nonna at Sunday dinner. For just 210 calories and only 4% of the daily value for total carbohydrates, you net 19 grams of protein (28% of recommended daily value), 18% of your fiber quota, half your daily vitamin C, and respectable bites of calcium, iron, and potassium.

But every Roman holiday has its tourist trap, and here it's sodium. Marinara sauce and parmesan help push salt to 600 milligrams, or 26% of your daily recommended cap, which is exactly where Healthy Choice draws its own line for entrées. The brand also aims to keep total fat to no more than 3 grams per 100 grams of food. Power Bowls Chicken Marinara actually exceeds that with 10 grams of total fat in an entrée of 262 grams, roughly 3.82 grams per 100 grams, making this meal one of the higher total-fat options in Healthy Choice's freezer aisle.

Bottom line — Power Bowls Chicken Marinara is a tasty, nutrient-dense option that plays the low-carb card well. Enjoy it as an occasional Roman fling, then wander off to explore the rest of the culinary map.

To build this list, we looked at the nutritional information published on Healthy Choice's official website and compared it to guidelines from the FDA. The FDA uses percent of recommended daily value (%DV) to help consumers understand how much of a nutrient they're getting in a serving of food. According to the guidelines, anything with 20% DV or more of sodium is considered "high." We do need some sodium — it's essential for things like nerve function and hydration. But the FDA warns that too much can raise your blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of stroke and heart disease.

The same 20% DV rule applies to added sugars. These aren't the naturally occurring kind you find in fruits or milk — they're the extra stuff added during processing to sweeten things up. And while sugar may make foods taste good, it adds calories with zero nutritional benefit. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that consuming too many added sugars can be unhealthy, contributing to weight gain, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Every meal on this list exceeds the FDA's recommended threshold for foods high in either sodium or added sugars. Given the health risks of diets high in sodium or added sugars, we've classified these meals as unhealthy. Of course, nutrition isn't one-size-fits-all, and we're not your doctor, nutritionist, or the microwave police. Everyone's dietary needs and priorities are different and so is everyone's definition of "healthy" and "unhealthy." What happens next is between you and your microwave.