Loafing Around

by Elizabeth Sanchez

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You don't eat frozen dinners for your health-you eat them because they're easy to prepare. We tried these frozen-dinner options to find the best-tasting and least-damaging brand.

Banquet

CALORIES: 300
CARBS: 28 g
TOTAL FAT: 15 g
PROTEIN: 14 g

Pro: Banquet's meat loaf is delicious-a Swedish-meatball-like blend of tender ground beef and hearty, flavorful brown gravy, with just the right amount of onions, spices, and salt.
Con: To keep the cost per meal low, Banquet does skimp on portion size. You'll need to either grab something else to eat with this frozen dinner or eat two (in which case, you'll be taking in way more fat than you need).

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Healthy Choice

CALORIES: 360
CARBS: 46 g
TOTAL FAT: 9 g
PROTEIN: 20 g

Pro: In general, Healthy Choice is hit-or-miss, but this dinner is among its best. Portions are large, the steak and sides are good, and you get a fairly tasty apple dessert.
Con: No surprise here-the meal is hospital-food bland. Add some salt and pepper, though, and you're good to go.

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Stouffer's

CALORIES: 340
CARBS: 19 g
TOTAL FAT: 20 g
PROTEIN: 22 g

Pro: Stouffer's earns points for making an actual mini-loaf of meat-you can even see the brown bits of crust for proof the loaf was baked in an oven. Plus, with visible spices on both the meat and the potatoes, this is the one meal you could actually imagine somebody's mom creating.
Con: A woeful lack of gravy leaves what would be an otherwise tasty meal incredibly dry and hard to swallow.

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