Diet-Friendly Frozen Meals

For dieters, prepackaged frozen dinners mean super-convenient meals and instant portion control, but not all diet-friendly frozen foods are equally tasty. Page through our gallery of microwaveable delights and duds.

Delight: Amy's Brown Rice, Black-Eyed Peas & Veggies Bowl
The veggies in frozen dinners tend to be soggy and scant, but the ones in this dish from Amy's are actually plentiful and crunchy. The rice is fluffy and the black-eyed peas are an interesting addition. Overall, it's a filling dish that is loaded with iron and will only set you back 290 calories.

Delight: Gardenburger BBQ Riblets
Served in a savory barbecue sauce, these faux ribs are tasty, not at all scary as you might expect. At 240 calories and 4.5 fat grams per serving, you won't have to feel guilty about polishing off this meal. Compare that to traditional ribs with almost twice the calories and five times the fat.

Delight: Kashi Lime Cilantro Shrimp
Normally, we're a little leery of frozen fish, but Kashi's shrimp meal changed all that. This dish is packed with tasty and filling shrimp and crunchy veggies over a fiber-filled, whole-grain pilaf. Not only is this entrée tasty, but the calorie count is low enough (250 calories) to allow for dessert or soup on the side.

Delight: Lean Cuisine Five Cheese Lasagna
This lasagna is generous and comforting, but a little bland, which might appeal to those who don't like a lot of spice. The noodles are firm and the cheese rich and it's a welcome change from some of the rubbery frozen lasagnas in the market. Best of all, you get a hearty slice of southern Italian cuisine in only 320 calories.

Delight: Smart Ones Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans
Rice and beans may not sound like much, but somehow Weight Watchers makes it work. This Smart Ones entrée offers a filling meal, while staying slim on calories (310) and fat (7 grams). The cheese doesn't taste processed, the beans are well-cooked and the rice isn't dry or sticky.

Dud: Lean Cuisine Roasted Vegetable Pizza
Every dieter dreams of pizza, especially one with a thick crust piled high with cheese and veggies. This frozen pizza is not the stuff of dreams. Lean Cuisine tries -- we'll give them that. The box has a special lid that is supposed to make the crust crispy, but it's sad and soggy most of the time. While the calories and fat are relatively low (330 Calories, 5 grams of fat), we'd rather run out for a slice and a half at about the same count.

Dud: Amy's Organic Cheese Lasagna
Amy's lasagna may be tops in taste, but with 14 grams of fat and 320 calories it's little on the fatty side. Given that this is such a small portion, you would do better with the vegetable lasagna option, at only 9 grams of fat and 290 calories. Plus, the veggie version packs tons of greens, making it both healthier and more flavorful.

Dud: Cedarlane Beans, Rice and Cheese Burrito
This burrito may be organic but that doesn't mean it tastes fresh or unprocessed. It's surprisingly bland considering it contains a whopping 490mg of sodium and that it is supposed to have a blend of special herbs and spices. The use of soy cheese makes it low in fat (just 1 gram) but contributes a fake, plastic-like taste and texture. Sure, it's only 260 calories, but there are better tasting low-cal frozen burritos out there.

Dud: Healthy Choice Four Cheese Manicotti
Though this Healthy Choice pasta might offer tastier tomato sauce than other frozen dinners, the cheese is tasteless, the noodles are on the rubbery side and the side of broccoli is soggy. The worst part of the meal is the caramel apple crisp it comes with, which tastes anything but sweet. The entire meal adds up to only 340 calories and 6 grams of fat, but your stomach will be rumbling in two hours.

Dud: Smart Ones Fire-Grilled Chicken and Vegetables
The chicken (if you can call it that) in this Smart Ones meal comes in sparrow-like cubes and is smothered in a sticky, sweet sauce. There are very few vegetables to speak of -- unless you count microscopic bits of red and green pepper. Bafflingly, for a low-cal dish (290 calories and 3 grams of fat), what you get the most of is rice. You're best bet is to mix the rice and the chicken together and close your eyes.