The short answer
The best frozen meals for high cholesterol are tomato-based pasta, stir-fries and lighter-range dishes: 6 of the 20 we compared had 2g of saturated fat or less per meal. Pot pies, lasagne and cheese or cream sauces were the worst, and four meals had 13.9 to 15g, more than a whole day's 13g limit in one dinner.
Our picks from the table:
- Best overall: Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (US): 1g per 326g meal
- Best US: also Healthy Choice Beef Teriyaki and Amy's Pad Thai (1.5g each), and Lean Cuisine Swedish Meatballs (2g)
- Best UK: Wicked Kitchen Nana's Mushroom Bolognese (1.5g, vegan) and Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself Cottage Pie (1.8g)
- Limit: Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie (15g), Charlie Bigham's Lasagne, Chicken Tikka Masala and Fish Pie (13.9 to 14.9g), Tesco Beef Lasagne (11.9g)
Label data only, not medical advice
This ranking compares what each pack's nutrition label says about saturated fat. It isn't a health rating of any brand, and no frozen meal here lowers cholesterol. Ready meals can also be high in salt, which the table doesn't show. Recipes change, so check the label on the pack you buy. If your doctor or dietitian has given you specific limits, follow those.
20 frozen meals ranked by saturated fat
Every meal is compared on what you'd eat in one sitting: the whole pack for single-serve meals, from 198g for a Banquet pot pie to 403g for a Charlie Bigham's curry. The table also shows calories per meal, because a light meal with little saturated fat may need a side to fill you up. Bands: Better 2g or less per meal, Occasional over 2g up to 4.5g, Treat over 4.5g.
Eating one of these? Scan its barcode in Heart Tracker for a heart score out of 10 and a better swap. Free on iPhone. Get the app
Nutrition data from Open Food Facts, available under the Open Database License (ODbL). Product names link to each product's Open Food Facts page.
What the ranking shows
- The sauce decides it. Tomato sauces and stir-fry sauces kept saturated fat low: Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meat Sauce had 1g, and Healthy Choice Beef Teriyaki and Amy's Pad Thai 1.5g each. Cheese and cream sauces pushed it up: Stouffer's Chicken Alfredo had 8g and Stouffer's Macaroni & Cheese 9g.
- The same dish can differ six-fold. Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Cottage Pie had 11.2g; the Be Good to Yourself version had 1.8g. Tesco's standard Beef Lasagne had 11.9g against 3.9g for its Low Fat Recipe lasagne.
- Pastry and premium ranges are the worst. A Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie had 15g and a smaller Banquet pot pie 9g. Charlie Bigham's meals, made with cream, butter or cheese, had 13.9 to 14.9g, each more than a full day's 13g limit.
- "Light" ranges did best, but not always. Four of the six meals in the Better band came from Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice or Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself. Even so, Lean Cuisine Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes had 4.5g, and Healthy Choice Grilled Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo 2.5g.
- Vegetarian isn't automatically lower. Amy's Vegetable Lasagna, made with ricotta and mozzarella, had 6g, while the vegan Wicked Kitchen Mushroom Bolognese had 1.5g.
What to look for in a frozen meal
- Choose tomato, stir-fry or curry-with-rice bases over cheese, cream and pastry. Alfredo, mac and cheese, gratins, pies and "creamy" anything are usually the highest.
- Check saturated fat per pack, not per 100g. A big meal at a modest 3g per 100g can still add up to 12g. Under about 4.5g per meal leaves room in the rest of your day.
- Look for lean protein. Chicken, fish, beans and lentils beat processed red meat such as sausage, pepperoni and bacon.
- Watch the salt. Ready meals can supply a large share of a day's salt. The UK traffic light makes it easy to compare; in the US, look for 600mg of sodium or less per meal.
- Add vegetables or a side. The light-range meals we compared had about 190 to 310 calories. A side salad, frozen veg or a portion of beans adds fibre and keeps you full without much saturated fat.
Easy swaps
- Pot pie: swap for a cottage or shepherd's pie from a lighter range, or a chicken and rice meal.
- Standard beef lasagne: swap for a reduced-fat lasagne or spaghetti with meat sauce.
- Mac and cheese or alfredo: swap for a tomato-based pasta.
- Creamy curry: swap for a tomato or lentil curry, or a stir-fry.
Cooking from scratch? Our easy low-cholesterol dinners take about as long as reheating a ready meal.
Check any frozen meal before you buy it
Scan any pack with Can I eat this? in Heart Tracker for a heart score out of 10 and a better swap. Every scan shows its saturated fat per serving. Log your meal to see how it fits into your day alongside your cholesterol results.
- 30-day LDL Reset
- Can I eat this? scanner
- LDL & HDL trends
How we ranked them
We picked best-selling US frozen dinners, from Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Amy's, Stouffer's, Marie Callender's and Banquet, and popular UK ready meals from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Wicked Kitchen and Charlie Bigham's. We took each one's nutrition data from Open Food Facts, an open database built from product labels. To catch mistakes, we compared each product's current record with an earlier copy and left out any where the saturated fat, fat or sugar didn't match. That excluded five meals, including an Iceland beef lasagne, an M&S Count On Us meal and a Tesco Calorie Controlled meal.
Each meal is compared on its own pack weight (the label's cooked, per-pack figure for the Wicked Kitchen meal), calculated from the per 100g values. Percentages are of 13g, the American Heart Association's suggested daily limit for saturated fat on a 2,000 calorie diet. The NHS upper limit is 20g a day for women and 30g for men. The full dataset and the script that builds it are kept with this page and refreshed periodically.
Frozen meals and cholesterol: quick answers
Are frozen meals bad for cholesterol?
Not necessarily. In our comparison, 6 of 20 frozen meals had 2g of saturated fat or less, under 15% of a 13g daily limit. But 11 were in the Treat band at over 4.5g, and the richest pies, lasagnes and curries reached 11 to 15g. It depends on the meal, so check the saturated fat per pack.
What are the healthiest frozen meals for high cholesterol?
By saturated fat, the lowest we found were Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (1g per meal), Healthy Choice Beef Teriyaki, Amy's Pad Thai and Wicked Kitchen Nana's Mushroom Bolognese (1.5g each), Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself Cottage Pie (1.8g) and Lean Cuisine Swedish Meatballs (2g). Look for tomato or stir-fry sauces, lean protein and lower salt.
Is Lean Cuisine good for high cholesterol?
Most Lean Cuisine meals we compared were low in saturated fat: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce had 1g and Swedish Meatballs 2g per meal. Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes had 4.5g, about a third of the daily limit, so it varies by recipe. Check the salt too.
Are ready meals bad for high cholesterol?
Standard and premium UK ready meals were among the highest in our table: Tesco Beef Lasagne had 11.9g of saturated fat and Charlie Bigham's meals 13.9 to 14.9g per pack. Lighter ranges were far lower, such as Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself Cottage Pie at 1.8g and Tesco's Low Fat Recipe lasagne at 3.9g.
Are frozen pot pies bad for cholesterol?
Pot pies were the highest frozen meals in our comparison because of the pastry. A Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie had 15g of saturated fat, more than a full day's 13g limit, and a smaller Banquet Chicken Pot Pie had 9g. Keep them as an occasional treat.
Are frozen meals high in sodium?
Many are. Ready meals can supply a large share of a day's salt, and high salt raises blood pressure, another risk for heart disease. The American Heart Association suggests no more than 2,300mg of sodium a day, ideally 1,500mg, and the NHS 6g of salt for adults. Compare the sodium or salt line as well as saturated fat.
Sources
- Open Food Facts (product nutrition data, ODbL)
- American Heart Association: Saturated fat
- American Heart Association: Sodium and salt
- NHS: Fat, the facts
- NHS: Salt, the facts
- UK Department of Health: Front of pack nutrition labelling guidance