14 Of The Unhealthiest Amy's Frozen Dinners You Might Want To Avoid

Amy's Kitchen puts a lot of care into its food. The food company is famous for its organic frozen meals and food products, and it's constantly reinforcing the message that its items are made with love and attention, with its website devoting lengthy webpages to discussing how it makes its grub. Unfortunately, though, just because something's made with care, doesn't mean it's healthy.

Because Amy's puts its organic ingredients at the top of its agenda, a misconception about the company's items has bubbled up to the surface: Everything it puts out is wholly nutritious and good for you. While it's definitely true that some of its frozen dinners use high-quality ingredients, it's also true that Amy's foods can be just as fatty, salty, or sugary as any other food products out there. This is especially true of its frozen meals, which can often be incredibly high in sodium and saturated fat, rivaling the frozen meals of companies that spend far less time stating how much love they put into each bite.

In this article, we picked the unhealthiest Amy's frozen dinners primarily based on their levels of sodium and saturated fat. We also looked at certain items that had high levels of added sugar, and those that seemed healthier due to being vegetarian or gluten-free, but actually had just as much saturated fat or sodium as the regular options.

Don't let the presence of nutritious black beans in this dish fool you: This frozen dinner is far from healthy. Amy's Tortilla Casserole and Black Beans Bowl starts off well, promising organic tomatoes on top of its black beans, and boasting an ingredients list of organic, recognizable items. Unfortunately, where it stumbles is in the amount of sodium it also includes, boasting 830 milligrams per serving. That's well over a third of the recommended daily maximum of 2,300 milligrams. Plus, this casserole bowl also has 5 grams of saturated fat (25% of your daily value), thanks to the cheese blend that adorns the beans and tortilla chips.

There's no getting around the fact that, despite this frozen dinner being made with organic ingredients, it's still a processed food — and salt often goes hand-in-hand with this processed nature. We get over 70% of our dietary sodium from processed foods, according to the American Heart Association, and high levels of it over time can start to impact our blood pressure. When you eat a processed frozen dinner like this, you don't have any ability to control how much sodium you get in the food, which is why it's so important not to blindly eat these items without checking how much salt they have.

A breakfast scramble is a hearty way to kick off the day. Regrettably, though, Amy's Mexican Breakfast Scramble makes things a little too hearty. This substantial frozen meal may replace its eggs with tofu in a seemingly healthy move, but it's also crammed with cheese, vegetable oil, and butter. These fat sources give it 9 grams of saturated fat in total (45% of your daily value of 20 grams).

That's not the only thing you should keep an eye on, either. Its sodium content is also especially high, hitting you with 790 milligrams in one sitting (33% of your daily value). This frozen meal is a classic example of an ingredient swap that seems to make things healthier, but really does the opposite. Sure, you lose a little bit of saturated fat by switching the eggs to tofu, but when you're then loading up this tofu with butter and salty cheese to make it taste creamy, what's the point? You're far better off whipping up some scrambled eggs of your own, and then adding some corn masa bites and salsa to your plate. This way, you can control what's going into your meal.

So we're guessing you're not shocked by frozen mac and cheese not being super-healthy, but if you thought that the Amy's Kitchen version would be any more nutritious, then you'd be mistaken. Amy's Macaroni and Cheese is just as fatty and salty as the rest of them, and in some ways, it's even less healthy than its competitors. It manages to pack 10 grams of saturated fat (half of your daily value) and 680 milligrams of sodium into its small 255-gram serving size. For comparison's sake, Marie Callender's Vermont Cheddar Mac and Cheese Bowl has 9 grams of saturated fat per serving, and its container size weighs in at 369 grams — although its sodium content, at 1,140 milligrams per portion, is way higher.

All that saturated fat may make things creamy, but it doesn't make things healthy. Saturated fat is a contentious nutrient, thanks to its potential to raise both the bad and the good cholesterols in your blood. Higher cholesterol levels can lead to a higher risk of cardiovascular issues and chronic illness, with links being found between cholesterol and brain health. You have to ask yourself if that level of saturated fat for that serving size is really worth it.‌

You can go two different ways with a burrito: Fill it with nutritious, wholesome ingredients to turn it into a healthy meal, or throw in salty, fatty items to make it the exact opposite. It'd be reasonable to expect Amy's Kitchen to take the former approach — but it kinda takes the latter, creating one of the unhealthiest store-bought frozen burritos out there. Not that you'd know it from the Southwestern Burrito ingredient list, which touts organic pinto beans, roasted poblano peppers, and organic corn masa as being included. So far, so good, right?

Sadly, the presence of cheese, olives, jalapeño peppers, and sea salt takes things in a salty direction, giving this burrito 750 milligrams of sodium per serving. This covers a third of your daily value of 2,300 milligrams, and, when you consider that this burrito weighs in at just 156 grams, it's not exactly spread over a lot of food. It's crucial to remember that salt is salt, no matter where it comes from. Even if it's being supplied by heart-healthy, vitamin-rich olives, it can still impact your blood pressure over time. On top of this salt content, the Southwestern Burrito's saturated fat level isn't to be sniffed at: With 3.5 grams per serving, it covers roughly 18% of your daily value.

We're going to go out on a limb here and say that we all love enchiladas. The reason we adore them so much? They're fatty, salty, and gooey — all of those traits that make things tasty. Unfortunately, these same traits are exactly why we should eat them in moderation, and when it comes to Amy's Cheese Enchilada, you may want to consume it sparingly. This dish is laden with saturated fat and sodium, containing 14 grams and 940 milligrams respectively (which covers, incidentally, 70% and 41% of your daily values for each nutrient).

These nutritional values wouldn't be too bad if they were spread across a meal that you could split with someone else. Given that the Amy's Cheese Enchilada weighs only 255 grams, though, if you shared it you'd probably still be pretty hungry afterward. If you want to reduce your saturated fat and sodium intake, you might be better off opting for a different cheese enchilada product on the market. El Monterey Signature Cheese Enchiladas, for example, have 10 grams of saturated fat and 830 milligrams of sodium in a larger serving size. It's still not the healthiest option out there, and it's not made with organic ingredients. But nutritionally, it's slightly better than the Amy's version.

Amy's Black Bean Tamale Verde is a real flavor bomb, with people who've purchased the frozen dinner over on Amazon praising how delicious it is. The secret to its success? It's all in the additives. This frozen tamale dish is chock-full of sodium, with a dash of added sugar to enhance things further. In total, it contains 880 milligrams of sodium, covering almost 40% of your daily value, and it has 2 grams of added sugar on top of that — not a huge amount, but not an insignificant quantity either.

Unfortunately, the combination of added sugar and sodium in foods can be a significant factor in long-term health. Research published in the Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism has flagged the vast number of chronic diseases that both can contribute to, including hypertension, renal failure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, fatty liver disease, inflammation, and various types of cancer. Excessive consumption of both can also increase your risk of mortality. While the added sugar level in this frozen dinner is small, it's always worth remembering that a few grams here and there throughout the day can add up to significant amounts.

One of the things we love the most about Amy's Kitchen is the diversity of its flavors, and it has a fair few Thai offerings alongside its Mexican and American dishes. Unfortunately, its Thai Green Curry doesn't exactly keep things healthy. While its ingredients are pretty wholesome, with the frozen curry full of sweet potatoes, tofu, green beans, and spinach, its nutritional values are anything but. This curry still has 8 grams of saturated fat and 750 milligrams of sodium per portion, covering 40% and 33% of your respective daily values for each nutrient.

As well as this, each portion of Amy's Thai Green Curry also has a fair bit of added sugar — 7 grams of it, to be exact. This added sugar is common in Thai dishes, but that doesn't make it healthy. Excessive consumption of added sugar can have a massive impact on your body, and its inflammatory qualities can have some negative effects on your joint and skin health, with links being found between sugar consumption and the development of arthritis. As well as this, it can also affect your dental health, and lead to a higher risk of cavities.

First impressions can be pretty deceiving. Upon first glancing at Amy's Whole Meals Gluten-Free Veggie Loaf, things can seem pretty good: A meatloaf alternative that's full of veggies, made with organic ingredients, and doesn't contain any gluten or dairy? Sign us up! Sadly, when you take a peek at the nutritional info, things start to go downhill. This frozen dinner is packed with sodium and supplies 740 milligrams per 283-gram portion, an amount that's just shy of a third of your daily value. It also has a gram of added sugar in it, which obviously isn't a massive amount, but is worth noting.

The nutritional aspects of this frozen meal show why you need to be pretty careful with gluten-free food. Gluten-free meals and ingredients can often be higher in added salt and sugar than gluten-containing versions of the same food. These additives are thrown in to replace any flavor lost by removing the ingredients that contain gluten, which may contain other nutrients that improve taste. This issue is compounded by the fact that there are still a fairly limited amount of gluten-free alternatives to regular foods out there, leaving people without a lot of choice to consume salty, sugary options.

Few things are as comforting as a bowl of chili macaroni — but comforting food usually isn't healthy. As such, you'd be foolish to assume that Amy's Chili Mac is any different. This frozen dinner is just as salty and fatty as you might expect, containing 780 milligrams of sodium and 8 grams of saturated fat. It's useful to bear in mind, too, that these quantities are in a bowl that weighs in at just 255 grams, meaning you're getting a concentrated amount of these nutrients in a small portion of food.

It's also worth noting the other nutritional aspects of this dish. Amy's Chili Mac ditches the ground beef and uses a combo of tofu and red beans instead. This might give it a few useful grams of fiber, but it also means that it's a little lower in protein than you might expect. Every bowl of this chili mac has 15 grams of protein, and as such it may be a little less filling than some of the other options out there. It wins points for those beans, though.

What's better than a big bowl of pasta? Not much — and that's what makes Amy's Pesto Tortellini Bowl so appealing. A simple, yet endlessly appealing combo of stuffed tortellini and a vibrant green pesto, this one will really hit the spot. Unfortunately, it'll do so while providing a huge amount of saturated fat. Every serving of Amy's Pesto Tortellini Bowl has 9 grams of saturated fat (45% of your daily value). It also has 590 milligrams of sodium, which isn't the highest amount out there, but still covers over a quarter of your daily recommended limit.

It's kinda a shame about the saturated fat content (which looks as though it comes from the various different types of cheese in the dish), as other than the fat and sodium, this frozen meal doesn't look too bad. It provides you with 20 grams of protein, and has a slightly surprising but pleasing 4 grams of fiber. It's also got an excellent amount of calcium, with 30% of your daily value in one go. It's just the other nutrients that let it down.

Although Amy's Chile Relleno Casserole is full of healthy ingredients like zucchini, corn, and beans, the picture on the front of the box is a big clue as to how nutritious it actually is. The packaging seems to promise a creamy dish that's crammed full of cheese, complete with a sprinkling on top for good measure. Unfortunately, this cheese-filled quality is reflected in its nutritional content. Each bowl of Chile Relleno Casserole has 9 grams of saturated fat (45% of your daily value). It also has 740 milligrams of sodium, which is just shy of a third of your daily recommended limit.

Amy's Chile Relleno Casserole also has a few other nutritional quirks that are worth keeping in mind. Each portion only has 2 grams of fiber, which is slightly unexpected, given the beans in the dish. Plus, its 17 grams of protein per serving isn't tiny, but we'd have loved to have seen just a few more grams in there to make this a more filling dish overall.

Pad Thai is one of the most well-loved dishes out there, and so it's no surprise that Amy's Kitchen has made its own version. However, if you were expecting it to be healthy, you'd be mistaken. Amy's Pad Thai starts off well, with this plant-based dish full of broccoli, carrots, tofu, and onions, with baked cashews giving it a little extra crunch. Unfortunately, its salty, sugary sauce lets it down. This pad Thai has 780 milligrams of sodium per portion, 34% of your daily value — and a whopping 22 grams of added sugar.

Now, it's worth mentioning that Thai food generally has a fair amount of sugar in it, and pad Thai can be especially sugary. The palm sugar that's traditionally used in the dish is what contributes to its sweet-salty flavor (although in this dish, organic cane sugar is used, and Amy's doesn't go into a lot of detail about how it's processed). However, given that 22 grams of added sugar covers almost the entire 25-gram daily maximum for women recommended by the American Heart Association, we think we can all agree that it's something worth keeping an eye on — whether it adds flavor or not.

Is it any surprise that a bowl of cheese ravioli isn't exactly the healthiest thing on the menu? We don't think so — and sadly, Amy's Kitchen doesn't do much to change that perception with its Cheese Ravioli Bowl. This frozen dinner is one of the saltier options in its product line, with 710 milligrams of sodium per serving. That covers just under a third of your daily value, in case you were wondering.

Interestingly enough, the fat content of this ravioli dish isn't quite what you might expect. With just 13 grams of fat and 5 grams of saturated fat, it's slightly lower than anticipated, given that one of its main ingredients is cheese. Unfortunately, that's not quite enough to make up for its sodium content. Additionally, Amy's Cheese Ravioli Bowl only has 14 grams of protein, so, if you're eating it as your evening meal, you might be left a little hungrier than usual. 

Lasagnas that are filled with cheese and meat are hardly healthy foods. Vegetable lasagnas, though? That's a different matter entirely. Filled with organic spinach, carrots, onions, and zucchini, it's reasonable to expect Amy's Vegetable Lasagna to be a nutritious delight — until you check out its nutrition facts. Despite its veggies, this dish still manages to be salty and full of fat, with 670 milligrams of sodium and 6 grams of saturated fat per serving.

This frozen dinner is proof that, just because things are vegetarian or vegan, it doesn't mean that they're healthier for you. Vegetarian processed foods can often give off the appearance of being healthy, but in the pursuit of better flavor food companies often pump them full of fat and salt. Although this is a particular problem with imitation meat products, it can also be the case with vegetable-forward meals like this one. The best way to avoid these high sodium and fat levels is to make your own vegetable lasagna and limit the amount of added salt and cheese you add to it.