When we’re hungry and too busy or tired to cook, most of us end up rummaging around in the freezer for something easy to heat up. And while there isn’t anything wrong with throwing together some frozen nuggets and fries every now and then, it’s good to have a few convenient and healthy options stocked up, too.
Luckily, the $143 billion prepared meal market is packed with options that make quick, easy, and healthy plant-based food more accessible than ever. Below, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite brands to try.
The benefits of healthy frozen meals
The biggest benefit of healthy plant-based frozen meals has to be the convenience. At the end of a long day, most people don’t want to spend forever in the kitchen whipping up a nutritious meal. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, one-third of young adults feel they are too busy to eat healthful foods. But having a healthy frozen meal on hand helps to overcome this problem.
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They also help with food waste reduction, as everything is pre-portioned, and they can be effectively nutritionally balanced, too. The most important things to look out for are options with a focus on whole, minimally processed ingredients. These tend to retain more of their original nutrients compared to heavily processed alternatives. They also often contain fewer additives and calories, and they’re higher in fiber.
9 frozen ready-meal brands making mealtimes easier than ever
Stock your freezer with these meal options to ensure you always have a delicious, nutritious, quick, and convenient dinner option ready to go whenever you need.
Purple Carrot
1 Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot is primarily a meal delivery service (find out more about its meal kits here!), but this popular Massachusetts-based brand also offers healthy, sustainable frozen meal options, too. You can find tasty options like its Udon Noodle Bowl, Pepper Bowl, and Meatball Marinara (all of which are made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients) in most US retailers, including Sprouts, Kroger, and Target.
FIND IT HERE
2 Gardein
This Canadian brand is known mostly for its wide range of vegan meat products (think Crispy Chick’n Sliders and Sliced Italian Saus’ge, for example). But it also has a whole range of meatless meals, like its Ultimate Plant-Based Be’f & Broccoli Bowl, for example, all of which are packed with plant-based protein.
FIND IT HERE
3 Saffron Road
Saffron Road isn’t a totally vegan brand, but it does have plenty of nutritious plant-based options on offer. Look for options like its Coconut Cauliflower Curry, for example, which features roasted cauliflower, white beans, and a blend of “warming Indian spices.” Other tasty choices include Vegetable Pad Thai and Vegetable Biryani.
FIND IT HERE
Sweet Earth
4 Sweet Earth
Nestlé-owned Sweet Earth offers several vegan “plant-forward” ready meals in its extensive meat-free portfolio. For example, there is General Tso’s Tofu, which features whole-grain brown rice, crispy tofu, and broccoli. There’s also Butter Chik’n with chickpeas and Veggie Lo Mein.
FIND IT HERE
Daily Harvest
5 Daily Harvest
Another popular meal delivery service, Daily Harvest is a great choice for busy people who want plant-based, frozen meals on hand most of the time. When you sign up, you can choose from delicious options like White Bean and Spinach Pesto Pasta, Chickpea and Coconut Curry Harvest Bowls, and so much more. Find our full guide to Daily Harvest here!
FIND IT HERE
6 Cedarlane
Southern California brand Cedarlane has been providing the US with healthy, organic, frozen foods since the 1980s. It’s not completely vegan, but it boasts a strong Simply Plant Powered Range, which includes options like gluten-free Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie and Vegan Lasagna.
FIND IT HERE
Amy’s
7Amy’s
When it comes to frozen burritos, pizzas, and entrées, Amy’s has been a go-to brand for vegans, and more generally, those who abstain from meat. This vegetarian brand offers a number of vegan frozen meals including Pad Thai, Spinach & Cheeze Ravioli, Breakfast Scramble, and more.
Find it here
Splendid Spoon
8 Splendid Spoon
Splendid Spoon is another frozen meal service, but it offers easily customizable plans, so you have full control over the number of meals you receive each week. Plus, you can choose the meals that sound great to you, too. Options are always vegetable-centric, and include dishes like Creamy Butternut Squash Noodles, Coconut Curry Rice, and Vegan Shepherd’s Pie. The brand also offers several delicious a la carte options in its marketplace, including Shepherd’s Pie, Kimchi Fried Rice, and Roasted Tomato Risotto.
FIND IT HERE
Blue Zones Kitchen
9 Blue Zones Kitchen
The Blue Zones Kitchen offers four nutritious meals inspired by the diets of those who live in the world’s five longevity hotspots (Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, Italy, Ikaria, Greece, Nicoya, Costa Rica, and Loma Linda, CA), known as the Blue Zones. “We prefer to see people cooking at home, but the next best thing is to eat a whole food, plant-based meal that’s been carefully crafted for longevity,” Dan Buettner, the National Geographic explorer who connected the dots on the Blue Zones, recently told Business Insider. Right now, choices include a Burrito Bowl, a Sesame Ginger Bowl, and a Minestrone Casserole.
Find it here
For more healthy vegan meals, read:
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
Here at VegNews, we live and breathe the plant-based lifestyle, and only recommend products we feel make our lives amazing. Occasionally, articles may include shopping links where we might earn a small commission, but in no way does this effect the editorial integrity of VegNews.
