Grocery guru

Ready-made meals – our dietitian tells which ones get the tick of approval

Whether you’re run off your feet, out of fresh ingredients or just don’t feel like cooking, a ready-made meal can be a life-saver. While frozen dinners have been around for years, there’s now also a growing band of refrigerator options providing tasty meals at the ping of a microwave. Some score top marks for nutrition, while others have your total day’s kilojoules in that one small pack!

The secret to making the best choices is to look for meals that have a good serve of colourful vegies (so mac ’n’ cheese is not on our shopping list!). You’re also looking for a good portion of protein from ingredients like chicken, beef or beans, as well as slow-burning carbs. Think: more sweet potato and wholemeal pasta, less pastry and white rice. This combination of protein and carbs provides the satisfying feeling of fullness, so you won’t get hungry again half an hour later.

Old-style frozen dinners, like pizzas, tended to be loaded with sodium and saturated fat, but there are newer ready-made options that are similar to a home-cooked dinner – especially in the refrigerator section. Stand-out brands are WW Healthy Kitchen and Woolworths Balanced Nutrition – most of their meals get my tick of approval. Here are five of the most nutritious ready-made meals on offer:

It pays to look at the nutrition info panel – some meals have your total day’s kilojoules in one small pack!