Kidney Friendly Foods: From the Freezer Section
Sticking to a kidney-friendly diet can be overwhelming because so much of a renal diet relies on eating fresh, non-processed food. That means more time spent cooking and truly, not everyone can or wants to cook.
I’ve worked with people living with kidney disease who couldn’t prepare a meal for many reasons:
Arthritis
Blindness or blurred vision
Back Pain
Mobility Issues
And some people just never learned to cook or don’t enjoy cooking.
It’s not my job to fuss at my patients about how they need to learn to prepare a kidney-friendly meal anyway. It’s my job to figure out a way around the obstacle.
We all know that frozen fruits and vegetables are great for you and just as nutritious as fresh. But, I’m here to talk about pre-made meals.
I don’t generally encourage processed foods, but some companies have started to limit their use of preservatives, especially in frozen foods. This can make some frozen meals kidney friendly foods!
Top 5 Kidney Friendly Meals from the Freezer Section
Frozen meals have come a long way since the 1950's and can be part of a healthy kidney diet as long as you know what to buy.
So, here are my top 5 favorite kidney-friendly frozen meal recommendations with easy side options for those who are limited to minimal food prep.
Healthy Choice Simply Steamers, Chicken Fried Rice
This meal comes in at 300 calories with 560 mg of sodium, 4g of fiber, 21g of protein, and contains no phosphorus-based additives. It has 40 g of carbs making it a great choice for people with diabetic as well. You can even pair it with another side like a cup of blackberries or roasted carrots if you’re worried about not staying full and it’s still a kidney friendly meal!
Healthy Choice Simply Steamers, Chicken and Vegetable Stir-fry
This bad boy on its own comes in at 200 calories. Which admittedly, isn’t much. But, if you add 1 microwaveable cup of white rice, the whole meal comes in at about 400 calories with 700 mg of sodium, 27g of protein, 55g of carbs (5 grams of that is fiber!), and 730mg of sodium. It’s not perfect, but isn’t not bad for a fully microwavable meal. AND it’s appropriate for those who are also on a Diabetic diet.
Amy’s Mexican Casserole Bowl, Light in Sodium
This bowl comes in at nearly 400 calories with 13 g of protein, 46 g of carbs (6 g come from fiber!), 370 mg of sodium, and 400 mg of potassium. This spicy bowl is an easy dinner that’s kidney and diabetes friendly.
Healthy Choice Simply Steamers, Creamy Spinach and Tomato Linguini
This meal comes in at 270 calories with 500mg of sodium, with 38 g of carbs, 5 g of fiber, and 10g of protein and no phosphorus-based additives. That's not a lot of calories, but you can pair it with a side salad with low sodium dressing for a delicious pasta dinner!
Great Value, Pad Thai
This meal is 280 calories with 7g of protein and 47 g of carbs. It’s low in sodium at 170 mg and potassium at 130 mg. This is likely due to the fact that it’s made with coconut aminos instead of soy sauce! This saves a ton of sodium and still tastes great. My only complaint is that it’s low in fiber at less than 1 gram. That can be remedied by adding an ounce of crushed peanuts or a half cup of either steamed carrots or green onions! And because it’s already so low in protein, you could throw a scrambled egg or a couple of ounces of leftover chicken in it for a more filling meal!
And here's a PDF of this list in case you'd like to print it off to share with a friend or take grocery shopping!
In the name if full disclosure, I am not paid, sponsored, or in anyway compensated by any of these brands. I just genuinely like these products for an easy kidney friendly meal.
Sodium
You might be surprised by the sodium content of some of these foods.
I generally don’t recommend eating a single item that is over 200 mg of sodium. However, if that single item is your meal, then it may not be a problem as long as your sodium intake is less than 2000 mg per day — so, about 600 mg per meal.
Potassium
Some frozen meals will still have a significant amount of potassium in them. If you're doctor or dietitian hasn't talked to you about limiting your potassium, then you probably don't need to worry about it.
Potassium rises as kidney function decreases, but eating potassium-rich foods does not worsen your kidney disease.
If your doctor has talked to you about restricting your potassium intake, you should ask to speak to a renal dietitian so that you can find out exactly how much potassium you should be taking in per day.
As always, you should speak to your doctor or dietitian if you have any quesitons about what a healthy kidney diet looks like for you and comment below with your thoughts!
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