The 7 Best Frozen Meals Pro Chefs Love

Frozen meals have come a long way from the TV dinners of yore. These days, grocery stores around the country stock a range of high-quality meals for late-night noshing or quick dinners, from classic frozen pizza to Korean rice cakes.

Here are seven frozen meals that even professional chefs can vouch for.

P.F. Chang’s Home Menu General Chang’s Chicken

“When I don’t have time to cook, but still want something bold and satisfying, P.F. Chang’s General Chang’s Chicken Chicken hits the spot,” says 1990 F&W Best New Chef Roberto Donna. The Chinese restaurant chain’s frozen entrée includes crispy white meat chicken with broccoli, red bell peppers, and a sweet chili sauce.

“It has the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and spicy,” Donna says. While he typically pairs it with steamed rice or sautéed vegetables, he assures that it’s delicious enough to enjoy on its own. “For a frozen meal, the quality really stands out — tender chicken, bold flavor, and consistently satisfying. It’s my go-to comfort food when I want something quick but still crave-worthy.”

Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Cheese Pizza With a Cauliflower Crust

For a pizza night shortcut, Trader Joe’s sells boxes of plain frozen cauliflower crust — a crispy and gluten-free base made with ground cauliflower, mozzarella cheese, and a mixture of potato, chickpea and rice flours. But 2013 F&W Best New Chef Justin Cogley opts for an even quicker meal: the cult grocer’s ready-to-bake cheese pizza, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and provolone.

“I crank my oven and cook it right on the rack, and it comes out perfect every time,” he says. Cogley recommends finishing the pie with a drizzle of chili crisp. “It’s by far my favorite late-night snack.”

Trader Joe’s Tteok Bok Ki

Another favorite from the Trader Joe’s freezer aisle is the tteok bok ki, Korean-style rice cakes.

“What I love about [this frozen meal] is the chewy, bouncy texture of the rice cakes, paired with a balanced gochujang heat that’s spicy but still layered with sweetness,” says 2010 F&W Best New Chef Jonathon Sawyer. “It sautées from frozen in minutes and still gives you those caramelized edges that make the dish feel straight off a Seoul street cart.” Sawyer adds an over-easy egg for an easy dinner.

Rao’s Homemade Meat Lasagna

“While I always feel like homemade is best, I don’t always have time to make lasagna from scratch,” says 2008 F&W Best New Chef Sue Zemanick. For her, Rao’s is the best alternative, layered with mozzarella, fresh ricotta, ground beef and sausage, and the brand’s signature marinara sauce. This lasagna can be cooked in under five minutes in a microwave or in 40 minutes in an oven — no prep required. And according to Zemanick, “it can fool anyone into thinking it’s homemade.”

Foster Farms Corn Dogs

2014 F&W Best New Chef Greg Denton doesn’t eat much frozen food, but he makes one exception: corn dogs. “A good frozen corn dog works for me,” he says. His favorite is from organic poultry brand Foster Farms — its corn dogs are made with chicken franks and dipped in a sweet honey batter. No need to fry this corn dog in oil — you can bake it, microwave it, or even air-fry it. 

Amy’s Cheddar Cheese Burrito

Amy’s bean and cheese burritos are a crowd-pleaser for 2010 F&W Best New Chef Matt Lightner’s whole family. Available in single packs and six-packs, the vegetarian burritos are filled with pinto beans, brown rice, vegetables, cheese, and a “Mexican-style sauce.”

“The burritos are sneaky good, and they use high-quality ingredients,” says Lightner. “My kids love them and I always find myself taking the last bites of theirs.” Even better — they can be cooked in a microwave in just two minutes. 

Stouffer’s Pepperoni French Bread Pizzas

There’s a lot of debate around who makes the best frozen pizza on the market. For 1998 F&W Best New Chef Michael Symon, it’s always Stouffer’s. The iconic company’s par-baked French bread pizza is crunchy, chewy, and delightfully nostalgic. Symon bakes the pepperoni version, and — in a classic professional chef move — tops it with hot honey.