Breakfast
Best Breakfast Bar
Post Healthy Classics Raisin Bran Cereal Bars, Cranberry ($3.39)
Unlike many other cereal bars, this chewy combo of bran flakes, oat-bran nuggets, and dried cranberries really delivers in the nutrition and flavor departments. You’ll get 3 grams of fiber and a quarter of your daily requirements for riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, and vitamins B6 and B12—all for just 120 calories and 2 grams of fat.

 
Best Bagel
Sara Lee Heart Healthy 100% Whole Wheat Bagels ($3.03)
These honey-sweet bagels have a heck of a lot more going for them than the typical New York version. Each packs 6 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein in a 220-calorie package. Purists may balk at the somewhat squishy texture, but toasted and smeared with low-fat cream cheese, they’re a satisfying breakfast.

 
Best Cereal
Total Honey Clusters ($4.19)
This combination of wheat and corn flakes and granola-like bits will certainly satisfy your need for crunch. It touts 100 percent of the daily value for 12 key nutrients and is an “excellent source” of whole grains, delivering at least 16 grams per serving. Three grams of fiber per 3⁄4 cup isn’t the highest in the cereal aisle, but this cereal outpaces the competition in flavor.

 
Best Oatmeal
Quaker Weight Control Instant Oatmeal, Cinnamon ($3.69)
How could oatmeal be any better for you? Load it with twice as much fiber (6 grams) and 3 grams more protein (a total of 7 grams) per serving, compared with regular instant oatmeal—a combination that just might help you hold out till lunch (no mid-morning nosh necessary). Sugar substitutes keep calories low while adding just the right amount of sweetness.

 
Best Breakfast Sausage
Al Fresco All Natural Country Style Breakfast Chicken Sausage ($4.49; alfrescoallnatural.com)
Get classic sausage taste at 60 calories, 2.5 fat grams, and 230 milligrams of sodium per link without the rubbery texture that handicaps other low-fat sausages. “The spices are nicely balanced,” says judge Nancy Rodriguez. Pan-fry instead of nuking for a nice, browned finish.

Best Frozen Waffles
Van’s All Natural Hearty Oats Waffles, Maple Fusion ($2.89; vanswaffles.com)
Even if these waffles weren’t loaded with good stuff, we’d eat them anyway. In addition to whole wheat, steel-cut oats, and omega-3 fatty acid–rich flaxseed, each two-waffle serving provides 200 milligrams of calcium (about as much as 3⁄4 cup of milk). Plus, they get an antioxidant boost from pomegranate extract. All you’ll taste, though, is a subtle, maple flavor.

Best Breakfast Entrée
South Beach Diet, Denver-style Breakfast Wraps ($3.49)
A healthy take on the classic Denver omelet (egg whites, mozzarella cheese, red and green peppers, ham, and onions) in a whole-grain, high-fiber wrap. With 180 calories, 7 grams of fat, 16 grams of protein, and a whopping 15 grams of fiber, it’s a great breakfast-at-your-desk option: Microwave for just 2 minutes and enjoy.

 
Lunch

Best Soup
Campbell’s Select Savory Lentil ($2.29)
This vegetarian soup studded with chunks of carrot and celery packs 6 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, and 20 percent of the daily requirement for iron into just 140 calories. As canned soups go, the sodium count is reasonable. Plus, the pop-top lid gives you easy access for a quick lunch.

 
Best Meal Kit
Thai Kitchen, Thai Peanut Noodle Cart ($3; thaikitchen.com)
This noodle kit makes having Thai for lunch almost as easy as calling for takeout—and it’s a lot cheaper and healthier. Just add water to the noodles and microwave, toss with the peanutty seasoning, and dig in (yes, there’s even a fork). The bottom line? Just 265 calories, 7 grams of fat, and a mere 200 milligrams of sodium.

 
Best Lunch Meat
Starkist Albacore Lemon & Cracked Pepper Tuna Fillet ($2.89)
Slide this 1⁄2-inch thick slab of tuna onto a bed of greens, and you’ve got a no-fuss niçoise salad. You don’t even have to add extra salad dressing; the marinade takes care of that. Stow these single-serving pouches (no can opener required) in a drawer at work for a quick protein-powered lunch (each contains 33 grams).

 
Best BreadEarth Grains Honey Whole Grain ($2.89)
Oats and sunflower seeds add a satisfying crunch (and a healthful boost) to this slightly sweet sandwich bread. Each slice has 110 calories, 2 grams of fiber, a respectable 5 grams of protein, and 10 percent of the daily value for calcium, folic acid, and vitamin D—important for healthy bones and healthy hearts.

 
Dinner
Best Refrigerated Entrée
Laura’s Lean Beef Pot Roast Au Jus ($6.49; laurasleanbeef.com)
It’s hard enough to get a homemade pot roast to turn out tender. So the fact that you can cut this heat-and-eat version with a fork is just short of miraculous. After 15 or so minutes in the oven, you’ve got an ultralean entrée—110 calories and 4 fat grams per 3-ounce serving.

 
Best Grain Side Dish
Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice ($1.69)
In the old days, you had to work hard to get your whole grains, spending a good 45 minutes to cook up a pot of brown rice. Now you can have it in 90 seconds—with no pot to scrub when you’re done. Tear open the plastic pouch, stick it in the microwave, and you have enough tender rice to pair with chicken, fish, or stir-fries.

 
Best Veggie Side Dish
Green Giant Select Vegetables With Tuscan Herb Sauce ($3.99)
This medley of broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, and green beans will make meeting your daily quota for veggies much tastier. The key? Buttery garlic “flavor chips” that melt into a creamy sauce. Sounds weird, but the sauce tastes great, and there are only 2 grams of fat per 1⁄2-cup serving.

 
Best Frozen Pizza
Amy’s Mediterranean Pizza With Cornmeal Crust ($6.79)
A generous wedge of this pie weighs in at 360 calories and 15 grams of fat—a small price to pay for what you get: a crust that actually gets crispy; organic veggie toppings; mozzarella, Parmesan, and fontina cheeses; and a tangy sauce of organic tomatoes and capers. Not quite pizzeria quality, but close.

 
Best Frozen Entrée
Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selects, Chicken Portabello ($3.49)
Here’s one frozen dinner that won’t have you dipping into the snack jar an hour after your meal. Judge Phil Lempert applauds the generous (compared with most “diet” entrees) main course: tender pieces of chicken in an earthy mushroom sauce. Rice and vegetables and a chocolate-cherry dessert round out the meal, all for less than 400 calories.

 
Snacks and Desserts
Best Nut Mix
Sahale Snacks Valdosta Blend ($2.99; sahalesnacks.com)
Take roasted pecans, dried cranberries, a hint of orange zest, and a dash of black pepper, and you’ve got a snack that’s anything but boring. “Not too sweet or salty,” says judge Scott Uehlein, who points out that most of the 14 grams of fat per 1-ounce serving is the heart-healthy type from the nuts themselves.

 
Best Ice Cream
Edy’s/Dreyer’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream, French Silk ($5.49)
Edy’s/Dreyer’s has mastered the art of making a light ice cream as creamy as the regular stuff. In comparison, this blend of mocha and vanilla mousse ice creams with bittersweet chocolate chips has half the fat and a third fewer calories (4.5 grams fat, 130 calories per 1⁄2 cup). Now, if only we could master the art of portion control.

 
Best Chips
Kettle Brand Bakes Hickory Honey BBQ ($2.99)
Low-fat chips are like most online dates—totally unsatisfying. But our judges found this sweet-smoky version completely snack-worthy. Trans fat-free and made with real potatoes (not dehydrated ones, like some other brands use), these chips set you back just 3 grams of fat (65 percent less fat than regular chips) and 120 calories per 1-ounce serving.

 
Best Cookies
100% Whole Grain Chips Ahoy! Cookies ($3.39)
Now, you can’t expect a chocolate-chip cookie to be a nutritional powerhouse. But with 2 grams of fiber and more than 8 grams of whole grains per three-cookie serving, this new take on an old favorite can help you chip (sorry!) away at your fiber and grain goals while staying true to the original in flavor.

 
Naked Juice Antioxidant, Mighty Mango ($3.19; nakedjuice.com)
A fruit stand in a bottle: This smooth, slightly tart blend of mango, apple, orange, banana, and lemon is brimming with antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E, and selenium to keep your body at its best. “Infinitely easier than making a smoothie yourself,” says judge Mark Bittman.

 
Best Cheese
Horizon Organic, Organic Colby Cheese Sticks ($3.49)
Whip out one of these slightly sharp, 110-calorie sticks to get you out of that mid-afternoon slump. The fat content is typical of full-fat cheeses (9 grams for 1 ounce), but you can feel virtuous knowing this one is made without antibiotics or growth hormones.

By Frances A. Largeman, RD