DON’T Buy These 9 Frozen Pot Pie Brands (Only 3 Are ACTUALLY Worth Buying)

9 Frozen Pot Pies You Should Think Twice About—and 3 That Are Actually Worth Buying

Frozen pot pie has always sold more than food.

It sells nostalgia. It promises a steaming, creamy dinner wrapped in a golden crust, without the hours of chopping, simmering, and baking required to make one from scratch.

For busy families, that convenience can be hard to resiSt.

But behind the comforting packaging, not every frozen pot pie is created equally.

Some are surprisingly high in sodium and saturated fat, while others rely heavily on processed ingredients, fillers, preservatives, and serving sizes that can make the nutrition label look better than the meal actually is.

Here are nine frozen pot pies that deserve extra scrutiny, followed by three options that take a much better approach.

9. Atkins Crustless Chicken Pot Pie

At number nine, Atkins appears to offer a smarter choice for shoppers following a low-carb or keto lifestyle.

Its crustless chicken pot pie contains relatively few net carbohydrates and around 300 calories, which can initially make it look like a healthier alternative to traditional frozen pies.

The problem emerges when the sodium is examined.

One serving contains roughly 920 milligrams of sodium, representing a substantial portion of the recommended daily intake.

For people who are particularly sensitive to sodium, that is a significant amount to consume in a single meal.

The ingredient list also includes modified food starch, soy protein concentrate, xanthan gum, and other stabilizing ingredients.

The product may eliminate the traditional crust, but removing carbohydrates doesn’t automatically make a highly processed meal a healthy one.

8. Better Goods Chicken Pot Pie

At number eight is Walmart’s Better Goods chicken pot pie, a product designed to appeal to shoppers searching for something more premium from a supermarket private label.

Its upscale presentation and name suggest a better-for-you option, but the nutritional numbers tell a more complicated story.

A quarter of the pie contains approximately 550 calories, 36 grams of total fat, and 11 grams of saturated fat.

That serving size becomes particularly important because many consumers are unlikely to stop after eating a quarter of a pot pie.

Eating half can quickly push the calorie and saturated-fat totals into territory that makes the meal much less appealing nutritionally.

The biggest issue isn’t necessarily one ingredient, but the combination of an extremely calorie-dense product and a serving size that may not reflect what people realistically eat for dinner.

7. Great Value Chicken Pot Pie

Great Value earns the number seven spot largely because of its sodium content and extremely inexpensive positioning.

A single serving contains around 890 milligrams of sodium, and because the pie contains two servings, eating the entire pie can bring the total close to 1,800 milligrams.

The chicken itself is described as white meat, but sodium phosphate appears in the formulation.

Ingredients like this are commonly used in processed meats to help retain moisture.

Great Value does have some advantages compared with certain competitors, including a crust made with palm oil rather than lard and the absence of BHT in that pastry.

Still, the sheer sodium burden makes it difficult to recommend as an everyday meal.

6. Claim Jumper Chicken Pot Pie

Claim Jumper lands at number six because its rustic, old-fashioned image doesn’t necessarily match its ingredient liSt. The product has historically drawn attention for ingredients associated with highly processed formulations, including hydrogenated oils in some versions and flavor-enhancing ingredients such as disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

The larger concern is that consumers may see a traditional-looking country-style pot pie and assume they are getting something resembling homemade food.

Instead, the filling can contain corn syrup solids, carrageenan, sodium phosphate, and other processing aids.

For shoppers trying to minimize heavily processed ingredients, the label deserves a very close examination.

5. Swanson Chicken Pot Pie

Swanson has enormous brand recognition, helped by its long history in frozen convenience foods.

That familiarity can make it easy for shoppers to reach for the box without reading the ingredient panel.

Yet the chicken pot pie’s formulation raises questions.

The filling can include reconstituted chicken products, isolated soy protein, modified starches, sodium phosphate, and mechanically separated chicken.

Mechanically separated poultry is produced by mechanically recovering edible material from poultry carcasses after larger cuts have been removed.

It is legally permitted, but it is considerably different from the recognizable pieces of chicken many consumers imagine when they see a chicken pot pie.

The crust also has historically included lard and preservatives in certain formulations.

With roughly 810 milligrams of sodium and only around 10 grams of protein per pie, Swanson’s famous name may be doing more work than its nutritional profile.

4. Banquet Chicken Pot Pie

Banquet takes the number four position, combining inexpensive pricing with a formulation that relies heavily on processed ingredients. Its chicken pot pies have included mechanically separated chicken, sodium-based processing ingredients, and a crust made with lard and preservatives.

The brand also became associated with a major 2007 Salmonella outbreak involving frozen pot pies produced at a ConAgra facility in Missouri. Hundreds of illnesses were reported, and the outbreak resulted in a major recall and widespread scrutiny of manufacturing and microwave cooking instructions. While that event occurred years ago and does not mean today’s Banquet pies are contaminated, it remains an important part of the brand’s food-safety history.

Nutritionally, the product is also difficult to defend, with hundreds of calories, substantial saturated fat, and roughly 750 milligrams of sodium in a single pie.

3. Stouffer’s White Meat Chicken Pot Pie

Stouffer’s enters the list at number three, and its premium positioning makes the nutritional profile particularly surprising.

A 10-ounce pie can contain around 630 calories, 14 grams of saturated fat, and close to 1,000 milligrams of sodium.

The ingredient list includes isolated soy protein, sodium phosphate, and multiple modified starches used to create the thick, creamy consistency associated with pot pie gravy.

Some formulations have also used lard containing synthetic antioxidants such as BHA and BHT.

The biggest problem is the mismatch between expectations and reality.

Consumers paying more for a familiar premium brand may reasonably expect noticeably better ingredients.

Instead, they can end up with a meal that consumes a very large share of the day’s recommended saturated fat and sodium.

2. Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie

Boston Market’s frozen pot pie claims the number two spot because its branding creates a particularly powerful association with restaurant-style comfort food.

The problem is that the frozen product is manufactured separately under a licensing arrangement rather than being the same food served at the restaurant.

Depending on the formulation, the pie can contain sodium phosphates, hydrogenated soybean oil shortening, corn syrup solids, carrageenan, and dough conditioners.

A large pie can also reach roughly 900 calories and more than 1,000 milligrams of sodium.

Consumer complaints have frequently focused on watery gravy and surprisingly small amounts of chicken.

That highlights an important lesson when shopping: the image on the package can create expectations that the actual product may not fulfill.

1. Marie Callender’s Chicken Pot Pie

Taking the number one spot is Marie Callender’s, perhaps the most recognizable name on the entire liSt. Its popularity is precisely what makes the nutritional numbers worth examining.

A standard 10-ounce pie can contain approximately 600 calories, 14 grams of saturated fat, and around 960 milligrams of sodium.

The larger family-size version can be even more deceptive because the nutrition information is presented per fraction of the pie.

A consumer who eats half—or the entire pie—can consume dramatically more sodium, calories, and saturated fat than the front-of-package impression suggests.

The filling may include isolated soy protein, modified starches, and carrageenan, while the crust uses processed oils.

The product may advertise the absence of preservatives or artificial colors, but those claims do not change the fact that the overall nutritional profile can be extremely heavy.

Marie Callender’s ultimately represents the biggest lesson of the entire ranking: a familiar brand and comforting image don’t necessarily tell consumers what is actually inside the box.

But the frozen aisle isn’t entirely bad news.

Here are 3 Are ACTUALLY Worth Buying

3. Amy’s Vegetable Pot Pie

For shoppers willing to skip meat, Amy’s Vegetable Pot Pie provides a much cleaner alternative.

The product focuses on organic vegetables, tofu, a butter crust, and relatively straightforward seasonings rather than an extremely long list of industrial additives.

It also avoids many of the ingredients that appear repeatedly among the worst performers, including mechanically separated chicken, hydrogenated oils, and several common processing additives.

It demonstrates that frozen convenience food can still have an ingredient list that looks recognizable and approachable.

2. Boomerangs Chicken Pot Pie

Boomerangs takes the number two spot for shoppers who specifically want chicken.

With roughly 350 calories, 7 grams of saturated fat, and around 460 milligrams of sodium per pie, its nutritional profile stands apart from many conventional competitors.

The product emphasizes recognizable chicken pieces and a more traditional pastry approach rather than relying on mechanically separated poultry and an army of fillers.

It costs more than some bargain frozen pies, but the difference is reflected in the ingredients and nutrition.

1. Blake’s All Natural Chicken Pot Pie

Blake’s All Natural takes the top spot because it manages to preserve what people actually want from a frozen pot pie: real chicken, vegetables, pastry, and convenience without an excessive nutritional penalty.

A serving contains approximately 340 calories, 8 grams of saturated fat, 470 milligrams of sodium, and 15 grams of protein. The chicken is organic white meat raised without antibiotics, while the product avoids artificial flavors, artificial colors, and artificial preservatives.

Most importantly, the ingredient list resembles something that could plausibly come from a home kitchen. That is the fundamental difference between Blake’s and the worst products on the list. Instead of designing the food around cheap fillers and processing shortcuts, the product starts with recognizable ingredients and builds the comfort food around them.

The biggest takeaway isn’t that every frozen pot pie needs to disappear from the freezer. It’s that shoppers need to look beyond the picture on the box.

Serving size matters. Sodium matters. Saturated fat matters.

And the ingredient list can reveal far more than the marketing on the front ever will.

A frozen dinner can still be convenient without being a nutritional minefield. The challenge is knowing which boxes deserve a place in the freezer—and which ones are better left on the shelf.