Healthy Choice is pretty good at creating low-calorie versions of classic dishes using some sort of clever twist that reduces the calorie count without reducing too much of the flavor. The Chicken Linguini with Red Pepper Alfredo is no exception.
Like so many of Healthy Choice’s other dishes, this one comes in colander that keeps most the ingredients elevated over the sauce while it’s being heated.
This means that, when it’s done cooking, you’ll have to dump the contents of the colander into the bowl and stir. It also means the ingredients stay separate so the cooking process can bring out all of their unique flavors individually without absorbing the flavor of the sauce. In this case, it works quite well.
Now, if you just look at the picture on the box without reading the description, you might think this comes in a marinara sauce. But it doesn’t; it’s actually a red pepper alfredo, which tastes nothing like a classic marinara. In real life — as opposed to the fantasy realm in which Healthy Choice takes their photos — it also has a bright yellow-orange coloring that might surprise you.
The sauce is quite good. It has a nice zest to it without being overly spicy. In fact, there’s hardly any spice to it at all, though the most sensitive of spice-ophobes will undoubtedly detect some. The generous broccoli portion complements the sauce quite well. It has quite a potent presence; you’ll smell the broccoli before you even finish cooking this meal.
The chicken, however, was inconsistent. There were a couple pieces that were great, but we also found some that were too gristly and others that were soggy. It caught us off guard a bit, because we’ve enjoyed the chicken content in other Healthy Choice dishes. But at least it’s a reasonable portion size, as opposed to so many of the other chicken-based frozen foods we’ve tried.
We’re also not huge fans of the noodles. They’re not quite as firm as we’d have liked, and the soft consistency makes them feel mushy in your mouth. A different type of noodle might have really pushed this dish to another level.
Of course, Healthy Choice does deliver on the low-calorie promise, as this dish contains a measly 250 calories. We’ve had alfredo-based dishes that weighed in at double this amount, so it’s an impressive number.
Healthy Choice’s Chicken Linguini with Red Pepper Alfredo has a couple flaws, but it’s an incredibly low-calorie way to enjoy a quick, tasty alfredo dish.
To learn more about the nutrition and ingredients in this Healthy Choice frozen meal, check out our package scans below.
