Frozen Diet Meals & You

In which I show you pictures of frozen meals, eat them, and tell you how they taste. (Disclaimer: I genuinely enjoy some frozen dinners, so please take that into account before attempting to consume anything I recommend.)

[frozendietmeals]

Healthy Choice Simply Steamers Mediterranean-Style Lentil Bowl

“Lentils and chickpeas with fire roasted red bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, and carrots take your taste buds on a trip to the Mediterranean. A lemon herb sauce brings the dish together for the perfect combination of light and satisfying.”

Calories - 250

Fat - 5 g

Sodium - 600 mg

First impressions:  This looks okay. Sure, there aren’t big chunks of grilled red peppers in there, but it looks reasonably like the box art. Smells of... nothing, really. 

Gustatory impressions:.Maybe I’m not a fan of lentils. They taste like flat peas made of dirt. The carrots were a little underdone, the peppers a little overdone. I like the chickpeas. The spinach was nigh-nonexistent so I can’t be more specific than “there was some”. The lemon herb sauce tasted VERY LIGHTLY of lemon, and the herbs were not especially herby.

Summary:  You want some bland lentils? HERE YOU GO. I don’t want ‘em.

Rating:  2.5 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Favorites Penne Rosa

“penne pasta with zucchini in a creamy tomato sauce”

Calories - 270

Fat - 6 g

Sodium - 650 mg

First impressions: This meal is overwhelmingly “yellow” while the cover art is “red”. Liberal use of the color slider, huh, LC?  Looks like a good amount of food.  

Gustatory impressions:.Noodles are only a tad overdone. The zucchini is NOT overdone that pleasantly surprised me. There was literally one piece of tomato in this meal so I don’t feel I can accurately judge its quality.  The sauce is tasty but VERY runny. There is some mozzarella in here as well... not a lot, but more than most LCs have when they put mozzarella on top.  

Summary:  If the sauce was thicker, this would have gotten top marks, but instead...

Rating:  4 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Marketplace Chicken Pad Thai

“White meat chicken, carrots, snap peas & scrambled egg with rice noodles in a Thai style sauce.”

Calories - 430

Fat - 2.5 g

Sodium - 660 mg

First impressions:  I really hate this packaging. So much waste!  After cooking for 4 minutes I was apprehensive... the sauce was just water. After cooking an additional minute and letting sit for one more, it looked right. And it smells very fresh, that must be the peas. 

Gustatory impressions:.Noodles are a bit mushy. That’s just Lean Cuisine though, they wouldn’t know al dente if it... anything. They don’t get it. But they taste pretty good.  The snap peas are super yum. Carrots add a nice texture if not a lot of taste. The egg is good. The sauce is very very sweet but I like a sweet sauce.

Summary:  This meal isn’t really pad thai, mostly because of the distinct lack of peanut, but it’s really good if you like a sweet sauce. I will definitely be buying again. I just gotta figure out a purpose for these too-thick-to-dispose-of-without-pangs-of-conscience containers. 

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Spinach Artichoke Linguine

“Linguine pasta with spinach & artichokes in a creamy parmesan cheese sauce”

Calories - 310

Fat - 8 g

Sodium - 630 mg

First impressions:  This is a heavy brick of noodles! And it takes quite a bit of stirring to get the sauce to be not separated into cream and oil.

Gustatory impressions:.The noodles are a touch overdone. The spinach is fine. The artichokes barely have any taste to them, but the texture is good. The sauce is bland and gloppy. 

Summary:  If you like overcooked noodles in bland sauce with vegetables that you can barely taste, CONGRATS, this is your new favorite meal!  I’m not buying it again, though.  (But it is a good, filling amount of food, I will give it that.)

Rating:  3 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

HEALTHY CHOICE HONEY BALSAMIC CHICKEN

“Grilled all natural chicken breast, Russet potatoes, Brussel sprouts, and diced tomatoes are paired with a delightful honey balsamic glaze to serve up a winning flavor combination.”

Calories - 210

Fat - 2.5 g

Sodium - 490 mg

First impressions:  This is a disappointing amount of food. Are those apples? No, they are potatoes. They look like apples. Once cooked, looks like a literal pale copy of the box art, but less of it.

Gustatory impressions:.The apples... crap, I meant potatoes... are underdone. The Brussels sprouts are overdone. The chicken is okay, but there’s not a lot of it.  Why are there even tomatoes in this?  The sauce is very weak. It’s weaksauce. Sorry but it is. 

Summary:  It’s just disappointing. A couple of tweaks and a little more product and it might be great. But right now it’s just a sad frozen dinner. (I gave it an extra fork because it is only 210 calories, which might be useful for people on a very low calorie diet.)

Rating:  2.5 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

Panko Crusted Romano Chicken

“Panko crusted white meat chicken with cavatappi pasta in a smoky tomato sauce with romano cheese.”

Calories - 360

Fat - 9 g

Sodium - 650 mg

First impressions:  Hey you guys you know what this looks like, it looks like they put some chicken nuggets on some pasta. It smells VERY smokey.

Gustatory impressions:.The overwhelming taste is “smoky”. The pasta is a little overdone, but not too bad. The panko coating on the chicken has become a mushy goo from cooking in the sauce. Once you actually get to the chicken, that’s pretty good. The tiny bit of romano cheese in here is good. Overall... they put some chicken nuggets on some pasta. 

Summary:  Once I got used to the smokiness, I didn’t hate this one. It is a filling meal. If the chicken coating was less mushy, I might buy it again. If, that is, I could get over the fact that they put some CHICKEN NUGGETS on some PASTA.

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Broccoli Cheddar Rotini

“rotini pasta with broccoli in a creamy cheddar cheese sauce”

Calories - 300

Fat - 8 g

Sodium - 630 mg

First impressions:  You know how sometimes your dinner says to cook for 3 minutes and then stir and you can’t really stir it because the center is just a large block of frozen noodles?  Well, that.  Also the color is much less appetizing than on the box, and where is the cheddar?

Gustatory impressions:.The broccoli is good, tastes fresh and is not overcooked. The rotini are a little overdone but they’re still edible. The cheese sauce is A GODAWFUL MESS. It’s cheese water, not cheese sauce. Barely any flavor, and certainly not creamy. There were like 4 shreds of cheddar in this, and they’ve basically disappeared. 

Summary:  I am NOT a fan. This “cheese sauce” is an abomination unto cheese. HOWEVER... there is a filling portion of food here.

Rating:  2 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

Creamy Basil Chicken with Tortellini

“ Asiago cheese tortellinis, grilled white meat chicken and lightly seasoned vegetables in a delicious creamy sauce. ”

Calories - 230

Fat - 5 g

Sodium - 640 mg

First impressions:  I thought I’d had this one before, but it had been a previous version of it (see my review here) Anyway, it looks great and smells pretty good.

Gustatory impressions:.The tortellini are SUPER YUMMY (i mean for a frozen dinner). The sauce is a tad too peppery, but otherwise fine. The veggies are acceptable, even the green beans, which I am not partial to normally. The chicken was a little bit fatty. 

Summary:  Tastes good, and has EIGHT tortellini instead of the previous version’s six. If the chicken were a higher quality, it would be better, but as is, I will buy it again.

Rating:  4 out of 5 Plastic Forks

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Marketplace Chicken Teriyaki Bowl

Product Description:   “ White meat chicken, broccoli, carrots & onions with asian style noodles in a teriyaki sauce ” Calories: 310

Fat: 5g

Carbs: 47g

Sodium: 680mg

WW Points Plus: 8 First Impressions: This bowl seems pretty sturdy... for something I’m going to throw in the recycling bin. Looks similar to the photos on the package, but messier and the color is a bit off. Smells pretty good.

Gustatory Impressions: The noodles are fine. Softer than I’d prefer, but fine. I don’t hate them. The chicken is top notch (for a frozen meal). Carrots are good, broccoli is a bit overdone. I really don’t like the onions but that’s because of the texture, not the taste. They just taste like the sauce, which is fine if a bit on the salty side.

Summary: It’s a good meal. I’m taking off a star for the extra, non-reheatable packaging.

Rating: 3 out of 5 forks

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Marketplace Roasted Garlic White Bean Alfredo

Product Description:  “Organic fettucine, spinach and yellow carrots in a creamy garlic & white bean alfredo sauce with grated parmesan cheese.. ” Calories: 330

Fat: 7g

Carbs: 50g

Sodium: 620mg

WW Points Plus: 8 First Impressions: Yet another “limited edition” Will never understand this concept. Smells SUPER garlicky. Whole kitchen smells of garlic. Hard to stir at the midpoint as the sauce is a mostly-frozen block on top and amongst the noodles.

Gustatory Impressions: The noodles are fine. I have come to terms with the fact that LC is never going to give me the al dente texture I crave, so, they’re fine. The bean are yummy! The spinach is kinda gross. There are some inoffensive yellow carrots in here too. The sauce is kindof gloppy. I would prefer a creamier sauce. But, the taste is very garlicky and pretty good.

Summary: I don’t know why, but this felt like a lot of food to me. Lots and lots of noodles. I might buy this one again for days when I feel especially hungry, even though the taste is not my very favorite.

Rating: 4 out of 5 forks

[teelow]

Lean Cuisine LIMITED EDITION Mango Chicken with Coconut Rice

Product Description:  “ tender white meat chicken, juicy mango, edamame and toasted coconut in a sweet & savory mango sauce. ” Calories: 330

Fat: 6g

Carbs: 50g

Sodium: 620mg

WW Points Plus: 8 First Impressions: Another “limited edition” meal. I still don’t understand this concept, LC.  But this meal looks exactly like the box and it smells great.

Gustatory Impressions: The chicken is of the relatively high quality I’ve come to expect from LC. You can really taste (and feel) the coconut, and it’s yummy. The edamame is nicely cooked. There is red bell pepper in it. The sauce is quite nice, a sweet and spicy mango goo.

Summary: I am sad that this is a limited edition meal. It is super yummy and I would buy it year round!

Rating: 5 out of 5 forks

[frozendietmeals]

Luvo Red Wine Braised Beef & Polenta

With Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash & Cranberries

Calories: 250

Fat: 8 g

Sodium: 300mg

WW Points Plus: 7

Total carbs: 27g

First Impressions: This is my first Luvo meal, and out of the box it looks like this...

Well. Okay. It’s a brown bag. Hard to form an impression from that.

Then I read the instructions...

Huh. “shimmy”.  Huh.

Then I cooked it, and it looked like this...

So that’s pretty damn impressive based on looks alone.

Gustatory Impressions: The beef was not my favorite. It seemed to have flour or something covering it in a not-pleasant manner. And one piece was too gristly to eat. The butternut squash was almost flavorless to me, but I eat a lot of fresh squash so take that as you may. the brussels sprouts were fine, which surprised me. Cranberries were a nice touch. The polenta was really tasty, by far my favorite part of the meal.

Summary: This meal looks AMAZING but the taste doesn’t quite live up to the visual. And two brussels sprouts? Who eats two brussels sprouts at a time? I would probably give this one a second chance if it were on sale.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 forks

[frozendietmeals]

Evol Lean & Fit:  Fire Grilled Chicken Poblano Fire

Grilled white meat chicken with brown rice, black beans, red & green bell peppers, poblanos, roasted corn and cheddar cheese–All combined with an insanely tasty guajillo chile sauce. Calories: 260

Fat: 6 g

Sodium: 350mg

WW Points Plus: 7

Total carbs: 39g

First Impressions: Once again, this seems like a tiny amount of food. But it smells really good and looks bright and fresh and interesting. Hardly any chicken, though.

Gustatory Impressions: The chicken, what there is of it, is really good. The rice and beans are fine. The corn is yummy, fresh and sweet. The “insanely tasty” sauce is just... a little spicy.

Summary: I am so not impressed with the Evol Lean & Fit line. The two I’ve had so far are fine, nothing special. Which is a shame, as they non-lean&fit meals are so good. This one needs more chicken and more of a nuanced flavor. I’ll keep trying these as I find them (on sale), though.

Rating: 3 out of 5 forks  

[frozendietmeals]

Evol Chicken Teriyaki

Product Description:  “Grilled white meat chicken with brown rice, red & green bell peppers, broccoli carrots and snap peas–All combined with an insanely tasty teriyaki sauce.”

Calories: 260

Fat: 2.5 g

Sodium: 600mg

WW Points Plus: 7

Total carbs: 45g

First Impressions: This seems like a tiny amount of food. Like, minuscule. I’m used to Lean Cuisines, and this still looks small to me. The veggies are bright and crisp. but the chicken looks pale. Okay.

Gustatory Impressions: My first bite is just... WOW, SALTY. That’s the sauce. I guess I needed to stir it up more. So I did that. The vegetables do taste fresh, but rather bland, and a bit underdone. The chicken is delicious, though. Better than most frozen dinner chicken. Shame there’s not more of it.

Summary: Not bad for a diet meal, but I probably won’t be picking it up again. Just a bit too tasteless for my taste. And not especially filling, though there is more to it than at first glance.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 forks 

[frozendietmeals]

Evol Portabella & Goat Cheese Ravioli

Evol Portabella & Goat Cheese Ravioli

Product Description:  “Raviolis stuffed with portabella mushrooms, goat cheese and romano & ricotta cheeses–All combined with crimini mushrooms, red bell peppers, spinach and an insanely tasty creamy basil sauce.” Calories: 390

Fat: 20 g

Sodium: 630mg

WW Points Plus: 10

Total carbs: 36g

First Impressions: First of all, this is NOT a diet frozen meal. But it is a frozen meal, and it’s not too high-calorie, though the fat is way out of line. But I’m eating it anyway, because it’s new to my grocery store and I am a sucker for raviolis.

It smells really good while cooking. Almost like an actual restaurant meal! It doesn’t look too impressive right out of the microwave, but stir it up and it looks pretty appetizing. And that smell!

Gustatory Impressions: The raviolis are pretty good. The pasta is just a teensy bit softer than I would prefer, but the filling more than makes up for it. That very distinctive goat cheese taste is something I don’t think I’ve ever had in a frozen meal. Tasty!  The mushrooms and red peppers are yummy as well. The spinach is... well, I’m not a fan of cooked spinach. I guess it’s fine. The sauce isn’t “insanely tasty” by any stretch, but it’s good, and it has a really nice mouth feel. Yummmm, fat!

Summary: Pretty tasty meal. The high fat content means I should probably save this for a dinner after I’ve had a low fat breakfast and lunch. Feels like an indulgent treat if you’re used to Lean Cuisines (and you know I am).

Rating: 4 out of 5 forks  (One star off just for not being as low-fat as I’d like.)

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Marketplace Asparagus & Cheese Ravioli

Product Description:  “ravioli filled with asparagus, ricotta and parmesan cheeses in a roasted red pepper sauce with yellow carrots and asparagus” Calories: 260

Fat: 7 g

Sodium: 610mg

WW Points Plus: 7

Total carbs: 40g

First Impressions: Before cooking, you get a lot of bold beautiful colors. After cooking, everything is just reddish. But it smells great. I think that’s mostly the sauce.

Gustatory Impressions: This is a good red pepper sauce. Not overwhelming, just a fun twist on Lean Cuisine’s usual red sauce. The carrots are decent and there are a LOT of them. The ravioli are quite packed with cheese and delicious. The bits of asparagus floating around the meal are woody and seem extraneous. And I didn’t get one tip in the whole thing.

Summary: All in all, this is a quite good frozen meal. If I had to pick between the two, though, the Spinach Artichoke Ravioli is better.

Rating: 4 out of 5 forks

[frozendietmeals]

Lean Cuisine Marketplace Chicken with Almonds

Product Description:  “tender white meat chicken with rice,vegetables and almonds.” Calories: 290

Fat: 5g

Total Carbs: 44g

Sodium: 490mg

WW Points Plus: 7

First Impressions: I swear I must have reviewed this before. It used to be one of my favorites! It looks great before you even cook it. Nice white rice, big hunks of chicken, bright green veggies. I searched this blog to see if I had reviewed it before while it was cooking, and no, apparently I have not. So here goes.

Gustatory Impressions: There are some REALLY big pieces of chicken in here (for a Lean Cuisine, anyway). And I didn’t hit any questionable bits this time. The rice is fine. The green beans are great. Almonds are... almonds. Possibly could have used more almonds. The broccoli is 98% stem, which doesn’t bother me much, because I like the stems. The sauce is super sweet and really yummy.

Summary: Yeah, this is a highly satisfactory meal. I have no clue why it had remained unreviewed for so long. Maybe my area stores stopped carrying it? Anyway, it’s delicious and filling and has more eye appeal than most of these sorts of things. Totally recommended. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 forks