Review of Stouffer’s Lasagna with Meat Sauce

I’m a big believer in saving money when it comes to purchasing groceries for our house. And, most of the time, I would have likely left this particular product in the store’s freezer because I could easily make lasagna from scratch for about half the cost. However, things were somewhat hectic this past weekend and, since I was hungry for lasagna but didn’t really have the time or energy to mess around with making one from scratch, I decided to purchase this lasagna instead.

I did, in all fairness, have a couple size options to choose from when I purchase the Stouffer’s lasagna and, had I gone with the “family” size (7 servings); I could have saved some money. However, our daughters had an ice show on Sunday and I figured leftovers would come in handy. So, I purchased the largest size instead.

One thing I found I wasn’t impressed with when it came to this product was the cooking instructions. Mostly because it was a last-second purchase and I didn’t have time to thaw it first, I baked this from a frozen state, following the instructions on the back of the box. Even though I actually left the lasagna in the oven for about 10 minutes longer than the box called for, it was still cold inside and we ultimately had to microwave our individual slices from it. This was disappointing considering the lasagna was in the oven for almost 2 hours (it was a good thing I made some breadsticks for an appetizer).

As far as taste goes, however, it was definitely acceptable. It obviously wasn’t as good as homemade (very few things are). But, it had a good flavor to it and, because it was a thicker lasagna (something that isn’t always the case with frozen products like this), was much more filling than expected. That, along with the larger size, did ensure we had plenty leftover for Sunday evening. In fact, I had still had enough left for lunch on Monday.

Another thing I liked about this product was there wasn’t too much sauce. Again, I’ve seen this with other brands, to the point the lasagna would be almost soupy. So, seeing a brand that actually managed to provide some balance (enough sauce for flavor, but not too much) was refreshing, especially since the sauce, as I said before, and lasagna in general had a good taste to them.

I would recommend not paying too close of attention to the baking instructions on the box, at least if you’re cooking this from a frozen state. However, if you’re looking for a decent-tasting dinner that doesn’t require a lot of work and are willing to wait up to 2 hours for dinner to bake, this is definitely worth spending the money on.

My Grade: B