Stouffer's Lasagna with Meat and Sauce
I love any dish with tomatoes--whether it's lasagna, spaghetti, pizza--even a can of Beefaroni. I can still remember the time when I was a kid, I spent the night at a friend's house, and they had lasagna. The next morning we had leftover lasagna for lunch. I was hooked.
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| Serving Size 1 cup (about 3 servings) | |
| Calories 260 | Calories from fat 80 |
| Total fat 9g Saturated Fat 4.5g Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 30mg Sodium 690mg Total Carbohydrate 28g Dietary Fiber 3g Sugars 6g Protein 17g | |
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Vitamin A 4% Vitamin C 4% Calcium 15% Iron 6% |
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Stouffer's offers their lasagna in a 21 oz package. According to them, it serves three people. Who are we kidding? To me, if it comes in one box, it's for one person, so it comes out to 780 calories total. That's not bad for a meal, and it really is a hearty meal.
I microwaved it, of course, rather than putting it in the oven. It probably would taste better prepared in the oven, but I don't want to wait that long. There's plenty of meat in this lasagna and a decent amount of chewy cheese on top. I found the tomato sauce somewhat bland tasting though. The pasta itself was kind of soggy and limp. That may be the result of microwaving it.
Stouffer's advertises their lasagna as containing three kinds of natural cheeses, although I couldn't detect them. In fact, it looks like they scatter a few flecks of cottage cheese--I'm not sure what for--they don't affect the taste at all. I think perhaps they were going for a ricotta cheese look.
It is a solid if not spectacular offering. I would rate it a B-.
Marie Callender's Meat Lasagna
Hands down, Marie Callender has the best frozen lasagna on the market. I microwaved this as well, and it still came out perfect. The tomato sauce is rich and flavorful, and the basil and garlic flavors are readily apparent. The pasta came out firm and tender, not waterlogged. It had a good amount of meat--perhaps not as much as Stouffer's--and also plenty of cheese on top. However, what really makes Marie Callender stands out is the use of ricotta cheese in the lasagna. This wasn't some token amount put it--lasagna should have ricotta cheese in it, plain and simple, and Marie Callendar accomplishes this.
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| Serving Size 1 cup (about 2.5 servings) | |
| Calories 240 | Calories from fat 80 |
| Total fat 9g Saturated Fat 5g Sodium 950mg Cholesterol 45mg Total Carbohydrate 24g Dietary Fiber 2g Sugars 9g Protein 14g | |
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Vitamin A 8% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 15% Iron 10% |
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There is one strange difference between Marie Callendar and Stouffer's--both packages are 21 oz, and both say a single serving is 1 cup. Yet Stouffer's says it has 3 servings while Marie Callender says it has 2.5. I'm not sure where the discrepancy is coming from. Also note that Marie Callendar has a significant amount of sodium more than Stouffer's. I don't know--maybe that's one of the reasons why I find it more flavorful than Stouffer's.
Marie Callender always has good products, and they don't disappoint with their frozen lasagna. I give this an A.