We taste-tested 11 manufacturers of frozen lasagna you are prone to discover at your native grocery store. To discover the easiest one, we sampled every with out realizing which model was which. Our winner is Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna, however we additionally topped two runners-up.
Lasagna is one among my favourite consolation meals. Extra-creamy, tomatoey, and meaty, with an undeniably satisfying cheese pull, it is a dish that not often disappoints, particularly at potlucks and large dinner events. While I favor it selfmade, there’s positively a time and place for the frozen variety, significantly on hectic weeknights when cooking from scratch takes a again seat. The query is: Which model is price shopping for?
To discover the perfect frozen meat lasagna, our editors taste-tested 11 extensively obtainable manufacturers. We baked every one in keeping with the package deal instructions, then sampled them in random order with out realizing which was which. We then tabulated the outcomes and topped an total winner, in addition to two worthy contenders that we would be glad to maintain at house.
The Criteria
Great frozen lasagna would not should be pretty much as good as selfmade lasagna, but it surely ought to nonetheless be satisfying and gratifying to eat. Each ingredient—the pasta, sauce, and cheese—ought to work in concord. meat lasagna ought to be generously tacky, intensely meaty and savory, and wealthy with tomato taste. The pasta sheets ought to be well-cooked and durable sufficient to carry their form after baking, not mushy, waterlogged, or falling aside. The meat ought to be well-seasoned and free from gristle, and the sauce ought to be gently candy with a daring tomato taste.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Overall Winner
Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna
“It’s a properly layered lasagna with meaty richness,” wrote our editorial director, Daniel, who gave this lasagna prime marks. (High reward from a devoted lasagna cook dinner!) Our senior social media editor, Kelli, appreciated its well-seasoned mix of herbs and spices. Our affiliate visuals director, Amanda, wished for a bit extra cheese however loved the feel of each the pasta and the meat sauce. Our affiliate editorial director, Megan, discovered it stable and famous she would fortunately eat it if she had been ravenous.
Runners-Up
Kirkland Italian Sausage and Beef Lasagna
This lasagna leaned closely on the flavour of Italian sausages spiced with paprika and garlic powder. “Best taste of all I’ve tried to this point,” wrote Megan, who was an enormous fan of the hearty chunks of sausage. “This has a taste profile that jogs my memory of sausage pizza,” wrote Kelli. Amanda loved the intense, well-seasoned sauce however discovered the pasta a contact too mushy. Meanwhile, Daniel thought the sauce was a bit too candy for his liking, however appreciated how the sausage added stability and depth.
Rana Meat Lasagna
This lasagna is good for many who love skinny pasta sheets and a ricotta-forward profile. “Wow, this one is definitely fairly good,” wrote Kelli, who praised the pasta’s thinness. Amanda appreciated the beneficiant quantity of ricotta, however wished there have been a bit extra sauce. Megan discovered that the abundance of ricotta gave the lasagna a gentle taste and barely mushy texture. Daniel agreed that this one was a bit too ricotta-heavy, although total he deemed the lasagna high quality.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Contenders
- Banquet Lasagna With Meat Sauce
- By Chef Ramsay Lasagna With Bolognese Meat Sauce
- Kirkland Meat and Cheese Lasagna
- Lean Cuisine Lasagna With Meat Sauce
- Marie Callender’s Traditional Lasagna With Meat & Sauce Bowl
- Michael Angelo’s Lasagna With Meat Sauce
- Rana Meat Lasagna
- Rao’s Meat Lasagna
- Stouffer’s Classic Lasagna With Meat and Sauce
- Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna
- Wegmans Frozen Meat Lasagna
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
Most mass-market frozen meat lasagnas depend on the identical foundational elements: durum-semolina pasta, a tomato sauce constructed from purée or paste mixed with diced or crushed tomatoes, and a trio of cheeses. (Ricotta for creaminess, mozzarella for meltiness, and a tough cheese akin to Parmesan and Romano for savoriness). Nearly all embrace onion, garlic, and a starch-based thickener akin to modified cornstarch or rice starch. Many manufacturers additionally improve taste with yeast extract, soy sauce, or Worcestershire for umami; sugar to mellow out the sauce’s acidity; and vinegar or citric acid for brightness. Protein sorts range extensively: Some lasagnas are made with floor beef or pork, whereas others use Italian sausage for added spice and richness.
Our winner, Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna, stood out for its stability. It combines beef and pork for a meaty base, a number of tomato merchandise (crushed and diced tomatoes, and tomato juice) for layered acidity, and a mix of cheeses, together with ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and Romano. Unlike many different manufacturers we sampled, it makes use of just one thickener—modified cornstarch—which helps keep a cohesive sauce and not using a gummy texture.
Our runners-up have related ingredient lists with few, if any, preservatives and stabilizers. Our editors loved the daring sausage taste and hearty texture of the sauce in Kirkland’s Meat and Cheese Lasagna, in addition to the skinny pasta sheets and beneficiant quantity of ricotta in Rana’s Meat Lasagna. Generally, we favor frozen lasagnas with fewer stabilizers, which are inclined to style more energizing and extra balanced than these with xanthan gum, cottage cheese blends, and taste enhancers.
It’s price noting that we discovered that the cook dinner instances listed on the package deal had been usually optimistic. Several lasagnas, together with one among our runners-up, Rana Meat Lasagna, required extra baking time to make sure the middle was totally heated. We suggest cooking in keeping with the inner temperature specified on the package deal somewhat than relying solely on the package deal’s listed cook dinner time.
Our Testing Methodology
All style exams are carried out with manufacturers fully hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A might style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. This is to stop palate fatigue from unfairly giving anyone pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets, rating the samples in keeping with numerous standards. All knowledge is tabulated, and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter to supply probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes potential.
