For several years now, lasagna has been one of my specialties. And once I found the Pioneer Woman’s recipe and tweaked it a bit? I was a lasagna pro.
I’ve made it for small group dinners and Thanksgiving dinners. And every time, people – specifically my husband – rave. Okay, maybe RAVE is a bit too strong a word. But the point is that my lasagna is good.
It’s also a little work-intensive. That’s why I almost always reserve it for special occasions – or at least the weekend. Even using no-boil noodles doesn’t cut down the time (and mess!) involved that much.
So when I was asked to review Marie Callender’s Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna, I was torn. On one hand, I thought, “Seriously? Frozen lasagna? Ick.” Because I’m a snob like that. But on the other hand, I couldn’t help but think, “Mmmm. Lasagna on a weeknight? Sounds good to me!”
Thankfully my more practical, non-snob side won out, and we tried the dish earlier this week. And it was good! It cooked evenly, the only mess I had to clean up were our plates, and it was the perfect portion size for our small family.
See, that’s another problem with making lasagna for just the three of us: We can never make it through the leftovers.
Marie Callender’s Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna comes in a special baking tray designed to prevent the edges from burning or the center from staying frozen – even in the microwave! (I cooked mine in the oven, because my microwave doesn’t cook well and I didn’t want to judge the lasagna based on my microwave’s ineptness.) Or, as Annalyn said, “Mommy! Where did you get THAT pot? The one with the pasta? Where did you get it?”
[It doesn’t actually look as special or innovative as it is, but clearly my child is already a cooking genius. Ha!]
The lasagna includes three Italian-style meats (sausage, ground beef and pepperoni), layered with four different cheeses (Ricotta, Mozzarella, Parmesan and Romano), in a hearty marinara sauce. And even my picky husband who loves my lasagna and my picky daughter who complains about spicy foods thought it was great and cleaned their plates.
I don’t typically buy frozen lasagna (see above snobbery), but apparently this one is considerably better than the competition. It cooks faster (only 19 minutes in the microwave), and in a national consumer taste test, it beat Stouffer’s lasagna two to one.
Now that I know a) how easy it can be to fix lasagna and b) that my family will eat it, happily, I am a lot more likely to try Marie Callender’s Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna again! (And their other multi-serve bakes, too. The Vermont white cheddar mac & cheese looks soooo good!)
And, if you don’t like it, you can get your money back. Marie Callender’s is so confident that you’ll love its Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna, the brand is offering an on-pack money-back guarantee.
So, tell me: Do you like frozen meals? Specifically, how do you feel about frozen lasagna?
This post will be linked to Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries.
Disclosure: I was provided with the lasagna and am being compensated for my review of the dish. However, all opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts. (Believe me, if I thought I could pay my husband and child to be less picky when it comes to trying new foods, I’d be all over it. Alas, it is not possible. And they really liked this lasagna.)
I’m not the biggest fan of frozen dinners {that aren’t homemade}, but lasagna is one that I really like. I figure it’s a lot like pizza, you just can’t mess up lots of sauce and cheese. I’ve been looking for ideas for easy {to me} frozen meals for when Baby arrives. We’ll have to give this lasagna a try.
I’m kind of a lasagna snob, too. Mine is pretty hard to beat! And like you, I really shy away from frozen lasagna. Ick. But now, you’ve piqued my interest. I’m gonna check this out. Thanks for the recommendation!
I am a lasagna snob as well (can’t help it, mine is oh so good!). With that said, I won’t buy frozen lasagna or many frozen meals for that matter but you have my curiousity wondering….
I will say that I couldn’t resist the Vermont White Cheddar Mac- IT is delicious and quite fattening!