What’s for lunch, when you’re stuck at home and don’t know how to cook?

Now that we are stranded from eating out and eating the foods we love, we need to find alternatives. With Taher not looking over us at all times, what will we do? For me this means trying some of the top frozen meals known to man. I’ll be honest, I definitely am not a frozen meal specialist, but I’m going to act like I am anyways. Who am I kidding, when it comes to food I am a specialist no matter what, period. I tried to stay to pasta-based meals to have some sort of common denominator. 

Lean Cuisine:

To me Lean Cuisine seems like the alpha of the frozen meal world. It definitely feels like they are the most popular brand and we’ll see if this popularity is true or overhyped. Here I got the White Cheddar Mac and Cheese. 

Rating: 1.1/10

Explanation: My tongue is burned and I’m not happy. Why would they tell me to put it in the microwave for that long if they know that it’s going to be 10 times hotter than what’s even possible to eat? I may revolt against Lean Cuisine because of whoever the dumb person was to say to put it in for four minutes. On top of me not being able to feel my tongue, the food was not good at all. It’s mac and cheese and there’s zero real cheese in it. It says mac and cheese on the front and it couldn’t taste less like mac and cheese.  I didn’t think mac and cheese could be ruined, but Lean Cuisine found a way. Also, it says it’s a meal but you get one-fourth of a cup, filling up nobody on the planet.

Amy’s:

For Amy’s I got cheese ravioli with sauce. I opened the package and I have to say it looks horrible. The sauce has frozen into one piece of block. I’m not going to judge it on how it looks, but I’m just saying it’s a rough start. Also, Amy’s seems to be the more healthy option which I can respect. 

Rating: 1.7/10

Explanation: I’m angry. Right as I tried to take it out of the microwave, my hand gets burned from the plastic. How has no one figured out a way to keep the food a solid temperature and the casing a normal temperature as well, or maybe give me a warning that it’s going to be extremely hot when ready. So the outside is at a burning temperature but the food isn’t. I put the food in for the time it told me and at the bottom of the dish there were still some cold pieces. The only reason this got any points was because the sauce was very good. Other than that the food was not good at all.

Stouffers:

Once again it feels like Stouffer is one of the powerhouses in the frozen food category.  The only reason I say this is because I feel like I’ve heard the name more than a couple of times. I  honestly have no experience in frozen food categories so some of my thoughts may have no fact behind them to be fair. Here I got the fettuccine alfredo because its the only Stouffers frozen meal that looked like worth eating.

Rating: 8.3/10

Explanation: Amazing, truly amazing. The sauce was truly great. You actually get a good amount of food and it was delicious food. The only problem I have was there was no meat or protein which makes it feel like less food then it actually is. Overall really solid meal. Also, I didn’t burn myself at any moment which was the first time through this process. For the first time I actually want to eat the meal again which is what gives them such a high score. 

Devour: 

First things first, GREAT name. Best name I’ve heard in the frozen meal game. With that being said the expectations are high. Here I got Pesto Ravioli with Italian sausage and it looks delightful,  but I don’t judge on looks, I’m a Green Eggs and Ham advocate. One last thing, on the box the first step is to take the meal out of the cardboard box. I just want to say it’s rather sad that they need to tell us not to put cardboard in the microwave. 

Rating: 9.6/10

Explanation: Flawless, truly flawless. This is some of the best food I’ve had while being stranded or other words quarantined. The sauce was amazing, the sausage was marvelous and the noodles were incredible. I don’t know how they made this frozen meal, that takes five minutes to make, so good and tasteful. The best name in the game also has the best food in the game hands down. I still have more to do and I already know this is the best one, period. Devour has something cooking with their food and I advise everyone in the world to try some of their food out.

Smart Ones:

I got the lasagna and it does look very solid from the outside. Also, 16 grams of protein which is a lot for not that much food. So it seems like Smart Ones is going for the healthier route which I can respect. 

Rating: 4.3/10

Explanation: Definitely middle of the road. Nothing special, but still a solid option. The side of the meal was full of sauce and the middle had hardly any sauce at all, so if there was more sauce across the board it might be really good. Overall aggressively average but I wouldn’t be mad if this ended up in my house again. 

Conclusion

After all of my studies, I stand by that frozen meals are good. Devour is top dog, hands down. Notice to everyone, be careful with the meals they can be dangerously hot. Burning your fingers is not funny; it really hurts.