Looks: Instead of a thick juicy tomato sauce, I see a dry brown bowl of noodles and meat. 3 out of 5
Taste: Bland. The sausage coins were ok, but everything else was just bleh – gritty meatballs, lackluster sauce, overcooked noodles. 2 out of 5
Archive for the ‘Meatballs’ Category
Marie Callender’s Rigatoni Marinara Classico
Thursday, February 11th, 2010Lean Cuisine Swedish Meatballs
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Looks: Besides the meatballs, nothing on the box matches what’s in the package. The noodles are much thicker (and much softer) than pictured; the sauce is Snicker-bar brown, not Twinkie yellow, and the ratio of noodles to balls is way too low. 2 out of 5
Taste: The noodles were soggy and the gravy was bland. The meatballs were just ok, although I did appreciate getting six of them. (I’m looking at you, Banquet!) 2 out of 5
Michelina’s Spaghetti & Meatballs
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
Looks: Once again, the box fails to account for the directions instructing the preparer to stir the meal together. When will these companies learn? Also, the noodles look more like extruded Play-Doh than the spaghetti on the packaging. 3 out of 5
Taste: Absolutely disgusting. The noodles fell apart as if I had cooked them for twice their instructed cooking time, causing the whole meal to feel like pig slop. Half of the meatballs were spongy; the other half were hard. All of them were tasteless, making me wonder just what ratio of breadcrumbs to meat Michelina’s is using in their recipe. The sauce had no redeeming qualities. There are not many meals that I can’t bear to finish, but this was definitely one of them. 0 out of 5
Banquet Swedish Meatballs
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Looks: This meal is very well-represented on the box. The only nit I can find to pick is that the gravy/sauce comes out kind of lumpy, not smooth like on the packaging. Other than that, everything is fine – the meatballs are the right size, the colors are correct, and the portioning is accurate. 4.5 out of 5
Taste: What’s a word between that falls between “edible” and “delicious”? Oh right, it’s “banquetswedishmeatballs.” This meal is pretty good. The meatballs are substantial and actually taste like meat! (Really, they taste like salisbury steak balls.) The noodles are a little soft, but not as soft as say, Chef Boyardi Ravioli noodles, and the sauce has a nice peppery flavor. This is one of the few Banquet meals that I’ve bought after already having tried it in the past. 4 out of 5