Trader Joe’s Family Style MEAT LASAGNA, reviewed

RAVE

TIP: For best results, be sure to bake it !

“Tender sheets of pasta are layered with creamy ricotta, tangy tomato sauce, and plenty of ground beef and pork seasoned with onion and garlic (the words “ultimate comfort food” would not be hyperbole here). Topped with an additional trifecta of cheeses—mozzarella, Romano, and Parmesan—the Lasagna is made fresh, then frozen and shipped to our stores, ready to report for “What’s for dinner?” duty.”

Who doesn’t love lasagna? Truly, isn’t it the ultimate comfort food? Soft sheets of slightly chewy, flat, wide noodles which is multi layered with a rich meaty tomato sauce plus THREE KINDS of cheese, all topped with a cheesy bechamel sauce that gets nice and brown when well baked. What’s not to like?

Years ago, every now and then, I actually used to make lasagna myself. It always turned out great, but yes it takes a lot of work.

Next best thing? If you are not going to make it yourself, I think this Trader Joe’s frozen version might the next best thing to satisfy a craving for lasagna whenever the urge to eat it hits. I had seen online that people considered this Trader Joe’s frozen lasagna pretty good. So we got one to taste test with one of our neighbors for an easy meal for us to eat together.

Here’s my honest review.

Trader Joe’s frozen lasagna is actually really good! In fact, this was one of those Trader Joe’s items that tasted better than we expected it was going to be. Trader Joe’s FAMILY STYLE MEAT LASAGNA is quite tasty and satisfying. Unless you have an Italian grandma, it actually like something you would get out, almost homemade.

Three of us tasted it and we all were pleasantly surprised at just how good it was for something commercially produced. The pasta, meaty sauce and cheese all combined well and was well seasoned, and had good texture. The rich meaty tomato sauce has beef and pork in it. For me, the best part for me were the edges which we thought we had over-baked. It almost looked burnt, but it was actually not at all. The corners were my favorite part, where it had baked up nice and chewy with that browned cheese noodles. Yum. Give me a corner piece please!

I liked the ratio of noodles to insides and the seasonings. I saw the ingredients even list fennel seed. Now that’s Italian.

All in all, this is very satisfying and a good deal especially for the price ($7.49) An amount which would not even buy you one portion of lasagna anywhere I think. This can make a really easy dinner, very affordable, coming in for about $2-3 a portion?! Amazing.

PORTION SIZE: The lasagna is 24 oz (2 lbs). While the box says “4 servings” (about 8 ounces each) realistically that might be on the low side as far as feeding 4 adults. Maybe 4 adults if serve with 2 side sides or salad and bread? When we ate it, there were three of us. We ate 3/4 and had left about 1/4 – but frankly this was so tasty we all wanted a little more! So three adults ending up finishing this easily even with a salad and a side dish. So just FYI, realistically think 3 adults, or 2 adults and 2 kids?

Kids as well I think will love this too, of course.

Sure the box say you can nuke this but please don’t! “Fugedabouit! This will taste best baked, period, and on the box it even says that’s the “preferred method”. You want to get that browning which greatly adds to the overall taste and get those nice chewy bits, which is done by baking semi-covered with the film which you lift up a little, bake, then remove and putting it back at the end (the film is oven safe of course).

HOW TO BAKE Trader Joe’s frozen Lasagna – “Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Lift up the two opposite corners of the plastic film slightly so it can vent (important). Put the lasagna on a baking sheet. Bake 65 mins. Remove, and take off film. Put it back for about 5 minutes to finish browning. For reference, you can check my picture. It looks over baked but it was perfect IMO (not burnt) If you want less browning thats your call.

Remove and let sit for 5 minutes.

So yes it will take a little over and hour to cook this from frozen via baking in oven. So plan ahead! Perhaps, if this is defrosted maybe it would cut down on baking time to 30-45 minutes? Might be worth trying. Leave it out on the counter for a few hours to defrost….

PRODUCT OF CANADA

$7.49 (24 oz)

This is a good deal! I would buy this again.

(Tip: I saw they also sell a non-frozen lasagna in the refrigerated case; it’s 50 cents more $7.99)