I’m just a girl who can’t say no. At least, to free food. So when FoodBuzz contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I’d like to try one of Buitoni’s new premium frozen meals for 2…for free, I said yes. Sure, frozen dinners aren’t something we consume often around here, but I figured one night of processed food wouldn’t kill us.
Brian and I decided to try the Shrimp and Lobster Ravioli with Garlic Butter Sauce, because if you’re going to buy a frozen meal, you may as well get something more interesting than cheese or chicken. The preparation was incredibly simple (one of the purposes of a frozen meal). The box contains a package of sauce and a good number of ravioli. You fill a pot with water, add the pouch of sauce and bring the water to a boil. Then you add the pasta to the boiling water with the plastic bag of sauce floating in it and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the sauce packet, drain the pasta, toss the pasta with the sauce and serve.
First, the bad:
- According to the box, the package contains a complete meal. Maybe it’s just me, but I like to have more than just pasta and sauce as my meals. Like, a vegetable, perhaps. We added a side of spinach.
- There was more sauce than I would’ve liked and it was really thick.
- The ravioli wasn’t very flavorful and some of the seafood pieces were a little chewy.
- I wasn’t real happy with the nutrition facts. That’s a lot of fat, cholesterol and sodium. Luckily, Brian and I have been subsisting on a lot of salads lately. You can decide how you feel about them for yourself though (click to enlarge).
Second, the good:
- The garlic butter sauce was yummy and added a lot of flavor to the dish. And better too much than not enough, right?
- There was definitely the right amount of ravioli for 2 people. Often, I’ve found that a frozen meal only serves half the number of people its supposed to. This one actually satisfied.
- Ease of cooking; only one pot required!
The verdict: Overall, the meal was good. It tasted good, it was easy to prepare and we were full at the end. Would I buy a Buitoni frozen meal again? Probably not. It’s more sodium, fat and ingredients than I prefer, plus the meals retail for between $7.99 and $9.99, at least where I live. That’s more than I’d like to spend on one “meal” which needs a vegetable.
Disclosure: Free Buitoni frozen meal coupon was provided by Buitoni through the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program.
I’ve found the complete dinners not really complete as well, and to be honest the portions very small… And the fat and sodium high. And the costs high..
I wonder if I’m being silly about that because of how bad restaurant food is and you don’t even have those stats but…
I do like these kinds of things for emergencies and I’d not seen these before so I’m so glad to run across a review.
Tracy
I like the Buitoni ravioli but is true just if i do not have time to cook i buy them because i do not like this kind of food.
But this one is great for emegencies.