What are your favorite frozen dinners?

[Topper]

 

[superme80]

Amy's Broccoli Pot Pie.

 

[MataHari22]

I don't really eat prepared frozen foods anymore, I will rarely eat Stouffer's Stuffed Peppers and their Vegetable Lasagna. I used to enjoy Amy's Matta Paneer and Palak Paneer, but it's too spicy for me now.






While not exactly dinners, I really like these and will often eat them for dinner. The spinach ones or other plain veggie mixes, I will toss with freshly cooked angel hair pasta while it cooks. Or mix with leftover rice.

 

[pezheadmeg]

I'm another batch cooker. Usually do it about once every 6 weeks and can get 3 or 4 meals a week out of an afternoon. Pintrest is your friend when planning. I'm on a homemade hot pocket kick lately. It takes hardly any time to whip up a batch and I can control the ingredients I use.

My trick for pasta is to add ricotta to my sauce then bake them for 10 minutes in a cupcake pan. Much easier to freeze individually and reheat.

The only frozen prepared I keep in freezer is usually some type of chicken. I can them make a meal with that and some sliced fresh veggies and whatever sauce I'm in the mood for.

 

[HeatherC]

I'm another batch cooker. Usually do it about once every 6 weeks and can get 3 or 4 meals a week out of an afternoon. Pintrest is your friend when planning. I'm on a homemade hot pocket kick lately. It takes hardly any time to whip up a batch and I can control the ingredients I use.

My trick for pasta is to add ricotta to my sauce then bake them for 10 minutes in a cupcake pan. Much easier to freeze individually and reheat.

The only frozen prepared I keep in freezer is usually some type of chicken. I can them make a meal with that and some sliced fresh veggies and whatever sauce I'm in the mood for.

How do you make your Hot Pockets?

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I'm not impressed with ANY prepared frozen meals anymore. Like a PP said, even the best ones are merely tolerable. I used to eat them when I was younger, like Hungry Man or Marie Callanders, but over the years they've been using lower and lower quality ingredients to keep them at a reasonable price point.

There's always a can of soup or tuna around if we don't feel like cooking or going out.

 

[North of Mouse]

I don't eat them often but every once in awhile I'll grab a few to have on hand so that I don't eat out at work. What are your favorites, and are there any that you avoid? I am concerned with taste more than nutritional content.

Don't eat them on a regular basis, but do keep a few on hand. There are a few of the Lean Cuisine ones that I like, Zatarains and Richard's cajun rice meals, but that's just about it. I'm a south LA girl and need my spice. Used to occasionally get a Stouffers or Smart Ones, but have basically fallen out with both of those.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Stouffer's Broccoli Beef Skillet. So good!

 

[LisaR]

Such a timely thread. My mom snowbirds with us and arrives tomorrow. Unfortunately, she eats frozen meals a few days a week and they are hit or miss (medication and age have changed her taste buds and most probably don't taste good anyway). I'm going to TJ's right before I pick her up from the airport so I'll take a look at what they have. She loves ravioli so I'll look for that one for sure.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I haven't had any frozen dinners that I liked. We freeze leftovers in lunch-sized containers to take, whether on purpose or in a pinch. Soups, spaghetti, etc.

 

[pezheadmeg]

How do you make your Hot Pockets?

I use a package of Pillsbury pizza dough, rolled out to one piece. Put half the filling on the middle third, fold over one side put on second half of filling. Then fold over other side. I slice whole thing into 12 pieces then bake it for 20 minutes in a mini loaf pan. I wrap them in freezer paper when cool. A minute and half in microwave from frozen and they're ready. I mix the sauce with the protein ahead of time.

I tried folding them individually and they just did bake as evenly. The current method makes them more like a pepperoni roll or piece of stromboli but it's still a pretty portable meal. I actually had one last week without microwaving, it was in insulated bag with ice pack for about 6 hours. It was defrosted enough to eat as is.

 

[tvguy]

Ate frozen dinners for 6 weeks while our kitchen was being remodeled. Had the microwave setup in the laundry room on top of the washer and dryer. The Healthy Choice ones are pretty good, and nice variety. And we lost weight and our grocery bill dropped a lot! I'll have to check out Trader Joes some time, never knew they had frozen dinners.

I have very fond memories of growing up in the 1960's and having Swanson's TV dinners. They were a treat about once a month. The one's with the brownie for dessert rocked.

 

[tasha99]

I occasionally grab an Amy's frozen meal to bring to work. It's about the only brand that tastes good to me.

 

[CPanther95]

Marie Callendar's Chicken Pot Pies.

 

[Dentam]

I don't eat them very often, but I like TJ's mac and cheese as well as Stouffer's. I also like Marie Callender's fettuccine alfredo with garlic bread. Sometimes I'll get a frozen Red Baron 4 cheese pizza and add my own mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes - yum!

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Ate frozen dinners for 6 weeks while our kitchen was being remodeled. Had the microwave setup in the laundry room on top of the washer and dryer. The Healthy Choice ones are pretty good, and nice variety. And we lost weight and our grocery bill dropped a lot! I'll have to check out Trader Joes some time, never knew they had frozen dinners.

I have very fond memories of growing up in the 1960's and having Swanson's TV dinners. They were a treat about once a month. The one's with the brownie for dessert rocked.

We had the Swanson's TV dinners about once a month when I was a kid too. My mother would always save the brownie or other dessert for "later." Later never came, and after a week or two in the refrigerator, she'd throw it out.

I liked to peel back the foil and see a few random peas frozen into the mashed potatoes.

Do Swanson Frozen dinners exist anymore? I know the Hungry Man ones are still around, but I haven't noticed the regular Swanson ones for some time now. Hungry Man was sold off from Campbell's to another company, Pinnacle Foods, but it doesn't appear they bought the Swanson name.

 

[bsblady01]

they are all nasty. when I was a kid I loved the kids ones that came in the blue box.

 

[bsblady01]

This sums it up very well. Even high-end frozen meals are at best tolerable. Most are total crap, including frozen pizzas. OP, if your main objective is taste, don't buy frozen meals. Even a PB&J sandwich is superior.

Or do what a PP mentioned, find time once or twice a month, batch cook, and freeze in individual portions.

Sometimes in the supermarket I notice people, mostly men, with a dozen or more low-end frozen dinners in their carts. Like when Banquet is on sale for 88 cents. I'm guessing young clueless bachelors and older divorced dads.

Don't do this to yourself.

have you ever looked at the meatloaf that comes out of some of these frozen dinners it looks like dogfood

 

[BillBrasky]

they are all nasty. when I was a kid I loved the kids ones that came in the blue box.

I believe you're speaking of Kids' Cuisine. I also recall an unnatural draw towards this abomination. I don't know if they had some sort of groundbreaking subliminal marketing, or possibly an addictive chemical, but I would have camped out in a grocery store freezer overnight for these at age 8. I think they might have had a skateboarding duck on the package or something, which just screamed "quality" to the mind of a hungry pre-pubescent.

 

[bsblady01]

I believe you're speaking of Kids' Cuisine. I also recall an unnatural draw towards this abomination. I don't know if they had some sort of groundbreaking subliminal marketing, or possibly an addictive chemical, but I would have camped out in a grocery store freezer overnight for these at age 8. I think they might have had a skateboarding duck on the package or something, which just screamed "quality" to the mind of a hungry pre-pubescent.

yes those were the ones