The pros: Trader Joe's Family Style Meat Lasagna is an adequate meal for about 4 people in the freezer section.
The cons: There was absolutely nothing that made me say, "wow" about this product.
The verdict:I love a good lasagna, but I hate how long it takes to prepare and bake. I recently tried Trader Joe's Meat Lasagna, but came to the conclusion it was not very good because so many corners had been cut in the making of the product. I am sad to report that the freezer lasagna wasn't much better. To be fair, I've had some really good lasagnas. Neither product was anywhere close to a true homemade dish. Both were marginally edible.
Now, I like to give most products the best chance at success. I took a full 70 minutes to cook this product in the oven from start to finish. While the depiction of the image on the box looks like what I got from the top view, I assure you the slices were not nearly as pretty.
Unlike the meat lasagna found in the refrigerated section, this meat was ok. It wasn't great and it certainly wasn't plentiful or generous. It was probably the thinnest layer of meat physically possible. And while I liked the smoothness of the cheese in the refrigerated, this cheese was grainy. I'm not sure if it was an issue with the cheese or the product being frozen, but it wasn't a silky smooth texture. The sauce had a bit of spice to it. But wasn't really a good sauce, it was a marginally edible sauce. It did not have a great flavor to it. A bit of basil would have gone a long way in improving the flavor here.
Both the meat and the cheese layers were very thin, which means that each bite resulted in a poor balance. There was just too much pasta and not enough layers to highlight the gaps between the pasta. Overall, I won't buy again this again. For $5.99, there are better freezer lasagnas out there.
Here is the visual guide to what you are getting when you buy Trader Joe's Family Style Meat Lasagna:
The box of Trader Joe's Family Style Meat Lasagna:
The nutritional information:
The ingredients:
How to prepare:
Out of the package you get:
After being cooked you get:
Would I buy this again? No. That 70 minutes could have been put to better use. Like actually making a good lasagna from scratch.
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
judilyn says
I found a "pre-cooked" lasagna noodle package the other day in the grocery store, but have not yet tried it out. Fiddling with the cooking of the large-sized lasagna noodles to make lasagna from scratch is always the STOP sign for me. There is the old "Lazy Lasagna" recipe that allows you to add V-8 juice to "cook" the regular kind of lasagna noodles while it bakes. That method has proven to be Lazy, for sure, but not always evenly baked.
Ricotta cheese is on sale this week, I should screw up my courage (and lazy bones) and make a big pan of it. It freezes fairly well, so I can have an easy meal for a few nights going forward.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
becomebetty says
Well, if you are ever in a bind, ricotta consists of three ingredients: whole milk (not ultra pasteurized), white vinegar and salt. Super easy to make.
Allison says
I actually liked it....but I didn't have high expectations and had not eaten homemade lasagna in a long time so nothing to compare it to other than Michael Angelo s frozen lasagna.
becomebetty says
Hey Allison! I think Michael Anglo's is a pretty fair comparison. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and share your thoughts!
David says
I was disappointed in your review of the Trader Joe's Family Style Meat Lasagna because I believe it to be better than marginally edible. Having read this review I was curious to find what items you had reviewed highly and would recommend from Trader Joe's. It appears you have no ranking system or way to easily identify what items you do recommend which I find to be just plain lazy.
becomebetty says
Hi David! Sorry you didn't share my views on the Family Style Meat Lasagna and you are entitled to your opinion and are welcome to share them here. However, the last bit of your comment needs some addressing. You've stumbled upon one of my older posts. I've spent the last year getting review stars on my newer posts. Since I have more than a thousand reviews, it will just take some time. Now as far as your last part about me being lazy, I hope if you are using a computer you can find the bar on the upper right hand corner that says, "search." If you are on a mobile device, then also look on the right hand corner for 3 lines, that is the drop down bar for the menu to reveal the "search" feature as well. In both cases, if you type in exactly what you are looking for it will populate as you type for easier searching. Best of all, if you type in Best or Worst, you'll see lists that would seem to match your query. But to make your life easier, here is the list of my best Trader Joe's Products of 2018: https://www.becomebetty.com/trader-joes-best-new-products-of-2018/ And if you are looking at the other end of the spectrum, here are the worst items I've tried: https://www.becomebetty.com/the-worst-things-from-trader-joes/ You can also see my new format (at the bottom of each post) for a rating system at the bottom of a recent post like this: https://www.becomebetty.com/trader-joes-kunefe/ Hope that helps!
M says
100 percent disagree with your review, coming from someone who's mama makes the best lasagna in the world lol.
becomebetty says
Hey M! You are free to disagree. Any homemade lasagna usually is better than anything you can buy frozen. Any chance you can tell us what you didn't like? Thanks again for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
Matt says
I thought it was ok for frozen lasagna, but there were a few tiny bone fragments in it that were painful to bite into and could have really damaged my teeth.
Mike says
I would agree with you David. Having attended culinary school myself and trying this on a recommendation from a friend I thought it was great for a frozen lasagna. Obviously the noodles are made fresh and judging by the look they use a bronze die in the factory. Sauce was well balanced with acid, sweetness and spice. Becoming Betty is not doing justice and you are correct, no knowledge of food but personal preference obviously. As for meat, if you look at the protein in this lasagna it has about 20%, far greater than the USDA mandated 12% in most competitors. Big taste, big value.