Lasagna may be a comfort food, but making it from scratch is time-consuming. So it follows that folks with a hankering for lasagna want someone else to do the cooking. We knew that lasagna is a staple in most Italian restaurants, but we had no idea there were so many knock-offs in supermarket freezer cases: three-cheese lasagna, low-fat lasagna, chicken lasagna, caramel corn lasagna. OK, we’re kidding on that last one. The point is, we had to narrow our sights. We settled on meat lasagna and found eight to try.
Our seven tasters were looking for a hearty tomato sauce with natural-tasting seasonings, a good balance of cheese and meat, and al dente noodles that could handle the weight. Each lasagna should be neither too sweet nor too salty–though one taster complained they were all too salty.
President’s Choice private label, sold at Jewel-Osco, took top honors; Prego’s version followed closely. Wolfgang Puck’s rendition took third. (Presi-dent’s Choice isn’t skimping on ingredients, but the packaging could be improved; the floppy plastic container was hard to move from oven to countertop.)
Products are scored on a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 being highest. Prices are based on what we paid for them at the store and may reflect sales or discounts from frequent-shopper cards. Price per ounce is rounded off to the nearest cent.
Here are the winners, with tasters’ comments. The rest of the group is listed according to finish.
And the winners are . . .
President’s Choice Italian-Style Meat Lasagna with 3 Cheeses (6.1 points. $6.49 for 40 ounces; 16 cents per ounce.) “Chunky tomatoes, lots of cheese.” “Good cheese balance, nice sauce.” “Too sweet.”
Prego Beef Lasagna with Three Cheeses (5.9 points. $6.99 for 40 ounces; 17 cents per ounce.) “Fine tomato-herb flavor.” “Good balance of smooth, melted cheese and crustiness.” “Noodles are too soft.”
Wolfgang Puck’s Meat Lasagna (5.4 points. $4.25 for 12 ounces; 35 cents per ounce.) “Good noodle texture, lots of cheese.” “Nice, mellow flavor.” “All I taste is Parmesan cheese and pasta.”
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Others tasted
4. Stouffer’s Lasagna with Meat and Sauce (4.6). 5. (tie) Marie Callender’s Meat Lasagna, Michelina’s Signature Layered Lasagna with Meat Sauce, Trader Giotto’s Cheese Lasagna with Meat Sauce (4.1). 6. On-Cor Lasagna with Meat Sauce (3.5).