We’ve had the opportunity to review a few things now from Stouffer’s Urban Bistro line of frozen food. We thought both the Aged Asiago Lasagna and the Spicy Tortellini Arrabbiata were worthy additions to Stouffer’s already-robust selection. So we were especially excited to try out the Urban Bistro Beer Glazed Meatballs. This is a step off the beaten path for a more traditional frozen food maker like Stouffer’s, so we appreciate their efforts in creating something this interesting.
Now, the Beer Glazed Meatballs sound like something you’d order at an upscale pub in the suburbs. And the folks at Stouffer’s really commit to that idea, going so far as to use Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale from Back Forty Beer Co. for their choice of ale.
With some meals that use beer as an ingredient, the beer is subtle. Take for instance TGI Friday’s Jack Daniels sauce. That isn’t the case here, where the beer flavor is very present. If you hate the taste of beer, then you might want to stay away from this. But for us, the beer was what we were here for, and we really like the way the beer flavor works with the sauce. It lends the sauce some bitter undertones, which really makes this sauce stand out.
The meatballs are halfway decent. They’re nothing on their own, of course, but they come slathered in that delicious sauce we’ve been talking about. The end result is one heck of a meatball.
There are also some veggies mixed in. It has these little tiny onions in it, the size of small grapes. They’re almost too adorable to eat, but they’re also too tasty not to. There are carrots as well, but we’re less enthused about those, as the flavor doesn’t really work with the sauce the way the onions and meatballs do.
We were a little worried about the mashed potato portion here, because we have a little bit of an unpleasant history with Stouffer’s mashed potatoes. We’re pleased to say that these actually taste quite good. They have that nice garlic-and-cheddar flavor that separates these from the style of mashed potatoes you might eat on Thanksgiving.
Of course, we do wish this had some kind of separator built into the tray to keep the sauce and the potatoes apart. The sauce gets the edges of the potatoes a little soggy, and we don’t find these two flavors to be the best match.
This isn’t exactly a diet-friendly meal, at 390 calories (120 from fat), but it’s also not going to send you into a calorie coma. For an “upscale bar food” item, that’s actually not bad. It does contain 770 mg of sodium, which is a bit high. It’s close to average for a frozen meal, but frozen foods tend to be high in sodium as a general rule. If you’re going to eat a lot of frozen food, do so with caution.
When we picked up Stouffer’s Urban Bistro Beer Glazed Meatballs, we were hoping we’d found something we’d be telling our friends about for weeks. At a glance, it has all the signs of a top-notch frozen meal. In reality, this meal might not be the superfood we had in our minds, but it’s still quite tasty.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this frozen food, check out our package scans below.
