We’ve found several Lean Cuisine dishes that we absolutely loved, like the Spicy Penne Arrabbiatta and the Four Cheese Cannelloni. With that in mind, we decided to be adventurous and try the Mushroom & Spring Pea Risotto, even though the image on the box doesn’t seem appealing to us in the slightest. While we were expecting something either really good or really bad, what we actually experienced was something right in the middle — something that was just mediocre.
The best part of this dish, hands down, is the crimini mushrooms. The only problem is that there are very few of them actually in the dish. Check out our image below and see if you can spot any.
Everything else is barely passable. The rice is bland, and the peas have that texture your fingers get when they’ve been in the water too long. Every once in a while, you’ll find a single pea loaded with flavor, but the rest of the peas are flavorless mush in collapsed, vaguely pea-shaped shells.
The sauce has sort of a weird aftertaste, and you can tell the folks at Lean cuisine buried it in mushroom powder, sea salt, and garlic in order to hide it. Plus, it gets this crusty border where the rice meets the edge of the dish.
We’ve had a lot of luck with Lean Cuisine in the past, but the Mushroom & Spring Pea Risotto is definitely not their best frozen food. We couldn’t wait to rinse the taste out of our mouth with a cold glass of milk. If you’re looking for a risotto dish you can make in a jiffy, you’d do much better with Amy’s Mushroom Risotto.
If you’re interested in learning more about the nutrition content and ingredients of this dish, check out our package scans below.
