If you only know Evol for their frozen burritos, you might be surprised to learn that they also make some romantic meals for two. Today, we decided to check out the Evol Chicken & Bacon in Creamy Romano.
This meal has both stovetop and microwave instructions on the package. The stovetop method seemed easy enough so we went with that one. We were told to dump the package into a nonstick pan, then cook covered for about ten minutes, giving it a stir every two or three minutes until it’s done. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy.
First off, the contents of the package came out in one solid block, which took us a few minutes to chop into pieces small enough that we could cover the pan. Secondly, even if you have a nonstick pan, you should oil it and preheat it. We ended up with a good portion of the bottom layer sticking to the pan, which caused some of the noodles to burn. Thirdly, the ten-minute cook time seemed a tad too long, and we think we could have gotten away with about eight.
But after a less-easy-than-promised cooking experience, we ended up with a scrumptious-looking meal.
We usually have good things to say about Evol’s chicken (except in cases where the portion size is too small), and this meal delivers the same high-quality chicken we expect from Evol. It’s a white meat, so we’re surprised at how much flavor it has. We did find one piece that was a bit gristly, but the rest of the chicken in our meal was perfect.
The bacon here is nothing to get excited over, as there’s hardly any of it in this frozen meal. You’ll find a fleck here and there, but this is not a bacon-loaded meal by any means.
The romano sauce is absolutely fantastic. It’s loaded with that savory flavor that makes it hard to stop eating once you’ve started. It’s also jam-packed with spinach, which lends it the perfect amount of earthy undertones. We really enjoy this combination, and it complements the noodles and chicken quite well. In fact, whenever you end up with a piece of noodle that’s overcooked, it only makes the flavor stand out more, which is a pretty impressive feat for a romano sauce.
The calorie count isn’t super bad if you only eat half the package, as intended. It contains 380 calories (150 from fat), which certainly doesn’t make this a diet food, but it’s nowhere near as unhealthy as some of the insanely calorie-loaded meals we’ve tried.
Of course, we lost some of the meal when we were breaking apart the ice block, and we lost even more of it when the bottom layer stuck to the pan. Because of this, we didn’t feel like we ended up with two servings at all, so we ate the whole thing. It wasn’t the full bag, but we’d say it was probably three quarters of it, which felt like the perfect amount.
The Evol Chicken & Bacon in Creamy Romano isn’t as easy to make as it looks, but it’s still mighty tasty. If you’re planning on serving this as a meal for two, you might want to do a dry run beforehand to make sure you tweak the cooking instructions as needed. We ended up with a mess, but it was an awfully delicious mess so we weren’t too upset about it.
If you want to learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this Evol pasta, check out our package scan below.
