We’re just not reviewing Stouffer’s meals as often as we used to here at Freezer Meal Frenzy. It’s not because we had any sort of falling out with the brand, or a loss of interest in their offerings, or anything like that; we just don’t often find meals that we haven’t already reviewed. We’ve been pretty thorough in our Stouffer’s coverage, it seems.
So we were surprised to find the Stouffer’s Romano Crusted Chicken at our local grocery store. This is something we weren’t aware of before now, and there’s not even a “NEW!” icon on the box, so it seems this has been hiding in plain site for a while now. We’re pretty excited to check this one out, since we do enjoy plenty of Stouffer’s meals.
The box gives instructions for both the microwave and the oven, and no matter which method you choose, this is going to take a while. Even in the microwave, this takes six and a half minutes to cook. And in the oven? Well, that’s going to take 45 whole minutes! Wowzers! Now, we have to admit that we were actually expecting this. Stouffer’s is known for having long cook times, so this meal really isn’t coming out of left field or anything. But do keep this in mind if you have plans to bring one of these into the breakroom at work. If you have the sort of breakroom situation where there are long lines for the microwave, your co-workers might not appreciate you choosing to take up almost seven minutes by cooking this meal. (If you want to read the full cooking instructions straight off the box, check out the package scans at the bottom of this review.)
This really isn’t a complicated meal. You’ve got a big ol’ slab of chicken, crusted with a parmesan and romano breading, resting on a bed of pasta.
The chicken is decent. It tastes great, and the breading is quite flavorful, but the consistency is a bit too rubbery, and the meat is a little bit too dry. This has the potential to really be fantastic, because that flavor is bordering on true greatness, but Stouffer’s needs to figure out how to prevent the chicken from getting so chewy and rubbery.
Now, the side dish isn’t one of those super-cheesy mac and cheeses that you might find in one of Stouffer’s other meals; instead, it’s a more refined herb butter pasta. The pasta comes out a little tougher than we expected, especially considering the long cook time, and there’s not quite as much of the sauce as we’d like. The sauce that’s here is wonderful; there’s just not enough of it to cover all the noodles, let alone give you something to potentially dip your chicken in.
This meal contains 470 calories and 890 mg of sodium. Both of those numbers are slightly higher than we’d like, and it’s not quite as filling as we expected. You can maybe justify those numbers if you squint your eyes and resist the temptation to grab more food when you’re done with this, but you might want to pair this with a salad or something to make sure you don’t feel hungry afterward.
The Stouffer’s Romano Crusted Chicken has a lot going for it, but there are a few flaws that hold it back from its true potential. We think that with some revision, this could be an absolute powerhouse of a frozen meal. As is, we’d say it’s a pretty good one, but it’s a little frustrating to see just how close Stouffer’s came to a legitimate freezer-aisle masterpiece. Heck, we’d take a higher calorie count for a little bit more of that tasty herb butter sauce.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this frozen meal, check out our package scans below.
