The Highest And Lowest Quality Frozen Lasagna Brands

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Lasagna is the ultimate comfort food. It's hard to resist luscious layers of pasta interspersed with tangy tomato sauce, creamy béchamel sauce, cheese, and hearty meat and vegetables. There's no disputing that home-cooked always tastes better, but it's not always easy to whip up a batch of lasagna at home. There are so many ingredients to procure, so many steps involved, and so much time you need to devote to the process. That's where frozen lasagna steps in.

Frozen lasagna is the perfect go-to meal when you're craving something hearty and homey. There's no need to slave over the stove because all the hard work is done for you. All you need to do is take it out of the box, pop it in the microwave or oven and you're good to go. Not all frozen grocery store lasagnas are created equal though. 

Some frozen lasagnas contain high-quality ingredients that meld together beautifully to create a dish that tastes almost as good as homemade. Others are filled with cheap fillers and can be just plain disappointing. To help you find the best products, we researched which brands make the highest and lowest quality frozen lasagnas. You can read more about our methodology at the end of the article.

Beecher's Handmade Cheese was born as an artisan cheese shop in Seattle in 2003. Since its inception, the focus has always been on high-quality products made with natural ingredients and no preservatives or harmful additives. The company has won awards for its artisan cheeses, as well as accolades for its ready-made frozen products. The Beecher's team stands by the quality of their products so strongly that they've adopted the motto, "World's best is what we do."

There are two Beecher's frozen lasagnas: the Cheese Curd Lasagna and the Cheese Curd Lasagna with Meat Sauce. Both contain a mix of Beecher's famous cheeses, including ricotta, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, and cheese curds. Other natural ingredients include tomatoes, spinach, and kale. The meat version also contains beef, pork, and Italian sausage. According to customers, Beecher's frozen lasagna is rich, cheesy, and tastes homemade. One reviewer said, "It's super well seasoned. The ricotta is full of herbs that add a lot of flavor and the noodles get nice and crunchy on the sides in the oven. The marinara is also really tasty and of course because it's Beecher's, the cheese curds on top are the best part!"

In 1993, Walmart introduced the Great Value line of products as an affordable alternative to big brand names. The private label collection includes a wide range of products including canned goods, cooking oil, dairy products, and frozen meals. There are several Great Value lasagnas on offer in single servings or trays that can feed multiple people. Flavors include the Italian-style Lasagna with Meat Sauce, Five Cheese Lasagna, and Meat Lover's Lasagna. 

The Great Value lasagnas may be competitively priced, but this is a classic case where you get what you pay for. Take a look at the ingredient lists and you'll see that there's nothing really gourmet about the dishes. For example, instead of marinara sauce or fresh tomatoes, some of the products contain tomato purée, which is just a mix of tomato paste and water. There are some real meats and cheese, but also additives like xanthan gum and beef broth made with caramel color. Plus, some of the packages include disclosures that say the lasagnas contain bioengineered food products.

Trader Joe's is a treasure trove of unique products you won't find anywhere else. The company works with reputable food manufacturers to create products just for the chain, then sells those products at very competitive prices. In many cases, lower prices mean lower quality, but not at Trader Joe's. The top-notch ingredients and taste-tested recipes are what keep customers coming back for more. There are several Trader Joe's frozen pastas to choose from, including a frozen lasagna that gets great reviews.

Trader Joe's Family Style Meat Lasagna is packed with flavorful ingredients that many cooks use in their own homemade versions. These include ground beef and pork, crushed and diced tomatoes, and cheese like ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and Romano. Seasonings include granulated garlic and onion. The tray weighs about two pounds, so the portion size is definitely hefty. Customers have mostly good things to say about the lasagna, like one Reddit user who said, "Between this lasagna and the deep-fried pesto pizza I'm convinced TJ's knows witchcraft. How can it be so damned affordable and so, so delicious FROM FROZEN?! What?!"

Quick, no-fuss meals are the mainstay of On-Cor, a ready-made food company that has been around since the 1940s. On-Cor states that its food is, "No frills, no fancy. Just tried-and-true entrées and center-of-the-plate solutions that give you one less thing to worry about on 'one of those nights.'" The Lasagna with Meat Sauce looks pretty decent at first glance, but take a peek at the ingredient list and you might think otherwise.

The first few ingredients in On-Cor's Lasagna with Meat Sauce look innocent enough: tomato purée, water, and beef. However, then it starts to get a bit gnarly. The cottage cheese contains tongue twisters like carrageenan, mono and diglycerides, sodium and monopotassium phosphate. Then there's the textured vegetable protein, which contains soy flour and caramel color. Is that necessary? And does it taste good? Customers don't seem to think so. Wichita by E.B. called it the most disgusting meal they ate in 2021, saying, "I felt bad for my fork for putting it through that misery." On-Cor's lasagna may be affordable, but the quality is dubious at best.

When many people think of frozen lasagna, Stouffer's comes to mind. You may know the company as a mogul of the frozen foods scene, but the truth about Stouffer's is the company has a long history that dates back over 100 years. Mahala and Abraham Stouffer got their start selling crackers and buttermilk in the 1920s and went on to open a series of restaurants. Customer demand for take-home food inspired the Stouffers to create ready-made frozen meals. The company is now part of the Nestlé family and offers a vast variety of frozen meals including lasagnas.

You're pretty spoiled for choice when it comes to Stouffer's frozen lasagnas. You can go plant-based with the Veggie Lovers Lasagna or amp up the protein with the Meat Lovers Lasagna. You can also switch up the meat with the Chicken Lasagna. All the lasagnas contain freshly made pasta and real vegetables, meats, and cheeses. The lasagnas do not contain preservatives, although it should be noted that some do contain bioengineered food products. For the most part though, you're getting good quality ingredients that most people will recognize and would use at home.

You may recognize Marie Callender's frozen meals from the freezer section in your local grocery store, but did you know the company began with homemade pies? The Marie Callender's story began in the 1940s when Marie Callender started selling pies out of her home kitchen. The brand grew to include a chain of restaurants and eventually a frozen foods division. The pre-made meals range from rice and noodle bowls to pot pies, and pastas like lasagna. You can opt for the Italiano Meat Lasagna or the Meat Lasagna.

The issue with Marie Callender's lasagna is not necessarily the ingredients, as there are some real foods in there like Italian sausage, pork, and ricotta cheese. The main problem is customers find the dish as a whole lacking. Some find the sauce soupy and the flavor off. Others say the dish contains very little meat and cheese. One reviewer said, "I found it not very well prepared and mostly just noodles, sauce was just on top with hardly any cheese." Based on the sheer volume of one-star reviews, it's clear many people don't consider Marie Callender's lasagnas high-quality products.

With so many frozen lasagnas on the market, we knew we had a monumental task ahead of us when it came to determining how they differ in terms of quality. We started by looking at ingredient lists to see which brands use real ingredients like quality meats, vegetables, and real cheeses. We also looked at how committed the companies are to sourcing top-notch produce like organic veggies and the most flavorful ingredients. In addition, we noted whether artificial flavors or colors are used and whether the lasagnas contain preservatives. Finally, we wanted to see how the products fare in home kitchens, so we scoured customer reviews to see what people think about the portion sizes, flavor, and whether the quality justifies the price.