Barilla Microwaveable Meals Review

Barilla Microwaveable Meals {Review}

September 18, 2012

I kind of have this thing for Italy. Ever since I first visited with my family when I was eight years old, I’ve been enamored with the country, culture and people. And the food! I think that is the main reason that I have returned to visit Italy more times than I can remember and chose to spend part of my Junior year in college there.

When I came back to New York, I loved experimenting with different pasta dishes in my tiny kitchen in my studio apartment on the Upper West Side. Baked pasta, lasagnas, risotto, and every incarnation of pasta with sauce that I could come up with. My go-to pasta has always been Barilla.

When I was asked to try Barilla’s new microwaveable meals, I was excited to try them because they are made from the same ingredients as Barilla dry pasta and jarred sauces. However, I was also hesitant. We typically don’t eat many prepared, frozen or microwave meals in our house because I often find these meals not so tasty and I pride myself on cooking from scratch.

But let’s be realistic. With two young kids and a busy work schedule, it has become a lot harder to cook from scratch and it can be a challenge to get dinner on the table during the week. There have been many nights when the kids have been fed but there is no dinner for me or my husband. After looking up the nutritional information and seeing that the meals were made from all natural and preservative-free ingredients that I knew and could pronounce, I agreed to try them.

Barilla microwaveable meals come in five different varieties including two whole grain versions:

Mezze Penne with Tomato & Basil Sauce
Mezze Penne with Traditional Marinara Sauce
Mezze Penne with Spicy Marinara Sauce
Whole Grain Fusilli with Vegetable Marinara Sauce
Whole Grain Mezze Penne with Tomato & Basil Sauce

Each package comes in a single serving – pasta + sauce. First, I tried the Mezze Penne with Spicy Marinara Sauce because I love Pasta Arrabiatta. After 60 seconds in the microwave, my dinner was ready. I was skeptical that the pasta would be cooked after only 1 minute. I expected it to taste gummy and soggy but I was really surprised at how fresh the pasta tasted and that it was al dente.

The real test, however, came when I prepared one of the meals for Jasper. He’s, um, a little picky about his food. He chose the Mezze Penne with Tomato & Basil sauce and gobbled it up. I sat and watched him dumbfounded because he normally doesn’t eat that quickly and without a fuss. I didn’t have to ask him how his dinner was because he voluntarily said, “This is good pasta Mommy.”

Thumbs up from Jasper

What I liked about Barilla Microwavable Meals:

Each of the five varieties of meal is 9 oz and 320 calories or less. It’s nice to have a controlled portion because pasta is one of those things that I often find myself overeating. The portions were a good size and quite filling.
You control the amount of sauce you add to your dish. One of my pet peeves is leaving a half jar of unused sauce in the refrigerator after making a pasta dinner. With the Barilla meals, the sauce comes in a separate container and you can add as much or as little sauce as you want.
Each meal has between 9g and 11g protein and is a good source of fiber and vitamin A. I’m always looking for ways to increase my intake of protein and fiber. While the sodium content is a little high, it is comparable to other frozen and prepared meals.
The pastas taste great as-is or you can dress them up by adding some additional vegetables, protein (I’ve added chicken or fish), or cheese such as mozzarella or ricotta.
Barilla Microwaveable Meals are reasonably priced at a suggested retail price of $3.29 although I found them at my local supermarket for $3.19. That’s a lot less than I would spend on buying a sandwich for lunch.

I would buy these to have on hand for those times that I don’t have time to cook or need a quick meal.

How do you get dinner on the table every night especially on those busy busy days? Do you purchase prepared or packaged meals?

{FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own}