We taste-tested 11 brands of frozen lasagna you’re likely to find at your local supermarket. To find the very best one, we sampled each without knowing which brand was which. Our winner is Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna, but we also crowned two runners-up.
Lasagna is one of my favorite comfort foods. Extra-creamy, tomatoey, and meaty, with an undeniably satisfying cheese pull, it’s a dish that rarely disappoints, especially at potlucks and big dinner parties. While I prefer it homemade, there’s definitely a time and place for the frozen kind, particularly on hectic weeknights when cooking from scratch takes a back seat. The question is: Which brand is worth buying?
To find the best frozen meat lasagna, our editors taste-tested 11 widely available brands. We baked each one according to the package directions, then sampled them in random order without knowing which was which. We then tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner, as well as two worthy contenders that we’d be happy to keep at home.
The Criteria
Great frozen lasagna doesn’t have to be as good as homemade lasagna, but it should still be satisfying and enjoyable to eat. Each element—the pasta, sauce, and cheese—should work in harmony. A good meat lasagna should be generously cheesy, intensely meaty and savory, and rich with tomato flavor. The pasta sheets should be well-cooked and sturdy enough to hold their shape after baking, not mushy, waterlogged, or falling apart. The meat should be well-seasoned and free from gristle, and the sauce should be gently sweet with a bold tomato flavor.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Overall Winner
Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna
“It’s a nicely layered lasagna with meaty richness,” wrote our editorial director, Daniel, who gave this lasagna top marks. (High praise from a dedicated lasagna cook!) Our senior social media editor, Kelli, appreciated its well-seasoned blend of herbs and spices. Our associate visuals director, Amanda, wished for a bit more cheese but enjoyed the texture of both the pasta and the meat sauce. Our associate editorial director, Megan, found it solid and noted she would happily eat it if she were ravenous.
Runners-Up
Kirkland Italian Sausage and Beef Lasagna
This lasagna leaned heavily on the flavor of Italian sausages spiced with paprika and garlic powder. “Best flavor of all I’ve tried so far,” wrote Megan, who was a big fan of the hearty chunks of sausage. “This has a flavor profile that reminds me of sausage pizza,” wrote Kelli. Amanda enjoyed the bright, well-seasoned sauce but found the pasta a touch too mushy. Meanwhile, Daniel thought the sauce was a bit too sweet for his liking, but appreciated how the sausage added balance and depth.
Rana Meat Lasagna
This lasagna is ideal for those who love thin pasta sheets and a ricotta-forward profile. “Wow, this one is actually pretty good,” wrote Kelli, who praised the pasta’s thinness. Amanda appreciated the generous amount of ricotta, but wished there were a bit more sauce. Megan found that the abundance of ricotta gave the lasagna a mild flavor and slightly mushy texture. Daniel agreed that this one was a bit too ricotta-heavy, though overall he deemed the lasagna fine.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Contenders
- Banquet Lasagna With Meat Sauce
- By Chef Ramsay Lasagna With Bolognese Meat Sauce
- Kirkland Meat and Cheese Lasagna
- Lean Cuisine Lasagna With Meat Sauce
- Marie Callender’s Traditional Lasagna With Meat & Sauce Bowl
- Michael Angelo’s Lasagna With Meat Sauce
- Rana Meat Lasagna
- Rao’s Meat Lasagna
- Stouffer’s Classic Lasagna With Meat and Sauce
- Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna
- Wegmans Frozen Meat Lasagna
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
Most mass-market frozen meat lasagnas rely on the same foundational components: durum-semolina pasta, a tomato sauce made from purée or paste combined with diced or crushed tomatoes, and a trio of cheeses. (Ricotta for creaminess, mozzarella for meltiness, and a hard cheese such as Parmesan and Romano for savoriness). Nearly all include onion, garlic, and a starch-based thickener such as modified cornstarch or rice starch. Many brands also enhance flavor with yeast extract, soy sauce, or Worcestershire for umami; sugar to mellow out the sauce’s acidity; and vinegar or citric acid for brightness. Protein types vary widely: Some lasagnas are made with ground beef or pork, while others use Italian sausage for added spice and richness.
Our winner, Trader Joe’s Family Style Meat Lasagna, stood out for its balance. It combines beef and pork for a meaty base, multiple tomato products (crushed and diced tomatoes, and tomato juice) for layered acidity, and a blend of cheeses, including ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and Romano. Unlike many other brands we sampled, it uses only one thickener—modified cornstarch—which helps maintain a cohesive sauce without a gummy texture.
Our runners-up have similar ingredient lists with few, if any, preservatives and stabilizers. Our editors enjoyed the bold sausage flavor and hearty texture of the sauce in Kirkland’s Meat and Cheese Lasagna, as well as the thin pasta sheets and generous amount of ricotta in Rana’s Meat Lasagna. Generally, we prefer frozen lasagnas with fewer stabilizers, which tend to taste fresher and more balanced than those with xanthan gum, cottage cheese blends, and flavor enhancers.
It’s worth noting that we found that the cook times listed on the package were often optimistic. Several lasagnas, including one of our runners-up, Rana Meat Lasagna, required additional baking time to ensure the center was fully heated. We recommend cooking according to the internal temperature specified on the package rather than relying solely on the package’s listed cook time.
Our Testing Methodology
All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.
