A review of several different Lean Cuisine products I have tried in the past month

Because of the on-going sale at Ralphs, I’ve stocked up on tons of Lean Cuisine entrées.  For the past 3 weeks, I’ve had a Lean Cuisine for lunch at work, and every now and then I will have one for dinner also.

Before the sale, I had never had a Lean Cuisine before. I have had Healthy Choice frozen dinners, however, so I expected the Lean Cuisines to be similar.  They’re actually better.

Lean Cuisine has 5 main product lines: One Dish Favorites, Café Classics, Comfort Classics, Spa Cuisine, Casual Eating, and Dinnertime Selects.  So what’s the difference?  From their website:

• one dish favorites are fast, easy and delicious (think mac & cheese)
• café classics are contemporary, restaurant-inspired dishes (beef & broccoli, chicken fried rice)
• comfort classics bring you American homestyle entrées (baked chicken, pot roast)
• spa cuisine classics are inspired by chefs at wellness spas (”fancy” ingredients)
• casual eating dishes are convenient meals that you can eat anywhere (pizza, flatbreads, paninis)
• dinnertime selects make dinnertime good anytime (larger portions)

Each line is conveniently color-coded.  I mainly got entrées from the Spa Cuisine line because they had yummy sounding names like “Ginger Garlic Stir-Fry with Chicken” and “Szechuan Style Stir Fry with Shrimp.”  I also got some Café Classics and a few Dinnertime Selects they seemed good to have around for lazy dinners.

Intially, I had bought a bunch of vegetarian dishes for my “Vegetarian until 6 PM” routine, but I didn’t find their “Butternut Squash Ravioli” or “Three Cheese Rigatoni” very satisfying.  I decided to get their fish and shrimp dishes instead for lunch, and they have been surprisingly good.

I really like the Parmesan Crusted Fish and the spicy Tortilla Crusted Fish.  The Lemon Pepper Fish is also pretty tasty and I’m quite impressed by their shrimp dishes.  I’ve had the Szechuan Style Stir-Fry with Shrimp and the Shrimp Alfredo; I expected mushy, watery shrimp like the kind you buy frozen and pre-cooked in the supermarket.  Instead, the shrimp (6 medium ones per dish) remained firm and flavorful.  Very nice!

Other dishes I really liked:

• Ginger Garlic Stir-Fry with Chicken
• Chicken in Peanut Sauce
• Lemongrass Chicken - Might be my fav, yum!
• Thai-Style Chicken
• Orange Peel Chicken
• Beef & Broccoli
• Beef Portabello

I don’t really like the dishes that come with their pasta sauce.  It’s just a very basic red sauce that you can get sick of really quickly.  Fortunately, Lean Cuisine has a huge selection and there are plenty of other dishes to try.

Now, all this praise aside, there is one major issue* with the Lean Cuisine entrées: portion size!  I understand that they need to keep the portions fairly small in order to keep the calories down per serving, but sheesh, sometimes I feel like I’m simply eating a side dish or appetizer instead of a meal.  Scratch that.  I used to feel like I was eating an appetizer.  After about 3 weeks now, I’ve become accustomed to the smaller portions.  I take my time and eat slowly in order to fully enjoy my meal and let my stomach digest.  I also drink plenty of water with my meal and often have a cup of fat-free yogurt and fruit afterwards.  About 3 hours later, I’ll have a snack if I’m hungry.

Because I’m eating so well during the day, I can splurge a bit with dinner.  Sometimes (happening less and less now), I’ll go out to eat.  Usually, I fry or bake some meat to have with rice and veggies, eat something from my slow cooker, or if I’m feeling tired, I’ll have one (or even two) Lean Cuisines.  I’m really glad that I’ve found something I can stick to!

*Sodium content could also be an issue for some with the Lean Cuisine dishes.  Most entrées contain about 20% - 30% of your sodium for the day.  This is a really high number for such a small dish and should be taken into consideration by those watching their sodium intake.  Since I have below normal blood pressure, high sodium is not a concern for me.

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