We tried 5 frozen lasagnas — our winner is meaty, cheesy, and under $8

How we selected the lasagnas
How we tested
Best overall: Trader Giotto’s Family Style Meat Lasagna
Best sauce: Rao’s Made for Home Meat Lasagna
Best for cheese lovers: Stouffer’s Classic Lasagna with Meat & Sauce
The full list of contenders, ranked from highest to lowest

Frozen lasagna is a great way to feed a crowd, but which ones actually taste good? We put five to the test.

Frozen lasagna is a handy dinner option — one tray can feed multiple people with little effort. Too often, though, it falls woefully short of homemade. Tinny, watery sauce, mushy noodles, and rubbery cheese are common flaws that make for a disappointing meal. To see whether any frozen meat lasagna can rival the tender pasta, well-seasoned meat, melted cheese, and robust tomato sauce of a from-scratch version, we compared five widely available options in a side-by-side taste test.

How we selected the lasagnas

We chose five of the most popular frozen lasagnas available nationwide. For this test, we focused on classic Italian American–style ground meat lasagnas, which typically meant a beef and/or pork filling with layers of tomato sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella. We excluded chicken varieties and nontraditional styles like Alfredo.

How we tested

To prepare the lasagnas, we followed each brand’s package directions. Although all of the products included microwave instructions, we chose the conventional oven method for the most even cooking and the fairest side-by-side comparison. Cooking times and temperatures varied by brand, and each lasagna was baked on the center rack as directed.

To keep the tasting fair, our testers sampled each lasagna without knowing which brand they were trying. We asked them to evaluate both flavor and texture. For flavor, we considered the sweet-tart balance of the tomato sauce, the savoriness of the meat, the presence of dried herbs such as oregano and basil, and the milky freshness of the cheese.

Texture is especially important in a dish like lasagna, where distinct layers are part of the appeal. We looked for tender (not soggy!) noodles that still retained a bit of bite, along with gooey, melty cheese and a hearty meat sauce. The testers also assigned each lasagna an overall score representing how much they enjoyed it and how likely they’d be to recommend it to others.

Best overall: Trader Giotto’s Family Style Meat Lasagna

This private-label lasagna from the cult-favorite grocer captured the essence of a homemade lasagna. Testers immediately noticed that it was the meatiest of the bunch, with a hefty mix of ground beef and pork that added extra savoriness. For Senior Food Editor Ann Taylor Pitman, it hit all the right notes. “The noodles are tender, the tomato sauce seems balanced and not too acidic, and it’s well sauced, with lots of beefy nuggets.”

Whereas other contenders had a slightly grainy cheese filling, this one featured ricotta that was creamy, light, and smooth. Blanketing the lasagna was a combination of Italian-style cheeses — mozzarella, Romano, and Parmesan — that melted into a bubbling, golden cap with browned spots throughout. “This one tastes pretty close to homemade, with a level of cheese that feels luscious,” said Recipe Tester and Developer Anna Theoktisto.

Although the tomato sauce was milder than some of the other contenders, it did its job, keeping the pasta moist and helping hold the layers together alongside the ricotta. At two pounds per tray and about 23 cents an ounce, this lasagna is a convenient, affordable way to feed a crowd without sacrificing on flavor.

Best sauce: Rao’s Made for Home Meat Lasagna

Given Rao’s reputation for premium jarred pasta sauces, testers weren’t surprised that its frozen lasagna had the best-tasting tomato sauce of the contenders. It’s indeed made with the brand’s signature marinara, which had a full-bodied texture with visible pieces of tomato, plus fresh basil notes. Testers also praised its concentrated sweetness, which read as ripe and natural rather than sugary.

“It doesn’t taste sugary sweet, but more like it’s naturally sweet from the tomatoes themselves,” said Recipe Tester Isabelle Easter.

Beyond the sauce, we also liked the width of the egg noodles and their pronounced wavy edges, which gave them a satisfying chew and helped trap the sauce along with the ground meat (beef and pork) and ricotta filling.

Best for cheese lovers: Stouffer’s Classic Lasagna with Meat & Sauce

A staple of the frozen aisle for more than 70 years, Stouffer’s 100% beef lasagna won over our cheese lovers with its rich, melty layers of mild mozzarella and a dramatic cheese pull as each slice was served. Although it uses dry-curd cottage cheese instead of traditional ricotta, the filling still tasted exceptionally creamy. “Plenty of cheese and a fair amount of meat. Tastes like a classic frozen lasagna,” said Pittman.

The thick, wavy noodles were tender, while the sauce was oregano-forward but well-balanced, with concentrated tomato paste flavor that didn’t taste tinny. This lasagna also had those coveted crisp, brown edges — almost like pasta chips — which made it even more appealing. “Personally, I would like a bit more meatiness, but this one was pretty decent. The noodles weren’t too mushy, and the sauce was balanced,” said Test Kitchen Assistant Craig Ruff.

At about 26 cents per ounce for a two-pound, six-ounce box at our local Target, this family-size lasagna was also a great value.