7/6/06 | Healthy Choice Salisbury Steak
[ Currently Eating: Salisbury Steak Meal ]
After Healthy Choice won our frozen dinner poll, I resolved to check out the brand since I haven’t had much experience with it. I’ve always pretty much passed it over since I could give a flying bowl of ramen about health food. Supposedly, anyway. Lately, I’ve noticed the disturbing (or perhaps much needed) trend toward healthier foods appearing in my posts. We shall see…
But really, the real reason that Healthy Choice is sorta off limits for Cheap Eats is because of the price. But actually, at $10 for 4 (supermarket hint: no need to buy FOUR unless you really need them all), these aren’t the worst.
And the verdict for the Healthy Choice Salisbury Steak is very good. Pretty darn amazing actually, but that’s because I’ve mostly used Banquet as a comparison. At two and a half times the price of a Banquet Fried Chicken Dinner, you’d expect this had better be good. And it is.
The front of the package shows a thick salisbury steak lovingly glazed with mushroom gravy along with seasoned red skin potatoes and mixed veggies. A crumb-topped apple dessert hides out in the back. I never expect actual frozen dinners to look like their pictures - false advertising is a must in this industry. But this actually looked appetizing.
The overall taste was what sealed the deal for me. A thick beef and pork salisbury steak that was meaty and actually tasted like what it’s supposed to taste. Surprisingly thick, about an inch almost. Nicely flavored, almost like meatloaf. It kicks the ass off the Banquet Salisbury Steak reviewed earlier. I thought the mushroom gravy was a bit on the thin side and the “bouquet” perhaps slightly off but… waitaminute, this is a frozen dinner and I’m nitpicking about the gravy fragrance?
The potatoes were seasoned just right, although they were a bit overdone. It could be because I left it in the oven for a few minutes over. The vegetables are pretty much your Bird’s Eye mixed veggies. But it’s better than Banquet’s monotonic corn offering and I’ve been to sit-down restaurants where they serve you the same mixed vegetables.
I’m not a big fan of dessert, so if they had replaced the Caramel Apple Desert thingy with more steak and potatoes. But it was surprisingly good and not sickeningly sweet with a crunch oat and crumb topping.
I thought the overall presentation of the food was very nice. I guess it comes down to whether or not $2.50 is Cheap Eats for a frozen dinner like this and for the most part it’s not going to happen very frequently. Which is unfortunate because this is one of the better dinners I’ve had at this price. I’m not going to knock too many points off though because besides price it pretty much hits everything else right on the nose.
Price: $2.50
Found At: Albertson’s
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10
July 6th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
My favorite Healthy Choice frozen dinner is the Teriakyi Chicken but they don’t seem to sell it anymore, at least where I live. Same goes for my fave Banquet dinner - the Mexican combination platter. Damn them!
July 6th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
That looks pretty dang yummy for a Healthy Choice! You said it tasted good….did it fill you up as well?
I might just have to bust out and try a Healthy Choice frozen meal for the first time in my life
July 7th, 2006 at 5:14 am
I used to eat these all the time for lunch at work. I’m not sure about your local grocery store, but ours regularly had at least one brand of frozen meals on sale, so I often picked them up for $1.50-$1.75 each. Not a bad deal at all for that price!
July 8th, 2006 at 12:40 am
I wish Healthy Choice had more variety. It seems like Lean Quisine has almost twice the variety.
July 8th, 2006 at 9:14 am
That acutally looks decent for a frozen meal. I do believe I shall try a couple. Thanks for the review!
July 10th, 2006 at 11:52 am
I like the Healthy Choice meals, too. When my hubby is in class (goes to college two nights a week), it’s easier for me to throw in a meal like this. And when I worked, I used to take them for lunch too. Considering a lot of people I worked with would eat out every day, spending $1.75 to $2.50 for a meal wasn’t bad. And at my local market, they have them on sale just about every other week. So I just have to watch out for the good sales. I highly recommend them–they aren’t exactly a gourmet dinner, but they are good. And hey, ever tried those Bertolli frozen pasta meals? Yummm… But that’s a whole other meal.
August 26th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
I eat the Healthy Choice meals quite often. I’d have to say the roast chicken meal is my favorite. The chicken does not taste or look like a chicken brick. The potatoes are overdone, but the gravy covers that well. The veggies are all right, but nothing to rave about.
June 9th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
I like the taste of these so much that I used them when I went on a diet….I had oatmeal or cereal for breakfast, a nice veggie salad and lean meat sandwich for lunch, sometimes soup instead, and a Healthy Choice dinner for dinner. I felt good and lost the weight I needed. I still have one on occasion when I am in a hurry.
August 8th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
just had one of these. surprisingly good..i’d been readin a lotta bad reviews for healthy choice so i was a little cautious but it turned out all good in the end
October 17th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Salutations! Being a frozen food conniseur, I quite enjoy the odd “El Tacequana Extreme Beef Burrito”. Packs a punch but add just a smiggen of Tabasco and you’ve a taste sensation that even a Carribean person might just enjoy. Another fav’ is the “Guavaro Pizza Special Blend” found in most urban grocery stores. After the annitial sting of the wild “Cavaplotaria” pepper from the eastern-most region of Tokyo, its quite an extrodinary treat with a good bottle of white wine. Spectacular!
November 10th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I have never been a fan of healthy choice… Their food tastes just too bland…