Eating In - Lean Cuisine: "Salmon with Basil"

After a lengthy hiatus, welcome back to "Another Picky Eater"! In addition to upcoming restaurant reviews, I will also be reviewing meals you can buy at a store and recipes that my wife and I cook. These will be part of the "Eating In" editions of this blog. Up first... "Salmon with Basil" from Lean Cuisine.

Primary Ingredients: Salmon, Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta, Spinach, Carrots, Yellow Carrots, Basil Cream Sauce
Calories: 210
Fat: 6 g
Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 15 g
Sodium: 590 mg
Carbs: 25 g


Over the years (especially as a college student) I have experienced my fair share of microwaveable meals that have – to put it lightly – not been the tastiest thing I’ve ever eaten. Thankfully many companies have updated their existing recipes and created new meals that actually taste good, believe it or not. Of particular note is Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine brand, which has expanded its affordable (and generally tasty) line of products in recent years.

I recently tried the Salmon with Basil, a part of their Spa Cuisine line, which seems to have a focus on whole grain pastas, high fiber (5-6 grams per serving), no preservatives, and a good amount of vegetables included. The no preservatives aspect holds true as far as artificial/chemical preservatives for this meal, but I have read reviews online of other Spa Cuisine meals that are questionable in this regard. As far as vegetables go, between the carrots, yellow carrots, and spinach you get 2 servings of vegetables from this meal, which is fairly impressive.

In regards to the meal itself, I have to say it was a bit of a mixed bag. The orzo pasta (which looks like large pieces of rice), spinach, and carrots were all quite good. There was a fair amount of garlic, though I would have preferred more for additional flavor, and the cheeses used weren’t so overpowering that I couldn’t taste the intricacies of the different vegetables and the pasta.

What felt out of place, strangely enough, was the salmon. In comparison to everything else, the salmon was rather bland and dry. You can only expect so much from a microwaveable meal, but several the pieces looked and tasted overcooked, which severely dulled the delicious natural salmon flavor. I feel that an alternative protein like cuts of chicken breast or halibut would have been more appropriate and appealing in regards to overall taste. Then again, I don’t think there are any microwaveable meals out there with halibut...but there should be!

Overall, this is a decent meal that is worth a try. It takes approximately 5 minutes to prepare, with none of those annoying cold/still-frozen spots (in a halfway decent microwave). The serving size is fairly generous in comparison to some “healthy” meals that reduce portion size to make it “healthier for you”. Due to the cheeses and pasta used, this is in no way dairy or gluten-free friendly, but that is to be expected with nearly any non-specialty microwaveable meal. The primary downfall is the overall taste of the meal. While nothing outstanding, I enjoyed all of the pasta and vegetables, but was quite disappointed in the protein’s quality. A little lemon juice and even a [very] small amount of pepper would have been of benefit to the salmon, but as the standalone protein of the meal it fell short of my expectations.

*** OVERALL SCORE: 3.5 / 5

For additional information from Lean Cuisine: Click Here

I'm always looking to improve my blogs, so if you have any input please leave a comment below and let me know what you think; what else you would like to see reviewed; what can be done to improve the blogs as a whole. Thank you!