Can Frozen Veggie Entrees Compare To Meat?

Just about everyone at one time or another has to resort to frozen meals of some kind. Maybe you slap a frozen lasagna in the oven to feed a crowd, or perhaps you have a stash of frozen dinners buried in the deep freeze for those "comfort food" nights.

Whatever the reason, it's likely that at least once you've noticed the vegetarian or vegan alternatives to your favorites. Just about every grocery store saves a door or two in the frozen food department to offer these items, and the variety is fairly amazing. No matter how meat-centric the traditional dish, intrepid veggie chefs have tackled a herbivore's version.

Common sense would indicate that the more varied flavors a dish has, the more likely the substitution of other things in place of meat would be successful. However, that hasn't stopped things like "veggie loaf" and "meatless chicken nuggets" from popping up here and there.

There's even a fungus-based meat substitute called Quorn that inhabits a gray area between meat and vegetable. It's made from a mycoprotein bound together with egg whites, and has been the source of all manner of squabbling between U.S. consumer groups and its British manufacturer.

For this test, however, we'll stay a bit more mainstream. The vegetarian or vegan alternatives use standard soy protein to replace meat or work around the absence of meat in other ways.

Why try the vegetarian alternatives? Well, the simplest reason is that they will by and large be friendlier to your waistline. In general, any veggie version of a frozen entree will be lower in fat and cholesterol than its standard-formula counterpart. Sodium levels may be a bit higher in the vegetarian entrees, as some producers add salt to help with flavor, but overall your stomach will be smaller for the switch.

The alternative entrees cost more, though -- sometimes twice as much. You can find a meat-based frozen meatloaf dinner for between $1 and $2, whereas the veggie loaf in this test came in at more than $4.

For the test, we compared four different popular frozen dishes against their veg-based counterparts. Each faceoff was graded by a panel of five adults. each of whom voted for a winner, and results will be given after the nutritional information listings. One member of the panel was a vegetarian who, for the purposes of the test, agreed to put aside her no-meat rule temporarily.

So, speaking of veggie loaf, let's begin with that least surprising of the comparisons:

Boston Market Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy: 570 calories, 35 grams fat, 85 mg cholesterol, 1330 mg sodium, 43 grams carbs.

Amy's Veggie Loaf with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables: 290 calories, 8 grams fat, no cholesterol, 690 mg sodium, 47 grams carbs.

The Boston Market meatloaf was excellent, dense and meaty with good flavor. The gravy had a good beefy flavor with some herbal notes and a sprinkling of mushrooms. The potatoes were a bit pasty, but took the gravy well and didn't fall apart.

The Amy's dinner didn't fare so well. The veggie loaf was gummy and, despite being colorful, really didn't have much of a defined flavor. The mashed potatoes were watery and translucent without taste. The peas and corn were good, as you'd expect from a vegetarian entree, but couldn't balance the rest of the meal.

The winner, by a 5-0 vote, was the Boston Market meal.

Think meatloaf is comfort food? How about some macaroni and cheese?

Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese: 350 calories, 17 grams fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 920 mg sodium, 34 grams carbs.

Moosewood Organic Vegetarian Macaroni and Three Cheeses: 400 calories, 17 grams fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 670 mg sodium, 45 grams carbs.

Here's the big secret: macaroni and cheese is a vegetarian dish anyway. It's not vegan, since cheese is an animal product, but vegetarians have no problems with it, by and large.

Stouffer's mac and cheese has been a comfort-food standby for decades, with a rich, cheesy sauce and tender macaroni that have quelled many a late-night anxiety attack. However, the Moosewood product actually beat it hands-down. The macaroni had a better texture, the cheese sauce was richer and the cheese flavor was far more pronounced. By a 4-1 vote, Moosewood took this round.

Completing the comfort-food trifecta is the humble pot pie, which any of you who grew up on the south side of the middle-class barrier or spent some lean years in your youth almost certainly know very well. For this, we chose the Banquet chicken pot pie, the classic, and matched it with a vegan offering from Amy's.

Banquet Chicken Pot Pie: 300 calories, 21 grams fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 1,040 mg sodium, 34 grams carbs.

Amy's Non-Dairy Vegetable Pot Pie: 360 calories, 13 grams fat, no cholesterol, 640 mg sodium, 50 grams carbs.

This was the biggest throwdown of the test. The choice actually came down to the crust. Both pies had good, chunky fillings with creamy gravy. The vegetables in the Amy's pie were larger and more fresh-tasting, but the tofu chunks were very bland and rubbery. The Banquet pie was more full, but the vegetables were strictly cafeteria-quality. However, the Amy's crust was tough and leathery while the Banquet pie's was light and flaky, with a crispy top. By a 3-2 score, the Banquet pie squeaked out the win.

For our final test, we ventured into the always-dicey world of frozen Tex-Mex food …

Banquet Enchilada Combo Meal: 360 calories, 10 mg cholesterol, 1,110 mg sodium, 56 grams carbs.

Amy's Enchilada with Spanish Rice & Beans: 330 calories, 8 grams fat, no cholesterol, 740 mg sodium, 53 grams carbs.

This was the finest example of a vegetarian entree using spices and flavorful vegetables to get around the lack of meat. Amy's enchilada filling was chunky and spicy, and the tortilla was just about perfect. The pinto beans had a smoky flavor and the Spanish rice (usually an afterthought) was outstanding. The Banquet offering was every negative stereotype of Tex-Mex food brought to life. It was salty, the beans were the texture of paste (with less flavor), the rice tasted like ketchup and the enchilada itself was completely nondescript beyond a good cheesy hit. By another unanimous decision, Amy's won 5-0.

What is the world coming to when vegetarian entrees can challenge and even best some of our most treasured comfort foods? Some might say a healthier place.