The Worst Amy's Frozen Meal Is A Reminder That Risotto Is Hard To Master

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Unlike frozen meal brands like Stouffer's or Healthy Choice, Amy's stands out by offering an exclusively vegetarian lineup. The quality of Amy's products has received praise from vegetarians and meat eaters alike; take, for example, our ranking of frozen enchiladas. That said, not all of Amy's frozen meals are winners. We ranked nine Amy's frozen meals and found that the worst option is the mushroom risotto. We based our ranking on criteria like flavor, cohesiveness of the dish, and standout ingredients.

Risotto is a dish that you won't see many other brands offering in the freezer section, there's a reason for that. Amy's version arguably demonstrated just how poorly this dish translates into a frozen meal. Mushroom risotto is known for its creamy consistency and rich savory flavors from the arborio rice, nutty, salty parmesan and the earthy umami of the mushrooms. However, we got none of those flavors after taking a bite of Amy's product. The most notable hint of flavor we got was an off-putting sweetness. But the most unpleasant part of all about the risotto was the texture.

Freezing and then reheating risotto, an already wet rice dish, resulted in a watery, mushy mess. Mushrooms have a high water content, which contributed to the mushy texture of the rice and further overwhelmed any of the classic risotto flavors we were looking for. While we applaud the idea of heating up a plate of risotto instead of mastering a homemade recipe, Amy's didn't do this food justice.

Reviews from Target customers were as negative and disappointed as our own. One customer wrote, "The texture of the rice was gross (some of it mushy and some of it crunchy) and the mushrooms were chewy. ... I really couldn't get past the texture." Someone else complained about an excess of sodium despite many customers describing the flavor as bland and watery. A third detractor said the risotto "tasted like they didn't wash the mushrooms — like a dirt taste." Another reviewer lamented that it just wasn't a satisfying meal, attributing the fact that "it just didn't really fill me up" to having only "7 grams of protein." They further explained, "I normally love Amy's, but this one was a miss for me."

Risotto is one of those dishes that you should probably make from scratch (we have plenty of helpful tips to help you make the best tasting risotto). If you're looking for an Italian frozen meal, Amy's has mastered the art of meatless lasagna. It was our top pick out of 12 different frozen lasagnas, many of which contained meat. Consumers might also want to consider Amy's three-cheese & kale baked pasta dinner is a gluten-free option that received a 4.6-star rating from nearly 350 Target customers.