Wegmans' Worst Prepared Food Is A Failed Attempt At Thanksgiving Dinner

Wegmans has a bit of a reputation as a fancy grocery store. Its house-made, ready-to-eat meals command a higher price than your standard supermarket pizza or salad. The good news is that some of the chain's prepared foods do have an upscale taste, but other dishes can make you feel like you've wasted your money. When we tried and ranked Wegmans prepared foods from best to worst, we found an underwhelming dud: the roasted turkey with gravy, whipped potatoes, and seasoned green beans.

This simple food tray is clearly trying to evoke a Thanksgiving dinner. While no one expects a readymade meal to taste exactly like a homemade holiday feast, this Wegmans product doesn't deliver on flavor or heartiness in any way. Our taste tester found the green beans under-seasoned and the turkey bland with chewy parts that were tough to eat. The serving of gravy was also stingy, but the sauce itself had a strange jellied texture and "jarred" taste, so pouring on more of it wouldn't have saved this dish.

The one nice thing we can say is that the whipped potatoes tasted like they had butter in them, though they were not rich and creamy like a homemade Italian mash. All in all, this Wegmans flop could be likened to hospital or airline food. If the concept of a small-batch turkey dinner appeals to you, you can make a one-pan Thanksgiving dinner in one hour that will be a hundred times tastier than this sad offering.

Looking at the ingredient list for the Wegmans roasted turkey platter raises a few red flags. For starters, the turkey is seasoned only with salt and sugar. This isn't a sin if you roast a good-quality bird and serve it with a flavorful gravy, but in a prepared meal, the meat can really use some help from herbs or spices. Similarly, when we hear "seasoned green beans," we expect more than just olive oil, salt, and black pepper — but that's all the beans in this meal have going for them.

As for the gravy, the first ingredient is water, and any cook who knows the steps for cooking turkey gravy can tell you it should start with turkey drippings or stock. To worsen matters, the gravy is stated to contain "2% or less" of all the ingredients that could have given it flavor, including roasted turkey with natural juices, salt, onion powder, and black pepper. It also contains an odd mix of thickeners, including wheat flour, potato flour, rice flour, and cornstarch, all of which may contribute to the strange consistency.

The Wegmans whipped potatoes have the most promising ingredients, including cream, salted butter, and roasted garlic purée. Given the shortcomings of its partners, though, you're much better off ordering something else. We think the kung pao chicken is the absolute best prepared food at Wegmans that tops takeout every time, but if you're not into spicy dishes, the shawarma chicken is your next best bet.