Boston Market's Worst Frozen Meal Is A Textural Disaster

Boston Market may be past its glory days as a giant national chain, as locations have been reduced to only a handful of states. But, you can still get classic Boston Market favorites in the frozen section of the grocery store. Their line of frozen dinners models in-store menu items. That's why we tasted nine frozen Boston Market dinners, ranking them according to taste, texture, cohesion, and stand-out ingredients. While we found some winners, the worst frozen meal from Boston Market is the texturally disastrous meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Boston Market used to make a delicious meatloaf in-house, but the meatloaf in this frozen meal was tough and flavorless. We were hoping a thick, rich gravy would soak into the meatloaf, soften its tough texture, and infuse it with flavor. But, alas, the thin gravy was as sad and insufficient as the meatloaf. The mashed potatoes were a watery mess, and no matter how much we tried to stir them after heating them in the microwave, they were still a pool of beige. Considering we thought Boston Market had the best fast food mashed potatoes out there, we were most let down by the very unfortunate, almost inedible state of the starch in this frozen dinner. Slurpy mashed potatoes, a tooth-breaking chewy meatloaf and a film of gravy made for the worst kind of textural contrast when eaten altogether. Even if it had tasted good, the texture would still land this frozen dinner in last place.

We found many negative reviews for Boston Market meatloaf and mashed potatoes from Kroger customers. Like us, many of the complaints centered around the mashed potatoes, which were described as gluey, grainy, and even dry. Apparently the mashed potatoes were not the only component that did not do the in-restaurant counterpart justice. Many complaining customers thought that the meatloaf itself was nothing like what they remembered ordering from their local Boston Market location. One reviewer wrote, "expected it to be like meatloaf that Boston Market sells. It is 2 thin pieces of some type of pressed hamburger patty." Another reviewer said that "if it wasn't for the gravy, the meatloaf would be inedible." Numerous negative reviews said that all components were loaded with sodium, with one review stating, "there is no flavor to it, just salt."

If you are in the mood for meatloaf, skip Boston Market and try another more worthy brand. We ranked the meatloaf high on the list of Lean Cuisine frozen meals and it was also one of our favorite frozen meals from Marie Callender's. Boston Market also misses the mark with frozen chicken dishes like chicken Alfredo and chicken cordon bleu. But we certainly enjoyed other comfort food favorites from Boston Market's frozen selection, with country fried beef steak and sweet and sour chicken earning top spots.