14 Target Good & Gather Prepared Meals, Ranked

As if we needed another excuse to make a trip to Target. The bullseye-marked retailer beckons with its chic home goods, affordable garms for all, and beloved dollar spot at the front of its stores, filled with deals too good to pass up. But the appeal and everyday practicality don't stop there. There's also plenty of goodness to be found in Target's grocery section, particularly under its Good & Gather line. This private label food brand is the store's biggest, and it's beaming with staple products, all made with real, clean ingredients. It's unlikely you'll find artificial flavors, synthetic colors, artificial sweeteners, or high fructose corn syrup here. Good & Gather products cover everything from dairy, produce, deli, pantry essentials, and even snacking nuts. But today, we're zeroing in on one especially convenient corner of the lineup: pre-prepared meals.

These meals can be found in the refrigerator section of the store, and I recently picked up a feast of 14 different options to find out which ones are good and, conversely, which ones aren't worth gathering. A bevy of pasta picks ended up in my cart, in addition to flavored chicken dishes, pulled pork, and salads. I quickly prepped each one per the instructions on the packaging, then judged them based on their range of flavors, integrity of ingredients, and overall appeal. Here's how each Good & Gather meal fared, from my least favorite to the ones I would gladly add to my weekly shopping list.

Compared to other Good & Gather prepared pastas, this one comes in a much larger container — closer to a family portion (depending on the size and hunger levels of your family, of course). It contains a pound and four ounces of cheese tortellini, which is stuffed with four different kinds of white cheeses, including ricotta, parmesan, asiago, and provolone. It's also ready in only three minutes after a quick boil on the stove.

It has a great deal going for it, and it's not distasteful by any means. It just didn't stand out amongst the brand's other ready-to-heat (or ready-to-eat) meals. It boils down to your very basic cheese tortellini, and one that doesn't quite stack up to other name brands like Rana or Buitoni. Despite the tender outside noodles, the cheese inside comes off dry with notes of Parmesan standing as the only cheese I could really taste. I was disappointed to lose the creaminess of the ricotta and the butteriness of the asiago. Mediocre all around, this turned into the most forgettable dish on the Good & Gather menu. You're going to need an exceptionally scrumptious statement sauce to go with it.

There are Good & Gather pastas like the tortellini, which require boiling and doctoring up yourself with sauce and seasonings. Then, there are meals like the Cavatappi Pesto Pasta that do all the work for you. All you have to do is pop it in the microwave to warm it up.

It sounds like a dream, and I had high hopes when I peeled back the film to reveal a host of earthy scents. However, the final product didn't live up to expectations. The diced chicken (what little there was incorporated into the bowl) was parched and lacked flavor. Simultaneously, the look of the green pesto sauce coating the curly Q noodles was more interesting than the taste. It's actually a spinach basil pesto, and trades pine nuts for almonds. I typically have no issues with this budget swap, but the entire sauce simply lacks the vibrancy of a fresh and well-made pesto.

Even though the cavatappi is a step up from the tortellini and has it beat in terms of ease in the kitchen, it's still underwhelming. You'd be better off whipping up a quick pasta and pesto combo at home.

While many premade salads are notoriously hit or miss, this Santa Fe pick from Target lands somewhere in the middle. It manages to avoid any unsavory browning on the lettuce, although you're still getting some saturated fat and a decent shake of sodium. Moreover, the ingredient mix doesn't come together in the most exciting of ways.

Included in the single-serve bowl, you have a blend of iceberg and green leaf lettuce, fire-roasted corn, a shredded four cheese blend (of Monterey Jack, queso quesadilla, asadero, and cheddar cheese), carrot, red cabbage, diced chicken, and multicolored tortilla strips with a salsa ranch dressing. Even though the chicken carries a pleasant lime-infused flavor, it's hard to even notice it in such small cuts and in such a small amount. Most of what you get in every bite is either lettuce and tortilla strips or lettuce and cheese. The choice of sauce was also not a personal favorite of mine. It's tomato-based and spiked with pepper sauce as well as dehydrated ingredients like garlic, buttermilk, and onion. It's mild and boring overall, with just a hint of smokiness and tang to it.

At a price of $3.19, this salad isn't bad for a quick lunch. Though I'm not sure I'd reach for it again.

There's no shortage of ravioli in the Good & Gather line. I sampled three different options, all stuffed with something new and unique, and that was far from the entire gamut. This particular batch of yellow-striped pocket-shaped pasta is said to be filled with burrata, lemon zest, and herbs. A closer look at the ingredient list, though, tells the full story. Burrata is actually one of five total cheeses buried inside — others include ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, and romano. The "lemon zest" really comes from a lemon puree, and the herbs in question are basil and parsley.

The result is a ravioli that's light and fresh, bringing it above a few other pastas and the Sante Fe salad from the brand. But it's one that hardly tastes anything like its description. The burrata is overtaken mostly by the taste of ricotta and mozzarella, the citrus is muted, and the flavor of herbs is nearly non-existent. It's a shame, too. Because it could have been 10 times better with some stronger taste notes.

The Cilantro Avocado Salad is a significant improvement compared to the Sante Fe Salad, and it has everything to do with the dressing. The rest of the ingredients and features are pretty dang similar. This one still starts with a bed of lettuce, though this time it's romaine. Then, it tacks on the same chili-lime seasoned chicken, fire-roasted corn, and tortilla strips. There's still cheese, though this time it's all queso fresco, and black beans are swapped in instead of the carrots and red cabbage blend.

Everything is just okay again. The chicken is still minimal, though I like the addition of black beans for more sustenance and protein. The dressing is what elevates it all. With a base of avocado, oil, and egg yolks, it's extra creamy, and the taste of cilantro is strong throughout. It also surprises you with a bit of zest from lime juice and complexity thanks to the garlic, green jalapeno pepper, and mustard seed.

Still at the low cost of $3.19, it's a good pickup. It simply can't stand up to other, more savory and filling meals.

The meatballs taste far more appetizing than they first appear. They're made up of packed-together chicken breasts, so they emerge from the tray looking strangely pale with questionable green seasoning specks. However, there is a decent amount of flavor waiting inside. Each one is loaded up with a blend of mozzarella, romano, and asiago cheeses. Even though there are no cheese pulls or deep pockets of gooiness, some level of cheesiness can be tasted in every bite, accompanied by a light pungency from garlic and onion powder. These attributes immediately sparked my interest more than a salad ever could.

I will say, if you're used to beef or turkey meatballs (as I am), the texture will be strange at first. They're tender, but the chicken makes them more dense and not quite as juicy. Also, I think I would change the cooking method if I tried them again in the future. I would ditch the microwave instructions on the packaging and use the stovetop instead. They're already fully cooked, so I think browning the edges a smidge would up their flavor significantly, while still maintaining their squishy texture on the inside.

Out of all the pasta shapes, sacchetti has to be one of my favorites. Each piece looks like a tiny little purse or handbag — it's even alternatively known as "beggar's purse". Plus, it comes stuffed with yummy ingredients, just as ravioli or tortellini do, so it's often every bit as tasty as it is adorable. Good & Gather's take on the Italian pasta isn't necessarily the most authentic or delicious rendition I've ever tried. But for a cook-in-four-minutes store-bought option, it's not half bad.

The pasta part boils to a texture just past al dente. Inside is a blend of ricotta and Parmesan cheese, so you get the consistency of ricotta and the flavor of Parmesan, laced with some traces of salt and black pepper. The packaging also lists a dash of nutmeg as a core ingredient, though I didn't taste any. I do wish that the taste of prosciutto had been more prominent. Its presence is made known by a light savoriness and a pink coloring in the filling, yet it doesn't pique the palate as I hoped it would.

Like the chicken meatballs, these chicken skewers surprised me with their taste. I feared that after a turn in the microwave to warm them up, they might become parched and chewy. But I was met with quite the opposite outcome. They were immensely juicy with the softest bite, and, despite their pale look, they had a great deal of flavor. It turns out the "rotisserie-style seasonings" are a combination of lemon juice, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, salt, and other generically listed spices, which blanketed the chicken in a bright and zesty marinade. I could see myself pulling the chunks from their skewers to enjoy in a salad or to toss into a fresh wrap.

I only had one small issue with this offering. I noticed that some of the chicken pieces fell victim to a gummy, almost chicken nugget-like texture. It was only one of the six skewers that seemed to have this problem, so I chalked it up to a fluke. But the skewers fell in the rankings because of it.

There's just something about butternut squash ravioli. It's all of the comforting tastes of fall, wrapped up into pillow-shaped pasta dumplings. It's a cozy taste experience, and I was happy to discover that the recipe from Good & Gather elicits all of those usual warm and fuzzy feelings.

After boiling the entire package for about four to five minutes, you're met with ravioli squares that are two-toned, with a pale orange hue on one side and a deeper terracotta shade on the other. The coloring draws you in, but then the filling is what makes you come back for another bite. Butternut squash is mixed with ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses, so it's creamy with hints of nuttiness and natural sweetness. You also get subtle tangs of cinnamon and nutmeg as the ravioli plays into the autumnal theme even more. It's one of the best prepared pastas you'll find at Target.

Like the Butternut Squash Ravioli, the Honey Pumpkin Goat Cheese Ravioli is another limited-edition Good & Gather find. I was actually surprised to find either of the fall installments still stocked on the shelves in January, but hey, I'm certainly not complaining. The two actually share many similarities (as you could likely imagine), though I ended up liking the pumpkin variation a teeny bit more.

The pumpkin mixes with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, creating a similar filling as the previous offering. However, it's the goat cheese that elevates it with a tanginess throughout. You're also presented with honey, molasses, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove for a warm, sweet touch, in addition to white pepper, black pepper, and parsley for a more robust flavor. Plus, the stripes make for a bright and joyful presentation.

I would purchase either of these autumn-inspired raviolis again in a heartbeat. There are just a few other picks on the G&G lineup that left more of a lasting impression on my taste buds.

The chicken tikka masala offers a degree of flavor diversity and richness that you can't get from the various raviolis or other previous Good & Gather products. Blended with heavy cream, yogurt, and butter, the tomato sauce base is thick, creamy, and coats every little bit of the seasoned chicken breast chunks (and there are a lot of them). Garam masala, an Indian spice blend, is additionally mixed in, so the dish is fragrant and has that comforting warmth to it. Served over a bed of basmati rice, it would make for a satisfying meal. The packaging also suggests some other intriguing recipe ideas, such as tikka masala-inspired pizza or chicken naan wraps.

I only have a few small qualms with the dish that keep it from a top spot in the rankings. First, while the chicken is quality, some pieces fall to the dry side. In addition, I wish some of the spices had been applied more generously. Most take a backseat to the chili powder, so I was left wanting just a bit more cinnamon, cumin, and ginger to really liven it up.

There's nothing quite like a batch of pulled pork that's been steeping and simmering in the slow cooker all day long. That low and slow method truly does deliver the most tender and flavorful meat. But for those days when you don't have the time or patience, this Good & Gather offering makes for a fine alternative.

The shreds of pork are wildly succulent for something that was warmed in the microwave. I didn't uncover any overly fat, gristly, or chewy spots either, which is a big win. Then, the surrounding sauce seals the deal. It's a bourbon barbecue sauce that's made with ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, smoke flavor, spices, and a splash of bourbon whiskey. It's not quite as rich or crave-worthy as a barbecue sauce brand like Bone Suckin' or Stubb's, but it's sticky-sweet and riddled with just enough smoky, savory notes to make it feel well-balanced. With quality pork in a palatable sauce, this product landed as one of my favorites.

Good & Gather offers a few different kinds of ready-to-heat chicken strips. There are regular grilled chicken strips, Cajun-style strips, grilled fajita chicken strips, and more. I decided to pick up the grilled teriyaki chicken thigh strips and was glad that I did. They ended up impressing me even more than the seasoned pulled pork.

The recipe is kept fairly simple. It's just boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a bath of teriyaki sauce. However, the dual components are executed very well. The chicken offers a deep savoriness on top of a smoky char and a marvelously tender texture. It's also well-coated in the sauce, which is equally as toothsome. It follows a classic recipe including soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger puree, and sesame seed oil, so it delights with notes of sweet, salty, and umami. After trying it, my husband even noted that it was a dish he would have been happy to receive at a Japanese restaurant. With that kind of high praise, there was only one Good & Gather meal that could beat it.

It's hard to go wrong with a pasta smothered in Alfredo sauce. But this dish takes it to the next level, creating what I believe to be the best prepared meal the Good & Gather brand has to offer.

The pasta and sauce alone are a winning pairing. The noodles have a firmer penne bite, yet they're not chewy, and each one is smothered in an alfredo sauce. The sauce incorporates both Romano and Parmesan cheeses, so it's cheesy, creamy, and buttery. The real kicker, though, is the chicken. It's not just your average grilled chicken chunks. No, these are seasoned with a Cajun-style blend including garlic, onion powder, paprika, and other bold spices. This way, they're juicy, tender, and also provide a savory, smoky kick. Offset by the cheese-soaked noodles, it's a match made in heaven. Throw in some sprinkles of parsley on top to elevate the taste (and make it look fancier), and there you have my favorite meal, compliments of Good & Gather.

I picked up a variety of different meals from the Good & Gather line and made them according to instructions. This often meant just a quick turn or two in the microwave, or for the pasta dishes, a quick boil on the stove. Since they were all easy to make, and all came at reasonably fair prices, rankings were based on different criteria, like taste and texture.

I evaluated each meal based on the ingredients that were involved and how well they worked together in the dish. I favored products with great natural flavors, but also really enjoyed them when bolder seasonings or sauces were included. I considered the quality of the meats, cheese, pastas, and other ingredients as well. Texture was also important. Even in a microwaved dish, I wanted tender pasta, meat with a soft bite, and creaminess from various sauces or cheese fillings. Some products fell short on flavor, while others tasted like restaurant-quality meals.