I Tried 3 Frozen Pot Roast Dinners And This Was The Absolute Best

Few things rival a steaming bowl of hearty pot roast. When prepared to perfection, a pot roast meal delivers fork-tender beef; sweet, caramelized vegetables; and a thick, finger-licking, meaty sauce. The only problem? To achieve all that deliciousness and buttery-soft meat, homemade pot roast recipes need to cook for several hours in the oven or spend most of the day in the slow cooker. That's not ideal when a hankering for pot roast suddenly emerges. Thankfully, there are a few tasty pot roast meal options located in the frozen food section of your favorite grocery store.

While the options are limited (especially when compared to other popular frozen dinners, like lasagna and enchiladas), I was able to score three frozen pot roast meals to sample and rank, based on flavor, texture, nutrition, and price. These single-serve meals feature everything you might crave, so when the desire for pot roast strikes, you have options. But before you race to the store, take note. All are likely suitable for curing cravings, but there was one distinct winner overall. If you're taking the time to shop for ready-to-reheat pot roast, you should pick up the best of the bunch.

I realize Smart Ones Homestyle Beef Pot Roast is meant to be a lower-calorie option, but the food still has to be satisfying, too. Overall, this product was not. When I first heated the meal, I found the aroma entirely off-putting. And unlike the other two brands I taste tested, there was barely any gravy. Since the gravy was flavorless, I guess that was a good thing. At first, all I detected was salt. The dish isn't overly salty, but there's nothing else going on to detract from the sodium.

As mentioned, perfectly cooked pot roast simmers long and slow, and the result is flavorful meat that's fall-apart tender. That wasn't the case with the beef here; it was tough and chewy. The green beans were a nice addition because they were vibrant green, tender, and crisp. But the other vegetables fell flat: The potatoes were mushy, the carrots were too soft, and I didn't detect the supposed addition of onions. 

One 9-ounce meal contains 190 calories, 4 grams of fat, 18 grams of protein, and 490 milligrams of sodium. This option has just 20 fewer calories than the second-place meal in this ranking, so I wouldn't call that a huge saving in calories. I paid $3.69 for this frozen dinner, making it the least-expensive item in this review. I suppose it's a suitable choice if you're seeking a low-calorie, high-protein meal with minimal fat. But, in my opinion, the winner in this ranking is worth the extra calories. 

I was excited to try Marie Callender's Slow Roasted Beef Pot Roast Bowl because it smelled great when I pulled it from the microwave. But once I ripped off the plastic, my enthusiasm waned. The gravy was pale and watery. It thickened up as it sat, but it tasted as lackluster as it looked. Burgundy wine is listed in the ingredient list, but I didn't taste it. I would have preferred some herbs or other ingredients to give the sauce some umph.

I counted four reasonably sized chunks of beef, which was disappointing for a pot roast meal. That said, the meat was rubbery, tough, and not-at-all tender, so I didn't mind that there wasn't much of it. The carrots and celery added great texture and color, but I had to be careful stirring the meal because the potatoes were exceedingly soft. I'm confident I could have made mashed potatoes with ease. Unsurprisingly, this meal came in dead last in our ranking of Marie Callender's frozen meals.

Nutritionally, one 11-ounce meal contains 210 calories, 6 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, and 790 milligrams of sodium. I found that to be a reasonable nutrition label, even though the sodium is high. I paid $5.99 for this single-serve frozen dinner, making it the priciest of the bunch. In my opinion, this cost isn't bad for an entire meal, but there was one tastier option that was not only much more satisfying but also cost less.

I'll be honest, this taste-testing session wasn't a competition. When I opened Dolly Parton's Beef Pot Roast, I knew this product was different from the previous two frozen meals. The gravy was deep, chocolate brown and had a mouthwatering aroma. One nip of the gravy, and I raced to the label. Thanks to nutty, umami complexity, I was confident Parmesan cheese was included. Surprisingly, it was not, but there were many other elements that created a multi-dimensional sauce, including chardonnay wine and whiskey salt. You'll be licking up every drop.

The beef chunks were sizable, each piece was seared and caramelized, and the meat was tender enough to eat with a spoon. This was, by far, the most flavorful meat of the three. I was shocked by the massive carrot coins, and the vegetable was sweet and crispy yet tender. The red-skinned, roasted potatoes actually tasted roasted (unlike the other two brands), and they held their shape when stirred.

One 11-ounce dinner contains 290 calories, 11 grams of fat, 18 grams of protein, and 830 milligrams of sodium. This product was the highest in calories, fat, and sodium, but it was the most satisfying and fulfilling overall. I paid $4.99 for this meal, which puts it right in middle — not the least or most expensive. But I can say with confidence: $5 for this meal is a bargain. Dolly Parton's Beef Pot Roast was delectable and more akin to what you'd expect from a pot roast that's made from scratch. There's no question this product deserves first place in my ranking.

For this ranking, I purchased every frozen beef pot roast meal I could find at my local grocery stores. That was a total of three. Once home, I prepared each product according to the package directions. All three brands provided both oven and microwave heating options, so I chose the microwave for consistency. In about 5 minutes, all meals were ready to sample.

I judged each product based on taste, texture, nutrition, and price. When it came to the flavor of the gravy, this wasn't a rivalry at all — the Dolly Parton product was superior in every way. The color was rich and dark, and the taste was exceptional. I judged the flavor and texture of the beef, and again, this same product stood out, with the two lower-ranking meals containing beef that was so tough and chewy, it was difficult to eat. Finally, I judged the vegetables based on color, flavor, and texture. Two of the three meals contained mushy potatoes, so it was easy to rank them lower than our winning pot roast.

All three meals had reasonable nutrition numbers, and as stated, I found the meal with the highest in calories, fat, and salt the most gratifying of all. These products were also reasonably priced, so there wasn't much to consider there. That said, my favorite product wasn't the most-expensive item, and it was just $1.30 more than the least-expensive, lowest-ranking brand.