8 Hungry-Man Frozen Dinners, Ranked

Listen, I don't care how avid a home cook you are — you can't deny the convenience of a good frozen dinner, especially after a long day of desk work and carting the kids to and from any number of activities. Obviously, there's no shortage of brands to choose from, and while you could suss out some chef-recommended frozen foods before hitting up the store, I wouldn't blame you for sticking with the brand you've seen in store freezers for decades. 

One such brand is Hungry-Man, which debuted in 1973 and doesn't seem to have lost steam since. Sure, its branding may seem a little outdated nowadays, but its message stays the same: If you have a sizable appetite, Hungry-Man promises to satisfy. Time to see whether it's earned its name!

For this ranking, I judged eight meals based on the flavor and texture of each component, the amount of food each meal contained, and whether it seemed filling enough to really satiate a "Hungry Man." Here's how they performed. 

If you're looking at the Salisbury Steak photo and are a little underwhelmed, you know exactly how I felt upon taking this meal (and, honestly, most of Hungry-Man's meals) out of the oven. Now, I know that Salisbury steak isn't actually steak, so I wasn't walking into this meal with any misguided preconceptions; still, it disappointed. 

I'll start with the sides. The mashed potatoes weren't great; I really don't mind the flavor of instant mashed potatoes, but this tasted like a side of mashed potatoes you'd get at a fast food restaurant. The green beans tasted canned and didn't retain any bite, and while the brownie's flavor was fine, its texture was fairly dry and cakey. 

As for the Salisbury steaks themselves, the meat resembled a thin hamburger patty and was fine on its own. The gravy, however, was another story — you can see the grease spots floating on top of the gravy in the picture, and the gravy itself was fairly gelatinous, with very little flavor to speak of. I was less than pleased with this meal, and it was unappetizing enough to earn last place.

I have the sneaking suspicion that Hungry-Man's Homestyle Meatloaf isn't too different from its Salisbury Steak, and if you compare the meat and gravy in this picture and the last, you may be of the same opinion. If I'm correct, it's not surprising that the meatloaf meal came in second-to-last place; and, if I'm correct, the only thing that's different about this meal is the inclusion of mixed vegetables rather than just green beans. 

Not only did the basic components of the meal look the same, but they tasted the same, too. The gravy was gelatinous and salty, the meatloaf was very underwhelming, and the mashed potatoes and brownie didn't do the dish any favors. The only reason this ranked higher than the previous is due to the mixed vegetables — I expect consumers will like the variety here, and I appreciated the inclusion of corn, which had a nice snap.

Hungry-Man's Roasted Carved White Meat Turkey Meal is a clear attempt to fit into the Thanksgiving genre, and parts of it did remind me of the holiday. Still, I wasn't very endeared to it, especially given the pitiful amount of protein included in this heat-and-eat dish. 

To put it bluntly, I'd put more turkey on a kid's sandwich than what was given to me with this meal — it was wholly underwhelming. That plays into the general visual disappointment that characterizes this Hungry-Man offering. Purely from looking at the meal in the photo above, I wouldn't be attracted to it whatsoever. As expected, the veggies (except for the corn) are mushy and just flavored with salt, and the mashed potatoes didn't differentiate themselves from any other mashed potatoes on this list. 

The stuffing gave the gravy some flavor, though you wouldn't know it was there otherwise. I have little to say about the turkey, which didn't add anything notable to the meal. I liked the flavor of the cranberry apple "dessert," but it was pretty soupy and didn't offer anything of substance to rave about. 

There are loads of regional barbecue styles throughout the U.S., and given that this meal doesn't claim to adhere to any one in particular, I kept my expectations pretty broad. It still disappointed, but not as bad as any of the previous. For starters, it lacked visual appeal, especially when compared to the picture on the box. I'd have loved to see at least fake char marks on the pork. 

This meal gets bonus points for having corn; I liked the corn throughout all of Hungry-Man's offerings, and it's the one thing you'll hear me consistently praise. However, it did not get bonus points for the corn that made its way into the brownie. The mashed potatoes were, again, quite underwhelming. 

As for the meat, while the chicken was fine, the pork was rubbery and tasted ultra-processed. I didn't get much from the barbecue sauce aside from a slight heat, but I preferred that to the greasy gravy of many of the previous dishes. I could have made my way through this meal if I were super hungry, but I wouldn't choose to have it again. 

Now seems like a good time to mention that I adore breaded, fried chicken. Seriously, it's rare that I meet a fried chicken cutlet I'd turn down. I consider it even better if it's boneless — less work on my end! So, I had solid hopes for Hungry-Man's Boneless Fried Chicken Meal, and while it wasn't awful in the grand scheme of things, it also didn't come close to meeting my expectations. 

Again, we'll give this one bonus points for having corn as the sole vegetable. I probably don't need to comment on the mashed potatoes or the brownie at this point; you already know how I feel about those. Let's get into the chicken, which was at once disappointing and oddly comforting. See, I couldn't help being reminded of a chicken nugget from McDonald's as I dug into this dish, and though the fast food chain doesn't sell the worst nuggets I've ever tried, they're also not the best. Overall, though, I wasn't super pleased with this meal. Had the chicken gotten darker on top, I may have been more endeared to it; for now, it's relegated to fourth place on this list. 

Another chicken dish takes the rightful third-place spot on this list. I found Hungry-Man's chicken offerings generally better than its meals that use other meats, so you'll see the chicken dishes clustered toward the top of this list. This one barely edged out the last because its chicken tasted better, and I appreciated that the chicken wasn't piled atop the mashed potatoes here. Had this meal included only corn instead of mixed vegetables, it would have taken more of a lead over the fried chicken. 

There was a really subtle flavor difference in the batter on the chicken in this offering. I can't even say it tasted beer-battered; it was just a little more noticeable. However, the McDonald's-esque essence was still there, and prevented this frozen meal from ranking any higher. I'd eat this pretty easily as long as I had some condiments, but I probably wouldn't finish the mixed vegetables or the brownie. 

I can definitely say that Hungry-Man's Classic Fried Chicken looked better than many of its other offerings, and its looks weren't too misleading. This meal easily earned the second-place spot on this list. I still won't rave about it, though. 

I adore a crispy chicken skin, and this was crispy in a few places, but it didn't crisp evenly at all. The interior of the chicken wasn't dry at all, so I gave it some brownie points for that; however, the whole thing was rather chewy and a chore to eat. Obviously, I enjoyed the corn, thought the brownie was alright, and put up with the mashed potatoes. If you're after some fried chicken and aren't feeling too picky about its quality, this wouldn't do a bad job of satisfying that craving. If I had to eat a Hungry-Man meal and didn't have access to the next one, I'd pick this pretty easily. 

Again, I won't claim that this is the most stunning meal to emerge from an oven, but it tasted the best by a mile. Maybe Hungry-Man should get into the frozen Mexican-inspired food biz? I don't want to give glowing praise — this meal definitely had its flaws — but I think many consumers would agree with my claim that this is easily Hungry-Man's best offering. 

Other than being a little too salty, the dish's refried beans weren't bad, nor was the abundance of enchilada sauce. My biggest problem with this dish was the lack of rice — what little I had was concentrated to one side of the dish, and it seemed like there was only a tablespoon or two. The enchiladas themselves were actually pretty good, but there was zero textural interest anywhere in the dish; I couldn't even distinguish the ground meat from the tortilla. That said, the flavors here were all good. I was most surprised by the coconut pudding, and I still haven't made up my mind about it. It tasted amply coconut-y, but eating it warm was an odd experience. Still, I really didn't mind this meal one bit. 

If I had to recommend one line of frozen meals to any consumer, I probably wouldn't suggest Hungry-Man. Unfortunately, I found the boxes to be pretty misleading, and I was disappointed each time I pulled a finished meal out of the oven. 

All the meals have both oven and microwave preparation instructions; I chose to bake all of them in the oven for optimal results. I ranked them based on their overall appeal, taking flavor and texture into consideration. A tertiary factor I considered was how filling each meal would be; for example, had the carved turkey meal had more turkey, I could have been persuaded to rank it a spot or two higher.