9 Store-Bought Frozen Meal Bowls, Ranked

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Sure, we'd all love to have enough time to cook every single meal from scratch. Unfortunately, though, that's just not a reality for many of us. Busy weeknights, on-the-go weekends, and work-through-the-break lunches require a faster, easier solution than cooking up a whole meal. Takeout is always an option, of course, but it's not long before those costs start seriously adding up. A more cost-effective and super-easy way to feed yourself is with store-bought frozen meal bowls, and luckily, there are a lot of them out there. That's why I headed to my local grocery store to pick out a wide variety of them and rank them worst to best. This may just give you a better sense of which of these frozen bowls you want to try for yourself.

I considered a few different factors while ranking these products. The overall flavor of the dish is the most important factor; meals that tasted like what I would expect the homemade version of the dish to taste like rose to the top. I also paid attention to the texture of the different elements in each meal to help determine where every frozen meal should land on this list. Keep reading, and you might just find your next quick and easy meal.

I really, really wanted to like Banquet's Country Fried Chicken Mega Bowl because it reminds me of KFC's Famous Bowl, which is one of my fast food favorites. It has all of the same elements: the layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom, the seemingly random kernels of corn, and those fried chicken pieces, along with plenty of gravy and cheese sprinkled on top. But when I finally got the chance to take a bite, I realized it doesn't taste like the KFC version of this dish at all. The chicken was almost completely flavorless. Of course, in a microwaved frozen meal, I don't exactly expect the freshest, most flavorful meat, but this stuff is significantly blander than I could've expected. Although you might think that the gravy would help this lack of flavor, it didn't seem to do much either, except make the whole meal a bit moister.

The mashed potatoes were fine, which makes sense, since they're pretty hard to mess up. But there are not a lot of potatoes in the equation, making for a sort of lean-feeling meal. The corn and cheese are fine, too, but they can't make up for the two most important elements — chicken and gravy — not living up to expectations. Personally, I wouldn't buy this frozen meal again.

Purple Carrot's Sweet Corn Elote Bowl doesn't rank as low as it does because I don't like vegan meals. In fact, I was a vegan for many years and still frequently eat plant-based dishes, so I was excited to try this meatless take on a frozen meal bowl. Unfortunately, though, this was pretty disappointing. I thought that quinoa and brown rice would make up most of the dish, but in reality, this meal is mostly just corn. If that corn actually tasted anything like elote, that wouldn't be a bad thing. However, it actually just tastes like plain, charred, microwaved frozen corn (which is sometimes better than fresh, to be fair, though not in this case). There are some chickpeas in the mix, but they're laughably few and far between, and the red peppers and pepitas don't do much to make the dish more interesting.

Another problem I had with this meal is its intense wateriness. With all those frozen veggies in the mix, it was almost bordering on soup territory, which is absolutely not what I want from this kind of meal. If you follow a vegan or plant-based diet and don't have any other frozen meal options available to you, this stuff might be passable. But I'd never seek it out for a meal that actually genuinely tastes good.

Look, I know that this brand is all about making light, healthy frozen meal options for those who may not have a lot of time but are still trying to meet their nutrition goals. And I suppose that if that's your main priority, then Kevin's Parmesan Basil Chicken gets the job done. But judging by flavor and texture, it's definitely not one of the best on this list. The frozen vegetables contain a lot of water, so when they're microwaved, they release that liquid into the bowl, making for a very wet, soupy consistency. To make matters worse, the chicken doesn't really taste very high-quality at all. That's true for a lot of frozen meals, but since there's so little going on here beyond the meat, I at least want that part of the dish to shine.

Although I could pick up on a hint of Parmesan in this dish, I didn't really taste much basil at all. Even if I could, though, those two ingredients just aren't enough to spice up such a bland combination of foods. Add in the fact that this stuff doesn't even contain any sort of carby or starchy base, making me enjoy it even less. It doesn't taste terrible, and if you just need it to fill your stomach, it'll accomplish the task. Just don't expect it to taste like homemade chicken and vegetables.

Most of these frozen meals seem to be geared toward lunches or dinners. But Jimmy Dean's Meat Lovers Breakfast Bowl is the exception. As the name of the product suggests, this dish is positioned as a breakfast food, although I think it's a personally reasonable combo of ingredients to enjoy any time of the day. Whether you'll actually enjoy it or not, though, remains to be seen. This dish is made with a base of potatoes and also features eggs and cheese in addition to both bacon and sausage. Essentially, it's a basic breakfast combo that's not going to offend anyone ... but probably won't blow them away, either.

For a meat lovers' product, I think there could be some more meat in the mix, although there otherwise seems to be a solid ratio of ingredients in this dish. The eggs don't seem to be particularly high-quality and have a strange consistency, even though the flavor is fine. In fact, this whole meal is fine. It's a bit bland, especially since it seems to be kind of overpowered by so much cheese, but adding a bit of hot sauce to the mix could liven things up. Ultimately, I don't think that this is a bad meal. However, it's not one I'd ever get particularly excited about. If you're pinched for time in the mornings, you might want to check it out — just don't expect this frozen dish to deliver a gourmet breakfast experience.

Looking for a lighter option? Then this Healthy Choice Greek-Style Chicken Protein Bowl might be right up your alley. It all starts with a base of riced cauliflower, which is actually surprisingly flavorful. Then comes the chicken breast, along with a host of vegetables like zucchini and red bell peppers. I was a bit surprised to see red onion in the mix, as I don't think of it as a vegetable that does very well in the microwave at all. But there's also some artichoke there (albeit not very much), which adds a unique touch — I've never seen artichokes in a frozen meal before. Then, it's all finished off with an oregano feta vinaigrette.

Honestly, the flavors in this bowl are pretty solid. The chicken itself tastes better than a lot of frozen chicken, and the vinaigrette is a nice touch. The only problem I have with it is the fact that all of those frozen veggies make for a really runny meal. When you add in the soft, sad, and soggy onions, it leaves a little to be desired. For those who want a lighter meal, this isn't a bad frozen option, but it's far from the most delicious of the bunch.

There are plenty of pasta-based frozen meals out there, but Amy's Spaghetti Italiano Bowl is one of the few that doesn't largely center around meat. Instead, this veggie-focused meal is appropriate for those following vegan or plant-based diets. Sometimes, I find that veggie meatballs don't taste particularly delicious, but I actually really liked these. They didn't seem to be trying to imitate meat. Rather, they just tasted like actual veggies, just in a more meatball-like form. You also get extra vegetables mixed into the pasta itself. When it all comes together, it's flavorful and saucy and easy to enjoy.

Admittedly, the portion size here was pretty small, which isn't ideal. Although a lot of the portion sizes for these meals aren't particularly large, perhaps the fact that this one is plant-based makes it slightly less filling. Additionally, as is to be expected with vegetable-heavy frozen dishes, this frozen dish also had a bit of a runny texture, although that runniness is a bit less pronounced than it is with other selections on this list.

I love mac and cheese, and I love pulled pork. So when the two come together, it's bound to be good. I thought that Marie Callender's Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese Bowl was one of the better options on this list. The noodles hold up really well in the microwave, and the pork itself is quite flavorful. The addition of BBQ sauce, though, is what really takes things to a new level, since it adds a layer of complexity that you're not going to get from the plain pork alone. When I mixed everything up, I noticed that this dish took on a slightly sweet note, probably from that BBQ sauce.

Unfortunately, the cheese sauce wasn't quite as flavorful as I hoped it would be, so by the end of the bowl, I was ready to be done. Although I enjoyed it overall, it sort of felt like it needed something extra to truly shine. If you wanted to elevate this product a bit, I think that adding some crushed red pepper and chopped scallions could really up the flavor ante.

Craving pasta? But also ... tacos? Look no further than Counter's Taco Mac and Cheese Bowl. This specific dish comes in both 10-ounce and 20-ounce boxes, and the one pictured here is the latter. However, it contains the same combo of ingredients you'd find in the more classic bowl style of the dish. This is definitely one of the more unusual offerings of the bunch, and I'm here for it. Elbow macaroni meets seasoned ground beef along with peppers and onions, all doused in a taco-seasoned cheese sauce. It's rich, it's creamy, and it feels more substantial than most of the other frozen meals I've had before. It also really embodies that whole bowl ethos — you get a taste of every element of the dish in every single bite.

I found this mac and cheese deliciously savory, with a bold seasoning that really makes it stand out from the blander options on this list. It's also quite salty, which is a win in my book, although it may not be for everyone. This product tastes less like a frozen meal and more like a homemade one, which is what's most appealing about it. To me, it's not quite as delicious as the top-ranked frozen meal on this list, but it's absolutely worth trying. It's a far cry from the sad, soggy frozen meals you have had in the past.

By far the best frozen meal in this lineup is Sukhi's Chicken Tikka Masala Curry Bowl. In fact, this bowl was so good that I almost consider it to be takeout-adjacent. The turmeric rice is excellent, with a soft and fluffy texture that makes an excellent base for the dish. The spice makes the rice taste nice and earthy, which is a real step up from plain basmati rice. The chunks of chicken you get in this meal are sizable, and they have a good texture to them — it doesn't taste like frozen chicken. It's that curry tomato sauce, though, that really brings the whole dish together. It has a slight sweetness to it, but also a complexity that I wouldn't necessarily expect from a frozen meal.

My only complaint about this dish is the fact that the portion size is smaller than what I'd prefer, but that's mostly just because I want an excuse to eat more of this stuff. Don't get me wrong: This is still a frozen meal, so you should keep your expectations in check. But it's one of the better frozen meals I've ever had, not just in comparison to the other options on this list.

When deciding which frozen meal bowls to include in this piece, I tried to select a wide variety of different types of dishes, and I sought out as many brands as I could find at my local grocery store. I tried to avoid overlapping similar types of frozen products as much as possible. 

My first criterion for this ranking was flavor. Basically, I ranked those that tasted less frozen and more homemade higher on the list than those that were obviously frozen meals. I looked for flavor balance, a good mixture of different elements (a starch, protein, and vegetable, generally), and a coherent flavor profile that felt more purposeful than random. Additionally, I looked at texture. The runnier, soupier frozen meals fell to the bottom of the list, while those that seemed to hold their intended shape fared better in the ranking.