Jessica Block
What constitutes the “best” ravioli—cheese, meat, or otherwise—is different for everyone. Some people want the pasta to be thick and chewy, others want it thin and noodly, and anyone outside that Venn diagram is simply impastabowl to please. Still others prefer their ravioli to consist of peanut butter and jelly inside of squishy white bread (lookin’ at you, Uncrustables, you sweet, litigious, lunchtime ravioli, you). Now if the thought of calling Uncrustables ravioli confuses and disgusts you, that means it’s time to start asking ourselves the big questions. Namely:
What is ravioli? What is meat ravioli?
Ravioli is, in my opinion, two sheets of starch pressed closed around some form of filling. Yes, I am aware that is broad. The definition for Italians, ravioli purists, and let’s face it, most people, is two thin sheets of pasta dough pressed together with a dollop of filling in between them. That filling can be meat, cheese, vegetables, herbs, or all of the above. The ravioli itself can be square, round, rectangular, triangular, octagonal, hexagonal, or even dodecagonal (if you can swing it). That little packet is then boiled and then doused in whatever pasta sauce the eater of said ravioli fancies. Meat ravioli is any ravioli with meat in the filling.
What constitutes the best meat ravioli?
Most people can agree that the best ravioli has a flavorful filling, doesn’t turn to mush when you cook it, and works well in everything from marinara sauce to alfredo sauce, or even on its own with some butter and parm. The best ravioli gets points for having a fun shape, too. And when we are talking about the best meat ravioli—we’d better taste actual meat.We’ve already ranked the best cheese ravioli, so for this taste test, we zeroed in on finding the best meat ravioli at the grocery store. To be perfectly honest, there aren’t as many options as we’d hoped there’d be; cheese ravioli really rules the frozen-food roost. But we ordered what we could (frozen and fresh), cooked the ravs according to their package instructions, and then tried them, sans sauce (and then with a lil dab o sauce), to rate their flavor, consistency, and overall tastiness. Here’s the best meat ravioli—including the best beef ravioli, the best pork ravioli, and the best chicken ravioli—at the grocery store.
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- New York Style Sausage Company Sausage With Ground Beef and Cheese Ravioli
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Unlike that one girl on Vine who smells like beef, these ravioli taste like beef. On their own, they are not particularly salty or complex in the flavor department, but the texture of the thick noodle and juicy beef inside are totally serviceable and good, and with literally any added salt, sauce, butter, or seasoning of any kind, these taste like perfectly respectable beef ravioli. If these are your only option, you will not be disappointed as long as you eat them with sauce, which, let’s face it, you were probably planning on doing anyway.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Genova Delicatessen Meat Ravioli
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These guys come in a box that looks exactly like those boxes elementary kids used to sell frozen cookie dough in to raise money for their schools. Is this fact relevant to the taste test? No. But I figured you deserved to know. These frozen meat ravioli come all stuck together and dusted in flour and you get to feel like a chef as you gently break them apart and drop them in the boiling water. Of all the meat ravioli we taste tested, these had the thickets pasta of whole bunch, and even tasted a bit floury, like they’d been pulled right off a nonna’s kitchen counter and dropped in a pot to boil. The filling inside has sausage and a ton of herbs, and is fairly mild in flavor and not that salty on its own. That said, if you salt these or add any sauce or butter, they instantly become a lot more flavorful. You can really taste the basil, sage, and marjoram they (the nonnas, I assume) put in here.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Signature Select Beef Ravioli
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We liked these frozen beef ravioli before we even tasted them. You can see minced herbs in the pasta (oregano, apparently), and that contributes just a touch of additional flavor. The filling tastes a lot like beef stew, or at least the herbs and aromatics you would find in a slow cooker American beef stew or a pot roast—rosemary, celery, onion, garlic, and a bit of oregano, but it’s subtle. Essentially, these beef ravioli from Albertsons tasted very beefy and less distinctly Italian, so I think this is the best beef ravioli to pair with either a beefy bolognese or rustic red sauce—something acidic and with a lot of depth to complement and cut through that rich beefiness.
Credit: Liv Averett / Albertsons
- Rana Chicken and Roasted Garlic Ravioli
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If you want meat ravioli that are absolute flavor bombs, Rana won’t disappoint. The filling inside these chicken ravioli, which come refrigerated rather than frozen, is powerfully umami and slightly sweet. They taste like roasted garlic and cheesy goodness, and are so savory-sweet they almost reminded me of teriyaki pineapple sausage. The Rana noodles do tend to be on the thinner side in general, so if you are a “thick noodle on your rav” kind of girlie, then keep scrollin’. Also worth noting, the filing has a paste-y, squishy texture, which only one of our taste testers didn’t love. For most, the texture will suit you just fine.
Credit: Liv Averett / Pavilions
- Armanino Beef Ravioli
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These frozen beef ravioli taste unlike any beef product I’ve ever had. The filling, which consists of “seasoned ground beef blended with spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella,” has a slight gamey funk to it I wasn’t expecting and didn’t know how to place other than to say it tastes a bit like duck liver paté—not in a bad way, by any means, and that particular flavor did get a bit milder as the ravioli sat. In general though, these were complex and flavorful and tasted like something you might get at a snazzy restaurant—good al dente pasta and a good, rich, complex flavor that’s perfect to pair with vodka sauce or a brown-butter-sage situation.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Rana Italian Sausage Ravioli
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These are the only meat ravioli on our list that aren’t specifically beef ravioli (they’re made with pork sausage). They’re also the only ravioli on this list that come fresh rather than frozen. Hey, we love to give you options. When I first took a bite of Rana Italian Sausage Ravioli, I got a big hit of fennel, that licorice-y, tell-tale Italian sausage flavor. The sausage is very savory and slightly sweet, and even though the filling is a bit pasty, the flavor does a lot of heavy lifting. The pasta is nice and thin, but it isn’t mushy. Even without sauce, these were bursting with Italian sausage flavor and would be great along with a bright, fresh tomato-basil sauce and some seafood. The mezza luna shape is a nice touch, too.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Celentano Beef Ravioli
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These frozen beef ravioli surprised me. They look like the beef-filled love children of pierogi and UFOs. That is to say, these “savory beef, parmesan, creamy ricotta, parsley, garlic and onion”-filled pockets are round rather than square and have no frilly ruffled edges of which to speak. I didn’t know this at the time, but Celentano, the brand that makes these ravioli, also makes the best cheese ravioli we found in our taste test. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re the best beef ravioli you can buy. These are made with thick, chewy pasta that reminds me of homemade ravioli, and while they don’t have a ton of filling, the filling that is in there is bold, herby, and delicious. It’s bursting with oregano, parsley, and garlic, all of which taste like they were freshly plucked from the garden. For frozen beef ravioli, you won’t find anything that tastes more like home cooking. Plus, they look like UFOs, and who doesn’t love a little astronomical mystery mixed into their pasta sauce? The truth is out there, and the truth is that these are the best meat ravioli you can buy.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
Best Blank Slate
Best Homemade Flavor
Best Budget Beef Ravioli
Best Chicken Ravioli
Best Complex Flavor
Best Sausage Ravioli
Best of the Best Beef Ravioli
Other meat ravioli we tried
Marketside Italian Beef Ravioli, Pasta Prima Grilled Chicken and Mozzarella Ravioli,
Griffin Parker
Justine Sterling
