Gwynedd Stuart
Boston Market frozen meals take up a lot of real estate in the frozen food aisle. They sell beloved classics like Salisbury steak and meatloaf, but you’ll also find wing-dings like sweet and sour chicken and something that is simply called “Chicken Bacon Ranch.” If you weren’t alive in the 1990s or you live outside of the Northeast, where it seems most of the extant Boston Market locations are concentrated, you may not have even known that Boston Market is, in fact, a chain of restaurants. They’re mostly famous for serving rotisserie chicken and tasty sides, like mac and cheese made with rotini, really decadent creamed spinach, and mini loaves of sweet corn bread. Boston Market is good. Boston Market frozen meals are another story.
Whether or not you’ve ever actually eaten at Boston Market, it’s worth pointing out that very few Boston Market frozen dinners resemble dishes that are actually served at Boston Market restaurants. The meatloaf, turkey medallions, and chicken pot pie are the only crossovers as far as I know. I wish I could explain why the brand is making dishes like sweet and sour chicken and hot honey chicken, but I cannot. What I can do, however, is take one for the team, taste them all, and tell you which Boston Market frozen meals are actually worth buying.
- Boston Market Sweet & Sour Chicken
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I swear I didn’t let bias get the best of me. Boston Market Sweet & Sour Chicken really is the worst of all the Boston Market frozen meals. The sauce is cloyingly sweet and the chicken pieces are coated in an excessive amount of squishy breading. The white rice is undercooked and tastes bad. And the flavorless peas and carrots don’t improve things. Of all the weird Boston Market frozen dinners, this is one to avoid.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Hot Honey Chicken
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Okay, here’s another one to skip. This Boston Market frozen meal has a lot of the same issues as the Sweet & Sour Chicken. Both the chicken and the breading are mushy. The sauce is super sweet and barely has any heat. The one nice thing I could say about this meal is that they chose an aesthetically pleasing pasta shape for the pepper jack mac and cheese (I think it’s gemelli), but unfortunately the pasta is mush and the cheese sauce is flavorless. Boston Market, respectfully, why?
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Beef Steak & Pasta
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My colleague Justine Sterling recently pointed this out but it’s worth repeating: Beef that isn’t ground beef seldom works well in microwave meals. We’re not dealing with high-quality cuts as it is, and three minutes in the microwave will turn anything to shoe leather. We did actually like the savory gravy in this meal, but the “steak” is no bueno.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Turkey Breast Medallions
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This is one of the Boston Market frozen meals that actually resembles the style of dinner you might get at an actual Boston Market—but done poorly. It’s also one of the only Boston Market meals with vegetables on the side—but those are pretty bad, too. The green beans and carrots are completely unseasoned and are waterlogged with warm liquid that fills your mouth as you eat. The turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes combine to create a loose soup of sorts. On their own, the mashed potatoes taste a little bit like dirt, but the consistency of the turkey, potato, and gravy slurry is the real issue. Buy one of these frozen turkey dinners instead.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Meatloaf
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Oh, hey. Another of the Boston Market frozen meals that actually aligns (sort of) with the restaurant menu. We tried this during our frozen meatloaf taste test and it didn’t make the cut. The meatloaf (which is really just a flat hamburger patty) is just sooooo soft. The meat barely needs to be chewed to be swallowed. The mashed potatoes are very dry, but I do think they taste better than the mashed potatoes that come in the turkey tenderloin meal. The gravy is fine, but there are better microwave meatloaf options. And better Boston Market frozen dinners, too.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Country Fried Beef Steak
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I generally believe in frozen country fried steak. What do I mean by that? Well, if you’re ordering country fried steak at a diner (I always ordered it at Huddle House when I lived in the South), you’re probably getting a frozen steak patty anyway. Ideally, though, they won’t be cooking it in the microwave. Because this is a microwave meal, the breading is soggy rather than crispy. When we taste tested Hungry Man meals, that wasn’t a deal breaker. And it wouldn’t have been in this taste test either, but the lack of seasoning was the nail in this meal’s coffin. White country gravy doesn’t have to taste like much, but it should taste like something. Add some black pepper, dammit! Pepper is practically free! This meal would be much better with some additional seasonings, but frankly I resent having to add salt to a sodium-packed frozen dinner!
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Chicken Alfredo
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Alfredo pasta from Boston Market? Yeah, sure. Why not? This is another of the Boston Market Meals that would benefit from some additional seasoning—the alfredo sauce is pretty watery and bland, but this meal got some points for having broccoli in the mix. Vegetables can be hard to come by in Boston Market frozen dinners!
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie
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What I wouldn’t give for a genuine Boston Market chicken pot pie! Until pretty recently there was a Boston Market here in Los Angeles (on Sepulveda near LAX, if you’re famils), but it quietly and unceremoniously closed—thanks for hogging all the fast food foot traffic, In-N-Out. Sadly, this version didn’t hit the spot. I cooked it in the countertop oven for 70 whole minutes and while the top crust was nice and flaky, the bottom crust was still very undercooked. Worse, the filling is pretty flavorless. There are a few veggies floating around in here, but they don’t contribute much flavor. This Boston Market frozen meal’s cardinal sin: It’s two servings. No one is eating a half a pot pie, a-holes! But if you do eat the entire pot pie, keep in mind that you’ll be consuming 68 grams of fat. Not worth it. Try one of the best pot pies instead.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Salisbury Steak
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When we ranked the frozen Salisbury steak meals, Boston Market landed in the top spot. It’s not bad, especially compared to a lot of other Boston Market frozen meals. This comes with rotini in cheese sauce that looks a lot like the mac and cheese they used to serve at Boston Market, but it’s bland. The sauce is watery and tastes like almost nothing. What a letdown! The Salisbury steak is fine. Sure, it’s a bit dinky and flat, but the gravy tastes good. Improve the mac and cheese and this might be a meal to revisit.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Swedish Meatballs
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This meal is kind of like beef stroganoff but made with meatballs instead of stew meat. And the meatballs are surprisingly good! They’re flavorful and salty, and the texture is tender-firm rather than rubbery. The sauce is creamy and actually has some nice herby flavor. Do I detect tarragon in a Boston Market frozen dinner? Maybe! This is a good, filling meal and it’s one of the better Boston Market frozen dinners you can buy.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Vermont White Cheddar Mac & Cheese
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The pasta in a lot of other Boston Market frozen meals is total mush, but the cavatappi in this white cheddar mac and cheese is nice and firm. It’s a big win! And if you love very smoky bacon, you’ll appreciate this meal. The smoky flavor is a lot, but it still manages to enhance the salty cheese and al dente pasta. This works, but it would be better with some broccoli or peas in the mix.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
- Boston Market Chicken Bacon Ranch
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Calling a meal “Chicken Bacon Ranch” is funny to me. Chicken bacon ranch what?? Well, in this case, it’s rotini pasta. And it’s not bad. The herbs in the ranchy cream sauce give the dish dimension. And the bacon flavor is present, but it isn’t as overpoweringly smoky as it is in the Vermont cheddar mac and cheese. The chicken is fine. Of all the Boston Market frozen meals, this one makes the tastiest sad lunch or sad dinner.
Credit: Merc / Boston Market at Home
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Justine Sterling
Matt Crowley
Madison Ramirez
