The Worst Amy's Frozen Meal Is A Reminder That Risotto Is Hard To Master - Tasting Table

"Unlike frozen meal brands like Stouffer's or Healthy Choice, Amy's stands out by offering an exclusively vegetarian lineup. The quality of Amy's products has received praise from vegetarians and meat eaters alike; take, for example, our ranking of frozen enchiladas. That said, not all of Amy's frozen meals are winners. We ranked nine Amy's frozen meals and found that the worst option is the mushroom risotto. We based our ranking on criteria like flavor, cohesiveness of the dish, and standout ingredients."

"Freezing and then reheating risotto, an already wet rice dish, resulted in a watery, mushy mess. Mushrooms have a high water content, which contributed to the mushy texture of the rice and further overwhelmed any of the classic risotto flavors we were looking for. While we applaud the idea of heating up a plate of risotto instead of mastering a homemade recipe, Amy's didn't do this food justice."

Amy's offers an exclusively vegetarian frozen meal lineup. Among nine Amy's frozen meals evaluated, mushroom risotto ranked worst because it lacked classic risotto characteristics such as creamy arborio rice, nutty parmesan, and earthy mushroom umami. The product presented an off-putting sweetness and suffered from severe texture problems after freezing and reheating, producing a watery, mushy rice. High water content in the mushrooms worsened the texture and diluted flavors. Target customer reviews echoed dissatisfaction, citing inconsistent rice texture (mushy and crunchy), chewy mushrooms, and concerns about excess sodium.

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