Product Review: Ian’s Mac and Meat Sauce

For lack of a better intro to this review, I am going to come out and say that this is going to be one of “those” reviews. The fact is, Ian’s has really let me down with this Mac and Meat Sauce of theirs. This surprised me a bit because Ian’s generally produces some pretty good stuff - but let me back up a bit and start at the beginning.

In my life, it really is the little things that make me happy, excited even. So, you can imagine my reaction when the hubby handed me this frozen meal from Ian’s to take to the office for lunch today. It was one more thing he had seen in the store and brought for me to try.

I was very excited at lunchtime to poke the necessary holes in the plastic wrap and cook my new treat for the required three minutes. At the point in the middle of heating where the directions say to stir the pasta, I was pleased to discover that the sauce had a bit more flavor than I expected. Most meals (especially frozen ones) that are made for kids are virtually flavorless in this area. This sauce was bland, but not bad at all.

After the heating time, I waited with extreme patience for the one minute sitting time (also in the directions). During this time, a co-worker remarked on how good the food smelled. So far so good, right?

Well, then I took a bite. The sauce was pretty good. Tangy and a bit sweet, but bland, as I mentioned before. The pasta was firm and had a great texture and good flavor. That’s saying a lot for rice pasta!

Then came the meat, chicken, to be precise. It had what is best described as an odd flavor. It was very unpleasant and the taste lingered for a long time. The chicken was evenly distributed throughout the sauce. Normally I’d say this is a good thing, but here it just wasn’t working.

The package contained an 8 oz. serving. I didn’t finish it. In fact, I don’t even think I made it through half. I couldn’t get past the chicken. I wrapped up the rest to bring home for my daughter to try. I’m curious to see if younger taste buds will make a difference. I will be sure to let you know if she disagrees with me.

In the mean time, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, I am not offering a recommendation for this product. I will, however, be looking out for Mac and Red Sauce since the pasta held up so well to freezing.

Note added 12/16/10: After this post was written, my daughter had her chance to try Ian's Mac and Meat Sauce. She loved it. She thought the flavor was great and asked us to buy it for her again. I guess this is a case where kid's taste buds win out :)