I made frozen lasagna with 4 appliances. I'm shocked one method got the meal on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Sat, 07/20/2024 - 08:31

four pieces of lasagna on a plate — Clockwise from top: Lasagna cooked in the oven, microwave, toaster oven, and air fryer.
Meredith Schneider

I made frozen lasagna in my air fryer, microwave, oven, and toaster oven.
I anticipated the microwave option could go sideways, but it was a complete flop.
Air-fried lasagna is great in a pinch, but the flavors are best when it's baked in an oven.

I'm just as happy as the next shopper that grocery inflation finally seems to be steadying — prices have only raised about 1% over the last 12 months, according to the latest inflation report from the US Department of Labor.

But until prices actually start dropping in a meaningful way, I'll happily include a few premade comfort meals in my dinner rotation. And frozen lasagna is near the top of that list for me.

As a single adult, I'm always looking for kitchen hacks for making smaller servings, so I decided to test out making the same frozen lasagna in my oven, air fryer, microwave, and toaster oven to see if another appliance topped the traditional method.

Here's how it went.

I used my favorite frozen lasagna in all the appliances.

box of stouffer's frozen lasagna with meat sauce — I went with a basic lasagna with meat, sauce, and mozzarella cheese.
Meredith Schneider

To get the fairest results, I used my favorite brand of frozen lasagna: Stouffer's.

I was excited to see that Sam's Club sells a 96-ounce Stouffer's classic meat and sauce lasagna for about $15. The bulk size was perfect for cutting into smaller squares for each appliance.

I was most excited about the air fryer.

a square of lasagna in an air fryer basket — I love my air fryer, so I had high hopes.
Meredith Schneider

Since the air fryer has been a great hack for so many interesting recipes I've tried, I was most excited to see how it performed.

The consensus online was to cook the lasagna from frozen for about 20 minutes.

The most involved recipe I found told me to cook it upside-down for 18 minutes at 350 degrees. I was curious, so I decided to go with that method.

I flipped the lasagna halfway through the cooking time.

close up of a piece of lasagna in an air fryer — I'm surprised I got such a clean flip.
Meredith Schneider

I've flipped burgers and pancakes, but flipping a lasagna? After 18 minutes, I took the basket out and flipped the lasagna over so it was right side up. I was pretty shocked by how well it went, too.

Once it was flipped, I cooked it at 350 for another five minutes.

I was surprised by how well the lasagna held its shape.

piece of cooked lasagna on a white plate — Some bits were a little dry and overcooked, but the air-fried lasagna was good overall.
Meredith Schneider

The air fryer cooked the lasagna all the way through quite well, and the piece maintained its rectangle shape better than the other appliances I tried.

I think this is because the shortened time didn't allow everything to bake into each other. The noodles weren't overly saturated with flavor — each ingredient was separate but tasted great.

There were a couple of crispy noodle areas on top, which is to be expected when cooking something so quickly. To prevent this, I'd suggest adding some red sauce to any noodles you see sticking out before air-frying.

I didn’t trust the microwave method as much.

piece of frozen lasagna on a plate in the microwave — I had the lowest expectations for the microwaved lasagna.
Meredith Schneider

Everything I found online heavily discouraged me from microwaving frozen lasagna, and I can see why.

When I finally found a recipe that made sense for the size of my lasagna, it seemed pretty straightforward. I set the frozen rectangle on a plate and microwaved it on high for nine minutes.

When the timer went off, it definitely still needed time, so I put it back in for another four minutes.

The recipe I found said it could take closer to 30 minutes in the microwave, but it was almost overdone done before the four minutes were up. It was melting into itself and off the plate.

The texture was predictably mushy and very unpleasant.

sloppy plate of cooked lasagna — I'm never doing this again.
Meredith Schneider

Biting into this was like eating a solid meal that had been liquified. It was melt-in-your-mouth, but not in an endearing way.

The microwaved lasagna was also difficult to plate — it almost resembled pizza by the time I was able to cut a slice.

I will say that the noodles and cheese at least had a similar mushy consistency, which might be some people's cup of tea.

Next, I tried baking it the conventional way.

frozen lasagna in a metal container — I usually make frozen lasagna in my oven.
Meredith Schneider

I found baking instructions for a 2-pound Stouffer's lasagna since my helping was much smaller than the box's instructions.

I settled on 375 degrees for 65 minutes.

I covered the lasagna to stop the cheese from burning.

baking dish covered in aluminum foil in an oven — The foil should stop the cheese on top from burning.
Meredith Schneider

After 20 minutes, I took the lasagna out and loosely covered the top with foil to protect the cheese from burning. Then I put it back in the oven for the remaining 45 minutes.

Oven-baked lasagna has that classic taste and texture.

big plate of cooked lasagna — The taste and texture of the oven-baked lasagna could not be beat.
Meredith Schneider

The layers of lasagna baked well into each other without melting completely together — it stole the show for best consistency.

The longer baking time also allowed the flavors to really seep into the noodles.

The toaster-oven approach was slightly different from the standard oven.

piece of frozen lasagna in a toaster oven — I have an older toaster oven, so I tweaked the instructions a little.
Meredith Schneider

Many toaster-oven lasagna recipes I found called for 400 degrees, but the vintage toaster oven I'm working with suggested 425.

Once it was properly heated, I stuck the frozen lasagna in and set a 45-minute timer.

There was certainly room for improvement.

Burned piece of lasagna on a plate — The toaster oven left my lasagna a little burned.
Meredith Schneider

Overall, the toaster oven cooked the lasagna well.

It had a consistency closer to the air-fryer lasagna than the oven, with stiffer noodles. But everything was still fully cooked and really good.

If I'd put foil over it at some point in the cooking process, I think this method would've turned out much better. As it is, if you cook a lasagna in a toaster oven, remember that the cheese is (usually) much closer to the heat mechanisms than in a conventional oven.

The results kind of surprised me, but I'm glad I know how to make the best frozen lasagna.

plate of lasagna with four different slices — The oven is still my go-to method, but I'd use my air fryer again.
Meredith Schneider

I was looking for a hack, but sometimes, ol' faithful has its reputation for a reason. The oven gave the sauce enough time to seep into the noodles beautifully, making it nearly incomparable to the other appliances.

I wanted the air fryer to be my favorite, largely because it's the quickest method. Although the texture and flavor left a little to be desired, I'll certainly do it again if I'm in a pinch or looking to impress friends with a parlor trick when I'm hosting — no one expects a frozen lasagna to be done in less than 30 minutes.

The toaster oven was also a fine cooking method, but I don't see why I'd use it instead of my standard oven.

Overall, the biggest lesson I learned is that there are no circumstances where you should ever microwave a frozen lasagna.

Click to check out the other appliances we've put head-to-head so far.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Food, Freelancer, freelancer-le, Food, Lasagna, frozen-food, appliance-battle, appliances, microwave, air-fryer, toaster-oven, evergreen-story

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I made frozen lasagna with 4 appliances. I'm shocked one method got the meal on…