Smart Ones Creamy Rigatoni with Broccoli & Chicken

November 12, 2007 | Reviewer: Adina

Smart Ones Creamy Rigatoni with Broccoli and Chicken Price: $2.00
Serving: 1 meal, 9oz.
Calories: 290
Fat: 13%, 8g
Cholesterol: 18%, 55mg
Sodium: 29%, 690mg
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 11%, 33g
Fiber: 9%, 2g
WW Points: 6 Points

Smart Ones says: A medley of pasta, broccoli florets and white meat chicken in a creamy parmesan sauce

Adina says: I am becoming a Smart Ones convert. When I first ~~sold my soul to the microwave meal gods~~ started eating microwave meals, I though Smart Ones was the low man on the totem pole. Lean Cuisine had just come out with their fancy sleek box designs and I am a sucker for shiny things, even if it ultimately meant I was stuck with a 6 ounce lunch. And Healthy Choice just sounded like…such a healthy choice. Wow, marketers would have a field day with me.

But as the years passed and I realized that a Lean Cuisine would not get me past 2 PM and Healthy Choice was the devil, I started looking for other options. And Smart Ones really does one-up the other microwave meal brands on taste and noodles. And I don’t know if you can tell this by the reviews I do, but noodles are my life. I eat noodles at lunch and dinner almost every day. And not as a side dish, oh no. Noodles are always the star of my meal, the main attraction, the favorite child. The protein and vitamins are just the ugly step-children to the radiant white glow of the noodle. I would have sex with noodles if I could. I just don’t know how I can emphasize my noodle love enough. It is big love, people.

Anyway, now that I’m all hot and bothered, let me tell you about this meal. The rigatoni is thick and chewy and I am just constantly amazed that Smart Ones can get noodles to taste like that. To taste noodley but also different, like there is some special ingredient that is not included in my box of Muellers. Maybe steroids? Who knows, but whatever it is, Smart Ones noodles are always jacked up with taste and thickness. It must be steroids.

The rigatoni is covered in a creamy parmesan sauce robust in flavor. It has the perfect amount of pepper and seasoning, which is rare in a microwave meal alfredo-type sauce. Typically I find weight-watching alfredo sauces to be thin and peppery and soulless. But not this sauce, this beautifully crafted sauce. I can still taste it, and it doesn’t make me want to cry. I guess there is a first for everything, huh.

The broccoli was crisp and the chicken was tender, also a miracle in and of itself considering it is microwaved white meat. Have you ever microwaved real white chicken meat? Tell me it tastes good and I’ll show you a pig that can fly.

I just wish Smart Ones would give me a bit more bang for my protein buck. Generally, they tend to shrink all their meat in their meals for some reason, which is strange because their meat typically tastes really good. Are they trying to enforce slow chewing so that I ultimately eat less food? Are they really looking out for me and my sensitive gastrointestinal tract? Man, these people are freaking saints.

Anyway, I am going to go ahead and give this meal five stars because I can only hope that my firstborn turns out half as wonderful as this meal. Maybe other microwave meal companies will follow suit and make food that doesn’t suck. Here’s to tomorrow.

comments

14 Responses to “Smart Ones Creamy Rigatoni with Broccoli & Chicken”

Ms.Bart on November 13th, 2007

I had this meal last Thursday. I do agree that the flavor was great, but I only had three tiny stalks of broccoli in mine - that disappointed me.
Molly on November 13th, 2007

I summed this meal up as “questionably thick sauce, inconsistent chicken, wimpy broccoli portion and slightly gummy noodles.” I didn’t dig it at all. I was really surprised at how highly you rated it.
Abi Jones on November 13th, 2007

@Ms. Bart - I’d be angry about the broccoli, too, but (sheesh, enough commas, Abi?) Adina hates vegetables in almost all forms. One time she asked for salad suggestions, but made a huge list of every vegetable-like ingredient she did not enjoy, making the suggesting nearly impossible.

@Molly - Thanks for linking to your review of this meal! Hey everyone, check out Molly’s review! See above comment with the vegetable-hating. Also, did you know that Adina was a noodle for Halloween when she was a kid? That is how much she likes noodles.
Tracy on November 13th, 2007

I like this meal, but I find the sauce very bland–but I like the consistency. The sauce would definitely benefit from some garlic or basil. But the noodles, chicken, and broccoli are very good.
Jill on November 13th, 2007

I have a similar love affair with noodles, and thus share your enthusiasm for Smart Ones (I have been unable to find their angelhair marinara, and it pisses me off!) While my stomach tends to hate creamy sauces, but I may just need to try this.
Anna on November 28th, 2007

I’ve noticed that Smart Ones are either exceptional or horrible. The new Florentine Ravioli is very good, but the baked ziti I bought a few months ago was terrible and looked nothing like the picture on the box. I’m going to try this, but steam up some broccoli to go with it.
Allison on December 2nd, 2007

If you like this one, you should try the Smart Ones Creamy Parmesan Chicken. It’s my favorite S.O. selection–really rich and pretty filling, too! No noodles, but a good amount of veggies.
Jess on December 6th, 2007

Good chicken, good sauce, great noodles. One FREAKING piece of broccoli. That’s it. One little limp stalk.
Marie on January 31st, 2008

I had one of these for lunch today - DELICIOUS!
Pleasantly surprised. Especially since the other day when I had the Swedish Meatballs - they were the most horrible thing I ever tasted - threw it out after one bite! I’ll NEVER buy the Smart Ones Swedish Meatballs again. YUCK!
Heather on April 16th, 2008

I tried two of these meals for fair comparison. I liked the sauce and pasta. There were a few little flowerettes of broc in each package. I didn’t like the chicken. This is common for me with “diet” meals. The chicken tastes spongy and too soft. I don’t know what the heck they do to it, but it’s just nastyt. And I was spitting out some really bad chewy stuff. If Smart Ones makes just the pasta and broccoli in the sauce I’ll get it. They can keep the gross chickeny lumps in it.
Alessandra on May 17th, 2008

I bought 10 of these in one day (they were the only Smart Ones on sale– how conveeeeeenient!) and ate them for lunch and dinner, 5 days in a row. Probably shouldn’t be eating a frozen meal that often, but times are tough and the schedule’s tight. Also, I am obsessed.

I always find plenty of chicken and broccoli in mine. I save the chicken for last, actually. And the noodles? The noodles are perfect and the sauce is just… amazing.
ali on June 3rd, 2008

This frozen meal was really really really good. The meat was better than any other frozen chicken meal ive eaten and the sauce was really good. There are few vegetables but that doesnt matter because the chicken and the sauce are awesome.
Missy on August 8th, 2008

I have eaten these for dinner for the past two weeks. I don’t usually do frozen dinners, but this is really good.

I found that a few boxes have been skimpy on the broccoli and the chicken is sometimes not as good as the other boxes have been, but for the most part they’ve been consistently good.
Todd on November 6th, 2008

I have to admit that I was always a frozen meal hater. I started WW a few weeks ago and this is one that tastes good to me. I would rather make my oen meals and freeze them, have no idea why they don’t use wheat noodles but hey, these ar not bad at all! I eat them at least 3 times a week for lunch. This one has ample substance to fill me us and the flavors are great. I microwave a handful of frozen veggies with all these meals and mix them in. The sauce needs garlic salt and it is great. I also save the meat in ALL of these meals till last