Price: $4.99
Serving: 1/8 container, 42g
plus milk and butter
Calories: 140 plain, 200 as prepared
  Calories from Fat: 45 plain
Info below does NOT include milk/butter
Fat: 8%, 5g
  Saturated Fat: 10%, 2g
  Trans Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 3%, 10mg
Sodium: 19%, 460mg
Protein: 4g
Total Carbohydrates: 6%, 19g
  Fiber: 4%, 1g
  Sugar: 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 Points

Kraft says: Made with Velveeta cheese sauce and potatoes. Quick and easy to make in the microwave or on the stove. The whole family will love the great Velveeta flavor in every bite.

Abi says: With too many people at a potluck all you get is a taste of the really great items and tiny portions of pretty good but not exactly terrific items. When too few people are at a potluck you have what is essentially a regular dinner; main dish, salad, side and two desserts. Okay, so the two desserts aren’t usual, but there isn’t a whole lot of variety. Potluck equilibrium requires planning. It also requires that the host have on hand items that can be quickly made into a suitable side should your guests be not completely satisfied with a salad.

These mashed potatoes from Velveeta made an emergency appearance at the last potluck I attended. They’re the typical powdery potato flakes one finds on the a supermarket shelf, but with the added bonus of a pouch of velveeta. It was until I moved to Texas and started eating an unhealthy amount of addictively delicious queso that I realized the brilliance of Velveeta.

I don’t have a single fond childhood memory of Velveeta, thus the promotional line “The whole family will love the great Velveeta flavor in every bite.” makes me feel sorry for the families out there who are intimately familiar with the flavor of Velveeta in non-queso form.

These potatoes have a creaminess not usually found in those powdered potatoes, plus the Velveeta gives them an extra anti-clump factor. Preparation appeared to involve some milk and a bit of butter simmered over the stove, plus stirring. Not bad when you’re trying to entertain a bunch of guests. The flavor is slightly cheesy and more than slightly salty. This turns out to be one of those rare cases where I only pepper my potatoes, leaving the salt shaker along.

For their innocuousness, these potatoes earn three stars. They are neither scary nor particularly delicious.

What’s the worst frozen meal you’ve ever eaten? I was surprised to find that my least favorite meals are actually shelf stable, going from the burning tire soy noodles to the body-fluid-like noodle sauce. Other reviewers hated poop-looking fake meat on a stick, and Taco Bell’s attempt to think even further outside of the bun.

But what have we missed? What review of truly awful frozen food is missing from the Heat Eat Review archives? Let me know in the comments and I’ll seek out the truly worst for some upcoming reviews.

P.S. Please link to the products you’re describing!

Price: $2.50 on sale at Ralphs
Serving: 8 oz.
Calories: 60 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 34%, 820mg
Protein: 2g
Carbohydrates: 5%, 14g
Fiber: 14%, 4g
Sugar: 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 0 per serving

Progresso says: A colorful array of six different garden vegetables, penne pasta and a blend of flavorful herbs and spices, Italian-Style Vegetable combines the rich taste of Progresso with the trusted endorsement of Weight Watchers.

Jackie says: Anytime a meal promises a number like “six vegetables” or “five cheeses,” I take it upon myself to find and identify them. This soup came pretty close to passing my counting test. I easily counted five vegetables, and when I read that the sixth one was spinach, I did vaguely remember something that could have been spinach. The other vegetables were tomatoes (which is actually a fruit, but okay), carrots, green beans, celery, and peas. And then there is the penne pasta, which is just the right amount of firm, and there is a surprising amount of pasta considering how low in calories/fat this soup is. The broth is quite delicious, very tomato-y with a nice herb flavor. This is my favorite of all the Progresso Light soups – but I am not giving it five stars for the following reasons:

1. Eight ounces of this is not a serving. They suck you in by telling you it’s 0 Weight Watchers points, but when you eat the whole can (because you have to…and even then this is not really a meal) it’s actually 1.5 points. Which is not bad considering it’s pretty good soup, but it is tricky. And I don’t like to be tricked.
2. When you eat the whole can (again, because you have to), you are ingesting 70% of your recommended daily sodium intake. No wonder the broth is so good.
3. I’m cheap, and at upwards of $3.00 a can when not on sale, this soup is too pricey to be a regular purchase, especially when I have to supplement it with other foods to create a full lunch.

I like you, Progresso Light Italian Style Vegetable Soup, but I do not love you. Can we just be friends?