Review: Stouffer's Corner Bistro Panini-Smoked Turkey and Bacon with Cheese Variety

Many frozen food favorites come and go; Stouffer's has been a trusted brand in convenience foods for many years. One of the new products this company has out is a series of microwaveable Panini sandwiches. Paninis are thin pressed Italian sandwiches that are often grilled.

In their new product, the company tries to emulate the dishes popular in jet set bistro restaurants. They even claim that these sandwiches can grill in your microwave. The particular variety of sandwich I purchased cost me $2.99 and had smoked turkey, bacon, and Swiss cheese on two slices of sourdough bread.

Inside the box the sandwich was divided in halves with the bread and meats placed on opposite sides of the "grilling tray" which basically looked like an extra piece of cardboard cut into a circle with some waxed paper on it. It may well have been and probably was something like that.

After placing "grilling tray" atop the box and placing the two halves next to each other and micro waving for three minutes and 15 seconds I let it cool. The sandwich came out a sticky mess. The bacon made the frozen dish even more salty than the average frozen entrée. The texture of the bread could only be described as overly chewy, my teeth practically bounced off of the food while chewing it.

The turkey was drowned out by the messy cheese sauce its texture was very slimy and tasteless. The idea of microwave grilling surfaces has been around for years and some work better than others. I bought this product because the flavor sounded nice and it looked like a good item for a quick lunch. In all however, it was a complete waste of money, I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone. It tasted awful and has little nutritional benefit. The nutrition facts are as follows:

Calories: 360

Calories from fat: 140

Total fat: 16 g 24% D/V

Saturated fat: 7 g 34% D/V

Trans Fat: 0 g

Cholesterol: 55 mg 19% D/V

Sodium: 920 mg 38% D/V

Total Carbohydrate: 31 g 10% D/V

Dietary Fiber: 3 g 13%

Sugars: 2 g

Protein: 24 g

Vitamin A 4%

Vitamin C 4%

Calcium 30%

Iron 15%