Evol Quinoa & Roasted Veggies

Frozen microwave meals have a reputation for being terribly unhealthy, but today we have an offering from Evol that looks pretty promising. Is it really healthy? Does it actually taste good to boot? Let's find out!


Buying. Evol products seem to show up at stores that carry a decent variety of frozen "natural" products. I found this bowl at Target on sale for $3.69. Evol has a product locator on their website.

Fresh outta the box.

Packaging. Cardboard box, plastic tray, plastic film sealed over the top.

Preparation. The box offers two methods for heating, microwave or oven. Microwaving for recommended time heated it through just fine.

Nutrition. The ingredients look really great, whole grains and veggies galore! Buuuuuut... there's olive oil, and with a whopping 15g of fat with 2g saturated, it looks like it's got a whole tablespoon of olive oil. While the whole meal clocks in under 300 calories, almost half those calories are from the empty calorie oil. This meal does have a good bit of fiber and a bit of protein too.

Even with the olive oil, this is probably one of the healthiest frozen meals I've ever come across.

Tasting. For a pretty healthy meal, does it actually taste good? I'd say it's decent. It does come across as a bit bland, most of the flavor coming from the tangy tomato sauce, lemon juice, and LOTS of garlic! The garlic flavor was pretty strong, so be ware of garlic breath.

The chunks of sweet potato and carrot tasted a little undercooked in the middle. I could've sworn the rice was white rice, it certainly looked like white rice, but the ingredients only say brown rice. The bits of mushroom were actually quite tasty, but there was hardly any in it. I'm aslo not entirely sure there was any broccoli in my bowl.

It was by no means the best tasting meal I've ever had by any stretch, but it wasn't terrible either. If you're not accustomed to healthier foods, you might not find it very palatable.

Bottom Line. I don't know that I would buy this again. If I want something as healthy as this, I can easily make something pretty healthy pretty quickly on my own minus the dollop of oil. Still, if you're in a pinch and want something reasonably healthy, by all means go for it. If you're looking for a tasty, junky treat, give it a miss.

Evol's website. Evol is not a veg company and doesn't have a lot of vegan offerings, but they few they have are marked as such. The meal I reviewed here is certified gluten free.