Disclaimer: I received 5 Luvo Frozen Entrees to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
I love to eat, but I’m not a very consistent cook. I will on occasion cook breakfast or dinner but it’s so much easier to just go out. Although not great for the bank account ;). So when I had the opportunity to try Luvo’s healthy frozen entrees I jumped on it.
The Luvo philosophy is simple (from their website): We want to make it easy to make good choices by creating wholesome, nutritious meals that taste amazing. And we’re doing it by sticking with a few guiding principles:
Food should be delicious
Food should be nutritious
The Smart Choice should be the Easy Choice
Food should come from a good place
I received my entrees from Luvo on Wednesday in a Styrofoam container with dry ice inside. All of my entrees were completely frozen when I took them out of the box. I didn’t leave them on the porch for long after the UPS driver delivered them so I don’t know how long the dry ice would have lasted, but it was still a pretty big piece when I opened the container.
In the box were 5 entrees, 2 breakfast and the other 3 lunch/dinner options. The breakfast choices are Farmers Market Frittata & Steel Cut Oatmeal. For Lunch/Dinner they have a lot of different options but I received Chicken Chili Verde, Orange Mango Chicken & Red Wine Braised Beef & Polenta. I have to say that their vegetarian & pasta options looked amazing and I definitely want to try those as well.
The Luvo entrees have a very unique green package that allows the food to be steamed and it comes out fully cooked every time (no frozen centers or cold spots). They recommend microwaving the entrees but do have conventional oven instructions as well.
I have an old 600 watt microwave, the same one I’ve had since college lol, and it cooked all my entrees perfectly in the recommended time recommendation.
Once you take them out of the microwave and let them sit for 60 seconds to lock in the flavors, you cut one side of the bag and then gently shake the entree onto your plate. This allows the entree to come out exactly like on the box and separates the flavors. It is a truly unique method and super cool.
I started off trying the Chicken Chili Verde with Polenta & Black Beans for an afternoon snack. With only 300 calories, it’s not quite enough for me as a meal, but it was a super tasty snack :). There are 6g of Fiber, 25g of Protein and only 490mg of Sodium which is a big deal because most processed food has so much sodium it’s ridiculous.
I enjoyed this entree and thought that the salsa had nice flavor, I should have mixed it a bit more with the chicken because it was a little bland on it’s own, the polenta was a nice choice just a tiny bit grainy and the beans were delicious.
Next up, I tried the Steel Cut Oatmeal, which is Vegetarian & Vegan, comes with a side of peaches, apples & pineapple and a coconut almond topping on the cinnamon spiced steel cut oatmeal & quinoa.
This was very good, the fruit was amazing and super flavorful. I loved the taste of the oatmeal although it was a little dry for my taste. With only 260 calories, 6g each of Fiber & Protein & only 120mg Sodium this is a great option for a tasty & healthy breakfast.
The next day I tried the Farmers Market Frittata with Sweet Potato Mango Hash & Spicy Garden Salsa. I loved the frittata, I thought it has great flavor and was just a little cheesy as well at the sweet potatoes. For me personally, there was too much salsa and it was a bit overpowering.
Another great option for breakfast, this vegetarian entree has 4g Fiber, 12g Protein, only 250 calories and 350mg Sodium.
And to finish up the remaining entrees, Sean & I shared them yesterday. We split the Orange Mango Chicken with whole grains, kale & broccoli & the Red Wine Braised Beef & Polenta with Roasted Brussel Spouts, Butternut Squash & Cranberries.
Orange/Mango chicken. This was probably my favorite of all the entrees (outside of the oatmeal). The chicken was so good and super moist. The rice quinoa blend had a Green Tea infusion that wasn’t quite my fav, but Sean loved it. The veggie on this one was Kale & Broccoli and really cooked well mostly because there wasn’t any sauce on it.
Another low calorie option, this entree only has 280 calories, 3g Fiber, 17g Protein and 450mg Sodium.
Braised beef – the beef was amazing super flavorful, not at all something you’d expect from a frozen entree. The veggies were so so but that’s mostly because I don’t like Brussels sprouts. The cranberries were yummy & whole & the polenta while a little bland was more enjoyable than on the Chicken Chili Verde.
With 4g fiber, 17g Protein, 300mg Sodium & 250 calories the Braised beef again would be good afternoon snack for me, with all the running, exercise, I need more calories but I definitely enjoyed the beef for a nice protein option.
All in all, while these entrees are not high enough in calories for my personal needs, I definitely think I would use these as a healthy snack alternative or in addition to a hearty salad for lunch &/or dinner.
Have you ever tried Luvo entrees?
