# Marie Callendar's lasagna water **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008 "2012-06-04T06:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/1 "2012-06-04T06:42:36Z")
Frozen lasagna is one of my favorite comfort foods. Stouffer’s is usually my favorite - lots of sauce, not too much cheese, good texture, great flavor. The Marie Callendar’s variety actually has better ingredients than the Stouffer’s and real ricotta cheese, and it’s usually a bit less expensive. It would be my favorite except for one thing - after it’s done cooking (whether microwaved or in the oven), the tray is absolutely _full_ of water. Not runny sauce, just water, slightly pinkish from contact with the sauce and cheese, all along the sides and underneath the lasagna, and it makes the lasagna completely unedible. If I want to actually eat the lasagna, I have to stop the microwave about halfway through, take it to the sink, and drain the water off like it was a pan of freshly cooked hamburger meat, a step that is nowhere on the packaging suggested to be necessary. Even then, I usually have to drain it again after it’s done cooking. Tonight I got over half a cup of water out of it. Where the hell is all this water coming from? I have never encountered any frozen dinner before, even the cheap-ass Banquet meals, that spontaneously produce that kind of runoff when cooked. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/2 "2012-06-04T06:45:28Z")
Frozen meals are often engineered to have a certain amount of moisture which evaporates to steam-heat the meal. If there’s that much water left over, your microwave may not be getting it hot enough, or you may not be cooking it long enough. Or it may be that it just sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/3 "2012-06-04T06:53:37Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Frozen meals are often engineered to have a certain amount of moisture which evaporates to steam-heat the meal. If there’s that much water left over, your microwave may not be getting it hot enough, or you may not be cooking it long enough. Or it may be that it just sucks. I’ve had this problem with Marie Callendar’s brand for 10+ years now and with numerous microwaves in several states, so i’m pretty sure it can’t be that. Even if I oven-cook it I still get it swimming in water. Not even other Marie Callender’s meals do this - just the lasagna. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/4 "2012-06-05T05:27:54Z")
Yanno, you might just write a letter to the MC manufacturer and report this “phenomenon.” Perhaps a CSR might have suggestions on how to avoid this situation. Better yet, maybe MC will change the recipe! (and you might get some free coupons as well!) ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/5 "2012-06-05T16:00:19Z")
Does the package recommend some standing time? I haven’t tried that brand, but I’ve found that others are a bit soupy sometimes unless you let them stand for 10 minutes or so out of the oven. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/6 "2012-06-05T16:09:59Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’ve had this problem with Marie Callendar’s brand for 10+ years now and with numerous microwaves in several states, so i’m pretty sure it can’t be that. Even if I oven-cook it I still get it swimming in water. Not even other Marie Callender’s meals do this - just the lasagna. I have had the exact same thing happen with that particular ‘meal’. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/7 "2012-06-05T16:33:37Z")
My reaction to the thread title: Worst. bottled water. ever. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/8 "2012-06-05T18:17:46Z")
I’m guessing that extra liquid isn’t there at the end if it is cooked in the oven. I’m not sure, but I’ve never microwaved a lasagne. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/9 "2012-06-05T18:23:22Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > My reaction to the thread title: > > Worst. bottled water. ever. Also available in beef pot pie, turkey dinner and pot roast. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/10 "2012-06-05T18:28:51Z")
So it comes with a hot beverage. Sweet! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/11 "2012-06-05T20:48:49Z")
Can you take it out of the container and bake it on something like a large cookie sheet? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/12 "2012-06-05T21:29:27Z")
To address a few points; -I don’t recall that the instructions have a standing time or not, but in my experience it makes no difference. The only way to deal with the water is to drain it halfway through cooking. -Oven-cooking the lasagna still produces all this water. -Taking it out of the tray would probably just lead to it disintegrating when it defrosts and leaving a big puddle of lasagna soup. -Never have bothered to write to them about it. They actually DID change their lasagna recipe in a big way last year, but didn’t fix the water problem. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/13 "2012-06-06T00:07:53Z")
I have the same problem whether it’s microwaved or ovened. It’s really quite gross. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/14 "2012-06-06T01:24:39Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > I have the same problem whether it’s microwaved or ovened. It’s really quite gross. Bleh… With absolutely no disrespect intended, why do you keep buying it then? Here is a good solution to the problem. > **[Mueller's OLD Lasagna Recipe -- Do You Have It?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=60478)** > > Somehow, I’ve lost my prized, 30-year-old recipe for lasagna that I got off a box of Mueller’s lasagna back in the 70s. Their NEW recipe is not the same and I have turned my apartment upside down trying to find the old recipe. I contacted Muellers,... ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/15 "2012-06-06T01:28:47Z")
I eat frozen stuff at work because the Evile Mrs. Plant took all my money. I use a paper towel to suck the nasty liquid up. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/16 "2012-06-06T02:39:56Z")
> [@D-bear](#): > > Bleh… With absolutely no disrespect intended, why do you keep buying it then? > [ Call it a combination of amnesia, hope, and the store was sold out of Stouffer’s. At least now I know I’m not the ONLY person having this problem. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/17 "2012-06-06T03:00:00Z")
I think there’s some money to be made here. With all of the designer “enhanced” waters on the market these days, you might make a killing with something like “MC’s Lasagna Water”! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marie-callendars-lasagna-water/624008/18 "2012-06-06T03:07:57Z")
If you must eat frozen dinners (did I mention the Evile Former Mrs. Plant?) that brand is better than most.