Diet Food Reviews
Lean Cuisine Chicken Spinach and Mushrooms Panini
By: | Feb 8, 2006
"Strips of white meat grilled chicken, spinach, sliced mushrooms, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, Romano and Parmesan cheeses with an Asiago cheese sauce on Italian bread." That's how Lean Cuisine describes their Chicken, Spinach, & Mushrooms Panini and when it comes to taste - that's a pretty accurate description. This panini is unbelievably GOOD! In my opinion, a "panini" is a fancy way of saying a sandwich on grilled toast! But I guess the reason why it gets a fancy name is that the bread is Italian. [Can you tell I've have some bad experiences ordering an expensive $6.00 panini only to get nothing more than a grilled sandwich?] But Lean Cuisine's panini was priced at $2.50 and it's worth every single penny!.
The panini is made in the microwave, and if you didn't think you could get a crispy 'toasted' crust from the microwave - think again! There are two slices of bread, each heaped with toppings. There's a lot of cheese, chunks of chicken and delicious mushrooms. The spinach adds an interesting flavor to the sandwich. You won't be disappointed in the flavor BUT this is more of a lunch time meal, simply not enough for dinner.
Nutritionally, as usual, we continue to be disappointed by the generous amount of sodium in frozen foods. This panini has 690 mg sodium, 29% of the recommended daily amount. There's also 8 grams of fat (12% of daily recommendations), with 3.5 grams saturated fat (17% of the daily rec.), 280 calories, 25 mg cholesterol (8%), 5 grams of fiber, 21 grams of protein, and 25% of the RDA for Calcium, along with a few other minerals.
Even though I love this offering, I do think that it could be a tad bit better nutritionally - a little less sodium and fat, and use whole wheat bread. But speaking of bread - isn't this supposed to be Italian bread? From reasearching the ingredients it seems like ordinary bread to me - using bleached, enriched flour as usual. Hmm ....
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12 Comments
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I tried it a few days ago. I found the cheese a bit rubbery, but the bread definitely toasted in the microwave (imagine that!) Overall, it was a good under 300 calorie hot lunch. I'd eat it again.
I found it to be flavorless. I wouldn't buy it again.
I have not tried this, and it does sound good, but I am usually afraid of "white meat grilled chicken". Chicken breast = chicken breast, but "white meat grilled chicken" could equal fiber from whitish chicken particles bound together with binders, fillers, air bubbles, and who knows what else. I refer to this as "particle chicken". On the other hand, for $2.50, I guess you can't expect much more.
I've been looking for these, but I haven't seen them. It seems like the store I shop at has every variety of Lean Cuisine, except the Panini. Bah!
This site is so refreshing. I've been on a diet for a while now, and I've been making every.single.meal. I never think to go for things like frozen entrees, and I've stayed away from snacks completely (aside from fresh fruits and vegetables). So, I've gone through your archives and made a list of things to try - I can imagine it'll make my life a lot easier. Thanks for all of the great information.
I love this one, not too fond of the other flavors... However, I found when I cook it for the highest time listed, it's not nearly as good as when I only cook it for 2:45. I eat them with tomato or butternut squash soup and dip the crust in, yum!
I love this one, not too fond of the other flavors... However, I found when I cook it for the highest time listed, it's not nearly as good as when I only cook it for 2:45. I eat them with tomato or butternut squash soup and dip the crust in, yum!
I tried this today, and I really liked it. It's not the tastiest thing I've ever had, or anything, but it's a great sandwich for being frozen and microwaved. The flavor was pretty good and the bread was nice and toasted. I'm glad you featured this, or I'd have never tried it.
Thanks Erin for trying it and telling us what you thought. I love to hear opinions other than my own!
I joined Weight Watchers 1 year ago and have been at my goal weight for 6 months. I am addicted to Lean Cuisine Paninis! Every flavor! High in salt, but oh so good! Hey, whatever works.
I think they are delicious and am thrilled to find something that doesn't taste like the usual bland low calorie foods.
This is one of my favorite Lean Cuisine meals. I haven't been able to get them lately at my store so I've been having withdrawals :_