As a former child and current adult who requires a snack plate to feel truly at peace, I know a thing or two about Lunchables. In fact, most of my culinary preferences revolve around variety, portability, and the ability to arrange different foods in a cute little segmented container.
Now the Lunchables brand has extended its offerings well past cheese and crackers — and, for the first time, into the frozen food aisle. Lunchables Crispy Grilled Cheesies delivers frozen, microwavable grilled cheese sandwiches in two varieties: Original and Pepperoni Pizza.
I tested the Pepperoni Pizza flavor because why wouldn’t I? The package contained two full sandwiches, individually nestled in microwavable crisping sleeves and wrapped in plastic. The preparation was easy: remove the plastic, nuke the sandwich in its crisping sleeve for one minute, and then let it cool for another minute. The hardest part of the process was using the word “cheesie” as a noun.
The result smelled and tasted deliciously buttery, as though the cheesie (no, still weird) had just emerged from a sizzling pan. The crisping sleeve clearly did its job to encourage toasty texture on every surface of the bread, while still retaining some absorbed butter. Although crispy, the bread seemed to get chewier as time elapsed. The crusts were just plain tough.
The filling consisted of a slice of creamy, well-melted processed cheese, one to two tablespoons of marinara sauce, and three slices of pepperoni. Everything together made for a warm and comforting bite, and the pepperoni and marinara were just enough to ensure that the flavor wasn’t boring. The cheese would appeal to kid and adult tastes alike, but another slice — preferably added to the plain slice of bread — would have amped up the cheese flavor and helped the sandwich to adhere together as a whole.
Depending on one’s appetite, Lunchables Crispy Grilled Cheesies would make a fast, convenient (although hard to chew) snack or meal component at a low price point. Older kids could easily prepare a cheesie independently at home, but keep in mind that sending frozen foods to school can be tricky. If your child is prepared to negotiate a lunch box filled with ice packs and locate a kindly lunch-lady or lunch-lord to help them use the school microwave, then they have more fortitude than I do and deserve all the grilled cheesies in the world.
If that is too many cheesies (okay, I’m getting used to it), start with two for the Lunchables fan in your life. Although the product isn’t perfect, it delivers the comfort and convenience that so many have come to love from the brand.
Purchased Price: $4.79
Size: 6.2 oz box (2 pack)
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per sandwich): 300 calories, 18 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 660 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of protein.
It seems like a very logical next step in Lunchables offerings, so, good for them. But the photos make this seem very poorly executed (surprised at even a 6, but I haven’t had one yet). Agreed from the pics that this needs more cheese for me to even want to try it. It’s a “cheesie”, not a “breadie” (though it sure looks bready) or a “meatie”.
Thanks for the review. I think this is one more bad food habit I don’t need to acquire.
As someone who taught for 8 years, I can tell you that it is extremely unlikely that any school would have a microwave for kids to use to make this at lunch. It’s probably fine for home, but very few schools would allow a kid to heat this up at lunch time.
That looks horrendous, I’d be pissed if my parents served me that!
This looks more like people food than most lunchables…except for that pepperoni. Yikes and gadzooks!
I have a sneaking suspicion once heated it will smell like feet and booty….eww
And that name is horrendously bonkers.
Feeding this to your kid qualifies you for child abuse.
I hope this is facetious. Kids can have junk food once in a while. Denying kids any junk food often leads to eating disorders, or at least disordered eating. I have struggled with one for 16 years — luckily, not because my mom denied me junk food. That is such a ridiculous assertion.
I didn’t say anything about denying kids junk food. I didn’t even refer to this as junk food. That would be insulting to junk food if I did.
Learn to read and don’t make ridiculous assumptions.
honestly, even if you rated this higher than a 6/10 (which seems generous… it looks… pretty rough…), $4.79 for 2 sandwiches is too much. making this at home would cost less than a dollar per sandwich, and it doesn’t really have any practical applications — who’s bringing this for lunch as an adult, and whose kid has access to a microwave at school? i predict that this product will come and go in a few months…
Ya, you’re right on the money…it’s like way cheaper for me or my daughter to get some bread, cheese, and butter the hell out of it and stick it on a pan, and have it come out better. And if we’re adding pepperoni to it, just get one of those Hormel packages and bingo bango there you have it. This thing looks like it could shorten the lifespan of anyone who eats it, or anyone who accidently inhales the steam from it when it gets nuked in the microwave
A frozen grilled cheese sandwich seems like such an odd product to introduce in 2023 when it’s incredibly easy to make quick grilled cheese sandwiches in an air fryer (especially for kids instead of letting them use the stove top).
Just made it.
Looks 10/10
Smell 8/10
Taste 5/10
Texture 0/10
Rawhide!