Rana Meat Lasagna

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Who doesn’t like lasagna? Layers of noodles, meat, seasoned tomato sauce, and ricotta and mozzarella cheese baked to perfection makes for the ultimate comfort food. Serve lasagna alongside a salad and some garlic bread and you have a complete meal.

I grew up enjoying my mom’s homemade lasagna, and I now use her recipe with a slight tweak, preferring to make my lasagna with oven-ready no-boil noodles from Aldi. Lasagna is not a quick meal to prepare, and oven-ready noodles take some of the time and labor out of making lasagna.

Still, on days when I don’t have time to make lasagna from scratch, I’m not above popping a frozen Stouffer’s or Aldi-brand Bremer lasagna in the oven. While different from homemade, store-bought lasagna is usually still pretty satisfying.

I’ve also noticed that Aldi has been stocking some refrigerated lasagna lately under the Rana brand. Rana is not an Aldi brand, and I’ve seen it for sale at other retailers including Target, Walmart, and Sam’s Club.

Rana is named for Giovanni Rana, who grew up working alongside his family in an Italian bakery. During the post World War II years he began to sell his bread and tortellini door to door, delivering his products on a secondhand motorbike. His business grew and eventually expanded to the United States in 2012, and it now sells an array of refrigerated pasta products in grocery stores. Rana products included ravioli, gnocchi, fettuccine, sauces, and even full meal kits with pasta, sauce, and meat.

I recently purchased a tray of Rana Meat Lasagna at Aldi. I found this in the refrigerated aisle near the take and bake pizzas and other ready-to-heat meal kits.

Rana Meat Lasagna appears to be a Regular Buy, meaning you should be able to find it at Aldi any time of year. (Sometimes Aldi will sell other Rana products as limited-time Aldi Finds, such as Rana Cheese Lasagna I recently spotted in the Aldi Find refrigerator case.)

The Rana Meat Lasagna cost $13.97 for a 40-ounce family-size package at the time of writing. That comes out to about 35 cents per ounce. Rana Meat Lasagna actually cost the exact same amount at Walmart at the time of publication, but it cost slightly more at $14.69 at Target.

The package states this is preservative free and “made with 100% beef, tomato sauce, creamy ricotta, melting mozzarella and signature dough.” The box also states their beef is “ground in-house” and that the mozzarella is made with whole milk.

Obviously, you’ll need to keep this refrigerated. The lasagna I purchased had a use-by date of almost two months out from my date of purchase. The package states you can freeze the lasagna for up to 12 months. If you freeze it, I’d recommend giving it a couple of days to thaw in the fridge before baking it.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains eggs, milk, and wheat.

Other than natural flavors, the ingredients list contains mostly easily recognizable items.

One package has about five 1-cup servings. One serving has 340 calories, 15 grams of total fat (19% DV), 8 grams of saturated fat (40% DV), 0.5 grams of trans fat, 80 mg of cholesterol (27% DV), 770 mg of sodium (33% DV), 29 grams of total carbohydrates (11% DV), 3 grams of dietary fiber (11% DV), 10 grams of total sugars, no added sugars, and 20 grams of protein.

Nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions. (Click to enlarge.)

The package has directions for heating this in a microwave or in a conventional oven.

To microwave, remove the carton and plastic film. Place the microwave-safe tray in the microwave. Microwave on high (100% power) for 8 minutes. Remove carefully from the microwave, as the product will be extremely hot. Let stand 1-2 minutes before serving. If frozen, microwave on 20% power for 15 minutes, then continue cooking on 100% power for 8-9 minutes.

To heat in the oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove carton and plastic film. Place the oven-safe tray on a baking sheet in the center of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. If desired, add a few minutes for extra browning on top. Remove carefully from the oven, as the product will be extremely hot. Let stand 1-2 minutes before serving. If frozen, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

The package notes that the tray is meant for one-time use only. Reheat leftover lasagna in your own oven-safe or microwave-safe containers.

Lasagna after baking.

I baked this lasagna for 20 minutes, and I opted not to leave it in the oven for any extra time to brown the top because I was concerned about drying it out. It probably would have benefitted from a few more minutes in the oven because it wasn’t piping hot when I pulled it out. It was adequately heated, though.

One serving.

In terms of taste, this was fine but not necessarily a standout. Some family members said they prefer name-brand Stouffer’s frozen lasagna or homemade lasagna. This was all right for an easy and quick family dinner on a busy school night.

The Verdict:

Rana Meat Lasagna is a name brand that is not exclusive to Aldi. It has all the components of classic lasagna: noodles, ground beef, tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese. It’s sold refrigerated and is ready to serve after about 20 minutes in the oven. Our family thought this was good but not as good as some frozen lasagnas we’ve had.