Digiorno pizza and Stouffer's lasagna will soon have plant-based meat

Frozen food giants Digiorno and Stouffer's today join the plant-based meat movement with two new products: Digiorno Rising Crust Meatless Supreme pizza and Stouffer's Meatless Lasagna. 

Vegetarian Italian food party, anyone? 

I say vegetarian because the two products do contain cheese, which bars them from being vegan. Nonetheless, these new products are helping make plant-based meat even more mainstream, as Digornio and Stouffer's -- both owned by Nestle -- are both very prominent and long-standing frozen food companies. The Stouffer's brand, in fact, extends back as far as 1922, making it a nearly 100-year-old brand that's getting in on the plant-based business boom.  

Both the new lasagna and the new pizza use Sweet Earth Awesome Grounds in place of ground beef and sausage. Sweet Earth, acquired by Nestle in 2017, manufactures a wide range of fresh and frozen plant-based products, from sausages and burgers to single-serve microwave meals. 

The Awesome Grounds used in the new Stouffer's and Digiorno products are made mainly from textured pea protein, an ingredient also found in the Beyond Burger. Other ingredients include wheat gluten, canola oil, coconut oil and juice concentrates from fruits and vegetables.

According to a press release, the announcement comes after a consumer survey commissioned by Nestle USA revealed that nearly half of consumers have either integrated plant-based meat into their diet or would consider doing so long-term. The survey also found that three in 10 people who have not yet tried plant-based meat would try it if they had the opportunity. 

On Dec. 5 you can go to tryitmeatless.com and enter to win a package of the Stouffer's meatless lasagna or Digiorno meatless supreme pizza. Both products will launch on Amazon Fresh in spring 2020.

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Nutrient-wise, the new plant-based products have similar nutrient profiles to the original versions of these products -- much like the Impossible Whopper is pretty close to the regular whopper, nutritionally. 

As for how these new products taste, I had a chance to test them out before the announcement. 

I grew up eating Stouffer's lasagna about once a week, and I've had plenty of Digiorno pizza in my life. I was wary of the lasagna because I was so familiar with the original version, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Awesome Grounds version tastes exactly like the regular version -- the tomato sauce and cheese far outweigh the meat, anyway.

The Digiorno pizza with Awesome Grounds also tasted just like a normal supreme pizza. My verdict: If there's an easy, completely unnoticeable way to cut down on your meat consumption, these two products are it.