8 Best And 5 Worst Prepared Foods To Buy At Wegmans, According To Customers
There's no denying the amount of effort the Wegmans grocery chain puts in to provide its shoppers with an impressive suite of prepared foods. These in-house items exist to make mealtime a simpler task for folks with too little time (or too little desire) to cook. Wegmans does its best to make picking up its restaurant-quality goods a tempting prospect, whether you hop over on your lunch break for a café-style stop or swing by after work for dinner fixings that are already ... well, fixed.
Wegmans customers have been vocal enough to weigh in on which prepared foods and pre-made meals they like most, and of course, which ones they're sorry they spent their money on. We took a look at the whole menu to find out which dishes have been considered worth the expense to consumers and which are better off staying in the warming tray. Along the way, we found some clear winners, several obvious losers, and a few surprises that give helpful insight into what Wegmans shoppers find worthwhile among the store's ambitious prepared selections.
Best – Hot Asian Food Bar
Anytime a grocery store lets you skip restaurant prices with hot food options, it's worth looking into. At Wegmans, the hot Asian food bar is a bountiful buffet bearing everything from dumplings to noodles. Customers can create their own bespoke takeout orders while getting a good look at the dishes on the menu in three delicious dimensions. If there's one drawback to this prepared food offering, it's the price; some customers complain that the pay-by-weight aspect turns out to be very costly, even if the quality of the food is superior.
Price doesn't seem to bother Asian food fans reviewing the selections, however. A 3.7-star review average for about 80 reviews is a substantial total for an arrangement of familiar yet flavorful fare. A reviewer on Wegmans.com notes that "The lemon pepper fish is the best!" A customer on TikTok raved about his selections from the bar, giving his top pick, the Asian green beans, a 9 out of 10 rating. A member of a gluten-free Reddit group shares their appreciation for the gluten-free options available among the Asian bar items. Food that's hot, tasty, and accommodating ... who could ask for anything more?
Worst – Chicken and Monterey Jack Cheese Quesadilla
Quesadillas are one of the easiest homemade meals around. They're quick and delicious, and it doesn't take a gourmet chef to figure out how to make one. So, Wegmans offering pre-made quesadillas filled with chicken and Monterey Jack cheese feels a little like a cheat, according to customers who reviewed the product on the company site. And it's not a cheap cheat, either. At $8.00, it's a high-ticket purchase in the world of fast dining, which demands a level of quality from anyone who shells out the cash.
With less than 20 reviews averaging less than 2.5 stars, it doesn't seem like such a hot deal for a hot meal. The most common complaint from customers is the lack of flavor. A one-star review from one customer on the Wegmans website calls out, "This has no flavor, I'm not even sure there is salt, and barely any filling." Another customer on Wegmans.com concurs, noting, "Packed with nothing, completely tasteless, comes with no dipping salsa, and overpriced, to boot!" Yikes. Your grocery money could be much better spent.
Best – Lemon Garlic Boneless Chicken Breast
Wegmans philosophy of using antibiotic-free chicken is a practice shoppers should appreciate, especially when it helps make Lemon Garlic Boneless Chicken Breasts in the hot foods section a healthier option. With nearly a 4-star average spanning about 35 reviews total, this is the highest and most-rated boneless chicken dish on the prepared food menu. The package contains four antibiotic-free breasts bearing grill marks that appear to be cooked over an open flame, which is always an indication of a flavorful journey.
Sometimes skinless, boneless chicken can be a bit dry and lacking in flavor. But Wegmans seems to know how to treat its chicken to make it work. One reviewer on Wegmans.com lauds this chicken's authenticity, stating, "Pre-cooked chicken usually tastes off to me, but these are great." Another customer on the Wegmans website enjoys it with a bit of augmentation: "So good with my kale, bell pepper and onion reheated veggies."
Worst – Potato Salad
How many ways can you ruin potato salad? It's potatoes and mayonnaise, plus whatever chopped up veggies you like, and maybe a little hard-boiled egg and crumbled bacon for texture. Foolproof, right? Well, Wegmans has done something regrettable with its packaged potato salad that just doesn't sit right with its customers. It's so questionable that the product has just less than a 2-star average over 25 reviews. It's disappointing, but it's better to know before you swing by your location on the way to the cookout and make a major mistake.
A reviewer on Wegmans.com doesn't mince words about the reduced quality of the potato salad over the years. "Wegmans should be embarrassed to put this product on their counter with their name on it," he says definitively. It's not just the product in the package, but knowing how long the potato salad lasts that causes frustration for some customers. An entry from a Wegmans Reddit group notes that the expiration date isn't clearly visible on their package, prompting a response from another user who recalled having to find the expiration date on Wegmans mushrooms by reading black ink printed on a background that was also black. This may explain why another reviewer on the Wegmans website notes: "Bland, tasteless and the mayo used tastes like it's gone bad." Oof.
Best – 8-Piece Rosemary Roast Chicken
Let's say you have hungry guests coming for a weekend lunch and the idea of cooking is laughable at best. With Wegmans 8-piece Rosemary Roast Chicken, you have a pre-cooked party in a box that lets you pretend you've spent the morning laboring in the kitchen — just remember to throw away the boxes before the crowd arrives! This crowd-pleasing prepared dish is a fan favorite among Wegmans visitors, pulling one of the highest rankings of any chicken selection, with a shining 4.4-star average with about 60 reviews.
What makes this pre-cooked collection of antibiotic-free breasts, thighs, drumsticks, and wings so spectacular? A reviewer on Wegmans.com puts it succinctly: "Consistently tender, not dry and super handy as a base for multiple meals." Another customer on Wegmans.com chimes in with praise for the convenience, stating, "Very easy meal to put on table." No wonder Wegmans chose to announce its arrival with a Super Bowl ad!
Worst – General Tso's Chicken with Lo Mein Noodles
General Tso's chicken is always a dice roll; depending on your tolerance for the heat it brings, you may either love or hate the taste bud inferno, especially when the balanced flavor isn't a priority in the kitchen. Wegmans seems to offend more than it impresses with its pre-made take on the Chinese dining favorite, which explains the disappointingly low 2-star average with about 35 total reviews.
What exactly makes General Tso's chicken a general failure? It turns out a total lack of spice in a recipe renowned for its fiery fierceness topples this Wegmans prepared creation. A customer wrote in a Wegmans.com review, "Though described as 'spicy' in the description there was nothing spicy about it that I could detect." Another reviewer writes her comments directly to Wegmans: "You aren't using batter fried chicken anymore and the spice is off. Please go back to the old recipe." Looks like this version of General Tso is only so-so, if even that.
Best – Signature Whipped Potatoes
Comfort food that comes ready to eat is always adored by connoisseurs of soothing selections, a concept Wegmans puts to the test with its Signature Whipped Potatoes. Consumers rave about the taste and texture, a double-dose of dining pleasure that can easily go off the rails with homemade whipped potatoes. This iteration of sensational taters soars into the stratosphere with a 4.4-star average across less than 50 reviews from customers who cared enough to weigh in.
A Wegmans shopper on Wegmans.com makes her feelings clear in her review, declaring, "Better than homemade as they are delicious and so creamy!" Another reviewer is also a fan, giving a more detailed description: "These have been consistently excellent through the years: a garlicky, buttery taste that requires no gravy to complement any meal." Even home cooks trying to replicate the formula can't seem to get it quite right, a Reddit user explains: "I love these and make my own mashed potatoes all the time. Mine are very good but not the same as Wegmans. What is their secret?" The secret is you don't need to make them; just grab some at Wegmans and make your life easier!
Worst – Fully Cooked Pepperoni Pizza
It's more believable that the best pre-made pepperoni pizza comes to you rather than you coming to it, which is why it isn't terribly surprising to learn that Wegmans Fully Cooked Pepperoni Pizza is not so hot with the shopping crowd in the store. With about 20 reviews craters out with a 2.5-star average, a clear indicator that this pie is better off being tossed aside than thrown in your cart.
It seems unlikely that a proficient kitchen could go wrong with a pepperoni pizza, but Wegmans pulls it off in an awful fashion. A shopper on Wegmans.com describes it vividly, explaining, "While eating, pizza crust separated into layers on the last pizza I bought–never again." Layers of pizza crust? What even is that? Another customer has more to add: "This pizza is the worst. It is so greasy and lacks taste." A Reddit user affirms their opinions, saying, "It has a funny smell to it. The cheese is clearly cheap, and the sauce is bland." Well now. That just about covers everything a pizza has to offer. It sounds like sticking with fast-food pizza is a preferred option to wasting money on this weird, greasy, flavorless disk.
Best – Meatballs and Sauce
Whether you use them for a traditional pasta dish or squeeze them inside a roll for a hot Italian sub, Wegmans meatballs and sauce seem to be a prime pick. With over 50 total reviews and a 4.2-star average, these spaghetti toppers are also at the top of their category. Six beefy spheres soaked in sauce and sprinkled with Parmigiano Reggiano are what the package holds, and if consumer opinions can be believed, this dish is as premium an option as Wegmans has to offer.
When one reviewer on Wegmans.com used them in her pasta, "Meatballs were extremely tasty and made cooking my spaghetti sauce so easy!" Another home cook puts the meatballs to use in creative ways in her kitchen, sharing, "I've served them as sliders." This idea may require a stop at the Wegmans bakery to grab a batch of slider buns or hoagie rolls for the occasion. Luckily, these meatballs are in one of the East Coast's favorite grocery stores, where fresh rolls are just an aisle away. Now if we could just get Wegmans everywhere, the rest of us would have a chance to get in on the saucy goodness.
Worst – Chicken Noodle Soup
The last thing you want when you're feeling under the weather and hungry for something warm and cozy is a chicken noodle soup that disappoints. It's anathema to healing, and it just doesn't sit well with an ailing body. So, knowing Wegmans prepared chicken noodle soup misses the mark with a sorry 2-star average with over 20 reviews is enough to send customers in search of better options.
What could possibly cause such a super soup misstep? A shopper on Wegmans.com gets straight to the point with her review: "No noodles!" That will certainly put a kink in your noodle soup supper. Another customer made a similar complaint, stating, "There was one singular noodle as well as one singular piece of chicken." Okay; if there are no noodles and no chicken, what exactly is in Wegmans chicken noodle soup? Another shopper clues us in with her review: "It was essentially water with a few noodles and pieces of carrot." Yeah ... that's not going to work, Wegmans. The super-low rating makes total sense now.
Best – Peruvian Chicken Power Meal
Behold, the glory of the Wegmans Peruvian Chicken Power Meal, a high-protein, low-carb, gluten-free concoction that makes healthy eating a slam dunk. This nutritious mix of lean chicken, quinoa brown rice, and green beans with a side of cilantro cream sauce holds a highly esteemed nearly 5-star average across a spectrum of about 50 reviews — not too shabby for a whole food selection sitting among more indulgent recipes. As a single-serving dish, it's also a one-person option rather than a family meal, a notable difference for the prepared meals category it occupies.
What qualifies this mindful mix as a top Wegmans prepared pick? The chicken is fantastic, but according to a reviewer on Wegmans.com, "The green beans are the real start of the show though." That's probably not a compliment green beans get too often. And as another shopper notes, "At first it seems like a basic bowl but once you add the sauce it makes it so good!" A vote for cilantro cream sauce is a vote for a tasty time at the table.
Best – Cilantro Lime Chicken Power Meal
A Cilantro Lime Chicken Power Meal provides all the elements you know and love from a boffo burrito, but without the tortilla to make matters chewy. Wegmans offers a riff on Chipotle's bowl-style dining by piling chicken over beans and rice, served with a sprinkling of cheese and cilantro and a side of salsa. The result is one of the most popular and best-rated items in the Wegmans prepared food collection, boasting nearly a 5-star average with about 50 reviews. With customers crowing about their love of the power meals overall, it seems like a hot pick for healthy eaters with a taste for flavorful chicken creations.
This power bowl appears to have the right combination of elements to be pleasing in a variety of aspects. As a reviewer on Wegmans.com describes it, "Flavor is so good; balance of ingredients is perfect; sauce is great on top; easy to heat up in the microwave." That's as apt a description of a perfect premade food as you're likely to find. Endorsements like this make us wish there was a Wegmans in the vicinity to give our dinner options an upgrade.
Best – Shrimp Po Boy Volcano Roll with White Rice
Who doesn't love a Louisiana sushi fusion dish peppered with bold imagination? With a shrimp Po Boy wrapped up as a volcano roll served with a side of white rice, Wegmans manages to capture two unique cultural cuisines in a single creation that gets high marks from those who've tried it, to the tune of a 4.5-star average covering about 45 reviews.
For adventurous diners willing to give this bodacious blend ago, great rewards await. A reviewer on Wegmans.com makes no bones about her love for the roll, naming her two-exclamation-point review, "My Go-To Sushi Roll!!" Another diner weighed in on the positive side saying, "Tried this one for the first time tonight, it did not disappoint!" A TikTok user isn't too shy to share a video of herself enjoying the rolls, offered without narration. It seems prepared food this good doesn't always require commentary.
How we chose our items
Wegmans customers are a devoted lot, eager to voice their opinions about the many prepared food options that pique your interest. We dug into reviews on the Wegmans site to learn which selections are rated the highest and lowest, and read the verbiage to find out what made each item either a win or a loss. Thankfully, there are very descriptive write-ups that lend ample evidence that the number of stars given are truly earned, and the number of stars denied are denied for a reason.
We also searched for external sources like Reddit and TikTok to find other viewpoints on these items in an effort to confirm the in-store reviews. Though users seem more likely to make broad statements about a type of food they either love or hate — Wegmans precooked chicken, for example — than about the specific selections, we were able to find instances where the opinions aligned between these external sites and Wegmans own site, reinforcing the first-hand experiences from people who've shopped for and eaten these selections.