Supermarket Cheese Ravioli
Ravioli is Italian for “little turnips,” but these squares or rounds typically encase a filling of meat or cheese. Homemade versions can take most of an afternoon to cut and press by hand. Store-bought cheese ravioli—machine-punched from sheets of pasta sandwiched around mounds of filling—offer convenience, but would any pass muster? We wanted a flavorful, cheesy filling and no structural issues: Ravioli need a thick enough pasta wrapping so they won’t burst in rapidly boiling water and a generous cheese-to-pasta ratio.
We rounded up five nationally available brands (four frozen and one refrigerated), and boiled them before tossing them with a small amount of neutral-tasting, plain olive oil. Then we called tasters to lunch.
The brands that we liked best had the most cheese per square (or round), with almost 1 gram of filling for every 2 grams of pasta. Our favorite provided “a burst of creamy cheese” with every bite and a “perfect dough-to-filling ratio”; the runner-up had enough “creamy, plush, rich” cheese for tasters to detect it melting as they ate. All of the brands we sampled remained intact in boiling water, but some had shells so thick and doughy, we were left searching for the filling. “Need more cheese!” tasters grumbled.
Cheese type also factored into our selection, with tasters preferring brands stuffed with enough nutty, glutamate-rich Parmesan and Romano to round out their use of ricotta. A ravioli that relied on cracker meal as a secondary ingredient got thoroughly panned—“Honestly, I can’t taste any flavor at all in the filling,” one taster put it. A light hand with herbs and spices was also key. “Taste herbs and pepper, not cheese,” some complained of the low-ranking brand. One ravioli with dehydrated onions drew complaints for a “pasty” texture and a flavor like “onion powder overload!” The right amount of seasoning was another predictor of success. Brands with less sodium per serving were “terribly bland,” tasting “like chewy plastic” or “more like pasta water than pasta or cheese.”
The brand we liked best had everything we wanted: a “creamy, plush, rich” blend of three cheeses, enough salt to bring these flavors forth, and a “perfect dough-to-filling ratio.” Its uniform squares will never pass for homemade, but they got better than passing marks.
| Product Tested | Origin | Price* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highly Recommended | |||
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Columela Extra Virgin Olive OilOur favorite premium extra-virgin olive oil from a previous tasting, Columela is composed of a blend of intense Picual, mild Hojiblanca, Ocal, and Arbequina olives. This oil took top honors for its fruity flavor and excellent balance. Tasters praised its “big olive aroma, big olive taste” with a “buttery” flavor that is “sweet” and “full,” with a “peppery finish.” One taster said: “It’s very green and fresh—like a squeezed olive.” Another simply wrote: “Fantastic.” |
Spain | $19 for 17 oz |
| Recommended | |||
|
Lucini Italia Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive OilTasters noted this oil’s flavor was “much deeper than the other samples,” describing it as “fruity, with a slight peppery finish,” “buttery undertones,” and a “clean, green taste” that was “aromatic, with a good balance.” “It has the flavor that some good EVOOs have,” said one admiring taster. |
Italy | $19.99 for 500 ml ($39.98 per liter) |
|
Colavita Extra Virgin Olive OilVirtually tied for second place, this oil was deemed “round and buttery,” with a “light body” and flavor that was “briny and fruity,” “very fine and smooth,” and “almost herbal,” with “great balance.” “Good olive flavor. I could smell it and taste it,” approved one taster. In a word, “pleasant.” |
Italy | $17.99 for 750 ml ($23.98 per liter) |
| Recommended with Reservations | |||
|
Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive OilA clear step down from the top oils, tasters noted “overall mild” flavor and “very little aroma,” with only a “hint of green olive” and a “hint of spiciness at the end.” In pasta, it was initially “not complex,” but gradually “bloomed in your mouth.” Overall, it was “worthy of a second bite.” |
Italy, Greece, Spain, and Tunisia | $12.49 for 750 ml ($16.65 per liter) |
|
Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive OilWhile some tasters found this oil “sweet” and “buttery” with “medium body” and “slight spice at the end,” others complained that it had “zero olive flavor” and was “so floral it’s almost like eating perfume”; still others noted a “bitter” aftertaste. In pasta, it was “extremely mild” to the point of being “boring.” |
Italy, Greece, Spain, and Tunisia | $10.99 for 750 ml ($14.65 per liter) |
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Goya Extra Virgin Olive OilComments: The best comments tasters could muster were “mild” and “neutral.” Some liked it on pasta (though one called it “Snoozeville”), but complaints were myriad: “metallic,” “soapy,” “briny,” “hints of dirt.” Carped one taster, “I can’t imagine what is in here, but they have a nerve calling it EVOO.” |
Spain | $13.99 for 1 liter |
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