This Sam's Club Prepared Meal Rivals Italian Restaurant Food

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If you ask longtime customers, they might tell you there are several Sam's Club items everyone should try. Whether it's heat-and-eat waffle fries from the freezer aisle, teeny-tiny cheesecakes in a range of flavors, or pizza from the café, shoppers swear by various store exclusives. In a similar vein, fans of Italian-style dishes might seek out the cheese manicotti, which ranked second in our taste-test of popular pre-made meals from Sam's Club.

For the uninitiated, manicotti is a large tube pasta that's often filled with cheese or meat, doused in sauce, and baked. Manicotti is comparable to cannelloni, and the American version in particular is pretty similar. By contrast, traditional manicotti is made with crepes instead of pasta. Meanwhile, cannelloni has smooth sides and straight edges, versus manicotti's usual ridges and angular shape. Sam's Club's take on the latter comes with six pieces that are priced per pound, often costing about $12. It has chunky marinara sauce, herbed ricotta, and freshly grated mozzarella.

Mashed contributor Steven Luna gave the Sam's Club meal his approval. "Even the visual impact of the dish is something special, with the manicotti appearing to be arranged on a platter, even though they're in a disposable aluminum pan with a plastic top," Luna wrote. He went on to call it "a spectacular selection that rivals chain Italian restaurants," praising the tender pasta, fluffy filling, and well-composed sauce.

Meaning "big sleeve" in Italian, manicotti is one of the oldest pasta shapes; the dough was traditionally cut into rectangles and rolled into tubes. Its ridges make it great for holding hearty meat sauces, like Bolognese. And with the right combination of cheeses and marinara, you have the makings of a standout grocery store item.

Sam's Club customers adore the chain's manicotti. "My family was very pleased ... It was so easy to heat up ... absolutely delicious! Pair it with a salad and garlic bread, and you have an easy, go-to dinner," one reviewer raved. "My picky kids loved this! I topped it with some cooked, seasoned ground beef before putting it in the oven, and it mixed with the sauce so well," wrote another. "This is so good and affordable ... as good or better than my favorite Italian restaurant's manicotti. I serve mine with my homemade sauce and meatballs," added a third.

While Sam's Club wears the crown, there are other options. Costco has sold five-cheese manicotti with sun-dried tomatoes and four-cheese spinach manicotti in the past (but they aren't always available). Kroger and Whole Foods Market offer similarly assembled cheese manicotti. Wegmans sells a frozen version for shoppers to top with their own sauce. You may also see products from specialty retailers at major grocers, like Scaramuzza's manicotti at Giant.