I recently hosted a Chef Boyardee house party where we had the chance to test out some new Chef Boyardee recipes with a few friends. We tried out Chef Boyardee’s Ravioli Lasagna, Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake, and Taco-roni recipes. The simplest to make was the Taco-roni; you only have to heat up a few ingredients and stir them together! My personal favorite was the Ravioli Lasagna, which adds cheese and spinach to Chef Boyardee ravioli for a real quick and easy dinner. You can watch the following video of Chef George Duran making the Ravioli Lasagna so you can see for yourself just how simple it is to make.

Party guests enjoyed all three recipes, with varying preferences. All were amazed you could take a Chef Boyardee can and remix it into a full dish with a few added ingredients. The kids enjoyed the Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake the most, probably because of it’s pizza-ish qualities. This was a dish that a friend who helped me out with the party had made previous to the event. She had found that the dough base of the dish needed more seasoning for her taste. When she made it again for the party, she tweaked the recipe a bit by seasoning the dough mix with pepper, garlic, and other spices.

I asked my guests to share with us what they thought of the Chef Boyardee recipes and what they might change, if anything. Though nervous about being on camera at first, they were great sports and played along. Here’s what ModernMami.com Chef Boyardee party guests had to say:

Do you think you will try one of the Chef Boyardee recipes with your family?

Disclosure: As a Be the Chef party host, I was compensated for my time and work. All opinions are, as always, my own.

Growing up, there were many times my brothers and I ate Chef Boyardee. Back then, we mostly ate the spaghetti and ravioli, either as part of our packed school lunch or as a quick dinner solution. To this day, I can remember those nights that mami would serve Chef Boyardee Spaghetti & Meatballs along with some white rice. (Let’s not get into the reasoning behind doubling up on the carbs, as that’s a conversation for another post.)

Once I was in college and on my own, Chef Boyardee once again became a part of my life. I would often take a can of Chef Boyardee – expanding beyond just spaghetti and ravioli to other varieties – and eat that for lunch at my part-time job between classes.

To this day, I still pull out a can of Chef Boyardee on those days when I don’t have time to prepare a full meal. But, I didn’t know that you can use Chef Boyardee products as part of several recipes, to create entirely new dishes. This Saturday, though, I’ll be trying out a few of the Chef Boyardee recipes along with several of my friends during a Be the Chef House Party I’ve been hired to host!

What are some of those recipes? Chef Boyardee provides the following recipes on their site:

• Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake
• Taco-roni
• Cheeseburger-roni
• Chili-roni
• Ravioli Lasagna

Of those, we’ll be sampling the Ravioli Lasagna, Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake, and Taco-roni. Each of the recipes takes 35 minutes or less to prepare and requires no more than seven ingredients. A friend who is helping me with the party on Saturday already tried out the Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake and said her kids enjoyed the dish! I’m looking forward to tasting them myself and seeing what the party guests think about them.

I’ll be posting after the party to share more about it, the recipes, and feedback from guests. In the meantime, I invite you all to be a part of the conversation and join me on Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter, you can see what many party hosts are up to by following the #ChefBoyardeeParty tag, and on Saturday, especially, see how the parties are progressing. I’ll be posting updates to both from now through Saturday, so be sure to follow along!

Have you ever tried one of the Chef Boyardee recipes or used their products in a dish? Do you have a favorite Chef Boyardee memory from your childhood or with your own kids?

Disclosure: As a Be the Chef party host, I am being compensated for my time and work. All memories and opinions are, as always, my own.

Photos courtesy of Chef Boyardee