Description: Three “fried” chicken patties with mashed potatoes and chicken gravy weighing in at 1 1/2 pounds. Serves two.

Preparation summary: Conventional oven recommended rather than complicated microwave instructions. Remove plastic cover from chicken only, place meal tray on baking sheet and cook in preheated 350-degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes.

Highpoints: Feeds “hungry” girls, too! Chicken patties are plump and fork tender. Thank goodness the plastic wrapping you’re instructed to leave over the mashed potatoes when cooking in a conventional oven doesn’t turn into a puddle of synthetic resins.

Lowpoints: The salty, nondescript chicken batter tricks Southerners into thinking they’re eating KFC. And of the coagulated gravy sitting over the mashed potatoes, well, maybe a smidgen of the abovementioned plastic does melt into them.

Average retail price: $4.99

Availability: Major grocery stores

Description: Four refrigerated flautas by Henry’s Farmers Market stuffed with chicken thigh meat, onions, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt and spices. Chipotle cream sauce included on the side.

Preparation summary: Remove lid and sauce cup from tray and microwave flautas for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on high.

Highpoints: The accompanying chipotle cream sauce is a pretty orange, plus kicky and tongue-coating creamy.

Lowpoints: Doughy flour tortilla casings are a letdown, as are the rubbery poultry crumbles inside that yield an occasional tapioca-sized ball of gristle.

Average retail price: $5.99

Availability: Henry’s Farmers Market

Description: Twelve large frozen shrimp encased in crunchy wheat flour breading with bits of jalapeño peppers tucked underneath.

Preparation summary: Place shrimp on baking tray and cook in preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes at 375 degrees.

Highpoints: Shrimp are easy to handle; breading cooks evenly and stays intact, making it a non-messy and attractive choice for finger-food trays.

Lowpoints: Couldn’t taste the lime or the tequila, or the meaty shrimp for that matter because the feisty jalapeño peppers dominate. My companion who shared in the crustaceans craved a dipping sauce.

Average retail price: $5.69

Availability: Trader Joe’s

Description: A thick soup made of chicken broth, cubed chicken, peas, celery and carrots made to taste like “freshly baked pot pie.”

Preparation summary: Heat on stovetop or in microwave until hot.

Highpoints: Savory and viscous like chicken pot pie, and carby enough (due to modified food starch) that you don’t really miss the pastry crust.

Lowpoints: As with all Progresso soup products, you get oceans of salt in each 1-cup serving. And in this case it’s a whopping 890 milligrams.

Average retail price: $2.99

Availability: Major grocery stores