Most people who've shopped at Ukrop’s Super Markets know about their refrigerated, prepared dinners such as lasagna, macaroni and cheese, grilled chicken, or baked spaghetti — packaged in single-serve sizes, good for heating up in the office at lunchtime or for a solo dinner at home.

Early this year, two decades after the grocery company first launched its prepared-foods line, Ukrop’s began re-evaluating the dishes being offered. After seeking input from focus groups, the company developed about 50 items and brought half of them into the stores, starting in May and continuing through the fall. Among those are chicken Parmesan with linguine, a roasted-vegetable frittata and a spicy Mexican dish, the Carnitas Tamale Bake with shredded pork, black beans and corn, topped with a cornmeal crust. (This past Friday, I joined a group of journalists invited to the Ukrop’s near Chesterfield Towne Center to try some of the newer offerings, which included appetizers such as mini quiches and grilled shrimp, beef and chicken with Asian seasoning, served on skewers with dipping sauce.)

“We wanted to be more innovative with our menus,” says Ukrop’s executive chef Thomas A. Pearce, adding that customers were interested in more-creative dishes and more pasta choices. Some new dishes, such as a peach-blueberry crisp or the mini Beef Wellington appetizer, will be available only on a seasonal basis. Others, like the new bread pudding, may be available in different flavors such as pumpkin or gingerbread, depending on the season, says Connie Mattox, consumer insight manager for Ukrop’s.

Another change is that dishes such as the roasted fall vegetables and scalloped potatoes, which had been available in single-serving sizes, are now being packaged in family-size containers for holiday tables. Ukrop’s is also taking orders through Saturday for Thanksgiving meals, which can be ordered as packages to serve six to eight people or as a la carte items. (For example, the Cajun fried-turkey meal, for $69.99, comes with cornbread dressing, Duchess potato casserole, seasoned green beans and gravy.)