(I have heard from several sources that this product has been discontinued from Trader Joe’s. It was fairly popular although I didn’t like it that much. R.I.P)
I like chicken! I like cheese! Blue cheese is a perennial favorite at my house. Becky and I both love and eat it regularly. I’m always looking to add more cheese into my diet because I really don’t eat enough of it! (yah right Steve…).
I envy college kids and/or young single people these days. When I was in college we weren’t so lucky to have all these ready to eat choices. It was Top Ramen and Mac and Cheese about 5 nights a week. I would’ve killed to have these great, pop-in-the-microwave meals. Especially that Kung Pao chicken I just reviewed. Things change and you get married and have kids and it doesn’t make much sense to live out of the microwave to prepare healthy meals.
Trader Joe’s has a variety of these more adult version of pop in the microwave meals in the frozen section (and some over in the fridge section too). It has been a long time since I last had this and I think Becky and I really liked it the last time I had it so I thought I’d give it another go around and see if it was as good as I remembered.
I looked at the back label and get a load of this description! “Fire grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast topped with sliced Portabello mushrooms, vine-ripened tomatoes, toasted walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese, finished with our exclusive coco-caribe pesto sauce….” then they go on in the next paragraph: “We developed this entree for two with a world renowned chef (really? could you tell us who that is?) Our request was that Trader Joe’s Chicken Gorgonzola be a dish you prepare in minutes that you’d be proud to serve even the most discerning guests”
Well, jeez! This better be pretty darn good if you are going to blow that much smoke! The ingredients list is typical Trader Joe’s in the fact that there are no funky sounding ingredients. You know what everything is. It looks like the ingredient list for a recipe, not some mass produced food, which is a good thing! Also, it says there are two servings in this box, but each serving is 380 calories. I would hardly call that a meal and I can a whole box on my own. I guess you could supplement with some veggies and pasta. I didn’t and ate the whole thing!
I followed the microwave directions to the letter and several minutes later I had a steaming hot Chicken Gorgonzola. OK, first off I expected a little more cheese. I don’t want it smothered in cheese, but it says Chicken GORGONZOLA on the label and basically I see nothing resembling cheese. I scooped out the chicken and put it on a plate to eat and the thing that struck me was how watery the sauce was. It was really runny. Again, something that says Gorgonzola on it I expect to have a relatively cheesy sauce.
I cut up some chicken and it seem relatively tender but when I took a bit it was rubbery and tasted like cardboard a little. You can see some mushrooms and tomatoes on the chicken but I don’t see any walnuts or taste any. The sauce was thin and really didn’t have much flavor, especially no gorgonzola flavors. Based on that description on the back, I was expecting to be wowed, but I really couldn’t recommend that anyone buy this based on what I had.
I hate to knock Trader Joe’s products, but this one has been around for a long time and I’m kind of surprised it’s still on the shelf. Maybe I got a bad one (anyone out there really like this stuff? or have a different experience than me?)
Based on my tasting of this Trader Joe’s Chicken Gorgonzola, I’m going to give it 5 bells
Hm, this has been up for a while and you don't have any comments? OK! Well, first, I think you got a bad one. Second, try preparing it in the oven next time. Microwaving it doesn't seem to go as well. Third, while the sauce has gorgonzola flavors, it's not really supposed to be a cheesy sauce… it's just savory. I would be heartbroken if they took this one off the shelves, TBH.
My wife and I are first time triers of the Chicken Gorgonzola. We found it very, very good. Easy to prep(we used the microwave). The chicken was very tender and the sauce was very savory with a great cheese taste. We served this over rice.
Would definitely recommend this product and would purchase again.
I, too, used the oven to heat it, and intended to eat half and save the rest for the next day’s lunch. COULD NOT STOP AT HALF!!!! So delicious I kept going and finished off the whole package. Had it again tonight. I could eat this once a week for the rest of my life.
Must agree, though, I was surprised to read it had walnuts in it. I never tasted any.
I agree with you. Sauce was very watery. Would not buy again.
It’s kind of weird. Usually the sauces for these prepared meals are too thick!
I think this is great. I love to have both this and the Salmon mojito in the freezer for last minute but delish meals.
The Chicken Gorgonzola meal is one of our favorites. I have been looking for it for awhile now. I finally checked with the management at TJ’s and they told me this item has been discontinued.
Trader Joe’s carried that meal for a really long time. As you can see from my review I didn’t like it all that much. I hope something better replaced it!
I found out today that Trader Joe’s dropped our favorite frozen dinner. This has been our family favorite for at least three or four years, if not more. I find it hard to believe it wasn’t popular enough since we frequently had to ask for it because the it’s spot in the frozen foods display was empty. This was our main reason for driving 30 miles round trip to TJs, so if you ever change your minds about it, let me know.
This was one of my favorites!
Prepared in the oven, the chicken texture came out perfect. With a side of brown rice, it makes a complete meal.
Dear Trader Joe’s,
Please bring this item back.
Sincerely,
A Trader Joe’s fanatic
I keep hearing from my readers on how popular this product was. We might never know why Trader Joe’s pulled the product from supplier issues, to dropping sales or whatever. Sometimes I wish they would give us a little feedback on why a product suddenly disappears!
I bought a Trader Giotto’s Gorgonzola Chicken entrée – white chicken meat, bowtie pasta, asparagus and peas in a Gorgonzola cheese sauce. All my favorite ingredients … I couldn’t wait to try it. However, I smelled what seemed like rotten asparagus when removing the plastic overlay to put it in the oven. Yet, I remained optimistic that the smell would evaporate once heated. How wrong I was! I took two brave bites and the taste was as bad as the smell. I thought I could perhaps salvage the chicken, but although “white” in color, it didn’t taste like chicken but like a rubbery something. So disappointed.