Trader Joe’s frozen Chicken Teriyaki is like a tasty adventure in a box! If you’re a busy parent like me, you’ll love how easy it is to whip up this delicious meal. Imagine juicy chicken smothered in a savory teriyaki sauce that makes your taste buds do a happy dance. Whether you’re rushing to get dinner on the table or just want a quick and yummy meal, this frozen delight from Trader Joe’s is a real winner. Let’s dive into the flavors and see why this Chicken Teriyaki might just become your new go-to dinner option! But I have my reservations…
First I want to backtrack a little. Chicken Teriyaki or Teriyaki, in general, is a Japanese dish that is fairly common street food, but not as common as you might think in the United States.
In the United States, Teriyaki really became a thing in Seattle in 1976 when a guy named Toshi set up shop. He kept it simple, grilled chicken, rice, and a side salad with lots of Teriyaki sauce for just a couple of bucks. Other people saw how successful he was and copied him. Pretty soon, there was a Teriyaki joint on just about every street corner in the Seattle area.
When my wife and I moved from the East Coast to Seattle I kept hearing about Teriyaki and when I landed a job right away people were telling me about their favorite Teriyaki joint. It was cheap, filling eats.
There are literally hundreds of Teriyaki joints in the Seattle metro area now. My little town of about 10,000 people has at least six of them. People all have their favorites in town but they all seem busy. The funny thing is that none of them sell beer or wine and are never open on Sundays.
You can get Teriyaki in all kinds of meats and seafood now. Chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, salmon. Usually $10 for a large carryout meal and more than even I can eat in a sitting anymore. Our family orders out Teriyaki 2-3 times a month. I would say I am a Teriyaki connoisseur at this point. I have been eating it for almost twenty years. This is why I never bought the Trader Joe’s BBQ Chicken Teriyaki because I didn’t feel it could ever compete with my local shop.
For what it’s worth, at $5.99 for 21 ounces, you get a lot of calories and meat here. There are only two things in the bag, cooked and frozen chicken thigh meat that is not seasoned very much. Then also two small bags of teriyaki sauce. This bag comes in at a whopping 1 lb and 5 oz of food. That’s enough to feed a small family if you add rice and veggies on the side.
The preferred method to cook this Trader Joe’s chicken teriyaki is in the microwave. First I took the frozen teriyaki sauce and put it in a bowl of hot water to thaw it out.
Then, I filled up a small bowl with about 1/3 of the contents of the bag and microwaved it for a couple of minutes until it was steaming hot.
Then I dumped it on top of a pile of rice I cooked up. Poured the warmed-up sauce on top of it all and then sprinkled some chopped green onions for flavor. There you have it! Easy enough.
But how did it taste? Did it stack up to real Seattle-style teriyaki? Not quite. First, the meat was overcooked. Cooking it twice rendered it a little tough (The meat is fully cooked when you buy it and it’s cooked again in the microwave). The sauce was sweeter and had less flavor than I am used to. The Seattle teriyaki sauce has a slightly burnt edge to it with more black pepper in it. Just a lot more flavorful.
Trader Joe’s Teriyaki Final Verdict
I understand why people buy this and why it’s been a staple of Trader Joe’s for so long. It’s like the Orange Chicken. It was cheap. It feeds at least two people and it’s infinitely adaptable. You can add a large variety of things to the meat. Kids probably love it and if I was a starving college student, I would eat this all the time.
Would I buy this again? Probably not. Teriyaki is cheap and plentiful here in the Seattle area. Making your own is a snap to do if you have a grill.
I will give this 6 Bells because I am not really a fan of this.
INGREDIENTS
skinless chicken leg meat, water, sugar, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybean, salt), salt, sake (rice, water, yeast), lime juice, ginger, garlic, green onion.
We’ve had this twice. This comes out sooooo much better when cooked in a skillet. I rate this 5 out of 5 when cooked in the skillet. Cooking it by microwave is a waste of time and money (1 out of 5).
For sure! Never would I thought a person who reviews food would put it in the microwave and review lol skillet is the way to go and crisps the chicken really nice.
It was the approved method on the back of the package. I try to follow package instructions first and then offer variations if I have time.
We also made this using the skillet method. I did not realize it came with no vegetables, so midway through heating the meat, I added a sliced onion and a chopped bell pepper. After adding the sauce, I was underwhelmed with the flavor. I added soy sauce and now also wish I had added another sweet element – maybe some mirin and honey? The meat was portioned much too large and although we understand dark meat is more flavorful and moist, we found several gristly pieces that almost ruined the meal. We would not get this meal again. (1 out of 5 stars)
Traditional Teriyaki is just meat, rice, and sauce with maybe some green onions sprinkled on top. When it’s made well it’s excellent but for the Japanese, it’s nothing more than a small plate of food, not a whole meal.
I never leave reviews, but this dish was spot on. I would even say I might be putting our local teriyaki shop down. This was a family hit even the picky eaters asked for seconds. I, of course, cooked it stove top in skillet. Grilled chicken crisped up nicely and sauce cooked up to a good sticky consistency. Will definitely keep on hand in the freezer…stick to skillet preparation. Would not ruin this by trying to heat in microwave.
Add 1/4 of brown sugar or the amount to your liking and you now have mall burbon chicken. You are welcomed
I made this a few days ago and I think it was amazing. I usually don’t like teriyaki chicken, but this was really good and the macros are awesome. I used the skillet method.. I would never cook frozen food in the microwave to be honest!
I used one bag.
Added 1/4 cup frozen peas carrots diced
1 can Sliced water chestnuts
Served over TJs cauliflower rice
Topped with few toasted chow mein noodles
Super yummy
The chicken teriyaki is one of favorites for Trader Joe dinner night. I’ve never microwaved it, always cooked it in a skillet and it always comes out great. Match this up with a bag of TJ vegetable fried rice and a small salad and it’s a very filling dinner.
It’s amazing how easy it is to put a nutritional meal together by throwing a few Trader Joe’s products together for dinner. We do it all the time!