With the big football game coming soon, I thought it was a good time to review these Trader Joe’s Buffalo Style Chicken Poppers. What could be better than chicken wings without the mess? Well, Trader Joe’s has you covered with this innovative Buffalo style chicken in a convenient wonton wrapper!
We all know what Buffalo style wings are but for those that are living under a rock, they are chicken wings that are deep fried (but can be cooked in an oven with similar effects) the general gist is that you have crispy cooked chicken wings. When they are done cooking, you basically toss them in Frank’s Redhot sauce. Serve them with blue cheese dressing with a side of carrots and celery. It’s become a classic appetizer bar food type dish across the United States and a lot of the rest of the world.
The biggest problem with regular chicken wings is that it’s messy. You need to pick up a chicken wing, covered in sauce and eat it with your fingers. Sauce gets all over your fingers and you end up needing lots of paper towels to eat them. Sauce gets under your fingernails and on your face… yuck! They taste great but what a mess!
So, it looks like Trader Joe’s got smart and created an appetizer that contains the essence of Buffalo chicken wings, re-imagined if you will, into an easy-to-eat package. It’s got the chicken with the bones, the cheese, the hot sauce all wrapped up in a wonton wrapper that’s easy to eat. What’s not to like?
What you have here is a triangle of filo dough that has a filling of some spicy cheese and chunks of chicken. You bake these frozen triangles in the oven. Do not microwave them because they just turn to mush. I know because I tried it. The most interesting part of these is the crispy crunchy fillo dough which I really enjoyed. Who doesn’t like crispy fried filo dough straight from the oven?
Preparation
On the side of the box, there are two ways to prepare these Buffalo chicken poppers. The oven or the air fryer and you know we love to prepare these things in the air fryer because it’s fast and it makes them very crispy. It only takes about 5 minutes in an Air Fryer set to 350 degrees and they came out extra crispy and super hot inside.
Just be careful when you pull them out. They need a long time to cool off. The cheesy filling is molten lava straight out of the oven. After I let them cool off, I tried to cut one for the glamour shot and unlike the front of the Trader Joe’s box, the popper kept squishing when I tried to cut it. But thankfully, you will probably just eat them with your fingers!
Final Thoughts
The filling is mostly cheese and the cheese is pretty darn spicy. Way more spicy than I expected. Sadly, there was barely any meat in the middle of these. It was 98% cheese and these little tiny chunks of what could be chicken meat, but nothing like the shot on the product box. But I did enjoy the ease with which you can eat them and the crunchy exterior
Sadly, there just wasn’t enough here for me to enjoy. The poppers were a bit too spicy and mostly cheese and not even a lot of cheese. At least if you are going to skimp on the chicken put some decent amount of cheese in the middle of these things. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend these things. While they were spicy and cheesy, too things I usually love, it wasn’t all that interesting and there wasn’t really much meat. 4 out of 10 Bells I will give them!
Ingredients
WONTON WRAPPER (WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, CORNSTARCH, TAPIOCA STARCH, SALT), GRILLED DICED WHITE CHICKEN MEAT (BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREAST, WATER, RICE STARCH, SALT), CREAM CHEESE (CULTURED PASTEURIZED MILK AND CREAM, SALT, STABILIZERS [GUAR GUM, CAROB BEAN GUM]), WATER, CAYENNE PEPPER SAUCE (AGED CAYENNE RED PEPPERS [AGED CAYENNE RED PEPPERS, SALT], DISTILLED VINEGAR), PART SKIM FONTINA CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, MICROBIAL ENZYME, POWDERED CELLULOSE [ANTI-CAKING AGENT], NATAMYCIN [MOLD INHIBITOR]), CELERY, GREEN ONIONS, , BATTER MIX (WHEAT FLOUR, CORNSTARCH, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, SALT, LEAVENING [CREAM OF TARTAR, SODIUM BICARBONATE], XANTHAN GUM), REDUCED FAT CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SEA SALT, MICROBIAL ENZYME, ANNATTO EXTRACT [COLOR], POWDERED CELLULOSE [ANTI-CAKING AGENT]), REDUCED FAT MONTEREY JACK CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SEA SALT, MICROBIAL ENZYME, POWDERED CELLULOSE [ANTI-CAKING AGENT]), MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, RED PEPPER PASTE (DISTILLED VINEGAR, RED PEPPER, SALT), GARLIC POWDER, , BLACK PEPPER. , BATTER SET IN SOYBEAN OIL.
- CONTAINS MILK, WHEAT.
I bought the Trader Joe’s Buffalo Style Chicken Poppers earlier this year, and they were the tastiest poppers I’ve ever had! Now that they’re back in season, they’re disgusting. The breading isn’t flakey. There’s barely any filling, and it flat out isn’t giving like original version. These poppers taste like a subpar generic brand. PLEASE DO NOT BUY if you are expecting the flakey, fuller buffalo style chicken poppers. The new version is a sad attempt to replicate the original.
Agree. Just bought some for NYE and they obviously changed supply companies. Similar to what happened with the TJ pigs in a blanket appetizer, the new fulfillment company is cutting corners and providing a subpar product.
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These buffalo chicken poppers used to be pretty tasty. However they have changed their recipe and not for the better. The dough is not a flaky dough like it used to be and the filling I can’t comment on because there was no filling inside. I would not buy these again. Very disappointed.
I would disagree! They taste amazing! Spicy yes and I only air fry them and they are crispy. Who the heck would microwave these?! Lol
These are amazing! Great flavor and an upgrade to the crust from the prior fillo that wasn’t as crunchy. Air fry or oven is a must.