Trader Joe’s Mandarin Style Orange Chicken Bowl – the latest offering that promises to bring the zesty, exotic flavors of a far-off land straight to your microwave. As I approached this culinary adventure, armed with nothing but a fork and a dash of skepticism, I couldn’t help but wonder: could a frozen meal truly capture the essence of Mandarin cuisine, or would it be as authentic as a fortune cookie’s prophecy? Laden with rice and vegetables, it beckoned me to unearth whether it would be a taste sensation or just another chapter in the annals of frozen food folklore.
It had been a while since I finally got back to Trader Joe’s so I haven’t been keeping up with the latest and greatest. When I finally went back yesterday, I saw this Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken bowl in the freezer section. I was very intrigued because this is exactly the type of thing I like to bring to the office for lunch.
I’m not really taking lunch to the office right now but we still have to eat lunch! It looks like they took a rice bowl and put some of their famous orange chicken in it with some broccoli and put it in the microwave and voila, instant lunch!
This is super simple to make. Just microwave it in the bowl for a couple of minutes then pour the sauce packet over the top and stir it up. It couldn’t be easier.
But how did it taste you might ask? If I compare it to something you might get from a food truck, it was OK. Not great. The chicken gets a little soggy from all the steam. The vegetables are mushy. The orange sauce is a bit too sweet. I ended up using half the sauce and putting in some soy sauce instead. I know Trader Joe’s and those sauce packets are just nothing but sugar.
But I don’t think I am their demographic considering I don’t eat their bags of frozen Orange Chicken because it’s nothing but fried chicken with a sickly sweet and hot sauce, but I understand why it’s so popular. Having said all that, I still might buy some of these for the freezer because they are very easy to make.
You can trick them out with more hot sauce of veggies or whatever and make it your own. I recommend putting some hot sauce in the bowl if you want more spice. There is very little heat in this bowl. Add some Sriracha or Goujajang sauce if you like. The sauce packet is not the same sauce that you make with the stir fry. The sauce with this one is less sweet (thank god) and easier to pour if you warm up the packet before you try to pour it.
I suggest that after you microwave the bowl and when it’s doing its one minute resting, that you put the sauce packet on top of the bowl I have found there is enough heat to warm it up and make it easy to pour over your orange chicken.
Final Thoughts
After eating these bowls several times over a few weeks, I have come to really like them. They are one of the easiest things to make for a quick lunch. If you are still going into an office, they are easy to throw into a microwave at work and have a complete meal in about five minutes. They probably aren’t the healthiest option out there, but it’s not all bad and the nice thing is you can doctor them up if you want with more hot sauce or even some other veggies. I am going to give the Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken Bowl a solid 7 Bells!
INGREDIENTS:
COOKED RICE (ENRICHED LONG GRAIN RICE, WATER), CHICKEN LEG MEAT, BROCCOLI FLORETS, SUGAR, WATER, DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR, CORNSTARCH, VEGETABLE BLEND (PEAS, CARROTS, SALT), WATER, SOY SAUCE (WATER, SOYBEAN, WHEAT FLOUR, SALT), SOYBEAN OIL, WATER CHESTNUTS, SHALLOTS, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, LIQUID WHOLE EGG, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, SOY SAUCE CONCENTRATE (SOYBEAN, WHEAT FLOUR, SALT, WATER), SALT, GARLIC POWDER, ONION POWDER, GARLIC, GINGER, GREEN ONION, ORANGE PEEL, WHITE PEPPER, CAYENNE PEPPER.
CONTAINS EGG, SOY, WHEAT.
NUTRITION FACTS:
1 serving per container | Serving size 1 bowl (369g) | Amount per serving: Calories 540, Total Fat 12g (15% DV), Saturated Fat 5g (25% DV), Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 90mg (30% DV), Sodium 680mg (30% DV), Total Carbohydrate 84g (31% DV), Dietary Fiber 6g (21% DV), Total Sugars 20g—Includes 18g Added Sugars (36% DV), Protein 28g, Vitamin D (0% DV), Calcium (4% DV), Iron (10% DV), Potassium (15% DV).
The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
I completely agree with your review. I would not buy it again. Too sweet the chicken isn’t crispy and the rice is meh.