Get ready people, one of Trader Joe’s most popular products is coming to a rice bowl near you. Mandarin Orange Chicken has been a customer favorite for years, and now you can throw it in the microwave for a quick lunch or dinner. Trader Joe’s Mandarin Style Orange Chicken is $3.99.
Upfront, let me say I’m not a mega-fan of Orange Chicken, it’s not something I get at Trader Joe’s or order at Panda Express, but I know people luuuuuuuuurve it. So let’s get to it.
The single serving includes the rice bowl and a packet of sauce. You just throw in the microwave for 4-5 minutes, let it sit for a minute and then add the sauce.
The bowl has a little bit of veg along with the rice, mostly carrots and peas and 1-2 small pieces of broccoli. I could have done with a little more broccoli.
For me, I wasn’t wowed. It’s fine. For $3.99, it’s probably better than going to the Panda Express near your office or at the mall. And actually, I think the sauce is pretty good. Trader Joe’s should probably just sell that, so you can make your own fried chicken.
The chicken pieces were pretty good, no weird bits. So that’s in the plus column. I should mention, you do need to thaw the sauce packet in a little bit of hot water while you microwave the bowl. So as long as you’ve got hot water from your office coffee machine, you’re covered.
I don’t know that I’d buy it again. But like I said, I’m not a mega-fan to begin with. In the end, I’ll give it a…6. Maybe a 7.
Get the review and see it out of the microwave:
Check out our other recent We Trieds from Trader Joe’s:
Chickpea and Red Lentil Risoni
kim
March 4, 2020 at 1:18 pmi agree. I wasn’t wowed by it but i might buy it again. When i crave orange chicken for one i don’t want the whole bag of t.j. ‘s frozen version and then i have to either buy the box of rice pouches etc. I was surprised by the amount of chicken in this bowl. And yes i wanted more broccoli also. Overall not a bad choice