We’re always on the lookout for tasty, low-calorie meals. Since we’ve found some pretty great items in Smart Made’s line of frozen foods that fit this description, we were curious to see how their Thai-Style Chicken & Vegetables tastes.
This takes a bit longer to cook than you might think. Stick it in the microwave for three minutes, then stir, then put it back in for another two and a half. Five and a half minutes certainly isn’t a long time, but it’s longer than most of the low-calorie meals we can recall off the top of our heads. We also wrestled to get the plastic film off the tray, which always puts us in a bit of a downer mood when we’re really hungry.
Like many of Smart Made’s other frozen meals, this one keeps the calorie count low by making some smart choices. For example, it swaps out what would have otherwise been a cream-based sauce for one made with fat-free yogurt. We weren’t sure how that was going to taste, but it turns out it’s the perfect choice for this dish. The yogurt lends a little bit of sweetness that complements the savory chicken quite well.
And that’s a good thing, because the chicken was a little below our expectations. It’s juicy and has a lovely grilled look to it, but it tastes a little generic and it’s kind of dry in the middle. The yogurt really works to offset both of these flaws, turning mediocre chicken into something a bit tastier than that.
There’s a very interesting combo of grilled veggies here. The bell peppers, carrots, green beans, and onions are all to be expected — and they all taste great — but the big surprise is the addition of green chile peppers. This complements the sweetness of the sauce with a spicy zing. It actually works pretty well, but if you’re not expecting the chile peppers, you’re in for quite the surprise — they’re pretty potent. We wouldn’t say they’re overly spicy or anything, but the flavor is strong enough to severely overpower the other veggies.
And, of course, this whole mix comes sitting on top of a blend of brown rice and red quinoa. The quinoa gives each bite a bit of added texture, so we’re really glad it’s there. The brown rice would have been pretty boring without it.
This meal probably won’t throw off your diet; it only contains 250 calories (and a measly 35 from fat). The sodium is not quite as high as we expected — just 580 mg. We usually find Asian-inspired meals to be really high in sodium, and while 580 mg isn’t necessarily low, it’s low for a frozen Thai-style meal.
For only having 250 calories, the Smart Made Thai-Style Chicken & Vegetables is quite good. It’s not perfect — and you can certainly find better frozen Thai food out there if that’s what you’re looking for — but those meals are probably going to have far more calories than this one. If you’re on a diet, this meal comes as a welcome respite from bland diet food.
To learn more about the nutrition info or ingredients for this frozen meal, check out our package scans below.
