Trader Joe’s Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce Review

Trader Joe's Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce

We’ve been fiendishly chomping every frozen meal at Trader Joe’s that has shrimp in it. We’ve recently sampled the Coconut Shrimp and the Honey Walnut Shrimp, and we even tried out some holiday-style shrimp appetizers. So when we realized we still had yet to try the Trader Joe’s Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce, we knew this was something we had to correct as soon as possible.

We were actually a little surprised when we opened up the box, because we were expecting to see a whole bunch of shrimp stuffed into a giant plastic bag, which is how many of Trader Joe’s other shrimp options come. These, however, have individually wrapped styrofoam trays, each with five submarine-shaped shrimp sealed inside.

Trader Joe's Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce

Now, there’s nothing horrendous about this affair; it just seems to us that these come in an enormous box considering there are only ten pieces of shrimp inside. The box takes up a pretty hefty amount of freezer space.

So the first thing you’ll need to do to cook these is preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. While that’s preheating, you’ll have to open up those packages we talked about earlier and get the sauce thawing. There are two sauce packets, and they’re quite large, so you’ll want to fill up a bowl with warm water and dunk those packets inside. We actually think there is more than enough soy sauce in a single packet for ten shrimp, so we stuck the second packet in the fridge for later after we thawed it out.

Trader Joe's Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce

Stick the shrimp on a baking sheet, then toss them into the oven for about ten minutes. At that point, flip the shrimp over and pop the whole thing back into the oven for about ten more minutes. When that’s done, you should be golden. Golden-brown, that is.

We should warn you that while these cook, they produce a pungent odor. It smells artificial and plasticy, and a bit like musty corn flakes. It’s not a great smell. Thankfully, the weird odor doesn’t persist, and by the time they’re done cooking, they smell pretty good.

So how do they taste? We, in our opinion they are terrific. They have a crisp, great-tasting batter that we’re huge fans of. And inside is a tasty shrimp. Now, we do think the shrimp portion has a little bit of an aftertaste, but it’s not a huge problem here. It’s just something to be aware of.

Trader Joe's Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce

But an interesting thing happens when you dunk the shrimp into the dipping sauce: it becomes something amazing. It’s a sweetened soy sauce, and it really makes the flavor of these things pop. Really, it just took a little bit of sweetness to bring these to the next level. We shall eternally be fans of this combo.

Whoever determined the serving size for this shrimp must have come into work drunk that day. Apparently, one serving is about 3 oz. We’re not sure why they didn’t just pick a quantity of shrimp for a serving. Since the box has ten shrimp, and there should be about three servings in a box, that means a serving size is about three and 1/3 shrimp. Awkward.

One serving of this stuff contains 210 calories (90 from fat) and 360 mg of sodium, so a full box comes out to 630 calories (270 from fat) and 1,080 mg of sodium. Of course, the dipping sauce adds to that. So if you eat a half a box, we think you’ll probably be alright.

Trader Joe’s Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce is incredible. Just be  sure to use the dipping sauce, because that’s an essential component in this flavor-filled combo.

To learn more about the ingredients or nutrition content in these Trader Joe’s shrimp, check out our package scan below.

Trader Joe's Tempura Shrimp with Soy Dipping Sauce
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Martin Ryan
Martin Ryan
1 year ago

I found this a disappointing purchase. It was expensive because it’s tempura shrimp. But you get 2 soy dipping sauces that I measured on a food scale. The two soy sauces measure 7 oz total. That means you only get 9 oz of shrimp. So decide if you want to spend a large amount of money on a small amount of shrimp and a large amount of soy sauce.

The quality of the fried shrimp was adequate, but the flavor of being ripped off didn’t settle well.

Tom Kubo
Tom Kubo
6 months ago

We have been purchasing this item for many years, the review mentions the segmented plastic trays – that was replaced a few years ago with just plastic bags each containing 5 shrimp – the earlier versions were different than the current product – the dough coating was thinner and lighter in texture – the dough coating is now very thick 1/8″ to 3/16″ thick all around. Prepared per the package directions – 10 minutes per side produced a browned exterior, the inside dough however remained wet – not damp, really wet – a very disappointing mouth feel. Next time – if I do not find another vendor’s product, after the 20 minutes or maybe 25 minutes, I will cut one open before assuming they are ready to consume.

Last edited 6 months ago by Tom Kubo
Carol
Carol
5 months ago

I found the tempura shrimp terrible. They taste like you are eating scales. I have 5 left and intend to toss them out. You can’t hide the taste. Even if you continueto carry them I will never purchase them again.

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