Trader Joe’s Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings Review

Trader Joe's Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings

Today, the Freezer Meal Frenzy staff is trying out the Trader Joe’s Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings. Before we get into our review, though, we should mention a couple small things.

First off, these seem like they were designed to be eaten with a soup — a nice chicken noodle soup would be the obvious match for these. Since these dumplings do have soup broth in them, we wanted to make sure we ate them without soup so we could comment on that broth without having it mixed with the broth from a soup. Now, Trader Joe’s actually recommends eating them by putting one on a large spoon, biting a tiny hole in the dough so the soup runs into the spoon, letting it cool for a little bit, then putting the whole thing in your mouth. We obeyed these very specific instructions in order to get the full experience.

Trader Joe's Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings

Second, there are two cooking methods listed on the box (and you can read both of those in full if you scroll down to our package scans at the bottom of this page.) While the stovetop option seemed like it probably delivers better results, we didn’t have a steamer basket immediately on hand. This forced us to use the microwave method. The folks at Trader Joe’s actually seem to recommend this method, so again, we believe we’re commenting on the Steamed Chicken Soup Dumpling experience that Trader Joe’s intended.

With those two caveats out of the way, let’s dig in and see what these dumplings are all about!

First off, we have to say these things are delicious. The broth is very tasty — it’s savory, but it has just a touch of sweetness to it. The ground chicken is perfection. It practically melts in your mouth, and it has a wonderful texture that’s closer to ground beef than what you’d expect from chicken. It also tastes great.

Trader Joe's Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings

The only complaint we have here is with the shells. We found ours to never quite soften on the top, so the topmost portion was still a bit crispy — you can see this pretty clearly in the image above. We don’t think this is how they’re supposed to turn out (judging from the picture on the box) and we’re pretty sure this is a result of the microwave cooking method. For the record, we used the full two minutes of cook time and still ended up with crisp tops.

Of course, this is a pretty minor complaint. It certainly doesn’t ruin the experience, and these are tasty enough that we found it difficult to get too grumpy over the condition of the tops of our shells.

Surprisingly, Trader Joe’s considers the whole box to be a single serving. There’s no goalpost-shifting or calorie-hiding here; what’s in the box is exactly what’s going into your tummy. So the fact that all six dumplings add up to a total of 250 calories is pretty impressive. The sodium is 640 mg, which is a little high, though we’d say it’s slightly below average for a frozen food. Of course, if you decide to eat these with a soup, you’ll have to add the nutritional content of the soup to these. Plus, these aren’t very filling on their own, so they’re more of a snack or a side than a full meal.

The folks at Trader Joe’s believe these dumplings to be an experience that’s very hard to find outside of a Trader Joe’s freezer aisle. We’re going to have to take their word for that since we haven’t tried to locate anything like these at any other stores or restaurants. Still, we can say with confidence that the Trader Joe’s Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings are absolutely fantastic. The next time you swing by the Trader Joe’s freezer aisle, keep your eyes peeled for these steamy, soggy treats.

To learn more about the cooking instructions, nutrition content, or ingredients in these Trader Joe’s dumplings, check out our package scans below.

Trader Joe's Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings
Trader Joe's Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings
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Linda Bradley
Linda Bradley
2 years ago

Mine came out perfectly soft and moist. They inadvertently sat in the microwave for about 4 minutes after cooking. The package suggests one minute, but I got distracted, and am glad I was. 🙂

Crystal
2 years ago

You can find dumplings that inspired the likes of these at dim sum shops in metropolitan areas like San Francisco et. al. There’s nothing quite like supple dumplings prepared for your table. The soup broth bursts in your mouth. As much as Trader Joe’s does a fine job in frozen replication, I’ll still go 300 miles out of my way for a batch of fresh soup dumplings.

Bbbb
Bbbb
1 year ago

You cooked them wrong in the microwave. dont cook them in the tray. Wrap them in paper towel and microwave to directions. I added 30 seconds or so because my microwave is below recommended wattage. The other one, beef I believe, is also delicious. these are not meant to be eaten with soup. This is straight up chinese street food. I’ve seen these on youtube and they are hard to find in the south. Popular on west coast because there are more asians. Very delicious. I’m definitely getting these again.

Last edited 1 year ago by Bbbb
Isabel
Isabel
1 year ago
Reply to  Bbbb

I was also going to comment as well that these are not meant to be eaten with soup. Traditionally, they’re prepared in a steaming basket and are meant to be eaten just like how they are pictured and instructed on the box.

Elisabeth
Elisabeth
1 year ago

How are you going to review a frozen version of a food that you clearly have zero experience with?

Soup dumplings are not to be “enjoyed with soup” they have gelatinized soup inside of them that melts when steamed, giving you a bite of soup inside of the dumpling. A simple google check would have told you that instead of just being a Trader Joes snob

Xiaomin
Xiaomin
1 year ago

You’re right. That’s how we grew up eating soup dumplings in Shanghai.

M W
M W
1 year ago

People sure get their knickers in a bunch just because they assume one “proper” way over another. I’m chinese american, was born in Singapore, came to the states at 5, then lived in Hong Kong and China for over 7 years of my life. Safe to say I have had and know good dim sum and have eaten at michelin rated places. And I also know how it’s prepared, cook, whole 9 yards.

Dumplings can indeed be eaten with soup or clear broth, “qing tang” and MANY dim sum sit downs serve that in the beginning.

However do you necessarily dunk it in the broth? No not really but if it’s a bit hardened, and in this case tj’s is indeed a bit harder on the skin no one is going to do the proper eating wambulance on you or call you a snob if you do that. Btw, you kind of are acting like a snob yourself by simply questioning such a practice over frozen tj dim sum but i digress.

Trader Joes dumplings inspired by XLBs are good! Also there’s nothing wrong with the way freezermeal frenzy heated up this dim sum. YES you can go proper with a steamer basket and all that but if you want to go through all that trouble you may as well go for a “proper” chinese dim sum from the source: mom and pop hand made XLBs that are made then frozen on the spot and are absolutely amazing.

However, this isn’t a review about that or proper methods or whatever the heck that means. It’s a review on easy to get, yummy chinese inspired comfort food that you can heat up super quick. Let’s not be a snob and compare it to a proper dim sum like din tai fung or heaven forbid “how you’re supposed to heat and eat” fast food frozen dim sum.

SMH.

Jt w
Jt w
1 year ago
Reply to  M W

Anyone know if something similar is found in asian supermarkets? I can not read the writing on the bags!

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