Sometimes, Trader Joe’s takes a fried chicken meal and knocks it out of the park. Their BBQ Chicken Teriyaki, for example, is astounding. However, we were a little hesitant to try the Trader Joe’s Shiitake Mushroom Chicken. It’s not because we were concerned that it wouldn’t taste great — no, the instructions seemed a little complex at first glance, which intimidated us a bit. We looked at the package and saw two full paragraphs of instructions, and we panicked a little bit.
But then we actually read those instructions, and they ended up not seeming quite as bad as we’d made it out to be. Yes, this is a multi-step process that involves several different pieces.
There’s a sauce packet that needs to thaw in a bowl of warm water.
And then there’s a veggie packet and a whole pile of chicken that need to be thawed in the microwave.
However, it’s really not too difficult once you actually crack open the bag and you’re in the zone. (If you want to see the full instructions, check out the package scans at the bottom of this article.)
In just about ten minutes, you’ll end up with a bowl of steaming chicken.
And boy howdy, this chicken is delicious. These are juicy dark-meat chicken chunks, which means they’re loaded with that wonderful dark-meat flavor. Then, there’s the sauce, which really kicks the flavor up yet another tasty notch. The sauce is vegetarian-friendly, but since you’ll be marinating chicken in it, you probably won’t be serving it to any vegetarians.
There are some shiitake mushroom caps in the mix as well, though we admit there were fewer in our bowl than we initially hoped there’d be. They taste great, so they’re the perfect addition to this meal; we just would have liked to see a few more of them in our meal.
Next up, you’ll find plenty of green beans in this blend. They taste surprisingly fresh and they have a firm texture to them, even after marinating in the sauce. And last, but certainly not least, is the edamame, which is the perfect finisher for this hearty mix of foodstuffs. One note about the edamame, though — there’s a ton of it here. It’s likely to be the last thing left in your bowl when you’re almost done eating this.
Trader Joe’s claims there are about four servings per bag, and that each serving has 180 calories (70 from fat). That doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that 1/4 of a package is not a lot of food. We think it’s far more realistic that you’ll split this between two people than that you’d end up getting four meals out of this. In fact, one really hungry person could probably knock this thing out in a sitting. That makes that calorie count seem quite a bit less impressive. On top of that, there’s 480 mg of sodium in a serving, meaning one bag of this stuff has almost 2,000 mg of sodium in it. Yikes, indeed.
Don’t be intimidated by the Trader Joe’s Shiitake Mushroom Chicken. Even if your cooking skill level is low enough that you’re more comfortable with a microwave than a stovetop, you should be fine cooking this up. And the flavor is amazing. This is a meal you should definitely pick up the next time you wander out to a Trader Joe’s store. Heck, pick up a few bags, as to have some extras on hand. Just be careful of that sodium level — it’s quite high.
To learn more about the nutrition content or ingredients in this Trader Joe’s frozen chicken, check out our package scan below.
I just tried this and thought it was disgusting! The chicken doesn’t taste like chicken, it was gross. I ended up eating only the vegetables. I won’t ever purchase this again.
My family, kids (10 & 4) included loved it.
it looks great but I thought it really bland and considering the amount of sodium, not really worthwhile.
Do you microwave it on high? It says “To Defrost” so I might think I set it to defrost, not high.
So, I took a chance on this as well, and figured out how to make this dish absolutely delicious, and the secret is not following the the instructions! Put your oil in the pan ( I use sesame oil) and brown the meat thoroughly until it’s warm and golden brown, then add your vegetables to sauté. While all that is happening, I also add a can (or 2) of water chestnuts and a tad more mushroom (because I like mushroom) and let everything simmer down before adding the sauce LAST and give it a good stir until its all mixed up and nice and hot! Trust me, by doing it this way, it will completely change the way you eat this dish. I serve it over rice and top it with toasted sesame seeds and green onion!
This is one of my favorite meals from Trader Joe’s! In fact, I CRAVE it! I read all the comments & I could have written that comment myself where the person tells how they make it delicious. I’ve been eating it for yrs & love it even by itself, bc I’m crazy about shiitake (wIld) mushrooms, the absolutely tender chicken pieces & green beans! I too, put the chicken & vegetables in a skillet (as well as water chestnuts). Then put the sauce in the pan & I ALWAYS add “toasted” sesame oil. It has to say toasted! I serve all this over rice & green onions on top. I cook a lot of Chinese/Asian foods from scratch. I’m 73 & have been eating Chinese food since I was 5 yrs old when we lived in the Philippines as missionaries. We ate Chinese food every week & I’ve had it in Hong Kong & other places in China. That 1 person who didn’t like it probably doesn’t like shiitake mushrooms.