While we love all kinds of microwave frozen dishes, rice dishes tend to be hit or miss. It’s easy to cook rice improperly, especially when you’re heating it up in the microwave. Although we were fine with the texture of the rice in Trader Joe’s Vegan Tikka Masala, we weren’t crazy about other elements of the meal.
As you can see in the image below, the rice and the sauce are divided into two separate sections. Once the meal is heated, you have to scoop the rice out of its section and stir it into the sauce. The rice is lightly seasoned, but it’s still fairly bland, which means that the rice that doesn’t make it into the sauce may wind up going to waste.
We liked the vegan tikka, which was made from a mixture of gluten and soy. However, it wasn’t really a great compliment to the rice. We wound up picking out the tikka and eating it on its own. From there, we scooped up a few bites of sauce and rice.
The sauce was serviceable, but not impressive. Although the ingredients list on the box claims the sauce contains coconut milk, it was lacking the creamy flavor that we associate with coconut. We also felt that it could have used a little more seasoning.
This meal wasn’t bad, but it lacked synergy. We would have preferred the rice if it was in some kind of bowl, and we would have preferred the tikka if it was in an entirely different dish. We didn’t hate Trader Joe’s Vegan Tikka Masala, but we probably won’t try it again.
If you’re looking for a frozen meal at Trader Joe’s, there are better options available to you.
For more information about this frozen dish’s ingredients and nutritional content, check out our package scans below.