Well, this has been a long time coming…
Over the years, we’ve had several Freezer Meal Frenzy readers tell us they wished we’d review the Saffron Road line. We’re not really sure why we never went for it before now — it’s just one of those things we’d always meant to do, but we never really got around to actually doing it.
But today is the day of reckoning. Today we’re checking out the Saffron Road Chicken Biryani with Basmati Rice — this one’s for all the lovely folks who have recommended Saffron Road’s frozen food. (Also, if you have specific items in the Saffron Road line that you’d like us to try, let us know in the comment section at the very, very bottom of this review. We’d love to check those out as well!)
This is easy enough to heat up. Simply pop this into the microwave for four minutes, stir it, and put it back in for another minute or so. We should point out that the stirring step is not just a quick swipe with a fork — you’ll really need to smash this around to make sure the sauce covers the rice thoroughly. You can also cook this in the oven if you’d like, though that will take you quite a bit longer. (For the full cooking instructions, check out the package scans at the bottom of this article.)
After taking a few bites, the first thing that stood out to us was just how great this chicken is. But it’s not great in the way that normal chicken would be; this is something else. This chicken is dryer than we were expecting, but not in a bad way. In fact, the dryness gives the chunks of meat a really nice consistency — the meat is powdery dry around the outside, but still somewhat juicy in the middle. It’s extremely satisfying to pop a piece of chicken into your mouth and let the two different consistencies mingle.
If you’ve followed the directions properly, the basmati rice should be completely browned with sauce. It’s quite a lovely combination, which makes eating the rice a lovely experience. That’s good, because this dish is mostly rice.
According to the box, there are supposed to be caramelized onions in this dish. We found one long piece of onion, but aside from that this was an onion-free zone. We don’t think that’s a bad thing in general, but those rooting for “Team Onion” might be a little disappointed.
This actually contains less sodium than we were expecting, at 630 mg. While that’s a little high in general, it’s actually lower than the average frozen meal. The calories, however, are just a tad high. With 400 calories, this is outside the range of a diet food, though it’s still a feasible meal for dieters so long as those dieters are careful about whatever else they eat that day.
The Saffron Road Chicken Biryani with Basmati Rice is an excellent frozen meal. We’re really glad our readers recommended this brand to us, and we’re quite excited to try more Saffron Road meals in the future. We’ll be featuring more of this brand’s offerings in the coming weeks.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this frozen meal, check out our package scans below.
