Trader Joe’s Just… Grilled Chicken Strips Review

Trader Joe's Just... Grilled Chicken Strips

The Trader Joe’s Just… Grilled Chicken Strips are named as such because the concept is that you can “just” take these out and heat them up (or “Just Heat & Eat” as the package states). No fancy prep work or anything. They’re also “just” chicken strips, with nothing to dress them up.

So we thought we’d take these chicken strips for a test drive to see what they’re all about. Are they as simple and easy as the bag proclaims? Well, let’s find out!

First, we should point out that there are a couple different ways to heat these. You can go with the microwave if you’d like, but we were interested in cooking these on the stovetop. All you need is a skillet and a little bit of water. It’s pretty easy. (You can read the full cooking instructions by checking out the package scan at the bottom of this review.)

Trader Joe's Just... Grilled Chicken Strips

Now, we were exaggerating just a little when we said there’s nothing to dress this chicken up. This is actually seasoned with salt, black pepper, and garlic, with just a spritz of lemon juice for some zing. Still, it’s not something you’d just heat up and serve as is — this is designed to be the protein in a greater meal. The package recommends using this meat in sandwiched or fajitas, but we think it would actually taste excellent in an alfredo pasta.

The chicken has a ton of flavor. In fact, you’ll smell how flavorful this is as soon as you crack open the bag, even though it’s still frozen. It has a lovely, rich flavor (probably due to the rib meat), and there’s just a little bit of citrusy sweetness to it as well (due to the lemon juice).

Our only complaint is that it can be just a little chalky in some places. It’s not super noticeable, and you can cover it up with a good sauce, but if you eat this straight out of the pan (like we did for the sake of this review), you’ll notice it. Again, this probably won’t even matter once you start adding other ingredients.

We should mention that, as an experiment, we tried a bite with a little bit of honey bbq sauce, and we couldn’t believe how good the combo was. We’re thinking about picking up another batch of this stuff so we can make BBQ chicken sliders.

According to the package, about 1/5 of the bag is a serving. Since you’ll be eating this as part of a larger meal, that’s probably a fair assessment. We doubt anyone will sit down and eat the whole bag in a sitting, even if they don’t add a sauce or a bun or a tortilla. That 1/5 of the bag contains just 100 calories and 140 mg of sodium, giving you plenty of room for creativity. Depending on what you add to it, this could be the protein in a fairly healthy meal.

The Trader Joe’s Just… Grilled Chicken Strips are not designed to be a standalone meal, but they will certainly enhance anything you add them to. This is a fine-tasting batch of chicken that we think you’ll get a lot of use out of.

To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this Trader Joe’s frozen chicken, check out our package scan below.

Trader Joe's Just... Grilled Chicken Strips
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Janice Connett
Janice Connett
1 year ago

The Just Chicken Strips is THE BEST for making all sorts of quick meals. The strips are just right for fajitas or for any quick cooking. My store says they have discontinued them, but what they offer now is no comparison to this great product. I hope it comes back into the store

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