Buffalo chicken is a strange term that’s confusing for a lot of people. How can it be a buffalo if it’s made of chicken? Of course, the reality is that chicken refers to the actual meat, while the Buffalo part refers to the sauce, which is named for Buffalo, New York. It makes sense when you think about it that way, but without context, it’s a very strange pairing of words.
Anyway, we’re checking out the Trader Joe’s Buffalo Style Chicken Wrap today. No, this isn’t a frozen food — we found this in the refrigerated section at our local TJ’s store — but it’s been a while since we reviewed anything from Trader Joe’s. We thought this would get us back into the swing of things! Buffalo sauce always gets us excited!
There’s almost no prep time required. Just break the seal on the box, rip open the included packet of bleu cheese, and get chomping!
The main event here is the chicken, which is slathered in a buffalo-style sauce. It’s much spicier than we were expecting it to be, but it does taste a little bit weird. There’s a sort of chemical flavor to it that’s pretty subtle, but we don’t care for it much. While the overall flavor of the sauce is great, these subtle undertones make this not quite as good as it could be.
Then again, the bleu cheese dressing really ties the whole thing together, adding that creamy element that counteracts the spiciness of the buffalo sauce. In fact, it even reduces that “chemical” undertone that we were talking about earlier. While we tend to prefer ranch to bleu cheese, we have to admit that this stuff really hits the spot. You’ll definitely want to dip every single bite in this stuff for the right flavor combo.
There’s also a little bit of celery mixed in for a fresh veggie crunch.
If you’re a calorie-counter, you’re going to want to steer clear of this. Without the bleu cheese dipping sauce, you’re looking at 510 calories and 1,540 mg of sodium. With the dipping sauce (which we think is essential), you’re up to 670 calories and 1,770 mg of sodium. This wrap ain’t fooling around!
The Trader Joe’s Buffalo Style Chicken Wrap is a pretty decent buffalo wrap, though it does have one flaw: the buffalo sauce has a weird flavor to it. However, if you’re a dipper, we think you can use the bleu cheese to hide that subtle flavor and make this a truly delicious sandwich.
To learn more about the nutrition contents or ingredients in this TJ’s wrap, check out our package scan below.
