When we spotted the Trader Joe’s BBQ Teriyaki Chicken on our most recent TJ’s run, we had this nagging feeling that we’d already tried it. On the one hand, the name seemed familiar, but on the other, the package didn’t look familiar at all. We started thinking that maybe we hadn’t tried it after all.
As it turns out, we’d reviewed the BBQ Chicken Teriyaki in the past, which had been filed under the now-defunct Trader Ming’s sub-brand. If you look closely at that title, you’ll notice that the words Chicken and Teriyaki have been rearranged. Very sneaky, Trader Joe’s marketing team, very sneaky indeed!
Now, even though this is probably the exact same meal — or at least, something that’s almost indistinguishably similar — we’re going to have another go at it. When we reviewed the previous version, we noted that it was “monstrously good,” so we were curious to see if we’d still agree with that assessment all these years later. That’s quite a description.
You can cook this in the microwave if you’d like, but we went with the stovetop. In either case, the cooking instructions are written right there on the bag, so you can scroll down to the bottom of this review and check out our package scan if you need to know more about that. For us, though, it’s now time to give this a little tasty taste.
Now, to be fair, it does seem like something’s changed with this meal, aside from just the packaging and the order of the words in the title. The biggest tell for us is that the nutrition content is different. This has more calories and sodium than the previous version, even though the ingredients seem strikingly similar. Hmm. That’s curious…
Unfortunately, it’s been almost four years since we reviewed the previous version of this dish, so we don’t remember the specifics (aside from what we wrote in our previous review). However, we can say that this version is excellent.
It all starts with that succulent chicken, which is tender and rich and just a treat to bite into. But then there’s the BBQ teriyaki sauce, which kicks this up to the next level. It’s sweet, but it has undertones of soy, and it pairs with this chicken wonderfully. Overall, this is a high-quality batch of meat, and we can’t get enough of it.
According to the bag, there are about four servings in a bag, and each serving has about 240 calories and 710 mg of sodium. That doesn’t seem so bad until you consider the fact that this bag is probably closer to two servings than four, meaning you’ll have to double those numbers (to 480 calories and 1,420 mg of sodium). That looks a lot less appealing doesn’t it? What’s worse is that, as we mentioned earlier, these numbers are even higher than the numbers that were printed on the previous version of the bag.
Would we still call the Trader Joe’s BBQ Teriyaki Chicken “monstrously good?” As it turns out, yes we would. Enthusiastically. This stuff is absolutely incredible. You’ll want to be careful with this, as you might develop a hardcore craving for it, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.
If you want to know more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this frozen chicken, check out our package scan below.
I agree with you. It is exceptionally delicious. And if you don’t want as much sauce you only have to put one pack and instead of two which are provided. When I make this dish, I had some frozen broccoli to the chicken and a package of Trader Joe’s frozen jasmine rice and I heat it a little longer in the microwave and they recommend so that it’s thoroughly cooked. Definitely an easy meal at a very reasonable price. There’s so much of it that it definitely covers 2 to 3 meals for me cooked the way I do.