Of all the manybeloved Trader Joe’s foodsover the years, none is more vaunted than theMandarin Orange Chicken.
Instead, TJ’s elevated the dish to the grocer’s newly createdProduct Hall of Fame.
Instagrammer@costcofoodreviewsnoted earlier this summer.
Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
“I like the Costco one a lot better!”
The quality of the Costco variety has even caused some longtime TJ’s partisans to switch allegiances.
“Costco stuff is excellent.”
Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
Still, others are steadfast defenders of TJ’s store-brand standard-bearer.
“TJs orange chicken is much better than the Costco one,“one loyalist wroteon Reddit.
“One of the few things I will only buy the TJ version over Costco.
Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
“Another added, “It’snowhere near as good as the TJ Orange Chicken.
I’ll die on this hill!”
Break out some chopsticks and follow along to see how they stacked up.
Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
Nonetheless, I was happy to give it another go.
The dish is super cheap and easy to make.
Meanwhile, warm up the sauce, then toss together and dig in.
Chris Shott/Eat This, Not That!
Some carried a noticeable white film, suggesting freezer burn.
Even so, they cooked up crispy and nicely brown.
Something about the meat flavor reminded me of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets, and not in a good way.
The 66-ounce box contains two separate bags of chicken.
The cooking instructions are virtually identical to TJ’s, with oven heating recommended.
Unlike the other brand, this showed signs of freezer burn.
The chicken browned up nicely but did not turn out quite as crispy as its counterpart.
Overall the flavor and texture remind me more of a good Chinese takeout rendition.
Ideally, the breading would have a little more crunch, but otherwise no complaints.
With the Trader Joe’s brand, I couldn’t bear to even box up the leftovers.
But the rival brand tasted great even when reheated the next day.
I simply can’t say the same about many, if any, other frozen foods at all.
