It is no secret I love Indian food. My family has a favorite Indian restaurant we frequent, especially for the weekend lunch buffet when we can sample a variety of authentic dishes. We always enjoy the butter chicken, biryani, vegetable pakora, tandoori chicken, and mango custard. If we feel like splurging, we’ll also order mango lassi.
When dining out isn’t in our plans, I’ve tried making some homemade Indian-inspired meals. I’ve also tried a number of Indian or Indian-inspired meals from the grocery store. Trader Joe’s, which is a cousin to Aldi, has a good selection of frozen single-serve microwavable meals that includes palak paneer, vegetable biryani, channa masala, vegan tikka masala, and butter chicken.
Aldi also sells some Indian-inspired meal components, including butter chicken and tikka masala jarred sauces, along with naan in the baked goods aisle.
Most grocery store Indian food is never as good as what you’ll get from a restaurant, but I still buy things and try them. I was pleasantly surprised when Aldi sold a limited-time frozen butter chicken entrée this past summer. It was flavorful and as close to restaurant quality as I’ve ever had.
Then, this fall, Aldi sold another limited-edition frozen butter chicken entrée. This time, it includes not just the chicken in sauce. It also includes basmati rice. I bought it to see how it compares to the other butter chicken dish Aldi recently sold.
Journey to India Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store receives one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back at some later time. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not currently in stock at your local store.
Journey to India Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice cost $4.99 for 12.5 ounces at the time of publication.
The package describes it as “basmati rice & succulent pieces of boneless chicken in a sauce of tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, cream & authentic spices.” The front of the box features an image of two peppers, indicating this has some spiciness. This is a product of Canada.
This has one serving per package, which makes it an easy and quick lunch for work or any time you need a meal for only one person.
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains milk. It may contain wheat.
The ingredients list includes rice, chicken, water, whipping cream, crushed tomato, onion, canola oil, garlic, ginger, butter, salt, spices, sugar, citric acid, paprika, and turmeric.
One serving has 400 calories, 13 grams of total fat (17% DV), 4.5 grams of saturated fat (23% DV), 75 mg of cholesterol (25% DV), 620 mg of sodium (27% DV), 48 grams of total carbohydrates (17% DV), 3 grams of dietary fiber (11% DV), 3 grams of total sugars, no added sugars (or at least not enough to count on the nutrition panel), and 24 grams of protein.
Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
The box has directions for heating this in the microwave or in a conventional oven.
To microwave, remove the tray from the box. Puncture the film with a fork to allow steam to escape. Cook on high for 7 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Carefully remove the hot tray from the microwave. Allow to stand for 1-2 minutes. Remove the film, stir gently, and serve.
To bake in a conventional oven, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the tray from the box. Puncture the film with a fork to allow steam to escape. Place the tray on a baking sheet in the center of the oven. Cook for 25 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Carefully remove the hot tray from the oven. Let product stand for 1-2 minutes. Remove the film, stir gently, and serve.
I chose to heat this in the microwave for a workday lunch. It was plenty hot and ready after 7 minutes.
Ready to serve after microwaving.
This has a lot of rice, and a smaller amount of chicken with sauce. That can be typical for these types of frozen meals. I found there was enough chicken and sauce to go with the rice, but some people might prefer more.
As for how this tastes, it was just okay. It has a spiciness level that is on the upper end of mild or the lower end of medium. The spiciness was the dominant flavor, and while I could taste some of the other seasonings, it doesn’t have the richness and complexity that I associate with good, authentic Indian food.
I’m not sure if the suppliers are the same, but I had similar thoughts about the butter chicken with basmati rice that Trader Joe’s sells. They’re not bad, but they’re both somewhat forgettable dishes.
This was fine for lunch, but I won’t buy it again. If I’m in the mood for frozen Indian food, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Aldi brings back its good frozen butter chicken without the rice at some point. In the meantime, I’ll keep buying frozen Indian entrees (but not the butter chicken) from Trader Joe’s.
The Verdict:
Journey to India Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice is a frozen single-serve entrée. It features chicken with a tomato sauce with spices and cream. It’s just a little on the spicy side, and the spiciness is the most dominant flavor. This is okay, but not as flavorful as we hoped it would be. It’s not something we’ll buy again.
It was absolutely PERFECT for me. I have tried buttery chicken(authentic) that was totally different from this, but it was WAYYY too sweet. This was delicious. 5/5 Thanks for the review
That’s a lot to spend on rice, gravy, and some chicken chunks, in that order.