Trader Joe’s Chicken Tikka Masala (Refrigerated)
My family has their favorites when it comes to local restaurants we like to eat at. There’s a great barbecue place not far away that serves the best burgers and burnt ends. We frequent a local authentic Mexican restaurant that has fantastic chimichangas. We also love a local Indian restaurant that serves a buffet lunch on weekends. We enjoy being able to try a variety of authentic dishes including butter chicken, vegetable pakora, paneer, naan, tandoori chicken, and more.
When I’m in the mood for Indian food, I often find Indian simmer sauces and frozen Indian entrees in local grocery stores, but it can be difficult to find grocery store Indian food that is anywhere near as good as what we get from restaurants. Aldi sold a frozen butter chicken entree not long ago that fit the bill, but it was a limited-time special.
I’ve also tried various Indian dishes from Trader Joe’s, which is a distant cousin to Aldi. Most of their Indian food is stocked in the freezer aisle, and I’ve found some good ones, including paneer tikka masala, vegetable biryani, and vegan tikka masala.
Then, during a recent Trader Joe’s run, I found some refrigerated chicken tikka masala and decided to give it a try.
Trader Joe’s Chicken Tikka Masala cost $6.99 for a 16-ounce package at the time of writing. That’s about 44 cents per ounce. Each package has two servings (although you might be tempted to eat the whole thing in one sitting), which comes out to about $3.50 per serving.
Because this is refrigerated, you’ll want to eat it soon after you buy it. The package I bought had a use-by date of about five days out from my purchase date.
If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains milk and cashews.
The ingredients list contains easily recognizable things such as basmati rice, tomato-based sauce, onions, yogurt, butter, cream, seasonings, and chicken.
This does have some fat and sodium. One serving (half the package) has 300 calories, 8 grams of total fat (10% DV), 3.5 grams of saturated fat (18% DV), 610 mg of sodium (27% DV), 42 grams of total carbohydrates (15% DV), 2 grams of dietary fiber (7% DV), 5 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of added sugars (4% DV), and 16 grams of protein.
The package has directions for heating this in the oven or in the microwave.
To heat in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the cardboard sleeve and pierce the film in a few places to vent. Place the tray of food on a baking sheet on the center rack in the oven and heat for 25 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 2 minutes before serving.
To microwave, remove the cardboard sleeve and pierce the film in a few places to vent. Heat on high for 2-3 minutes. Carefully peel back the film and stir the chicken. Place the film back on the tray and heat for an additional 1-2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes before serving.
I heated this in my microwave for a quick workday lunch. It was better than expected for grocery store Indian food. It’s aromatic, and the sauce is flavorful. It’s on the mild side of spicy, and it has a decent ratio of sauce to chicken to rice. This might be among the better tikka masala options at Trader Joe’s, and I’d buy this again.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Chicken Tikka Masala features seasoned chicken in a spiced tomato sauce with basmati rice. While most of Trader Joe’s Indian entrees are stocked in the freezer aisle, you’ll find this one in the refrigerated area. It’s a good one, and we think this has nice flavor. While it doesn’t compare to what we’d get at a restaurant — few grocery store Indian dishes do — we think this is a pretty good attempt and we wouldn’t hesitate to pick this up again.
