Don’t waste your money! Sauce is good, veggies were decent, but the chicken… I hesitate to label it disgusting, but I will…it’s absolutely disgusting. Just a bunch of pieces of dark meat chicken with lots of skin and cartilage attached. It was difficult to find a piece of chicken that I didn’t have to dissect before eating. It was truly pet food quality. Dumped into trash and will never buy again!
Rated 1 out of 5
Melvyn M. Sobel –
I bought two bags, just in case I loved it. Well, I made the concoction last night and ate 1/3 of it. The chicken tasted completely artificial— like watery, compressed cardboard. The mushrooms were rubbery and oddly-flavored. I was surprised; I’ve never had a problem with TJ products. Unfortunately, I woke at 4 a.m. with “the trots.” My guts were telling me something I obviously was slow to grasp. I returned the other package today.
Rated 1 out of 5
carolyn moxness –
horrible inedible stringy green beans
zero stars
Rated 5 out of 5
Johanna marsh –
My husband and myself do not live close to a Trader Joes. We recently went to the closest one and picked up the shiitake mushroom chicken. Maybe since these reviews were made changes were made to this product. We both thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. We did add soy sauce. We also had home made baked french fries and beets and cucumbers. We contemplated having brown rice with this. I only googled it because we liked it so much i was looking to see if i can buy this product closer to our residence.
Rated 2 out of 5
Anonymous –
The thing that disturbs me the most is that I can not find a place on their website that says “this is fully cooked chicken”
Rated 1 out of 5
Samantha –
Mushrooms tasted horrible, had to spit them out. Haven’t had a problem with other TJ meals.
Rated 1 out of 5
Blakeley Koziol –
I love to cook, I’m by no means a master chef or anything. I buy TJ’s frozen meals for those days I don’t feel like cooking. Usually the quality of the meals is better than any regular grocery. This meal? The nastiest frozen meal I have ever had. I gagged through the first couple bites. The chicken is such low quality that I wouldn’t even feed it to my dog. The green beans are soggy frozen food quality, and the mushrooms are squishy. I ended up eating all the edamame and threw the rest away. Not worth it, there are SO many other options that are better.
This was my first negative experience with TJ’s foods and it makes me sad to have to write this.
Rated 1 out of 5
terilee –
NO. Vegetables were OK, sauce OK, added hot pepper flakes. Chicken disgusting: randomly chopped chicken with cartilage, tendons, and fat part of just about every piece. Got a couple bites by picking thru pieces and tearing away from connective tissue, most to trash.
Rated 4 out of 5
BeeMo –
I have to admit, the chicken is certainly a bit scrappy, but by no means inedible. Reminds me exactly of Chinese takeout chicken. Don’t exactly like the thought of microwaving my veggies in a bag and microwaving the chicken w plastic wrap over it but, all things considered it’s an easy meal that switches things up in the kitchen. I add rice or pasta and also add extra fresh veggies and it’s a fantastic, easy dish!
Rated 1 out of 5
Judy W –
We used to love Trader Joe’s, but don’t live near one now. When able to go to one, chose this dish to try. WHAT A MISTAKE. The chicken is fatty, grisly, and barely edible. Add WAY too much salt, and you have this dish. If this is representative of current Trader Joe’s food, we won’t be looking for one again. If a zero star rating was an option, that’s what I would choose.
Rated 5 out of 5
flyfisher11 –
loved it!! delicious healthy choice if you wanna have foods easy and ready to go. of course its not gonan be as tasty as some of their other fried meats frozen meals but its good and low cal!
Rated 1 out of 5
Dreack –
Wow. Please don’t buy this. I don’t usually write reviews, but my reaction was twofold after taking a bite of this dish. 1) GROSS! 2) I need to see if other people think it’s nasty. So here I am leaving a review so that they stay current. I am terribly surprised by this. There are some TJ dishes I don’t like, but can honestly say it probably just wasn’t my cup of tea as opposed to it being disgusting. This dish makes one want to choose violence! The combo sounds like it should be good, right? A healthy mix of chicken, edamame, string beans, and mushrooms in a light sauce. What could go wrong? The sauce smells like a standard sauce. I was a little disappointed but I wasn’t surprised. A quick “Asian inspired” meal is fine when one doesn’t want to cook. I was really exited about the mushrooms for some reason. The mushrooms is what convinced me to buy it. Ugh!! One bite and I spit it out. Soggy. Weird flavor. Not delicious like mushrooms are. The string beans were soggy and bland. The chicken tastes like something is wrong with it. I keep trying to figure out what it reminds me of. There’s an earthy quality, but not in a good way. The only decent thing was the edamame so I picked some out and then had corn tortilla chips for dinner. So much for healthy. Oh. My husband came home from work, saw the pan full of food and went, “Woo hoo!” Didn’t have the heart to say anything. He tasted it and said, “That’s yummy.” LOL I’m so glad he’ll eat just about anything so at least it won’t go to waste.
Rated 1 out of 5
Steve O –
CHICKEN??? I PREPARED THIS “MEAL” YESTERDAY, AND AFTER ONE BITE OF A RUBBERY SUBSTANCE DISGUISED AS CHICKEN, I TOOK ANOTHER BITE AS I WAS NOT SURE. I HAD TO SPIT IT OUT. THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT LOOKED AND TASTED LIKE FREEZE DRIED LIVER OR KIDNEY INSIDE THE “MEAT”. THE NASTY TASTE TOOK ME AN HOUR TO REMOVE WITH MULTIPLE MOUTHWASHES!! ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING THAT THIS IS ALLOWED TO BE SOLD…SOMEONE NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE IF THIS INGREDIENT IS CUT UP DOG, OR EVEN HUMAN REMAINS WHICH WERE SUPPOSED TO BE INCINERATED. SHAME ON YOU TRADER JOE!!!
Rated 1 out of 5
Gabriela Perreira –
DISGUSTING! i purchased this because based on the photos it looked good plus it was healthier than other frozen meals”. I finally cooked it and was disappointed! The chicken pieces were huge and rubbery, and the green beans had really hard pieces no matter how much i cooked it. The mushrooms were gummy and the sauce smelled and tasted really foul. Buy the kung pao chicken instead this is not worth it.
Rated 5 out of 5
Anonymous –
It’s was a hit at our home. I will definitely buy again. I’m glad I didn’t go off of the reviews. The chicken was NOT rubbery and everything was tasty.
Rated 5 out of 5
CinS –
I loved the marriage flavors and umami. It uses dark meat, not the breast and for me this is a nice change. Was like eating Chinese takeout.
Rated 1 out of 5
Jenna D –
Would rate lower than one star if I could. I can’t believe how disgusting this was. I should’ve read these reviews before because they could not be more accurate. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS “CHICKEN”??????
Rated 1 out of 5
Traderjoereviewer –
We thought we would give this one a try we have loved every other frozen meal from Trader Joe’s this one was DISGUSTING. The meat was huge rubbery fatty chunks, the mushrooms were soggy and the green beans were surprisingly too hard. We spit it out and were left with a gross taste in our mouth, do not buy this. The quality felt less than what you would feed your pet, I don’t wish this on my worse enemy.
Rated 1 out of 5
WhydidIbuythis –
The. Worst. Ever. I don’t even think it is chicken or shiitake. What it is…is bland, weird tasting, rubbery and mostly gristle and tendons. The mushrooms are vile, spongy, and taste unlike anything I’ve ever had (and I don’t mean that in a good way). The sauce is just nothing with tons of sodium. I had to throw it out and hoped I didn’t throw it up. The nasty taste stays with you no matter what you do or eat to kill it. Trader Joe’s how can you be proud to sell such a disgusting product?
Rated 1 out of 5
Cathnyc –
One word describes this TJ entree. VILE. Wished I had read the reviews before buying. Can’t understand why it is still sold. The “chicken “ wouldn’t be in dog food. Do not believe the very few positive reviews.
Rated 4 out of 5
Carter –
I don’t know if TJ has changed the recipe or if I just got lucky, but we bought 2 bags and ate every bit of both of them. The chicken (thigh meat) was good. No fat or gristle (I’m funny with that stuff), but it was a bit spongy just like chinese takeout. The sauce and veggies were very good in my opinion. The mushrooms were a bit of a weird texture, but what do you expect from frozen mushrooms? Overall, for the price point and the fact that my kids (10 & 4) gleefully ate it, I’d happily buy it again.
I did let it defrost on the counter, so perhaps not putting it in the microwave made a difference. Of the two batches I made, the first browned the chicken a bit more and everyone thought that round was better. Hope that helps.
Rated 1 out of 5
No ma’am –
Chicken tastes like what horse poop smells like.. absolutely not!!!! I love mushrooms but this dish was terrible 🙁
Rated 5 out of 5
Judy –
I don’t know what the heck these people are talking about that gave it less than five stars! We find it to be absolutely delicious. We had a package of the already cooked Trader Joe’s Thai noodles that come in the brown box. It tastes as good as any chow mein, you could get in a Chinese restaurant. It is definitely one of our go to’s.
Rated 5 out of 5
Bronx Gurl Tee –
I’m not sure if I was one of the Lucky ones but this was was actually pretty good to me and I am super picky. I left it on countertop for maybe 15 min before cooking. Did not add sauce till the very end after I let Chicken and Veggie package cook out all water from frozen (once it starts ti sizzle/fry)…but I ended up here because I was concerned about chicken history..ie.. where it exactly manufactured at, texture of meat was a little suspect.
Rated 5 out of 5
Anne –
I love it! I first cook chicken in a skillet with some Thai red chilies (dried). After 5-6 minutes, I add veggies and extra mushrooms. Deglaze with some rice wine vinegar then add the sauce packet and some additional soy sauce and Worcestershire. I serve it mixed with ramen noodles (no spice packet)
Rated 1 out of 5
Sarah –
Absolutely disgusting. My dog wouldn’t eat that gizzardy smelling rubbery abomination. I have never been so disappointed with a Trader Joe’s product.
Rated 4 out of 5
Teachurite –
I was extremely hesitant after reading the reviews, however they got it wrong this time. Packed full of edamame and a handful of flavorful mushrooms , this dish was quite tasty. The cooking instructions are simply backwards, which most likely caused the chicken to have a poor texture. After microwaving, heat wok or skillet on medium high. I added a little sesame oil and stir fried the chicken for about 3 minutes. Then, add the vegetables for another 2 and finally the sauce until bubbly and thickened. We paired it with a little miso soup. Quite good!
Rated 1 out of 5
Nancy Verhaege –
The veggies were great but the chicken had the most discussing flavor, could not eat it. Too bad, it looked great and fast to prepare but not edible. Not sure the chicken wasn’t bad.
Rated 5 out of 5
Chris –
I love the shitake mushroom chicken. Very tasty & doesn’t have that overly sweet taste like a lot of Chinese take outs. I also only use one sauce bag when I prepare it. The manderine orange chicken is great too. Serve over their rice medley or jasmine rice . Based on some of the comments on here, I’m wondering if they are not preparing it correctly ? Or their palates just don’t agree with the shitake mushroom taste ?
Rated 5 out of 5
Kathryn Oates –
We really enjoyed this. We found the bad reviews hard to believe. The only drawback for us is the sodium contend since two us ate the whole package. Great quick meal. We served it over rice.
Susan –
Don’t do it…
There are SO MANY tasty frozen choices at Trader Joe’s, don’t pick this one… The chicken is not good, the green beans are bland and a weird texture…
Full review and photos here:
http://traderjoes365.blogspot.com/2016/10/shiitake-mushroom-chicken.html
Ann –
Don’t waste your money! Sauce is good, veggies were decent, but the chicken… I hesitate to label it disgusting, but I will…it’s absolutely disgusting. Just a bunch of pieces of dark meat chicken with lots of skin and cartilage attached. It was difficult to find a piece of chicken that I didn’t have to dissect before eating. It was truly pet food quality. Dumped into trash and will never buy again!
Melvyn M. Sobel –
I bought two bags, just in case I loved it. Well, I made the concoction last night and ate 1/3 of it. The chicken tasted completely artificial— like watery, compressed cardboard. The mushrooms were rubbery and oddly-flavored. I was surprised; I’ve never had a problem with TJ products. Unfortunately, I woke at 4 a.m. with “the trots.” My guts were telling me something I obviously was slow to grasp. I returned the other package today.
carolyn moxness –
horrible inedible stringy green beans
zero stars
Johanna marsh –
My husband and myself do not live close to a Trader Joes. We recently went to the closest one and picked up the shiitake mushroom chicken. Maybe since these reviews were made changes were made to this product. We both thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. We did add soy sauce. We also had home made baked french fries and beets and cucumbers. We contemplated having brown rice with this. I only googled it because we liked it so much i was looking to see if i can buy this product closer to our residence.
Anonymous –
The thing that disturbs me the most is that I can not find a place on their website that says “this is fully cooked chicken”
Samantha –
Mushrooms tasted horrible, had to spit them out. Haven’t had a problem with other TJ meals.
Blakeley Koziol –
I love to cook, I’m by no means a master chef or anything. I buy TJ’s frozen meals for those days I don’t feel like cooking. Usually the quality of the meals is better than any regular grocery. This meal? The nastiest frozen meal I have ever had. I gagged through the first couple bites. The chicken is such low quality that I wouldn’t even feed it to my dog. The green beans are soggy frozen food quality, and the mushrooms are squishy. I ended up eating all the edamame and threw the rest away. Not worth it, there are SO many other options that are better.
This was my first negative experience with TJ’s foods and it makes me sad to have to write this.
terilee –
NO. Vegetables were OK, sauce OK, added hot pepper flakes. Chicken disgusting: randomly chopped chicken with cartilage, tendons, and fat part of just about every piece. Got a couple bites by picking thru pieces and tearing away from connective tissue, most to trash.
BeeMo –
I have to admit, the chicken is certainly a bit scrappy, but by no means inedible. Reminds me exactly of Chinese takeout chicken. Don’t exactly like the thought of microwaving my veggies in a bag and microwaving the chicken w plastic wrap over it but, all things considered it’s an easy meal that switches things up in the kitchen. I add rice or pasta and also add extra fresh veggies and it’s a fantastic, easy dish!
Judy W –
We used to love Trader Joe’s, but don’t live near one now. When able to go to one, chose this dish to try. WHAT A MISTAKE. The chicken is fatty, grisly, and barely edible. Add WAY too much salt, and you have this dish. If this is representative of current Trader Joe’s food, we won’t be looking for one again. If a zero star rating was an option, that’s what I would choose.
flyfisher11 –
loved it!! delicious healthy choice if you wanna have foods easy and ready to go. of course its not gonan be as tasty as some of their other fried meats frozen meals but its good and low cal!
Dreack –
Wow. Please don’t buy this. I don’t usually write reviews, but my reaction was twofold after taking a bite of this dish. 1) GROSS! 2) I need to see if other people think it’s nasty. So here I am leaving a review so that they stay current. I am terribly surprised by this. There are some TJ dishes I don’t like, but can honestly say it probably just wasn’t my cup of tea as opposed to it being disgusting. This dish makes one want to choose violence! The combo sounds like it should be good, right? A healthy mix of chicken, edamame, string beans, and mushrooms in a light sauce. What could go wrong? The sauce smells like a standard sauce. I was a little disappointed but I wasn’t surprised. A quick “Asian inspired” meal is fine when one doesn’t want to cook. I was really exited about the mushrooms for some reason. The mushrooms is what convinced me to buy it. Ugh!! One bite and I spit it out. Soggy. Weird flavor. Not delicious like mushrooms are. The string beans were soggy and bland. The chicken tastes like something is wrong with it. I keep trying to figure out what it reminds me of. There’s an earthy quality, but not in a good way. The only decent thing was the edamame so I picked some out and then had corn tortilla chips for dinner. So much for healthy. Oh. My husband came home from work, saw the pan full of food and went, “Woo hoo!” Didn’t have the heart to say anything. He tasted it and said, “That’s yummy.” LOL I’m so glad he’ll eat just about anything so at least it won’t go to waste.
Steve O –
CHICKEN??? I PREPARED THIS “MEAL” YESTERDAY, AND AFTER ONE BITE OF A RUBBERY SUBSTANCE DISGUISED AS CHICKEN, I TOOK ANOTHER BITE AS I WAS NOT SURE. I HAD TO SPIT IT OUT. THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT LOOKED AND TASTED LIKE FREEZE DRIED LIVER OR KIDNEY INSIDE THE “MEAT”. THE NASTY TASTE TOOK ME AN HOUR TO REMOVE WITH MULTIPLE MOUTHWASHES!! ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING THAT THIS IS ALLOWED TO BE SOLD…SOMEONE NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE IF THIS INGREDIENT IS CUT UP DOG, OR EVEN HUMAN REMAINS WHICH WERE SUPPOSED TO BE INCINERATED. SHAME ON YOU TRADER JOE!!!
Gabriela Perreira –
DISGUSTING! i purchased this because based on the photos it looked good plus it was healthier than other frozen meals”. I finally cooked it and was disappointed! The chicken pieces were huge and rubbery, and the green beans had really hard pieces no matter how much i cooked it. The mushrooms were gummy and the sauce smelled and tasted really foul. Buy the kung pao chicken instead this is not worth it.
Anonymous –
It’s was a hit at our home. I will definitely buy again. I’m glad I didn’t go off of the reviews. The chicken was NOT rubbery and everything was tasty.
CinS –
I loved the marriage flavors and umami. It uses dark meat, not the breast and for me this is a nice change. Was like eating Chinese takeout.
Jenna D –
Would rate lower than one star if I could. I can’t believe how disgusting this was. I should’ve read these reviews before because they could not be more accurate. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS “CHICKEN”??????
Traderjoereviewer –
We thought we would give this one a try we have loved every other frozen meal from Trader Joe’s this one was DISGUSTING. The meat was huge rubbery fatty chunks, the mushrooms were soggy and the green beans were surprisingly too hard. We spit it out and were left with a gross taste in our mouth, do not buy this. The quality felt less than what you would feed your pet, I don’t wish this on my worse enemy.
WhydidIbuythis –
The. Worst. Ever. I don’t even think it is chicken or shiitake. What it is…is bland, weird tasting, rubbery and mostly gristle and tendons. The mushrooms are vile, spongy, and taste unlike anything I’ve ever had (and I don’t mean that in a good way). The sauce is just nothing with tons of sodium. I had to throw it out and hoped I didn’t throw it up. The nasty taste stays with you no matter what you do or eat to kill it. Trader Joe’s how can you be proud to sell such a disgusting product?
Cathnyc –
One word describes this TJ entree. VILE. Wished I had read the reviews before buying. Can’t understand why it is still sold. The “chicken “ wouldn’t be in dog food. Do not believe the very few positive reviews.
Carter –
I don’t know if TJ has changed the recipe or if I just got lucky, but we bought 2 bags and ate every bit of both of them. The chicken (thigh meat) was good. No fat or gristle (I’m funny with that stuff), but it was a bit spongy just like chinese takeout. The sauce and veggies were very good in my opinion. The mushrooms were a bit of a weird texture, but what do you expect from frozen mushrooms? Overall, for the price point and the fact that my kids (10 & 4) gleefully ate it, I’d happily buy it again.
I did let it defrost on the counter, so perhaps not putting it in the microwave made a difference. Of the two batches I made, the first browned the chicken a bit more and everyone thought that round was better. Hope that helps.
No ma’am –
Chicken tastes like what horse poop smells like.. absolutely not!!!! I love mushrooms but this dish was terrible 🙁
Judy –
I don’t know what the heck these people are talking about that gave it less than five stars! We find it to be absolutely delicious. We had a package of the already cooked Trader Joe’s Thai noodles that come in the brown box. It tastes as good as any chow mein, you could get in a Chinese restaurant. It is definitely one of our go to’s.
Bronx Gurl Tee –
I’m not sure if I was one of the Lucky ones but this was was actually pretty good to me and I am super picky. I left it on countertop for maybe 15 min before cooking. Did not add sauce till the very end after I let Chicken and Veggie package cook out all water from frozen (once it starts ti sizzle/fry)…but I ended up here because I was concerned about chicken history..ie.. where it exactly manufactured at, texture of meat was a little suspect.
Anne –
I love it! I first cook chicken in a skillet with some Thai red chilies (dried). After 5-6 minutes, I add veggies and extra mushrooms. Deglaze with some rice wine vinegar then add the sauce packet and some additional soy sauce and Worcestershire. I serve it mixed with ramen noodles (no spice packet)
Sarah –
Absolutely disgusting. My dog wouldn’t eat that gizzardy smelling rubbery abomination. I have never been so disappointed with a Trader Joe’s product.
Teachurite –
I was extremely hesitant after reading the reviews, however they got it wrong this time. Packed full of edamame and a handful of flavorful mushrooms , this dish was quite tasty. The cooking instructions are simply backwards, which most likely caused the chicken to have a poor texture. After microwaving, heat wok or skillet on medium high. I added a little sesame oil and stir fried the chicken for about 3 minutes. Then, add the vegetables for another 2 and finally the sauce until bubbly and thickened. We paired it with a little miso soup. Quite good!
Nancy Verhaege –
The veggies were great but the chicken had the most discussing flavor, could not eat it. Too bad, it looked great and fast to prepare but not edible. Not sure the chicken wasn’t bad.
Chris –
I love the shitake mushroom chicken. Very tasty & doesn’t have that overly sweet taste like a lot of Chinese take outs. I also only use one sauce bag when I prepare it. The manderine orange chicken is great too. Serve over their rice medley or jasmine rice . Based on some of the comments on here, I’m wondering if they are not preparing it correctly ? Or their palates just don’t agree with the shitake mushroom taste ?
Kathryn Oates –
We really enjoyed this. We found the bad reviews hard to believe. The only drawback for us is the sodium contend since two us ate the whole package. Great quick meal. We served it over rice.