It’s funny how many cuisines America has taken over and completely bastardized. Mexican became Taco Bell, Del Taco, Rubio’s, and Chipotle. Chinese became Pick Up Stix and Panda Express. Italian became Olive Garden, Parisian became Au Bon Pain–we’ve even bastardized our own cooking, turning good ol’ American into McDonald’s and Wendy’s.
These Chickenless Mandarin Orange Chicken Morsels are about six degrees removed from their origins, I’m sure.
When I took them out of the package, they looked exactly like chicken nuggets. Baking them, which turned them crispy and golden, only increased the resemblance. Plus the whole house was filled with a scent very similar to… you guessed it, chicken nuggets. I was eager to see if they would taste like the little nugs I had enjoyed so often in my youth. (Before Fast Food Nation turned me off of McDonald’s and Eating Animals turned me off of meat.)
These come with a good amount of sauce; even though I accidentally squirted a bunch of my counter-top, the remainder was more than enough to coat all of the pieces. The bag said this was two servings, but to me it looked like one. 😉
And yep, it tasted like chicken nuggets! Chicken nuggets covered in orange chicken sauce, that is. The sauce was pretty flavorful: mostly sweet, with a slight salty tang. It definitely tasted like mandarin oranges. So I guess TJ’s has their mandarin orange game down.
However, I was mainly impressed with the chickenless morsels. They were crunchy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside, exactly how a breaded nugget should taste. Unlike many soy products, they didn’t have a distinguishable faux-meat taste. Even better, they held up pretty well overnight, refusing to get soggy despite being coated in sauce.
Check out another review of these guys by What’s Good at Trader Joe’s!
Cost: $3.99
Rating: 7/10
Would I buy again: Yes
Vegan Food Reviewer 