About once a month or so, I truly mourn the Indian lunch buffets of the pre-Covid days. There are a fair number of great Indian restaurants in my area, but all have axed the majestic lunch buffet special. The days of bottomless samosas and chicken vindaloo are over. Don’t even talk to me about the butter chicken.
I don’t know about y’all, but the thought of making Indian at home makes my head spin, even something as simple as butter chicken. Not only can buying all the ingredients be quite a blow to the wallet (especially buying them all from scratch), but the shortcut pre-made sauces come with a bit of a risk – I’ve heard far more complaints than compliments about some of the mass-produced products on most grocery store shelves.
So, imagine my predicament, cruising my way through the frozen pre-made entre aisles of Trader Joe’s and coming face-to-face with their Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice. On one hand, I was hesitant to drop the $6 for something that might completely suck – none of my friends had mentioned this, and they are avid TJ experimenters. On the other hand, my hankering for Indian cuisine of any kind had reached a fever pitch. I ultimately decided $6 was a small price to pay for potential payoff.
Preparation and Taste Test
I didn’t do anything wayward during the prep – the instructions on the back of the package offer both conventional oven and microwave instructions. Since I don’t trust my microwave to warm everything up on the first try, I just opted for good ole’ oven to do the job: 400° for 30 minutes (the package says 25 minutes, but since I’m a heathen and refuse to waste time pre-heating my oven, I tacked on some extra time. Don’t shame me). The best part is that I could simply slide it out of the box, stab the film a few times to allow everything to steam up, and pop it right on the rack.
After the 30 minutes, the butter chicken was bubbling in its container and ready to go. At first glance, everything looked fully cooked and ready to eat; however, I still had very low expectations how it would actually taste. But I very, very quickly ate my words. And the Butter Chicken. All of it.
It smelled wonderful – very similar to something I would smell in an actual sit-down Indian restaurant. It mixed well, with a generous amount of sauce to combine with all the fluffy rice. And y’all… it tasted so unbelievably good. The blend of spices worked really well together; no single spice dominated over another which was a huge relief. Have you ever tasted something with too much garam masala? It packs a pretty big punch.
Perhaps this is slightly nit-picky of me, but despite the wonderful harmony of flavors… something was missing. A bit more cream? Yogurt? Perhaps it’s the depth of flavor that was slightly off – it’s kinda unreasonable to expect something to have restaurant quality taste after being frozen, transported, and sitting on the shelves, but if I had to have one drawback of this dish, that would be it.
On the flip side, my absolute favorite thing about this dish was the quality of the meat. Have you ever bitten into a janky piece of chicken? With the tendons or cartilage or some other odd textural nightmare still attached? It can send me into sensory hell and ruin an entire dish in an instant. I’m pleased to note that every single piece of chicken was hearty, juicy, and free from any of “impurities”. It made for an even better experience!
Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken: The Verdict
Like with my last post, it’s pretty clear that I enjoyed this product. I am actually pretty thrilled to find a store-bought Indian dish with great taste and quality, easy prep, and a fairly generous portion to save me on nights when I don’t feel much like cooking. I felt satisfied after eating it – it didn’t make me feel sluggish or heavy. It was just the right amount. And yes, I will be repurchasing! Any time I can get restaurant quality Indian at home, I’m all in!
Smell: 10/10
Taste: 9.5/10: docked for the ever so slight missing flavor component
Prep: 10/10
Price: 10/10: I don’t know about y’all, but I tend to leave TJs with a screaming wallet. I’m happy to grab a few of these to keep in the freezer without breaking the bank too much.
Overall: 9.875/10
Do I recommend this product? A resounding YES! If you come across this product at your local TJs, take the plunge and lemme know what you think!
Need to see the nutritional info? You can find that here.
Have Y’all Tried This?
If you’ve tried the TJs Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice, what did you think? I always like to refer to myself and my opportunistic palate as garbage-disposal chic – if it’s edible, I’m gonna try it. It takes a lot for me to dislike something, but this was an easy winner all around!
Leave a comment down below with your experience, and make sure to leave me some other suggestions for easy Indian at home!
Until next time,
Megan
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