Is This Trader Joe’s Item the Most Beloved of All?

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Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken is a repeated winner of the customer choice awards. Here’s why it’s so popular — and why you might want to try it. 

Trader Joe’s makes many products that will inspire you to get out your credit cards as fast as you can to make them yours. But there’s one product that consistently wins customer awards year after year. It’s, quite frankly, a truly delicious product too, so its repeated victories aren’t a surprise.

So, what is this amazing treat, and is it the most beloved of all time?

This Trader Joe’s product is undeniably a fan favorite

When it comes to Trader Joe’s delights, the company’s Mandarin Orange Chicken is one that undoubtedly stands above the rest.

The frozen Chinese entree won the title of Favorite Overall Product in the 2022 Customer Choice Awards and also took the prize for Favorite Entree that year. This was not the first time that it was an award winner, either.

The Mandarin Orange Chicken has been a winner in at least some categories for 13 years in a row. Each year since Trader Joe’s began doing Customer Choice awards, the chicken either won for favorite entree, favorite overall, or favorite in whatever other category it fit into. With so many victories, the entree also holds the title of having won the most awards of any products the store sells.

Its long string of wins prompted one presenter to comment on the Inside Trader Joe’s podcast that perhaps it should be given a “lifetime achievement award” in order to “open up space for something else.”

Does it deserve a place on your shopping list?

If you’ve never tasted the Mandarin Orange Chicken, you might not understand how such a simple dish could run away with so many awards every year. But, the reality is, this chicken really is that good.

It costs just $4.99, so it is very easy on the checking account, it takes only a few minutes to make in the microwave or on the oven and stove top, and the taste is absolutely unbeatable. The chicken is soft, tender, and easy to cut. It comes with plenty of sauce (which is the perfect combination of sweet and savory), and the finished product is as good as, or better than, similar dishes I have had in Chinese restaurants.

Because of its low cost, easy prep, and awesome taste, the dish is one Trader Joe’s shoppers should try if they tend to like Chinese food. And the best part is, because this is so good, you will be less tempted to order out Chinese (and end up spending a lot more money in the process). In our house, we eat the Mandarin Orange Chicken along with a side of Trader Joe’s fried rice, which we prepare in a wok with some fried eggs added. The combination of the two means it’s like going out for a meal, but without the cost of takeout or dine-in service.

If you’re looking to cut your food costs, buying the Mandarin Orange Chicken, as well as some other Trader Joe’s fan favorites like the Chicken Tikka Masala, could help to encourage you to cook at home instead of paying higher restaurant prices. Keep a few bags of these items in your freezer so they are ready on nights when you don’t feel like making a meal from scratch. You’ll be able to whip up something effortless and delicious right in your own kitchen for far less than takeout would cost you.

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