Trader Joe's Fans Are Unimpressed With Its Returning Chicken Thighs
Trader Joe's Jerked Chicken Thighs are back, and the news has the retailer's fan base talking, with some ecstatic and others unimpressed.
Blogger Emily Dingmann from My Everyday Table advocated for a six-ingredient recipe in which the Trader Joe meat product is the star of her show in 2017. In 2019, another cooking blog post, Become Betty, regaled the seasonal food item as "flavorful [and] tender with a bit of heat."
On July 6, an Instagram post from fan account Trader Joe's List announced the product's return. The post generated a significant reaction, bringing in thousands of likes within hours of being posted. Not all of the engagement was positive, though; feedback about the processed meat product seemed concerned with texture and taste. According to Trader Joe's Reviews, earlier releases of the frozen chicken product were generally a source of satisfaction for fans. But will this year to be different?
Shoppers are unimpressed with the Trader Joe's product
If the responses to the announcement by fan Instagram account Trader Joe's List are anything to go by, there's a fair amount of discontent with the chicken offering on its 2022 return.
One Instagram user who's apparently "not a fan" stated her displeased stance with pre-cooked meat in general, while another mentioned her dislike for the meat's consistency. In this exchange, there was a general concurrence of opinion, with one of the commenters calling the product "too chickeny"(whatever that means), to which the original commenter seemed to find the adjective she was looking for: "very rubbery."
Pre-cooked foods that are reheated tend to taste better, per Forbes. But freezing foods can detract from the texture, flavor, and food quality in general, according to a contributor on Stack Exchange. Overall, Trader Joe's fans (and the world at large) seem to be divided. And among them, there are even some customers who prefer the accompanying mango chutney to the actual chicken.