Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken

September 29, 2006 | Reviewer: Abi

In which Abi ponders the insanity of the general Lean-Cuisine-Eating population and concludes that they’re starved for breading.

Price: $3.29
Serving: 1 tray, 9 oz.
Calories: 340
Fat: 14%, 9g
Sodium: 27%, 650mg
Protein: 22g
Carbs: 16%, 49g
Fiber: 10%, 2g
WW Points: 7 Points
Diet Exchanges: 1 1/2 Lean Meat, 2 starch, 1 other carbohydrate, 1/2 Fat

Lean Cuisine says: Sesame breaded chicken tenderloins in a tangy Asian style plum sauce accented with ginger and topped with roasted sesame seeds served aside pasta tossed with sesame oil,green beans and red peppers.

Abi says: While setting the timer for this meal I realized that I had approximately 3 minutes to use the restroom and wash my hands. While washing said hands, I detected the scent of chinese food in the air. Hmmm, I thought, someone is reheating chinese food. Then I realized that it was my food I was smelling. Yes, there’s some sort of freakish vent connectivity between the office kitchen and women’s restroom. This means that when someone burns meatloaf in the microwave, all of the women in the office get to enjoy the scent of burnt meat wafting through the restroom. Yeah, ew. But let’s get back to the food.

The sweet asian-style sauce in Lean Cuisine’s Sesame Chicken meal creates a burnt ring of stickiness around the edge of the container and completely eliminates any crispness from the sesame chicken. Soggy breading refutes the need for breading at all, which by default should add a crispiness to any meaty item. Wikipedia backs me up on this one, noting that breading “lends itself to creating a crispy coating around the food“. Take that Lean Cuisine! I enjoyed getting a serving of noodles instead of rice, but could have done with a lot more green beans. Peppers were decorative, but essentially non-existent taste-wise. Actually, they were non-existent, existence-wise. Take a look at the box, then my food. Yes, I received a single fleck of red bell pepper. Argh.

Post-lunch, I checked out the Lean Cuisine website to get a good look at the product details. There I learned that this is Lean Cuisine’s number one seller. I attribute this fact to the meal’s amazing imitation of take-out chinese food in a diet form. Also, it contains breading, which makes women on diets a little insane, even if the breading is soggy. Reading about 30 of the 193 reviews on Lean Cuisine’s website had me thinking that the eaters of these meals are not nearly as discriminating as the writers here on HeatEatReview.com. I would post some of their comments, but the egregious misuse of apostrophes had me twitching after a few pages.

For other takes on this meal (which I gave 4 stars because I’m a softy), check out Tanya at Iateapie.net and the Dallas Lunch Ladies.

comments

8 Responses to “Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken”

Jessica on September 29th, 2006

As a person on a diet — when I don’t feel like making healtful meals — I turn to these low calorie meals. The problem with this meal is two-fold. First noodles? Why? They’re kind of tastless and add too many calories. The other is that sweet-salty combination LC is famous for. When I open one of these boxes, I’ve accepted the massive salt dose. But I don’t want a sugar high from my food as well.

I can’t believe this is a best seller. I’m going to have to have a closer look at the LC website — there are better (but, not great) LC meals.
Rosemary on September 29th, 2006

I’ve had this Lean Cuisine before and I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. I think it is one of their worst ones.

Ugh.

(I eat an obscene amount of microwaveable food, too.)
Colleen on September 29th, 2006

You’ve never had this lean cuisine before? Wow, they sell it anywhere. They even sell it in four-packs at my costco. This is one of my favorites, but I have pretty low standards for Lean Cuisine. I agree with Jessica that lean cuisine needs to nix those bland starches they always use so much of. They should have just meat and vegitables and maybe a tiny bit of rice or noodles. Unless its an actual pasta dish. The only LC I can think of with just meat and veggies is that gross steak tips with brocollie one. Yuck. I would prefer just a whole tray of sweet and sour breaded chicken with veggies on the side. Or five meatballs in sauce with sauteed onions of the side. Ok, tangent. I’m gonna go to the bathroom now.
Christina on September 30th, 2006

I eat way too many Lean Cuisine meals (one part laziness, one part awesome sales at Safeway) and I would have to say that Sesame Chicken is one of my favorites. True, the breading is not at all crispy but the mere allusion to something breaded and fried is enough for me. You got to admit the noodles and sauce are an unexpected plus.

If you really want THE best Lean Cuisine meal, try the Turkey with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Stuffing. (None of that egg-shell white mashed potatoes anymore for me; only orange mashed goodness.)
Jenn on January 31st, 2007

I tried to outsmart this lean cuisine by baking it in the oven, hoping that the breading would somehow end up crisp. After sweating out the thirty minute baking time, I discovered that sadly, lean cuisine has only managed to perfect the art of soggy, smushy breading.
Kate Anne on March 2nd, 2007

I’m a girl on a diet . . a HUNGRY girl on a diet.

I adore the little nuggets of white meat in this dish. They’re always moist, white and flaky [I have an obsession with flaky chicken, I think]. Yes, the chicken is good. However, my first time trying this dish - the meat, to be honest, sicked me out! I was like omgsh it’s mushy! And it was! So I left it alone and just ate the noodles in the [IMHO] too sweet sauce.

I probably would never have tried this dish again if it had not mysteriously showed up in our freezer one very empty-cupboard day. This time, I knew the chicken would be mushy but would be quality meat and I knew the sauce would be a little sweet . . and finally, I enjoyed the whole meal and I bought more soonafter and ate them, too. I think I consumed a box for lunch today. Hmm.

Anyway, I give this LC meal a 3.5 star rating or something. Thumbs dippin’ down for the sweaty chicken, the sodium content [I understand that these fast and frozen foods are often studded with salt for preservative reasons or for lack of healthier flavoring - but it’s getting ridiculous, guys]. I buy this dish because it fills me up without too much guilt - but I never let myself finish the white noodles. It’s just “good” to me.

*And to the reviewer above, I often thought about baking it - you know, about 3 minutes AFTER the dish is in the microwave . . hehe . . so thanks for that information.
Lauren on May 16th, 2007

Yeah, this is definitely a good one. I haven’t had it in a while though. I think it’s because this one never satisfies me as much as some of the others do. But come to think of it, it’s good, and I’m kind of craving it right now. I don’t think I have in ever in my life actually crazved a LC.
Eating Right Sesame Chicken : Heat Eat Review : We Review TV Dinners, Frozen Meals, and Microwavable Foods on August 8th, 2008

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