Lean Cuisine Chicken in Peanut Sauce 3

June 22, 2007 | Reviewer: Rebecca

Lean Cuisine Chicken in Peanut Sauce

Price: $3.29
Serving: 1 tray, 10 oz.
Calories: 280
Fat: 11%, 8g
Sodium: 26%, 680mg
Protein: 22g
Carbohydrates: 9%, 30g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Points: 6 Weight Watchers Points
Diet Exchanges: 1 1/2 Very Lean Meat, 1 1/2 Starch, 1/2 skim milk, 1/2 Fat

Lean Cuisine says: Roasted chicken tenderloins in a flavorful peanut sauce with garlic served with crisp water chestnuts,shoestring carrots,and snap peas over whole-wheat pasta

Rebecca says: If I have learned anything from my forays into the frozen food realm, it is that you cannot expect frozen food to actually match anything you might find in the outside world. Things that are made in small plastic containers to be reheated weeks or months later are unlikely to taste like anything that one could buy at the Thai restaurant across the street. I should have not associated my “Chicken in Peanut Sauce” by Lean Cuisine with my “Chicken Peanut Sauce” that I sometimes have for lunch from across the street.

By the two major markers (chicken and peanut sauce), my Spa Cuisine most definitely loses. The chicken were tender to the extreme— in other instances I might say “the chicken was so tender it fell off the bone” but here it was kind of strange. Perhaps the chicken had spent too much time stewing in the sauce—the miles and miles of sauce. The saucy was watery and both diluted the flavor and caused splatters all over my desk.

The chicken seemed especially tender in comparison to the crispy water chestnuts and snap peas—they stood up to the sauce and maintained their firmness (apparently there were carrots too but I have no recollection of them). But snap peas and water chestnuts do not make up for bland, watery peanut sauce.

Speaking of carrots, I did a little snooping on the side of my box to find out where carrots were in the chain of command and discovered that the second ingredient in this dish is….wait for it…skim milk. Yes, skim milk. Not chicken, not peanuts/peanut butter, skim milk. Do skim milk and peanut butter even go together? No wonder the sauce was so watery and bland—it was milk.

I have spent the last few minutes trying to convince myself that it has merits in terms of money (4 for $10 is much less than the restaurant charges) and convenience but the Thai place is pretty speedy and would get my order only a couple minutes after this 8-minutes-at-50% dish is ready.

If, however, you do not know of the chicken/peanut dish from across the street, you might find this mighty delicious but if so, do not ever order said dish from a Thai restaurant. It will ruin this Lean Cuisine dish for you.

[Yes, this is the third review of Lean Cuisine’s Chicken in Peanut Sauce. For other opinions, read Jess’s take on the meal (one of my favorite reviews) and my own dismal experience. - Ed.]

comments

9 Responses to “Lean Cuisine Chicken in Peanut Sauce 3”

Molly on June 22nd, 2007

This is definitely the worst frozen “________ in peanut sauce.” Smart One’s Chicken in peanut sauce with rice noodles” is slightly better because it’s slightly spicy, and spice is something the Lean Cuisine counterpart most certainly lacked. The best frozen “_________ in peanut sauce” (for me) is Seeds of Change “Tofu in peanut sauce.”

That said though, nothing compares to the real deal. But I can choke down just about any “_________ in peanut sauce” because I’m very fond of peanut sauce, regardless of how terrible it may taste.
Jessica on June 22nd, 2007

On the scale of generally bad frozen meals, I’d give it at least three. I’ve had quite a few of these — and they’re better than a lot of the other LC meals — though there could be about twice as much of the ‘whole grain’ noodles, to soak up the acres of sauce.
Tracy on June 22nd, 2007

I think the sauce is the worst part of this meal. The “peanut” part is too literal–it’s like a peanut butter sauce. Not like a good Thai peanut sauce.

That’s why I never buy this one! I think I bought it once, and that was it.

My sister likes it though, and she has pretty good taste. So maybe I’m missing something.
Lynn (the sister) on June 22nd, 2007

Actually, I don’t like it as much as I used to. The peas tend to get over cooked and mushy. I still like the sauce, but my sister told me to get the Smart Ones Chicken in Peanut Sauce with Rice Noodles, and that one is better. She’s right.
Crow on June 22nd, 2007

Lean Cuisine Chicken in Peanut Sauce 3: Putting peanuts in places they don’t belong
LauraFries.com on June 25th, 2007

Jess’ take is also one of my favorite reviews on site.

Me loves tangentials.
Julie A on June 27th, 2007

I know this is a bit tardy but those new Safeway frozen “Eating Right” meals, make a pretty decent Chicken and Peanut Sauce “entree”.

I put entree in quotes because imo it’s more like a light snack. A really good one though. I’ve bought it twice and intend to do so in the future as long as they’re on sale.
Tracy on March 10th, 2008

I just had one of these yesterday. I eat a frozen “lean, smart, or ww” meal about 5 x a week for lunch. This is one of my standards. The chicken is tender, the sauce has a nice flavor, and the veggies are crisp and taste good. The texture of the sauce is a little runny and will splash around. It does take too long to cook compared to other meals. I will keep purchasing this when I see them for 5/$10 in the stores.
Melanie on April 26th, 2008

This is my favorite LC meal. I actually crave it, and it is hard to find in my area. I stock up when I find it. The key to enjoying this, and any LC meal, imho, is to over cook the darn things by at least a minute. I think that is why the reviewer found the sauce so watery. There’s so much moisture in LC’s and most frozen meals, you’ve got to get all the water out so you can actually taste the food. This also waaay improves the consistency.
I love the sauce in this particular meal. It is peanutty with a hint of lime. The noodles are yummy. (I wish there were more) The chicken is also a good texture. I am super finicky about meat texture.
I want this meal now…yum yum.