Lean Cuisine Chicken Pecan

July 16, 2007 | Reviewer: Andrew

Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 package, 9 oz.
Calories: 260
Fat: 9%, 6g
Sodium: 28%, 690mg
Protein: 19g
Carbs: 11%, 32g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 Points

Lean Cuisine says: Roasted chicken in a caramelized orange sauce with snap peas and brown rice with pecans

Andrew says: As a guy who eats five frozen meals a week (I work second shift OK?), I have a subset of comfort foods devoted to the “safe” frozen meals I can buy and feel comfortable with the prospect of eating later, no questions asked. In any given week, I get about three experimental meals and two that I’ve eaten and enjoyed several times already.

This is one of the safe ones. Whole grain rice and pecans, plus pecan-infused orange sauce make for a very nutty flavor throughout. Nutty, indeed, with a slight sweetness, perhaps from the dab of honey in the ingredients list. And the orange sauce.

The chicken tenderloins are par for the Lean Cuisine experience: Bite-sized and lean. These, too, are imbued with a heartening nutty warmth and are decently juicy, again, assuming you can follow microwave directions (I’ve never heated it in an oven, FYI).

The tiny bits of carrots in the rice are basically color support and not much else. The snap peas, however, shine. Or snap. They bring a welcome change of texture and flavor, with some of that nice pea sweetness. Don’t think peas have sweetness? YOU’RE NOT TASTING HARD ENOUGH!

Anyway, if you like the woody, nutty essence that pecans bring to food, you should enjoy this on some level. This isn’t the first frozen meal I’ve had that included pecans, but this is the first to represent the essence of that nut so well.

It’s not mind-blowingly good, but I’ve had this meal about four times now, and each time it’s come out exactly the same. I reward consistency and pleasantness in equal measure.

comments

8 Responses to “Lean Cuisine Chicken Pecan”

MaryAnne on July 16th, 2007

Andrew, the way you write about the meal makes me want to go buy 5 of them. I plan on giving it a try. Did it fill you up? The nutritional info is pretty good for a frozen meal.
Jessica on July 16th, 2007

I like a fair amount of LC food. This meal, though, left me wanting taste, more chicken, more vegetables, less rice — I don’t know, something. Oh, and I think I like the switch to WordPress. Is it less spammy?
Andrew on July 17th, 2007

MaryAnne: It’s not any more or less filling than any other Lean Cuisine meals, which is to say, not very filling really. I always get a baggie of chips or something too. But it is excellent.

Jessica: It is a rather unified flavor experience. The nuttyness covers everything, so depending on your outlook, I could see it being a bit boring. But at least it’s not offensive, eh?
Abi Jones on July 17th, 2007

Jessica - To keep your Wordpress install spam-free, you’ll need to install Akismet.

Andrew - I was really surprised that we hadn’t reviewed this meal earlier. I’ll have to give Lean Cuisine another try.
Crow on July 17th, 2007

I first read this as “Chicken Porn.” Damn you Burger King!
reslez on October 21st, 2007

I agree with this review. I eat a lot of Lean Cuisine, but normally I avoid their Asian-inspired and more traditional, “meat + potatoes or gravy” meals. I also like the pork with cherry sauce and the basil chicken bowl, which you have reviewed. My favorites: salmon with basil, three cheese chicken, roasted garlic chicken, baked chicken florentine. I would be interested to see your opinion on those as well.
Becky on December 11th, 2007

I liked this meal, but it was missing something…dang it…it’s been a while since I’ve had this one, so it’s hard to remember what I exactly thought of it.

reslez - I agree on the lack of review on the salmon with basil - this, along with the lemongrass chicken and chicken carbonara (sp?) are my favorite lean cuisine meals.
Renee on July 22nd, 2008

I reaaaaaaaally like this one. I don’t necessarily taste the “caramelized orange” in the sauce, but the pecans and the brown rice do have a really nice nuttiness, as you’ve noted, and the snap peas are SO GOOD.