Be sure to read the packaging! As you can see in the picture, 140 calories is highlighted in a beautiful, encouraging, green. Sounds great, right? Below that, not highlighted, it states “per serving without sauce”. If you are buying this you want the sauce, otherwise it’s not Mandarin Orange. I did not read the packaging. Luckily, I was not worried about the calories today. Besides, this review isn’t about healthiness or calories, just taste.
There were a few different cooking options listed on the back. The front of the package says it takes 8 minutes and that is probably accurate if you cook it on the stove. Keep in mind that the rice is not included so factor that into your cooking time. I have a rice steamer so I started the rice just before starting the oven preheating. I chose the bake option for my “Chick’n” and this takes about 16 minutes once the oven is ready. I line my pans with foil and then spray an olive oil cooking spray on the foil. Next step, spread out the nuggets and placed in the oven for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, I turned the pieces over and cooked for 8 more minutes. The sauce packet needs placed in hot water for at least 3 minutes to warm up. Once the pieces are cooked, place them in a bowl, pour the sauce in and stir the pieces in the sauce.
Once I put the pieces on the bed of rice and tossed on some green onion, I was ready to enjoy! The flavor of the sauce was pretty tasty. A sweet taste with a hint of citrus. It had the consistency of syrup and I would prefer it a little thicker, but it covered the pieces well. The nuggets themselves seemed to taste a lot like chicken nuggets to me. The breading was pretty good and the texture was very much like a chicken nugget. I thought the sauce was going to make the pieces soggy or soft, but they remained crispy. I’ve tried other frozen chicken nuggets, that had meat and I thought these were pretty comparable
The overall result is that I was pleasantly surprised and would recommend giving it a try. I will be buying it again and I hope you like it too.