Look at that picture of the front. Just looook. It's a little wedge of snacky time perfection, from what it appears, right? Oozy filling, deep fried wrapper, the words "buffalo chicken" promising that classic spicy taste...who can resist? Not me.
But wait, there's more! Silly me, calling it just a wrapper. No, friends. No, It's not just any wrapper, it's phyllo dough! I mean, mathematics and philosophy and Yanni are fine and all, but phyllo just may be the greatest Greek contribution to society. All those irresistably thin 'n crispy layers, making these poppers more of a pastry than just another Chotchki's-type deep fried dish...oh yeah, for sure.
Naturally there's only one proper way to prep these: air fryer. No question. If you don't have one, you should, and you'll never look back. That's what we did, and the result was piping hot, not-too-greasy, light and crispy buffalo chicken poppers ready to, well, pop right in our mouths.
And all that phyllo...delicious. I think I'll have another bite of it, and maybe another nibble. Good, but where's the chicken? Where's the buffalo? Where's the whatever else in there?
As always, it's possible we just got a particularly stingy batch of product, but that'd be one helluva unlucky streak. So I'd rather assume that the little perhaps half spoonful of chicken and cheese per popper is pretty representative, and in my opinion it's just not quite enough filling for all the dough.
That being said, the chicken-cheese-hot sauce filling is pretty decent. Personally, I woulda opted for more a classic bleu cheese or ranch to match with buffalo chicken instead of some sort of cream cheese/Cheddar hybrid. But for what it is, it's fairly tasty and proportionate to its components. I'd also add a little more buffalo to ramp up the spice, but that's not everyone's thing, I know.
In all, it's a great appetizer or snack. Pair with a cold 'n frosty IPA for a respectable bar-at-home type experience, or just nosh on for a little classic comfort vibe, and share with a friend. I was pretty happy with just two of them, which is surprising as a serving says it's three of them...maybe I'm beginning to learn restraint once more? Watch it, lockdown pounds. Matching 3.5s.
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Buffalo Style Chicken Poppers: 7 out of 10 Golden Spoons
They weren't that good and were very greasy. I baked them in the oven like the package said
ReplyDeletegreasy, no chicken flavor..will not buy again...
ReplyDeleteI thought these were pretty good - but there's a strange smell. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
ReplyDeleteAir fryer was definitely the way to go.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree on the pastry comment...and I'm not mad! But more buffalo would go a long way with these.
ReplyDeleteWow, these were really tasty. We cooked them in the Breville Toaster oven on convection AND with the frozen button enabled. and they were practically fried. My kitchen smelled like a funnel cake stand. SO YUM! We topped them with a dot of ranch (because Texas) and a couple of dots of Frank's hot sauce.
ReplyDelete