The pros: Trader Joe's Honey Walnut Shrimp crisps up in the oven in about 10 minutes. Flavorful sauce, of which I didn't need all of it.
The cons: I wished there was more shrimp. High in fat. Could have been more walnuts in the bag
The verdict: For $6.99 this is a tasty treat in the freezer aisle mixed in with the seafood selections. I chose to prepare this in the oven as I wasn't crazy about refrying a fried food. This has quite a few calories to it so a serving size can easily get away from you.
It was ready in about 10 minutes and wasn't greasy at all coming from the oven. The sauce was warm but not overheated after a minute in the microwave at 50% power. There was a lot of sauce included, almost too much. The sauce is very sweet on its own but balances out the salty fried shrimp.
The honey, cream and condensed milk are the primary flavors. Pineapple rounds out the sauce for an additional bit of sweetness and a touch of acidity. The sauce aside from sweetness is also very rich tasting which is why I did not use all of it. I only ended up using about half of the sauce. I did serve mine with rice. The sauce from the shrimp also added a nice flavor to the rice as well.
The walnuts were sweet, but I wouldn't consider them candied. They reminded me of being very lightly sugared, similar to that of a honey roasted peanut. They could have been just a touch more generous with the walnuts. I think a tablespoon more of them would have added some nice crunch to this dish. If you've ever had a honey walnut shrimp in a restaurant, this is as close as you are going to get from a freezer bag.
If your palate prefers sweet dishes, this may be up your alley. Yes, I'd repurchase this item.
The bag in the freezer aisle:
The nutritional information of Trader Joe's Honey Walnut Shrimp:
The ingredients:
How to prepare:
After being cooked you get:
Would I buy this again? Yes. Trader Joe's Honey Walnut Shrimp is not going to be an every week event (just look at the calorie count), but as a nice treat that you can get 2 meals out of, it was well worth the $6.99.
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
Tried the Honey Walnut Shrimp today..
After reading reviews, I heated only half the sauce and added walnuts from my pantry..
Bottom line is that my wife really liked it and that works for me.. We will keep a package in the freezer, along with lots of other TJ's offerings for days in which I just don't want to go the "from scratch" route.. We are an older couple and it seems that quick, simple and good cuts down on my kitchen time and my wife's cleanup time... :o)
Thanks so much for letting me know what you thought. I had the same issue with there being so much sauce. Glad you enjoyed!
I love Trader Joe's myself. I'm rarely disappointed although the last time I went my veggies were on their way out when I opened them. Thank you for reading my blog. I really hope you check it out again.
I just had that same dish last night and felt that it could have been better, it was a tad disappointing. Personally I think $6.99 is a little over priced for what you get, I've been to Chinese restaurants that give double the amount than the bag gave for just $2 more.
Brilliant idea to put it in rice. I agree there needs to be more walnuts. What was also lacking was a good crispy crunch from the shrimp, I wish I sampled one of the shrimps before placing them in the sauce. Do you think we could send a word out to Trader Joe's to improve it?
Thanks for your review. Beautiful blog.
I tasted the sauce before pouring over the shrimp and a) the sauce tasted nothing like Panda Express' Honey Walnut Shrimp sauce, and b) it was nauseating. I threw out the walnuts as well because I pick them out of Panda anyway. I was left with a few battered shrimp. I would definitely not buy this again because of the lack of value and inferior taste quality over Panda's Honey Walnut Shrimp.
Hey Elisa! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!
Didn’t care for the sauce at all....threw it out and used TJs sweet chili sauce instead!! Quite good!!!!
The sweet chili sauce is so very good! Thanks for sharing!