The pros: Trader Joe's Simply Roast Chicken Breast is fresh, pre-sliced, well seasoned (almost to a fault).
The cons: Black pepper was overwhelming at some points. A bit pricey for a pound of roast chicken.
The verdict: I'm very fortunate to live near not one, but three Trader Joe's within a short driving distance. I also live near Costco. I used to go to Costco before finding out about Trader Joe's. The main reason I used to visit Costco was to buy their rotisserie chicken. I was inexpensive, tasty and made for easy meals during the week. What I don't love about Costco is how long it can take to check out.
Fast forward a bit and I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe's because I can be in and out. To fill the void of the rotisserie chicken I decided to pick up Trader Joe's Simply Roast Chicken Breast instead for $6.99 for a one pound package. The chicken was very tender but suffered from one fatal product flaw.
If you look closely at the pictures, you will see large black specks. That is the pepper. It maybe simply seasoned, but is way over seasoned in the black pepper. Those super coarse grounds were overwhelming and palate numbing. So while the chicken was good, I had to carefully make sure the pepper was carefully scraped off.
While this will be tasty on a sandwich, salad or heated up, the pepper has the possibility if not probably of overwhelming the palate. I encountered a few that led to a coughing fit. So, overall it you are willing to scrape off some of the pepper or really love black pepper then this is a good choice. However, for me this suffers the same flaw as Trader Joe's Steakhouse Seasoned Filet Mignon with the overuse of pepper. For me, this is a try it once and done. It's edible with some caution, but it can be skipped.
The package of Trader Joe's Simply Roast Chicken Breast:
The nutritional information, the ingredients, how to prepare and how Trader Joe's describes this product:
Would I buy this again? This was easy, but not as good at a Costco rotisserie chicken. The pepper was a deal breaker for me.
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!
Kate says
Trader Joe’s has added the ingredient “soy protein isolate” to this product, very bad stuff.
becomebetty says
Hey Kate! Thanks for stopping by. One thing I do is photograph pretty much everything to make sure you can make the best decision possible based on the information.
Kate says
Hey there, I was just letting you know that since you photographed this item, the ingredients have change to now includes soy protein isolate, which is really bad stuff. It's no longer "simply roast chicken breast" but includes a powerful additive known to significantly affect female hormones in a negative way. Maybe update your photo for other folks seeking information about ingredients? Best wishes.
becomebetty says
Hey Kate! Thanks for getting back to me. By chance did they change the name of the product? Or change the packaging? Unfortunately, with almost 1000 reviews on here its readers like you who help me out a lot. Thanks for the heads up. I'll try to seek this item out again.
Kate says
Hey, the product name is still the same. When I started eating TJ “simply roast chicken breast” for my lunches a few months back, there was no soy protein isolate". But then I started noticing weird hormonal changes and couldn't figure out why, so I started checking ingredients on everything I eat regularly as I'm sensitive to artificial ingredients. That's when I spotted it. I have an email in to TJ asking if this is a permanent change I'll let you know what they say. Cheers 🙂
becomebetty says
Hey Kate! Just came back from TJs. That product is still unchanged from when I originally posted the review and ingredient list included hasn't changed. I think the item you were referring to is in a green package called Grilled Chicken Strips.
Kate says
Hi, I heard back from Trader Joe's and learned something I didn't know about their products. They wrote:
Thank you for contacting us! We receive products of this nature from suppliers near our stores regions to ensure freshness. Therefore, the product ingredients will vary region to region. Only our West Coast neighborhood stores product contains the soy protein isolate as an ingredient.
So it seems we are both right 🙂 -- and I learned something new!
becomebetty says
Hey Kate! Wow! Thanks so much for getting back to me on this. That's incredible that ingredients vary on location. Thanks for sharing this!