The pros: Trader Joe’s Tempura Shrimp are fried goodness. While not as perfect as your local Japanese restaurant might serve you, this is as good as it gets in the freezer aisle. While these come to you already fried, they did not feel nor taste greasy. Sauce is a soy based but also tastes of a teriyaki as it’s thicker than regular soy sauce.
The cons: Enough dipping sauce for several batches of tempura, which means there is some serious waste here. I wish I could find another use for the excess. They include 2 packages of sauce. One package would be more than sufficient for both. Unless you are literally drinking the sauce.
The verdict: For $7.99, this is a good deal compared to going out. Typically an appetizer of shrimp tempura will set you back at least $7.99, while in the freezer aisle you are getting 10 pieces of tempura for that price. The outside batter is light and consistent to what most tempura batters should be which is a light airy bread with some serious crunch to it. This meets all the requirements and is ready in under 20 minutes. I didn’t try it fried as I figured it was fried once. It came out perfect in the toaster oven and would also make a lovely appetizer.
The box:
The nutritional information:
The ingredients:
How to prepare:
Out of the package you get two smaller packages of Trader Joe’s Tempura Shrimp:
Ready to go into the toaster oven:
After being cooked in the toaster oven for 8 minutes (on each side so that’s actually 16 minutes) you get:
Would I buy this again? Yes. While it’s not something that will appear on my weekly shopping list, if I were having company or was in the mood for fried shrimp this is a great way to go as it also means you don’t have to open the whole package either. Five pieces are wrapped in each package so it makes either a great appetizer, lunch or dinner. I’d reach for this again.
Want to see more items I’ve reviewed from Trader Joe’s? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
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After 15 minutes in the oven, the shrimp began to “bleed” liquid onto the baking sheet and then that liquid spilled over the edge of the baking sheet onto the bottom of the oven AND YOU TALK ABOUT SMOKE!! What did I do wrong?
Hi David. Let me ask a couple questions to see if I can diagnose this. Was your oven preheated to 400F? Did you defrost the shrimp at all? Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this.
Amazing and delicious! As if you are at the restaurant. Baked to crisp as if it just came out of the fryer. I made my own shrimp tempura hand roll with rice and avocado and dipped it in the sauce.
That’s a great idea Kay. Thanks for sharing!
How is the sauce prepared?
Hey Milo! Just let that warm up to room temperature. Use is as a dip once your tempura is hot and ready. I hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by!