4/13/05 | Banquet Fried Chicken Meal
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Part 3 : Banquet Fried Chicken Meal
Well, since the Salisbury Steak debacle was fresh on my mind, I was looking forward to trying their “Original” Fried Chicken Meal which is I guess their bread and butter offering. You’ll notice that the box is ripped because I was so hungry to try it out that I forgot I needed to take a picture of the packaging. In any case I wasn’t disappointed at all for this one. I made it in the oven like the others, and 24 minutes made some a really crunchy chicken thigh (kudos for them for using dark meat as well) that rivals Popeyes or even KFC. The fact that it’s only a dollar is the icing on the cake
This meal gets high marks because it gives you something that you’d either have to spend quite a bit of time and mess (oil splattering) to try and make it yourself. If you’re single then I really think this can’t be beat at home if in a rush. The amount of oil, seasoning, breading, and brining would be overwhelming for making a single chicken thigh.
As I said, the chicken thigh was really crunchy.. not so much greasily fried like some places but with batter that really crunched. The only complaint I had was that the chicken was slightly mealy and I suspect this is due to the brining process they need to undergo in order to keep the chicken really moist. But that was pretty minor.
I had less praise for the mashed potatoes. Like the Salisbury Steak meal, this potato slop simply detracted from what would be a super high scoring Cheap Eats meal. If I were them I would replace it with the fries from their Chicken nuggets meal. But I guess since it’s their “original” meal they don’t want to mess with a good proven thing. And the corn? Well, it’s corn; see ya later and all. Overall, this is still a great frozen dinner for a buck.
Cheap Eats Score: 8/10
(You might also want to read Part I: Banquet Chicken Nugget Meal and Part II: Banquet Salisbury Steak Meal)
April 29th, 2005 at 8:01 am
Banquet Frozen Fried Chicken is one of the greatest foods of all time. Just to smell it cooking in the oven makes my mouth start watering. Only problem is it takes about an hour to cook.
August 31st, 2005 at 6:36 am
25 years my family enjoys the Foods from Banquet,
from Chicken to Salsbury Steaks, its quick, we add
our extras, my sons birthday we bought 2 boxes of
chicken at Wynn Dixie the meat was like rubber
my wife she not happy, We ended up ordering pizza.
Once every 20 years aint bad, we through the evidence away
because we have problems getting places, and the freezers
full.
can you help us out? norman dignard 6700 102nd ave. 612b
pinellas park florida 33782………..727-547-7963
August 31st, 2005 at 5:11 pm
I’ve eaten Banquet fried chicken for years but it is my opinion it isn’t as good as it was and getting white meat imposible or am I missing something?
August 31st, 2005 at 8:10 pm
danielle - yeah, i have tried it microwaved and it is “passable”. It is so much better when baked in oven but it is such a long time necessary (40 min for the single frozen dinner meal) and also if you are in a place w/ hot summers (Southern cal) it is blastingly hot!
norman - help with what again? =)
trudy - I have only tried it recently so I have no comparison. However, I’ll bet you are correct about it being a lot better before. Then again, that’s true for nearly everything. I remember cheeseburgers were 59 cents at McDonalds and were like twice as big as now in early 80s. And also, they didn’t make me have to poo all the time…
September 25th, 2005 at 9:44 am
Hi my family and I enjoy the Banquet fried chicken, the one thing that we don’t like is that the box of chicken never has any wings. Please feel free to throw in some wings sometime.
October 29th, 2005 at 9:16 pm
I have bought banquet meals at our local grocery store, County Market, in Grove City, PA and the chicken dinners had no chicken on them. There was a tiny little bite of chicken and the rest was bone, grizzle, fat and breading. There were 4 of them and they were all alike. I buy the TV dinner for work and then there is no meat on it. Is there something you can do about this? Please help.
October 30th, 2005 at 12:03 am
val - hm… that is weird. I would have thought they would definitely throw some wings in there b/c i thought those are cheaper than the other pieces. when i get the meals, there are random pieces in there.
gwen - the chicken i had was pretty normal. A bit small compared to KFC or other places, but it had meat on it. Uh… i am not sure if ppl realize i’m not affiliated with Banquet or anything, so I have no say in what goes in the meals! Although… maybe I should be at least getting a discount for reviewing their dinners. =)
December 8th, 2005 at 8:37 pm
Let me say this, that darned fried chicken ROCKS. We are in the south here, the Colonel rules, fried chicken is a given once a week friends. I have to say this here, that Banquet fried chicken has to be the BEST in ANY TV dinner I have ever eaten.
I would say it ALMOST equals the Colonel. Usually, I just shove this stuff in my piehole and be done with it, with the Fried Chicken, that’s a no-no, gotta enjoy it slow, greasy chicken fingers and all (gotta remember not to answer the phone with those fingers like that).
I keep getting ripped though, never any thighs, just legs and backs. They must think us Okies like just legs, and I am here to say NAY! Give me them there giant THIGHS!!!
DO NOT MICROWAVE. I say take the time to oven those things, makes them MUCH better. Plus, bending the laws of physics and irratdiating my chicken and ‘taters with Highly Charged Radio Frequencies somehow seems just wrong (quite frankly, one should ONLY cook with cast iron in my opinion). Banquet Clucks Rule!!!
December 8th, 2005 at 11:34 pm
guy - hmm.. I seem to have the same problem… usually drumsticks and wings in the meals? One time there was some sort of mistake, I got a chicken breast and chicken thigh in there. I haven’t eaten at KFC in ages, but I would like to try it side by side one of these days to see. My money’s on the Colonel, but who knows.
Speaking of cast iron, i have been looking for a good used cast iron skillet for deep frying and whatnot at the local garage sales. But no luck yet, i think people keep an eye out for them and snap them up cheap.
December 17th, 2005 at 9:07 pm
I purchased 4 banquet chicken tv dinners on my way home tonight and all 4 looked as if the chicken was freezer burnt and then cooked, we couldn’t even get a good bite of meat off of any of them and they were so hard that I gave the chicken to my dog(chow-lab) and he couldn’t even eat the chicken, I think banquet should be ashamed of their selfs for selling that kind of crap to the consummer…thank you
January 10th, 2006 at 7:12 am
I can no longer find the original two piece chicken dinner, my local Kroger store first stopped stocking them, then Save a lot quit. Only chicken now is with the one large piece a thigh i think. Can u still find the old original fried chicken dinners. with two pieces of chicken mashed potatoes and corn, or was it discontinued. If so that was a mistake in my opinion
January 10th, 2006 at 9:59 am
liz - I haven’t had the problems you’ve had but I could see the possibility of the tv dinners going past their “prime” if the store didn’t throw them out after the expiration date. Or if they didn’t store them properly…
bobby - Last time I checked at my supermarket (albertson’s, ralphs) they had the same 2 piece original chicken dinner for $1. But I’ll check again next time I go. Could be they discontinued it but they still had some of the old ones leftover…
February 17th, 2006 at 12:38 am
Guess what. If you look at the nutritional information and compare the card thing that us diabetics have to watch the frozen dinners are an easy way to keep in good with the meal plan your doctor gives you. Theres meat and vegatable(s) and in some a desert.
When I don’t want to calculate I eat frozen.
February 26th, 2006 at 1:36 am
Update:
Banquet has changed the boxes slightly. Look for a best before date of at least mid 2007. I just had a chicken meal in the new box (Exp Jun 07) and it was a pretty good sized thigh - and no I aint just looking at the breading. It was some good meat. I used the oven NOT microwave BTW. For a buck it’s hard to beat…
March 15th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
You have to be kidding! First of all, the meatier thigh is a joke and the “our original fried chicken meal” is another joke. It no longer has 2 pieces, it only has a thigh from the littlest chicken you may have ever seen. The backbone was black as can be, dried up, well over cooked, and if you were to eat it the chicken pieces slintered off and would stab you in the gums.
So Do Not, I repeat Do Not leave these for your children to heat up in the microwave when you are gone. They will break their teeth from the so called “crunchy” skin, which is hard as nails from also being over cooked. I actually found a sliver of edible meat but didn’t bother to give it to my daughter who was trying to eat. We heated up 2 chicken dinners and then gave up utterly disgusted and amazed they can sell this stuff.
As for the guy who thought the mashed potato portion was runny etc, the directions say to remove the cover, it works better that way. And yes, I would agree that they are runnier than usual.
And I have lived in the south, and have seen people eat practically anything down there but I would bet money none of them would have eaten the two dinners we purchased the other day. Both to expire April and May of 2007.
I will never eat another Banquet dinner again, no matter what the packaging says, because new and improved just refers to the redesign or color changed made to the packaging rather than the product itself. It isn’t even worth 99 cents. When you figure driving to the store, lugging it to the checkout, standing in line, carrying and unloading into the freezer etc. And for them to replace it for another nasty dinner from their selection is not worth the hassle, disappointing my daughter again who was prepared to eat chicken and filling up my garbage can.
You all have to wonder what is happening to our food and if you keep purchasing such poor quality products it become acceptable and then these companies will not strive to do better. I ask you please, as a consumer, demand better quality.
March 15th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
renee - i think the important thing is not to heat these in the microwave. Use the oven. I’ve never done it that way, and never will. Cooking them in the oven, they come out really well. One of the better cheap frozen dinners around. I dunno probably no way to convince you. Sounds like you’ve got your mind set already. I’ll continue to eat them OCCASIONALLY. Definitely not every day.
March 24th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
i was eating a chicken dinner and there were feathers all over it last time i buy one
April 20th, 2006 at 10:28 am
Yeah all that driving to the store and having to shop for groceries and lugging them to the register… actually having to DO SOMETHING… it’s just a pain aint it? That frozen 1 dollar meal should just jump on my plate I say. Matter-o-fact - I shouldn’t even have to chew it.
Heh - if you know what to look for and where to shop for frozen stuff (note high volume) you can get some pretty good stuff. Or ppl could just try cooking instead of whining about a $1 frozen meal. Or maybe just stick with the trusty drive-thru - lotsa healthy stuff there I hear - and all you gotta do is sit in your car and hand out some cash. Then you get to complain about how they got your order wrong. Have fun
May 4th, 2006 at 10:14 am
I just had one that looked like it was freezer burnt and looked
like the chicken had cancer or something. After putting my fork into it, it just cracked and revealed a large cavity of some
black muck I have never seen. Man, I am sickened by the site.
I usually don’t have a problem with the chicken meals, in fact
I loved them, but I don’t know if I will buy any more after
this experience.I think it really does depend on where you
get them. Peace on you!
May 4th, 2006 at 10:15 am
I know - I meant sight (not site)
June 18th, 2006 at 10:22 am
eating banquet right now its good ! bye
July 26th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
We are a family of 7: My wife and I and 5 teenage foster girls (2-14 and 3-13yrs old). We are always trying to find ways to fill them up and they enjoy Top Ramen and Banquet TV dinners. They can’t get enough of anything “chicken” and you make so many wonderful TV dinners that it really helps make meals a pleasure. Girls - especially, all want something different and with such a great variety, it makes our lives much easier!!!! Do you have manufacturers coupons? O.k. I had to ask - anyway, thanks for such a great product and such a wonderful variety.
August 6th, 2006 at 9:22 am
Hello and Good Morning
I wanted to write for about 2 months, so today after having your chicken dinner thigh i want to let you know this is the 6th one out of a case of 12 I purchased. I can’t believe that you can put an item on the market like this. This dinner consists of mostly bones and very llittle meat and was a waste of money.
I can’t be;ieve that the state this is produced lets a product be manufactured like this. it would not fly here in Wisconsin.
I have and been using your other products fish, meat loaf, chicken in strip form, and theese are very good and no problem, Be advised I would never purchase your chicken again.
Thank You
Bernie Phillips
WISS Radio Station
AGri Voice director
Berlin, Wi
P.O. Box 71
920-361-3551
August 6th, 2006 at 9:28 am
Oh Sorry I forgot to leave the # on the boc
It was 3100010901
thank you
Bernie
August 6th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
just another reminder - WE ARE NOT BANQUET. Please stop writing in and addressing us as Banquet. I have no control over the quality of their meals, I don’t work for Banquet, and I highly doubt they read the Cheap Eats blog so they’re not going to see your comments (though that would be interesting if they did read it)
September 1st, 2006 at 1:14 am
I have been eating and enjoying the Banquet Chicken Fried Beef Steak Meal for about four times a month for about the last year and have always enjoyed it them until the last one. The corn was okay and the mashed potatoes were okay but the beef steak was rubbery and the breading tasted like a handful of crunchy flower. I have been trying to find somewhere to complain about my disappointment but the printing on the side of the box that contains the product information and code numbers and all that mumbo jumbo are sloppyly smeared on the box.
If anyone knows whom to contact about this kind of crud please podst it here.