Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice

Last Updated on May 21, 2023 by Michael Brockbank

One of the things I love most about meal prep is whipping up some Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice. Let’s take a look at how I set this up as a freezer meal and why it’s my favorite.

It’s a quick and easy way to meal prep, especially if you’re trying to cut down on calorie and carb intake.

Why Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken and Fried Rice?

I’ve been a fan of Trader Joe’s since I lived in Los Angeles back in 2017. The pre-planned and prepared meals have been a staple of mine ever since. In reality, meal prepping with Trader Joe’s has been the cornerstone of how I’ve lost the last 40 or so pounds.

During my weight loss journey, I’ve had quite a few microwave meals by various brands. And although there are a few that I liked, nothing compared to the Kung Pao Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice dish I would make from Trader Joe’s. So, I decided to make my own microwave meals using different bagged meals from the store.

Not only does this give me more options of foods I enjoy, but it’s quite a bit cheaper to meal prep with Trader Joe’s than to buy something like Lean Cuisine. Especially nowadays with the rate of inflation.

One of these days, I’ll work on my own recipe for Kung Pao Chicken to save a bit more. But in the meantime, since I don’t have a lot of time on my hands, prepping meals like this is quick and easy.

Prepping Kung Pao Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice

Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken & Chicken Fried Rice

Recipe by Michael BrockbankCourse: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

5

servings

Prep time

1

minute

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

250

kcal

Cost

2.00

per Serving

This is a quick and easy way to make five servings from both bags almost perfectly. Usually, I’ll make this for dinner and freeze the other four.

Ingredients

• Bag of Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken

• Bag of Trader Joe’s Chicken Fried Rice

• 1/2 Measuring Cup

• 2/3 Measuring Cup

• 5 Freezer Meal Containers

Directions

• Prepare the bag of Kung Pao Chicken and the bag of Chicken Fried Rice as per the directions.
• Scoop 1/2 cup of Kung Pao Chicken per serving.
• Scoop 2/3 cup of Chicken Fried Rice per serving.
• Prepare all five containers with the per-serving scoops above.

Notes

• The measurements above will fit in a Lean Cuisine plastic, two-section tray. And it works great as a single meal.
• Normally, I’ll eat one serving after cooking and freeze the other four.
• Don’t forget to add the meal to MyFitnessPal. It’s a half-serving of both bags.

Using Bentgo Containers for Meal Prep

If you need a freezer container for meal prep, I suggest the 2-Compartment Bentgo Containers. They are freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe, and are easy to stack when you make meals in bulk.

I’ve used these containers for a myriad of purposes, including soups that I wanted to save for later.

For example, we’ll turn the Thanksgiving turkey into a turkey noodle soup. And a full cup of this is plenty for a meal, which fits perfectly in the Bentgo container.

Regardless of the container you want to use, be sure to stay away from the Mainstays brand at Walmart. I had nothing but issues with those containers and threw them out after one use. They warped instantly, cracked easily, and the lids often wouldn’t fit snugly on the dish.

So far, I haven’t had a single problem with the Bentgo dishes.

Kung Pao Chicken is Quick and Affordable

One of the things I like most about meal prepping with Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken is that it’s easy to make and doesn’t cost a lot of money. For about $10, I can make five meals that I often use for lunch throughout the week as I don’t have a lot of time in the day due to work.

For the most part, I cook it in the evening for dinner and then stack four Bentgo trays’ worth of meals in the freezer.

Some might think that a 1/2 cup of Kung Pao Chicken and a 2/3 cup of Chicken Fried Rice isn’t a lot of food. But as you can see in the picture above, it fills a Lean Cuisine dish quite well and is on par with just about any diet freezer meals you can find at the grocery store.

In fact, depending on the store-bought microwave meal, this one is lower in calories and carbs while being just as filling.

What’s Your Favorite Meal to Prep?

When it comes to meal prep, we all want to be fast and efficient. While I have no doubt that making Kung Pao Chicken from scratch would be vastly cheaper and potentially better tasting, that kind of stuff also takes time. When you don’t really have a lot of that at your disposal, making freezer meals from Trader Joe’s works exceptionally well.

What is your favorite meal to prep? What are your thoughts on Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken?

About Author

Michael Brockbank

Since 2015, Michael has put in the effort to lose more than 80 pounds by gamifying fitness and eating proper portion sizes. He conducts extensive research into various health and fitness products to provide the best answers possible according to his own experience and knowledge.

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