Chicken Tikka Masala – Trader Joe’s Frozen vs. The Homemade Version

I have never been a big fan of Indian food, mostly because I am not a fan of the heavy milk content of some dishes like saag paneer and chicken tikka masala. However, when I read that Trader Joe’s Chicken Tikka Masala has been one of their most popular ethnic frozen dishes since 2009, I decided I wanted to try to make my own healthier version at home.

Cooking ethnic foods hasn’t been a strength of mine, mostly because I find creating the sauces and finding the correct spices to be a challenge, but considering I remade the Trader Joe’s Chana Masala (an Indian vegetarian dish), I was up for it.

As previously mentioned, this dish is extremely popular among fans of Trader Joe’s frozen meal products. It is definitely low in sugar and high in protein. The fat content isn’t terrible, but as I browse the ingredients I am confident I can make a version of this that has no canola oil and still tastes great. There will also be no potato starch, no tapioca starch, no syrup blends (not even sure why that is necessary?) and also no whole milk. Instead of whole milk, I will use 2% greek yogurt. I also bought brown basmati rice instead of white. It is pretty similar to the white basmati rice except it has a bit more fiber. If I have the option to add fiber to something, as a health conscious dietitian, why wouldn’t I?

Other than a couple of the spices I have acquired from other places, most of the ingredients to make this dish yourself can be found at Trader Joe’s.

In the first part of creating this dish, I marinated the chicken thighs. I used thighs because quite honestly they are more flavorful and because they have a higher fat percentage than chicken breast, they need less time marinating.

First we add fresh garlic and ginger…

Next we add the rest of the spices and the greek yogurt.

All of the spices and yogurt are now mixed with the chicken thighs and they will sit for 1-2 hours. With chicken breasts, 3-5 hours marination time is needed to soak up the flavors.

While the chicken marinates, this is the best time to make your rice. I used an Instant Pot recipe I found, which I will share the link to below. However, if you do not own an instant pot, you can cook the rice in a regular pot and follow the directions on the backside of  your bag of rice. It may take a bit longer, but will still be delicious.

Next, you will take the marinated chicken and cook it (more details in the recipe!)

Then, set the chicken aside so you can cook up the onions, garlic, tomato and other spices.

What makes this dish so flavorful is NOT a ton of added oils, but a variety of spices, onions and garlic.

Plus some tomato paste and whole peeled tomatoes!

Lastly, the chicken is added with a touch more yogurt. Then it simmers in the skillet a bit longer until the chicken is fully cooked.

Here is the homemade version, complete with a healthy scoop of brown basmati rice and some fresh cilantro on top.

It is only fair to show you the frozen version before it is fully ready. Here it is in its package. I realize this is how it must be packaged for health reasons and I didn’t expect it to look pretty.

Once the frozen version is plated similarly to the homemade version, it looks delicious and tastes great too. In my personal opinion, there isn’t much chicken and there could definitely be more sauce,  but the spices are perfect. It is far more red in color than the homemade version. I wonder if that is because of the added mango powder that I did not use in the homemade version.

I have said this before and I will say it again. I didn’t start these recipe remakes to shame Trader Joe’s. I love their products! However, I think as a whole, it would do our society good to spend more time in the kitchen making our own meals with less ingredients, and this is a perfect example of such. Also, you probably noticed that there were FIVE chicken thighs in the marinade, which means this could be eaten for several days by the same person or it could be a recipe for a family.