Gardein has been cranking out the new products like there’s no tomorrow. What a difference a year makes, I’ve reviewed their product back when they only had a few items and were called It’s All Good. Flash forward today, and one of their latest of many offerings is the Trio Fresh Meals.
Found in the refrigerated section at some Whole Foods, they’re very quick and easy to heat up in a microwave. You can be eating in 3 minutes.
Pictured above is the first one I tried, Burgundy Trio – beefless tips with veggies (carrots, onions and mushrooms in a burgundy sauce) and white basmati rice.
The flavor is okay, the chunks meaty. It’s enough to fill me up without a ton of calories, there’s 230 in one serving. The sodium is kinda high as it always is with packaged food. I attempt to mitigate the overall sodium intake for the meal by adding a side of vegetables cooked with little or no salt.
I also tried the Thai Trio – veggie stuffed chick’n with a thai flavored sauce. Of the two, I liked the Thai one better. Taking it out of the package, the one chick’n piece seems to be on the puny side. But with the basmati rice and sauce, it’s 250 calories.
When it first comes out of the microwave, the sauce seem kinda runny but let it sit for a few minutes and it’ll thicken up to just the right consistency.
The last flavor is the Sicilian Trio which I haven’t tried yet, it wasn’t on the store shelf when I bought the other two. Overall, I thought they were a easy, quick meal if you’re short on time or traveling. Made better with an addition of a side vegetable or salad.
Interesting. I still haven’t tried any of the Gardein products — probably because of the high salt content — but I’m really curious about them.
I have beeb buying the Burgundy chunks and the chickenless scallopine like a chicken breast. They are the best out there but won’t really fool a carnivore. They are good once in awhile but I don’t eat them weekly. Just once in awhile when I make an old recipe that called for beef chunks or chicken and want to improvise. I throw the white rice away because I don’t eat white rice due to blood sugar issues. I guess it makes it a little expensive since there are not much to the chunks after the rice is gone. Gardein will do until something else comes along.
I’ve been wondering if I should try these… their ‘chicken tenders’ are a really yummy vegan treat!
I’ve tried all of the Gardein products and have to say the “trio” meals are my least favorite. I didn’t think the “meat” portion and sauces were very good, but they’d be okay if you’re pressed for a quick lunch. I ended up throwing the rice away. I thought it tasted and felt like it had had the life beaten out of it.
I do like the beef chunks and chicken cutlets, though. But of course I can season them to my liking. The wings weren’t bad and the tenders are pretty tasty too.
I’ve tried once and wasn’t a fan of Gardein. I know many people that do though.
The Thai trio was the first Gardein product I’d ever tried, and I wasn’t very impressed with it. I thought the vegetables should be more prominent – I could hardly taste them. It was pretty filling considering its size, but overall it wasn’t good enough that I would ever buy it (I got to try one of their products for free).