Archive
Oct 26, 2012

Frozen Friday: Healthy Choice - Modern Classic Sweet and Sour Chicken

Healthy Choice's Modern Classic Sweet and Sour Chicken differs from their Traditional Classic version in that there's no dessert, and more broccoli instead. It features chunks of battered chicken breast in a sweet and sour sauce over whole grain rice with a side of broccoli.

A 12-ounce box is normally around $3.99 or on sale for around $2 to $2.50.

I'm not a huge fan of frozen dinner desserts, (except for those brownies that magically cook in minutes in the microwave) so I didn't miss it here. Plus, I like broccoli.

The broccoli here tasted fine, but like last time, I noticed a lot more chopped up stalks over florets. I'd expect half and half, but it seemed more like 75% to 25%.

The chicken is of the mechanically-separated-and-formed-variety and had just the slightest crispness to the batter, which is really as good as you're gonna get from microwave cooking. Thankfully, they weren't sitting in sauce and soggy. Still, I think the breading is unnecessary; I would have been fine with just plain chicken strips, though I guess you have to cover up the formed chicken with something.

The sauce was over the rice, which made me worry that I would have sweet and sour rice, but the sauce is actually pretty light, balanced, and not overly salty. I think the sauce of the better-for-you version is actually better than the regular version where the sauce tends to be overwhelmingly sweet, sour, and salty. The rice was pretty moist and plump, but not mushy (I think the whole grains helped). Unsurprising with all the sauce to help it keep the water in.

Overall, Healthy Choice's Modern Classic Sweet and Sour Chicken was not bad and competently executed. Sweet and sour chicken really isn't a favorite dish of mine, but this was decent and I got plenty of vegetables (if a little too many stalks).

Nutritional Info - Healthy Choice Modern Classic Sweet and Sour Chicken (340g)
Calories - 390 (from Fat - 90)
Fat - 10g (Saturated Fat - 2g)
Sodium - 460mg
Carbs - 60g (Sugar - 19g)
Protein - 14g

Diet Exchanges Per Serving:
Lean Meat - 1
Vegetable - 1
Starch - 2.5
Fat - 2

Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 10