A tasty, quick and convenient chicken, rice and vegetable dish from Costco!
I generally try to make healthy meals for dinner most nights of the week. We often eat salads, and when we do have carbs, we try to stick to healthier options like sweet potatoes, whole-wheat pastas, etc. However, for those nights where I just want something quick, convenient and delicious, the Costco freezer section offers quite a few good options. This Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Fried Rice from Ajinomoto mostly fits that description.
Location in Store
The freezer section with the other frozen meals.
Taste
I really enjoy Asian food, and the Costco Ajinomoto yakitori chicken sounded good and looked super easy to make, so that was enough to sell me on giving it a try. Overall, it tasted pretty good! As you might expect, it basically tastes like a typical chicken fried rice dish. The chicken was slightly on the rubbery side, but not enough to really bother me. It’s definitely well-seasoned.
Let’s talk a bit more about the vegetables. To put it simply, I wish there were more! The variety of vegetables included is good – you get carrots, corn, peas, edamame, red pepper and onion, to name some of them, but the volume is lacking. This is something you could fix by adding extra vegetables yourself, but that really hurts the convenience factor.
Even though the yakitori chicken is the star in the title, the fried rice dominates; there’s more rice than chicken or vegetables. I found that a bit disappointing as this definitely seems like more of a side dish than an entree. That’s fine, but the box doesn’t necessarily make this super clear; the photo makes it look a bit heavier on chicken and vegetables than is actually the case.
Cost
In my opinion, the price of the Ajinomoto Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Fried Rice is a little on the expensive side. I paid $15.99 Canadian (regular price). You get six 255 gram bags in the box. That works out to about $2.67 per bag. One serving was enough for me, but my husband probably could easily eat two bags for dinner. We also had some other food along with it. I could definitely see some families of four going through a whole box in a single meal, and they’d probably want to serve something else with it (maybe extra vegetables or protein!).
Convenience
This fried rice and yakitori chicken definitely scores high marks in the convenience department. All you have to do is take one of the plastic bags of rice, chicken and vegetables out of the box directly from the freezer, tear a corner off, microwave the bag (with the seam side up) for three minutes on high, cut open the bag (carefully, as it will be hot!) and pour it onto a plate.
There is one more optional step for the keeners out there. If you want your Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Fried Rice to look like mine does in the photos (kind of like a rice sandcastle), you can follow the presentation instructions. Instead of putting the cooked fried rice directly onto a plate, you pour it into a bowl, pack it down, put a plate over top, flip the whole thing over and lift the bowl off. I do think it looks cooler this way!
Nutrition
Calories
One thing that immediately annoyed me was the fact that the nutrition information is given for 206 grams of the fried rice, chicken and vegetables when the bags contain 255 grams. Why do companies do this?! Who is going to carefully measure out 80.78% of one of these bags? Anyway, I calculated the calories, macronutrients and sodium content for a full 255-gram bag and here’s what I got: 446 calories, 10 grams of fat, 69 grams of carbohydrates, 19 grams of protein and 904 milligrams of sodium. When I look at the calories, fat and sugar, it actually doesn’t look that bad. What’s not good is the amount of sodium, though a lot of frozen meals are high in sodium.
Ingredients
The ingredients list is pretty much what you’d expect for a relatively unhealthy frozen meal like this. There are the ingredients that are obvious and self-explanatory (such as rice, chicken, salt, vegetables, etc.), and the ones that you can barely pronounce but sound like they might be out of a chemistry textbook. This meal doesn’t fall into the high-in-calories-but-full-of-nutritious-ingredients category. It’s worth noting that it contains soy and wheat, so that might keep some people away.
Scoring
Taste: 7.5/10
Cost: 7/10
Convenience: 9.5/10
Nutrition: 5.5/10
Overall
Must buy! (as a side dish)
I enjoyed the taste of the Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Fried Rice, but I found it slightly expensive and wish it had more vegetables and meat and less rice. I would buy it again, but I would plan to use it as a side dish or as part of an a la carte type dinner with some of the other great Asian-style dishes from the freezer section at Costco. Another good Ajinomoto one that you might want to check out is the Vegetable Yakisoba!
What’s your favorite frozen meal at Costco?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
Love this meal it super yummy! My husband and I keep it stocked up
Love this. Chicken piece’s are big. Cooking in vented bag, 333 minutes is perfect. Sarachi and your set, along with your honey,
Out of 12 significant pieces of chicken, 4 were all fat with no meat, 3 were half fat and half meat. That’s not acceptable as I don’t eat pure fat like this.
I’m going to buy another box and it’s the same, I’m not going to buy it anymore.
I love this dish. But I sure would like to know what exactly they are seasoning the rice with. it’s easy to find recipies for yakitori chicken, but what is in the rice?
I just love it I just take the chicken out because I don’t eat any animal but it was so good hot or cold it is so yummy I hope you keep it in stock good price good for any time you want to just not have to heat up the stove
I’ve enjoyed preparing this for my children, I do however like to add scrambled eggs, it bulks it up, adds protein and makes it even tastier.
It put’s a smile on my face, knowing that so many customers enjoy this product. I’m the production supervisor of this amazing product. I will share the positive feedbacks with my employees to empower them, show them how much people enjoy the product that we make.
I love it and love the idea of adding scrambled eggs and more veggies. Great review !
I usually keep a few bags in the freezer at work for a quick and tasty lunch. It works out to be less than $3.00 per meal, which is a lot cheaper and more nutritious than most fast food.
Would the stores get this rice back omg
I feel the same way every time I go I look…
SO LOVE THE RICE DISH
WOULD BE NICE IF THEY
HAD IT VEGETARIAN YUM
Where do I get YAKITORI CHICKEN JAPANESE FRIED RICE
Costco freezer section if your Costco is currently carrying it.
We are out in Vermont. We need it back….
I like it. However; I ADD TWO SCRAMBLED EGGS and more VEGETABLES.. While the rice is being heated in the microwave for 3 minutes, I scramble the eggs and then heat up some mixed vegetables in a PAN OR WOK. When ready, I DUMP IN RICE AND FRY the mixture. I will sprinkle in a little soy sauce to add more flavor for the eggs and added vegetables.
An added TASTY ZING IS CHOPPED BACON (Costco pre-cooked) which I will heat up with the vegetables.
Out of the bag the fried rice is extra moist. Frying reduces the moisture.
That is such a great idea!
Thanks for the review. I’ve purchased this many times previously. This is an easy dish that screams to be doctored to taste (as you suggested with more veggies). I cook it on the stove in a wok w/Sesame Oil and add cooked dice garlic and Pepper Flakes. I then add 3 cooked scrambled eggs, let that cook for a little, then add soy sauce to the wok. Total time is probably around 15 mins. For me 1 bag makes 2 satisfying meals. I see Ann Marie mentions her CostCo doesn’t sell it anymore – I’ll have to check out mine on the next trip and purchase just in case. Cheers.
Where else can you buy the Yakitori chicken in Kingston Ontario. Costco is not selling it anymore
This is back in stock in Kingston. I just bought some there last week.
Been searching for this delicious rice for a few months now. My Costco doesn’t seem to have it. I wish Costco would indicate when they’re planning on restocking or if they still intend to carry it.
I love it and add a little hot mustard to it, but havent been able to find it in my store for months!
Yes a lot of people have been looking for it!
Yes, wish there was a few more veggies & chicken and it is a bit expensive but I usually just stock up when they have a sale.
That said, this is my go-to “I don’t want to cook” or “I’m cooking for myself” meal. Tastes great, relatively healthy, and ready in 3 mins. What’s not to like.
you mentioned that you liked the taste several times, but then gave the taste a rating of only 6 out of 10, that’s unfair….looks good though, my boss was eating one today for lunch at the office, and it smelled and looked delicious (keep in mind that I was starving).
I found small rock. My teeth were hurting for few days but not broken.
Sorry for your experience. I was enjoying this dish this evening and bit down hard on what felt like a bone but when I examined closer it looked like rice that might not have cooked completely (I cooked on the stove for ~15 mins). I’m going to believe it was rice vs. a bone!
Nice review, but what I was looking for is how many minutes to zap it. I’m going back to Google.
3 minutes zap in the microwave