Best Frozen Chinese Food at the Supermarket: 7 Items Put to the Test

Introduction

Supermarket freezers have quietly become a serious destination for Chinese food, from takeout-style classics to soup dumplings you steam at home. We put seven widely available items to the test, judging each on flavor, texture, authenticity, and overall value. Some surprised us. Some did not. Here is how each one stacks up.

Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken

This is reportedly one of Trader Joe’s most popular items, and it is easy to see why. It comes frozen, bakes in the oven for about 20 minutes, and the sauce is added after baking so the batter stays crispy. It costs under $5, which makes it one of the best value plays in the entire freezer aisle.

The batter is flavorful and crispy, the sauce is sweet without being overly saccharine, and there is genuine spicing underneath the sweetness. A smart tip: apply the sauce just before eating so the coating keeps its crunch. One criticism is that the batter runs a little thick, so there is more coating than chicken in each piece. Even so, the box could feed four people, tastes like proper takeout orange chicken, and pairs perfectly with rice. At a restaurant, the same dish could easily run $20 or more.

P.F. Chang’s Chicken Egg Rolls

These mini egg rolls come frozen and can be baked in the oven or a toaster oven. They lean American in style, thicker on the exterior than the spring rolls you would find in China or Hong Kong, and they come with a sweet and sour plum sauce for dipping.

Unfortunately, the execution falls short. The dominant flavor is salt, the wrapper stays fairly soft rather than crisping up, and the filling is oddly anonymous. It is hard to pick out distinct meat or vegetable flavors inside. Adding a bit more oven time might help the crunch, but as tested, these were the weakest item of the bunch.

P.F. Chang’s Dan Dan Noodles

The box describes a lo mein noodle bowl with pork, shiitake mushroom, scallions, toasted sesame seeds, and a savory brown sauce. Here is the problem: real dan dan noodles, whether the soup-heavy Hong Kong version or the sauce-only Sichuan version, look and taste nothing like this. Calling it dan dan noodles is a stretch. It is closer to an Americanized lo mein.

Judged on its own terms, it is passable. The noodles have a pleasant chew rather than turning soggy, the ground pork is properly minced, and the mushrooms add some depth. But the sauce leans sweet and salty at the same time, and the overall flavor feels muddled. If you do buy it, a drizzle of chili oil and a splash of vinegar improve it drastically.

Fly By Jing Shanghainese Soup Dumplings (Xiaolongbao)

These frozen xiaolongbao are the standout convenience item of the test. Steamed in a bamboo steamer, they come out looking the part, with neatly crimped pleats and a rich, savory soup inside the pork filling. The flavor genuinely evokes the soup dumplings you would eat in Shanghai.

The main compromise is the dough, which is a little thicker than fresh restaurant versions, likely a practical choice for surviving the freezer. It is nothing a dip in black vinegar with a slice of ginger cannot complement. Eat them the proper way: bite a small hole first, drain the soup, then enjoy. For anyone who has never tried soup dumplings, this is an excellent introduction.

Fly By Jing Pork, Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings

These bite-sized dumplings can be pan fried or simply boiled for about 10 minutes. Boiling keeps things easy and a bit healthier, and the result looks like dumplings you would fold at home. The filling combines pork, shrimp, scallop, black fungus, and leeks, with the vegetables lending a pleasant sweetness.

The taste is genuinely good, and the black fungus adds nice texture, though the scallop is nearly impossible to detect. The skin runs slightly thick and the dumplings are quite small, but that makes them perfect one-bite pieces. Dip them in black vinegar and they shine.

Fly By Jing Pork, Shrimp and Mushroom Dumplings

The third dumpling variety might be the best of the three. Prepared the same way, boiled for about 10 minutes, these deliver a lot of flavor and a juicy filling, with the sweetness of the mushroom coming through clearly. The shape and size feel right too: small, plump, and bite-sized like the real thing.

Topped with a spoonful of Sichuan Chili Crisp, these dumplings go from very good to memorable, with fermented black bean notes adding an extra savory dimension. Of all the dumplings tasted, these were the favorites.

Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp

Not a frozen item, but an essential companion. This chili crisp delivers deep, savory heat with fermented black beans and crunchy chili flakes. Drizzled over boiled dumplings or stirred into a disappointing noodle bowl, it rescued and elevated more than one dish in this test. If you buy only one thing from this list, a case could be made it should be this jar.

Overall Buying Advice

If you want maximum value, Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken is the clear pick: under $5, feeds a family, and tastes like proper takeout. Skip the P.F. Chang’s egg rolls, and treat the Dan Dan Noodles as lo mein rather than the real thing. For genuine quality, the Fly By Jing dumplings are worth every penny, with the Pork, Shrimp and Mushroom variety and the soup dumplings leading the pack. Keep a jar of the Sichuan Chili Crisp on hand either way.

Conclusion

Supermarket Chinese food is a mixed bag, but the highs are high. The Fly By Jing dumplings taste like the real deal, the Trader Joe’s orange chicken is a bargain that actually delivers, and a good chili crisp fixes almost everything else. Choose based on what you value most: price, convenience, or authentic flavor.