My family and I had the opportunity to try the new Wanchai Ferry Restaurant Favorites Orange Chicken through the General Mills Pssst program.

When I opened the box and saw the small amount of ingredients, I did not believe that even with adding 1 lb of chicken that there was enough food for five servings. I was pretty skeptical.

I cooked the chicken according to directions with the provided seasoned cornstarch and the sauce while cooking the enclosed rice. I was VERY surprised at the large amount of rice we ended up with. I make rice all of the time and could not believe that such a small package would expand that much! It was definitely enough!

The hot peppers came in separate packaging from the sauce and could be added according to individual tastes. My family likes spicy foods so I added all of the peppers. If I had read the instructions more thoroughly I would have squeezed the bag with the peppers to loosen the seeds and make it even more spicy. As it was, it had good flavor without doing that.

The box said that it contained five servings. Not for my family! I have a 15-year-old son and a husband with a large appetite. Still, it was plenty of food for the three of us. It would be fine for four people with average appetites and possibly five with appropriate side dishes.

The Orange Chicken tasted great! As mentioned earlier, it had a good amount of spice and the sauce was tasty. Though the kit contained white rice, it went well with the dinner and cooked well. My only true complaint is that there was not enough sauce. And if you were to add vegetables, which was a serving suggestion, there definitely would NOT be enough sauce.

According to the website, the package price averages $4.79. Note that I received the package for free.

Because I’m a pretty good cook, I RARELY buy boxed meals that require adding meat. (I have very bad memories of packaged hamburger dishes vaguely resembling stroganoff.) That being said, and based on taste alone, I would buy this. I do find the price just a little high for this type of boxed dinner, but it is much better than others I have tried in the past.

Nutrition Highlights
Servings per box: 5
Serving size: about 1 cup
Calories per serving: 350
Calories from fat: 70
Sodium: 460 mg

Next week we’ll try the Chicken Piccata.

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