Monday, December 7, 2015

Day 341 - BBQ Chicken Pizza

As  mentioned elsewhere in this blog, we do not eat a lot of pizza.  When we DO, we often make it ourselves using TJ’s dough ( reviewed here).  But because I wanted to try a product we had not eaten before, I picked up a frozen pizza – TJ’s BBQ Chicken Pizza topped with tangy BBQ sauce, chicken, mozzarella, Gouda, and red onions. 
 
Here's the box.  It is in the frozen food section.
I popped that sucker in the oven the other night when we had some friends from Kansas City staying with us.  They were on a cool quest – Tracy decided she wanted to see as many Christmas trees as she could this holiday season and Vince works for an airline (which means free flights!) so off they went!!!  I had tickets to the White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony so they put DC on their list to visit!  They had been outside for a few hours waiting for the tree to be lit, then had stopped in a pizzeria on the way back to our house (unbeknownst to me, or I would not have tried to feed them PIZZA!).  Anyway, of course I made them try it and help review it even though they weren’t hungry.  J  Cuz that’s  what friends are for, right?

David was the "limo driver" to pick up the guests at the airport.
The box said it was 3 servings of pizza.  We had 2 hungry people (David and myself) and 2 full people (the guests).  After a couple of bites I brought out the Trader Joe’s Green Dragon sauce for those who were interested.  Here is what people thought of the pizza:

After cooking, before eating.
David – “I like it.  It is nice.  I like the sauce and items like the chicken ratio in the middle.  As it gets toward the ends there is quite a lot of CRUST.  Thank God someone recommended Sriracha sauce and that makes it ok in the crusty area, otherwise it would be a little barren.  This could be a dinner.  It is convenient and it is tasty.  I would give it a 4.” (Editor here:  it was not sriracha, it was TJ’s Green Dragon sauce (not yet reviewed), and “someone” did not recommend it, I (Susan) went and got it out of the fridge and walked it allllll the way to the dining room (like 15 steps maybe!).  But TJ’s DOES do a good sriracha sauce, it was reviewed here .

Guest reviewer Vince (married to Tracy, from a small town that loves to shoot off fireworks near Kansas City, where they KNOW their BBQ sauce) – “I enjoyed it, it was very tasty.  But the sauce was lacking and it could use a little bit more BBQ sauce.  I give it a 3.” 

Guest reviewers VINCE and TRACY!
Guest reviewer Tracy (a very fun woman) – “I would give it a 4.5. I REALLLLLY liked it for a frozen pizza.  I am most impressed with the cheese ratio because I always have to add additional cheese to my frozen pizzas and this one I didn’t find lacking in that area at all.  The BBQ sauce was a little sweet for my taste but I got over that pretty quickly and the sriracha sauce was a nice tip!”  (Editor again:  IT WAS GREEN DRAGON SAUCE, PEOPLE!  J )

Me – I thought there was too much CRUST around the edge.  I wish the cheesey part would have spread out further so there was less naked crust.  I could have used more SAUCE on it, too.  I thought the chicken was good, but overall I thought the pizza was a bit boring.  The Green Dragon hot sauce helped a lot, but I do not think you should have to add hot sauce, I think the pizza should be able to stand on its own.  I give it a 3.5

Not a bad price.
Well, scores were pretty varied – from a 3 to a 4.5.  I will average them together and give it a final number.

Tracy on her quest to SEE MANY CHRISTMAS TREES - this one is at Union Station, Washington DC.  
Price – $4.99

Rating – 3.75

6 comments:

  1. What a fun idea your friends have to see all the trees!
    Too funny that they ended up having pizza earlier aaaannnd are from the bbq capital of everything. Haven't tried this one myself (since it has chicken) but i can say that if you haven't had the similar yet totally different "tarte aux champignons " that needs to be next on your to try list. It's actually waaaayyyy better than pizza because the thin crust is puff pastry!! Yeah. TJs has had it for years and it's just this fabulous mushroomy thing with a bit of parmesan
    http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/1273
    Ttrockwood :)

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  2. OH OH OH I like that Tarte aux Champignons" one. David is not as fond of it as I am but I think it rocks.

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  3. The one with ham and onions is phenomenal!

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  4. Agreed! Ham and onions beats BBQ Chicken hands down.

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  5. Tastes great grilled (thaw out first)

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