Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n

Gardein Meatless Meats

Since transitioning to a vegetarian diet, I’ve explored various meat alternatives. A more recent find for me has been Gardein’s meatless meats. Gardein has a wide array of meatless products, from meatballs to chick’n tenders, made with soy, wheat and pea proteins, vegetables and ancient grains. While picking up some last minute groceries, I scoured the grocery store for some veggie burgers and other vegetarian meat alternatives. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, I was not the only person to search this frozen food section, and it was pretty picked over. There was one Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n pack left, so I decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did, because I think it’s my new favorite variety!

Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n

Vegan and dairy free, Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n is a quick and easy option for dinner or meal prepping. Like most Gardein products, there are a few different ways to cook this product. I opted to cook them on the stove top, instead of the oven, because the cooking time was lower.

Preparing the Gardein plant based meat

I simply heated a splash of olive oil in the pan on medium heat and added the frozen chick’n to the pan, spreading them around in the oil. After a few minutes, I turned them all over to make sure they heated evenly. The chick’n began to turn golden and crispy.

In all, the Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n cooked within ten minutes. The package recommended six to eight minutes on the stovetop, but it’s a fairly fluid and forgiving process.

While the chick’n was wrapping up in the pan, I turned the stovetop off and heated the sauce in a little pyrex cup in the microwave for 20 seconds. The package recommended defrosting the sauce packet, but it was already liquid at this point. After the sauce was warmed up, I simply poured it into the pan and mixed it all together.

Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n

Serving the Crispy Chick’n

I had a few cups of cooked, plain pasta in the refrigerator, so I decided to warm the pasta in the microwave and then mix it with the chick’n and mandarin orange sauce. The sauce was pretty light and not too sweet. It turned out so well!

Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n served with pasta

While I could definitely see eating the whole package of Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n, especially if I had them without a carb and with a vegetable of some kind, mixing them with pasta made easily two and a half servings.

Next time, I think I’ll roast some broccoli and toss it all together. I think the roasted broccoli would go with the sauce really well.


Shop Kitchen Favorites

Interested in more food content and recipe ideas?
Check out the Cats & Coffee Food and Drink archive here!

 *This post was originally published on March 31, 2020. It was most recently updated on August 15, 2023.