Is Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken Keto?
Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken is not keto-friendly because it is a high-carb processed food that contains unhealthy ingredients like sugar, soybean oil, and enriched flour.
Too Much Carbs!
Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken should be avoided on keto because it is very high in net carbs (16.43g of net carbs per 100g serving).
It is important to limit your net carb consumption to 20g - 30g per day to stay in ketosis. You can calculate your ideal daily net carb allowance by using this keto macros calculator.
As an alternative, you may look for other frozen meals that are low in net carbs.
Contains Sugar
Sugar is a high-glycemic sweetener that can raise your blood sugar level and prevent you from reaching ketosis.
As an alternative, you may look for other frozen meals that use keto-friendly sweeteners like stevia, monk fruit, or erythritol.
You can check out our full list of best and worst sweeteners for keto here.
Contains Soybean Oil
Soybean Oil is a highly refined oil that is prone to oxidation and may cause inflammation in the body.
Highly refined oils are usually extracted using high heat and chemicals. This process strips out the nutrients from the oil and replaces them with harmful chemicals.
It is important to get your fats from healthy sources so your body can burn clean fuel while on ketosis. You may check out our list of best and worst oils for keto here.
Contains Harmful Food Additives
Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken contains enriched flour and modified starch which are included in our list of food additives to avoid for keto.
Food additives are potentially harmful to health and should be avoided as much as possible.
Most of your diet should come from minimally processed foods to achieve a healthy weight loss on keto.
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Ingredients
Battered Chicken Dark Meat Chunks: (Chicken Dark Meat, Water, Corn Starch, Flour [Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour, Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], Whole Eggs, Vegetable Oil, Salt, White Pepper, Green Onion, Garlic, Ginger), Sauce: (Sugar, Water, Vinegar, Light Soy Sauce [Soybean, Water, Salt, Wheat Flour], Modified Food Starch, Dark Soy Sauce [Soybean, Water, Straw Mushroom Extractives, Salt, Wheat Flour], Garlic, Green Onions, Ginger, White Pepper, Sake, Mandarin Orange Peel, Orange Juice, Red Chile), Soybean Oil.