Chicken Fingers AKA Chicken Goujons - Birds Eye Chicken Goujons (Birds Eye 10 Chicken Goujons)

Member Name: foreveramber

Product:	Birds Eye 10 Chicken Goujons
Date:	01/05/09 (298 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to prepare, 100% chicken breast meat, tasty

Disadvantages: Salt and fat levels a bit high

Here we have yet another new offering from those popular frozen food people at Birds Eye. Naturally, being such an avid follower of healthy eating, I wouldn't venture into this area of frozen food. However, while browsing online a couple of weeks ago during my weekly internet supermarket shop, I spotted these delightful sounding Chicken Goujons. In fact, they were only brought to my attention as I'd clicked onto the 'this weeks offers' box. The offer in question was 'buy one get one free', so I've had two boxes to try out and test.

In case you're not familiar with the word goujon, it normally refers to small strips of fish or chicken that are breaded and fried. Fish Fingers are really fish goujons. I just love the word 'goujon'. Even more I enjoyed shouting out to the kids 'the goujons are ready'. They weren't looking forward to dinner at all.

~~~Packaging~~~

So, onto the packaging. Each square box contains 10 chicken goujons which are loosely floating around inside. The picture on the front shows a tasty looking handful of golden crumbed chicken goujons held by a cardboard sleeve - similar to the sort of container that French fries are held in when purchased from McDonalds. This probably makes the product more appealing to those who enjoy food from fast food outlets.

So what persuaded me to buy them? Well, it declares on the front that they're made with 100% chicken breast meat and are cooked in the oven which is great as I don't fry anything. Although they contain 100% chicken breast meat, the chicken only accounts for 53% of each goujon with the other 47% being made up of breadcrumbs, batter, vegetable oil and marinade.

~~~Cooking~~~

They're simple to cook. Simply take them straight from the freezer and place them onto a baking tray. You have the choice of either grilling them for 12-14 minutes or popping them into the oven for 15 minutes. I can see why so many people are tempted to buy this type of food. One night a week I give myself a break from the laborious preparation time it usually takes me to get a meal ready and find it quite a relief just to pop something into the oven. Then I just need to prepare a few vegetables and the whole lot is done within half an hour.

~~~Appearance and Taste~~~

When taking the frozen goujons out of the box, I can't say they look particularly tempting. In fact, they look kind of gray and speckled with seasoning. I was hoping they'd improve after their time in the oven.
After around 10 minutes in the oven, the kids started wondering into the kitchen, asking what that yummy smell was. Typical. Something that is so easy to prepare brings this kind of response but my slaved over meals hardly ever receive a similar welcome. Still, I have to agree, they smell delicious.

Once the time was up and they were all sizzling away, I took them out of the oven. I have to say, however, that they certainly didn't resemble the photo on the front. Although the crumbed outer coating had browned slightly, they were absolutely nothing like the even golden colour of the goujons depicted on the cover of the box.

What they lacked in colour, they made up for in taste and were a big hit all round. The outside is quite spicy, but not a chilli hot type of spicy. The chicken inside is lovely and moist, not at all dry. My youngest daughter peeled off the outer layer and ate that, while kindly donating the chicken to her brother and sister. Unfortunately I didn't notice this until it was too late. But it does show that spice wise, the crumb taste is enjoyed by a 5 year old.

~~~Nutrition~~~

Healthwise, they're not too bad. Four goujons provide 285 calories, 15g of fat and 1.3g of salt. So providing you serve them with vegetables or salad, they can make quite a nice meal.

~~~Price and Availability~~~

These are new from Birds Eye and I purchased them from Sainsburys. They currently cost £1.87 for a box of 10.

Summary: Tasty takeaway style chicken that kids love