Last week I made my monthly pilgrimage to the culinary holy land: Trader Joe’s. My goal was to stock up on all the treats and goodies I could possibly need for the lazy weekend at home I had planned. I grabbed my go-to snacks like pita crackers, pub cheese, soup dumplings, and chili and lime rolled tortilla chips, but as I was perusing the colossal assortment of frozen foods, I picked up a frozen appetizer that isn’t new to the store, but was new to me — Buffalo Style Chicken Poppers.
I’ve yet to try a bad Trader Joe’s frozen meal, so I expected these to be tasty, but I didn’t expect them to be almost exactly like one of The Cheesecake Factory’s most popular menu items. If you’re familiar with the Cheesecake Factory’s menu, you’re probably aware of how delicious their Buffalo Blasts appetizers are. They’re described on the menu as “Chicken, Cheese and Our Spicy Buffalo Sauce all Stuffed in a Spiced Wrapper and Fried until Crisp.” What’s not to love?
I tossed the TJ’s version in my cart and didn’t think much of it, but when I made them the following day, I was shocked at how similar they were to the Cheesecake Factory’s version. I air-fried mine to get them extra crispy and the result was a near-perfect dupe of CF’s Buffalo Blasts. The Trade Joe’s version is a little smaller, but taste-wise, they’re just as delicious and spicy as the restaurant version.
After devouring them, I figured I couldn’t be the only person to have noticed how similar they are, so I Googled. I expected at least a few articles raving about this delicious coincidence but after scouring the web all I found was an old post on Reddit from four years ago where one user mentioned CF’s Buffalo Blasts in the comment section. How are more people not talking about how delicious these little frozen appetizers are?!
At the cheesecake factory, Buffalo Blasts are served with a side of blue cheese dressing which isn’t provided with the version from Trader Joe’s so you’ll need to buy (or make) your own dipping sauce. But other than that, if you want a CF dupe you can make right at home for a lot less money, I can’t recommend this Trader Joe’s frozen section find enough.
