Credit: Griffin Parker / Saffron Road
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We know Saffron Road produces great frozen meals, but are those meals too authentic? Where’s the whimsy? Where’s the feeling that two cultures were tossed together in the pursuit of culinary science? Saffron Road now produces a line of Crossroads meals aiming to mash up international flavors from the comfort of your own home. I got my hands on nearly every meal from this new frozen dinner line; let’s find out if Saffron Road can truly do it all.
- Saffron Road Crossroads: Lemon Miso Chicken Alfredo Review
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Pros: This was a strong start–very herbaceous and bright for a frozen dinner. The advertised lemon is here in spades, while the texture of the pasta and chicken was much better than expected. I’ve had plenty of frozen pasta dinners; this is a top-tier chicken Alfredo option.
Cons: The miso I came to see is also here… barely. This meal gets points for being a very good rendition of chicken Alfredo, but it loses points for not embodying what it’s described as.
Credit: Griffin Parker / Saffron Road
- Saffron Road Crossroads: Butter Chicken Cavatappi Review
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Pros: The lovely tomato-butter sauce pairs well with the melted mozzarella for an ooey-gooey, cheesy experience in every forkful.
Cons: The cavatappi texture took some getting used to, since this authentic aroma has my brain expecting rice. The yogurt-marinated chicken is fine; flavor-wise, it’d be much stronger if it were marinated in that tomato-butter sauce instead. And where’s the spice?
Credit: Griffin Parker / Saffron Road
- Saffron Road Crossroads: Hatch Chile Chicken Pesto Review
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Pros: Bowtie isn’t an easy pasta to cook in the best of circumstances, so I’m genuinely impressed that this microwaved variant pulled it off so well. The hatch chile spice level here is no joke either; the Butter Chicken Cavatappi could definitely learn a thing or two.
Cons: The texture of this chicken was the least appealing of the three chicken dishes I marathoned through. It seems like the bowtie was prioritized in this dish, and the protein suffered as a result.
Credit: Griffin Parker / Saffron Road
- Saffron Road Crossroads: Beef Birria Rigatoni Review
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Pros: Rigatoni was a great choice for this meal, since the noodles end up completely filled with beef birria after a good stirring. While this is labeled as having the same spice level as the Lemon Miso Chicken Alfredo, it’s definitely closer to the “Medium Spice” Hatch Chili Chicken Pesto–and I’m not complaining.
Cons: The pasta was a little chewy; it sounds nitpicky, but that’s a key factor when the bulk of a meal is pasta.
Credit: Griffin Parker / Saffron Road
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About the Author
Griffin Parker is a writer, "influencer" under the handle @SodaSeekers, and extraordinarily busy person based in Columbus, Ohio. He's sacrificed countless hours in the pursuit of ranking Lindt Lindor truffles, HI-CHEW candies, and more. When he's not writing for Sporked, you can find Griffin espousing the virtues of Dayton-style pizza, Cincinnati-style chili, and Dolly Parton's Fabulously Double Fudge Brownie Mix.
Griffin Parker
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