Gwynedd Stuart
Saffron Road is one of those rare brands that’s putting out more hits than misses. I’ve taste tested a lot of frozen meals, and I truly can’t stress enough how rare that is. Our full taste test of Saffron Road frozen meals (which you can watch below) was actually kind of a delight!
If you’re not familiar, Saffron Road is a brand that markets “world cuisine” in the frozen aisle. Most of their dishes are Indian-inspired—I know people are really into Saffron Road chicken tikka masala, but it just wasn’t good enough to make our list!—but there are also a few random Thai and Mexican(ish) dishes, too. These meals probably aren’t going to rival what you get at your favorite local restaurants, but they’re a lot more interesting than a lot of you’ll find in a frozen aisle. A gal can only eat so much frozen lasagna. Based on flavor and authenticity (to an extent), these are the best Saffron Road frozen meals.
- Saffron Road Butter Chicken
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If you’re deciding between Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala and Saffron Road Butter Chicken, go with the butter chicken. The flavor profiles are very similar, but the butter chicken is just a little bit tastier (the tikka masala sauce tasted too much liked dried spices). The sauce isn’t as thick as we wish it was, but there’s a lot of it, and that’s nice. My colleague Justine Sterling and I concede that we aren’t butter chicken experts (it’s not something we usually order from our respective take-out spots), so we can’t speak to this frozen meal’s authenticity, but it has that sort of generic “tandoori” sort of flavor we like without tasting too much like dried spices. The coriander seed in basmati rice is a nice touch, too.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Saffron Road Spinach Palak Paneer
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Okay, we admitted we aren’t butter chicken experts, but both Justine and I regularly order saag paneer from our local Indian restaurants. What’s the difference between saag paneer and palak paneer? Hey, glad you ask. Saag paneer can be made with any leafy greens (and paneer cheese, of course), but palak paneer is specifically made with spinach. Either way, I gotta say, I like my paneer dishes a little creamier than this one, but it’s still good. The paneer is the best part. You get a good number of chunks and they’re super mild and creamy tasting. The spinach is nicely spiced, too—it’s a very convincing take on the dish and I love that it’s really unique as far as frozen-aisle offerings go.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Saffron Road Chicken Pad Thai
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Saffron Road’s pad thai is good, as long as you don’t really expect it to taste like pad thai—can you do that for me? Okay, great! The rice noodles are springy and satisfying and the sauce has that signature tang (which actually comes from tomato paste rather than tamarind), but all in all, this tastes way more like sesame noodles than pad thai. That said, sesame noodles with carrots, green onions, and nice, big hunks of white meat chicken don’t sound so bad, do they? This was the meal I kept going back for bites of during our taste test.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Saffron Road Chicken Enchiladas Poblanos
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I absolutely hate frozen enchiladas. Whenever anyone asks about my least favorite Sporked taste test, I also think of that one. Something about the smell of corn tortillas and cumin-packed enchilada sauce—man, it turns my stomach just thinking about it! All that said, I was absolutely STUNNED that this was one of the best Saffron Road frozen meals we tried. The enchiladas taste more like tamales—the filling even seems like it could include some masa with the chicken mush. It’s highly satisfying mush that tastes surprisingly good.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Saffron Road Chicken & Potatoes
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We tried this Saffron Road frozen meal in our recent taste test of low calorie frozen dinners, and it’s surprisingly great, especially considering it has fewer than 300 calories. The big chunks of chicken are tender and juicy and they’re surrounded by little cubes of potato in a thick, tomatoey red pepper sauce that’s inspired by Moroccan cuisine. This is spicy and unique and a perfect low cal meal.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Saffron Road Vegetable Biryani
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Saffron Road Chicken Biryani is not great, so we were even more surprised by how much we like their Vegetable Biryani. This rice dish is loaded with interesting stuff—cauliflower that eats kind of like a substitute protein, caramelized onions that add lots of savory flavor, peas, and cashews, too. It looks dry and bland, but it’s not. Promise. Plus, this was the only totally vegan dish of the Saffron Road frozen meals we tried. It’s gluten free, too! This is a meal everyone can enjoy—don’t let the looks of it deceive you.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
Saffron Road!
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Other Saffron Road frozen meals we tried
Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala, Saffron Road Chicken Biryani, Saffron Road Lamb Saag, Saffron Road Coconut Curry Chicken
Griffin Parker
Luke Field
Hey Saffron Road, If you’re still listening, how about some more paneer offerings? Paneer curry? Matar Paneer? Dal Makhani would be appreciated, too. I do like your products and buy them often.
We’re listening 👀💛 Thanks so much for the love and for these delicious suggestions! Paneer curry, matar paneer, and dal makhani are all favorites around here too. We’ll be sure to share this with our culinary team as they continue to cook up new recipes in the test kitchen—keep the ideas coming!
We’ll take a seat at the Sporked table anyyyyy day 💛 Thanks for tasting and ranking our meals! Seeing longtime favorites (and a few surprises 👀) in the mix makes our day. We’re all about bold, globally inspired flavors made for real-life moments, so we love hearing what hits the mark—and what could be improved. So glad these made an impression, and we’re always listening (in a non-creepy way) as we continue our Journey to Better!
Chef Bombay is better than either but can be harder to find.
I’ve only had the Indian Saffron Road entrees, but I’ve had them all except the Vegetable Biryani. Cauliflower doesn’t usually play well with my supertaster palate, but I’ll give the vegetable biryani a try. I agree with you that the Butter Chicken is better than the Chicken Tikka Masala. I like the Coconut Curry Chicken, but I’m a coconut freak and could see some people not liking it. I think probably my biggest disagreement is with the Lamb Saag. I’m not a big fan of lamb and didn’t expect to like it, but I did. I thought the lamb flavor was pretty mild. I wonder if different batches vary. Saffron Road is good overall, but Deep Indian Kitchen is better.