[Product review] Fudi creates high-end frozen dinners

Growing up, my family did not buy frozen dinners. Even now, I make most of my food from scratch but periodically buy frozen pizzas, Jamaican patties, and Chinese dumplings.

When I was given samples to try out frozen dinners from Fudi Canada (www.fudi.ca), I wanted to make sure it was healthy and the portions were substantial, since my husband and I have great appetites.

About Fudi:

Fudi was founded by Maurizio Racco after he found that he could not find healthy, exquisitely-prepared, yet quick dinner options in the frozen-food aisle. The ingredients in the packages are locally sourced and slow cooked and preserved using the sous-vide method. The sous-vide method eliminates the risk of contamination by e-coli, salmonella, listeria and other harmful pathogens. For a home cook, this also means all I had to do was place the bags into a pot of boiling water to prepare a delicious dinner. Yes!

Currently, there are 5 chicken flavours including Pollo (chicken) tandoori, jerk, cajun, sante fe, and alla cacciatora. The free-range chicken is locally sourced from Beretta Farms  and is antibiotic and hormone free, and served with 1/4 cup of pearl barley sourced from Ottawa Valley Grain Products; and 1 cup of uncooked, Ontario (when available) organic baby kale that is field frozen and sourced from AJ Lanzarotta.

So how was my experience trying Fudi?

• I liked that the packaging had simple pictures and instructions.

• The preparation was easy and convenient as all I had to do was drop the packages into boiling water for 17 minutes.

• I did not open the bags directly onto a plate since the kale had too much liquid. Instead, I put the kale in a colander first.
• As for taste, the chicken for all 5 flavours were well seasoned and moist. The barley was done nicely.
• The portions for one package was enough for 1 person. Unlike many frozen dinners, I find the portions too small.
• The price is well worth it for $9.99 a pack or $45 for a variety pack

Now, I did find the food repetitive after eating 5 packs over a span of a few days. The variation in the flavours was similar. As the company expands, it would be nice to see different meats, grain and vegetable choices as the offerings are only chicken, pearl barley and kale at the moment.

Fudi is currently available at Whole Foods across the province, as well as select Foodland locations. I may not be the target market for this product since I rarely eat frozen dinners but would buy this again to prepare when I need a quick weeknight dinner and want an inexpensive and healthy option. It’s also nice to support food that has sustainable practices and is sourced locally.

Follow them on social media for more updates:

facebook.com/fudicanada
instagram.com/fudi_ca
twitter.com/fudi_ca
www.fudi.ca

*Disclosure: I was given the samples to try but this is not a sponsored post as I chose to review the product. All opinions and views expressed in the post are my own.