One of the things I enjoy is tasting new product on the market; my husband will attest to my supply of coupons and list of foods that I want to try. I will be honest and tell you that a lot of the foods I try are because I have a coupon for them or have gotten a sample!

Product Tested

Perdue® Perfect Portions® (Uncooked) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, which are (raw) 4.8 ounce singly-wrapped chicken breasts; 6 breasts per package; cost at my grocery store: $9.99

Flavors Available

Regular, “All natural”, Herb and Pepper, Italian Style, Roasted Garlic with White Wine, Teriyaki, and Tomato Basil

Nutrition Comments

For a 4.8 ounce portion, these chicken breasts have:

• About 130-160 calories (the teriyaki has 160 calories because of the sweet sauce)
• Less than 3 grams of total fat per serving (the garlic has 3 grams, the rest have 1.5-2 grams)
• 0-0.5 grams of saturated fat
• No trans fat
• 65-105 mg of cholesterol
• And about 28 grams of protein (or 4 servings of protein if a serving size is 1 ounce).

The biggest issue is the sodium content: the all-natural has minimal sodium (60 mg) but the italian style, garlic, teriyaki and tomato basil have between 480-690 mg of sodium per serving! (Remember our sodium goal for the ENTIRE day is less than 2300 mg)

Taste Test

I like the idea of each chicken breast being individually wrapped for a time saver, as you don’t have to take the time to buy a package of chicken breasts, trim off the fat, and package it yourself. However, if you are concerned with being environmentally friendly, then this individual packaging isn’t the best thing. Also, boneless, skinless chicken breasts cost about $0.22/ounce; this product costs $0.35/ounce. Of note, it takes about 20-25 minutes to bake each chicken breast.

Due to the limited availability of several flavors in my supermarket, I was only able to try the garlic and the all-natural. My initial thoughts with the garlic was “it’s too garlicky and salty!!!” I gave the portion on my plate to my husband, who thought it had good flavor and taste. He remarked that the chicken was tender and the flavoring was equal throughout the chicken.

The all-natural chicken, when cooked, had lots of flavor and was juicy (I grilled it and added no spices or liquids to it), and tasted a whole lot better than most of the chicken I buy and defrost!

Overall Rating

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being “gross, take it off the market” to 10 being “yum! Can I get stock in this company?”), I would rate the flavored products a 6. It had good taste (and I think the reason I didn’t like the garlic one was because I don’t like a lot of garlicky foods), but the sodium content of the flavored items was a big drawback to me.

Nutritionally, the all-natural or regular ones I would rate a 9, and they too, had good flavor. The only drawback to those items is the packaging and cost–if you are on a tight budget and are concerned about the environment (which we are), then this product is not for you. Otherwise, I would recommend the all natural or regular product to anyone who likes chicken and needs a low-fat protein source.

_{This is not a paid endorsement for this product.}