Freshe Moroccan Tagine Salmon Meal Review
Author’s Note: These are my own unbiased opinions. I have no affiliation with Freshé Meals or Starkist or Amazon or Wal-Mart or Target. Whew!
We’ve struck oil.
I give the salmon quality 4.5 out of 5 stars. But, the overall meal gets a mediocre 3 stars. I ate it, but I wouldn’t buy it again.
The quinoa mixture is sooo oily, I couldn’t really enjoy it. I was trying to strain the oil out as much as possible with my fork before swallowing it.
Now, I am “Team Fat.” I like fat. I like buttery (or oily) goodness in my food. But this is far beyond a reasonable quantity of oil. This is a ridiculous amount. This is just the portion I was able to separate from my meal. I ate a lot of oil, too. So much oil.
(But not quite as ridiculous as the oil in my Fishwife canned Mackerel with Chili Flakes. Here’s my review.)
Veggies and friends
I appreciated the slices of olives and the sundried tomatoes, but everything-that-isn’t-salmon-or-chickpeas was verrrry soft. Mushy, even. I think the “roasted zucchini” must have been such mush, I couldn’t even identify it. There are a few washed-out carrot cubes. Mostly, there is oil.
Speaking of chickpeas, they are cute! So tiny. Itty-bitty chickpeas. Good firmness. Nice legume compliment to the quinoa grain. But you aren’t getting very many of them. Alas.
Farmed Salmon
There’s a single log of salmon under the other stuff. Although the salmon plank isn’t HUGE, it has a quality, firm texture. It’s light pink with no mushy areas. No skin. No bones. No offensive “fishy” flavor. The firmness reminds me of keta salmon. The bad news is, this is farmed salmon, instead of wild caught.
Flavors
There’s a whisper-light citrusy brightness from the lemon and fennel. But I felt like most of the “flavors” were muted by the oil. Not what I’d call zesty. Overall, it’s a quiet, savory flavor that doesn’t exactly “wow.” Not bland. But bland-adjacent.
Convenient, but small meal
I’ll add that this is a small meal. It’s a little snack, really. Especially if you remove the calories from the oil (because you strained it out … or tried to). There just isn’t a lot of food here. Alas.
The pull-top can is convenient. And it doesn’t need to be heated before eating. I keep shelf-stable meals like this on hand for “hurricane food” here in central Florida. If you know, you know.
Shelf-stable alternatives to this fish meal
What do I prefer instead? Well, surprisingly, I like these little pouches of Starkist Smart Bowls. The presentation is unappealing (who wants to scoop squashed, flattened noodles from a thin plastic pouch? I object!), but the flavors are surprisingly enjoyable. And the textures are better.
Plus, is has the same amount of protein as the canned Freshe meals, while costing about $1 each. 1/6 the price of a Freshe meal. Just saying. I get these at my local Publix, or online from Amazon. Maybe someday I’ll review them. Maybe not. Sorry. I’m tired.
Another solid choice would be Aldi’s Canned Herring in sauce. Here’s my review.
Ingredients in Freshe Moroccan Tagine Salmon Meal
Here are the ingredients, from the label:
- Atlantic Salmon
- Olive Oil
- Chickpeas
- Onion
- Roasted Zucchini
- Carrots
- Lemon Juice
- Tricolor Quinoa
- Black Olives
- Sundried Tomatoes
- Salt
- Parsley
- Dried Lemon
- Fennel Seeds
Pretty good list. As mentioned, the salmon is “farmed.” This meal is made in Portugal.
Nutrition Facts
A serving is one 120 gram can. It contains 340 calories, 29 grams of fat (4 grams saturated fat), and 12 grams of protein. You also get 10 grams of carbs, of which 2 grams are sugar (0 grams “added sugar”) and 4 grams are fiber. There’s 17% each your daily value of sodium, cholesterol, and vitamin D.
Price and Servings
Each can costs about $5-7, depending on whether you get it from Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, or The Fresh Market (where I’ve seen them go on sale for as low as $4.49). These also come in other gourmet-sounding flavors, such as:
- Thai Siriacha
- Sicilian Caponata
- Aztec Ensalada
- Provence Nicoise
Shelf Life
The “best by” date on my can allowed approximately 3 years to consume.
Dramatic Conclusion
I appreciate the above-average variety of vegetables. The flavors are sophisticated, but extremely muted. The salmon has a quality texture, and comes in a solid plank (instead of bits and pieces).
However, I just can’t get past the “swimming pool” of oil. Even if it is olive oil, that’s just too much! It doesn’t drain neatly from the other ingredients, so it’s hard to avoid. And the fish isn’t even wild-caught. Boo. For the price, these little expensive little canned meals just aren’t a hit.
The “Awesome-o-Meter” rates them a “Meh.”
The End.
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