Cheesecake Factory Dupe: Trader Joe’s Buffalo Poppers

Last week, I made my monthly pilgrimage to the culinary holy land: Trader Joe’s. My goal was to stock up on all the treats and deliciousness I would need for the quiet weekend at home I had planned. I grabbed my favorite snacks like pita crackers, pub cheese, soup balls, and chili lime tortilla chips, but as I perused the colossal assortment of frozen foods, I picked up a frozen appetizer that isn’t new to the store, but was new to me: Buffalo chicken poppers.

I haven’t tried any bad frozen meals from Trader Joe’s yet, so I expected these to be tasty, but I didn’t expect them to be almost exactly like one of the most popular items on The Cheesecake Factory’s menu. If you’re familiar with The Cheesecake Factory’s menu, you probably know how delicious their Buffalo Blasts appetizers are. They’re described on the menu as “Chicken, cheese, and our spicy Buffalo sauce, stuffed into a spicy casing and fried until crispy.” What’s not to love?

I put the TJ’s version in my cart and didn’t think much of it, but when I made them the next day, I was shocked at how similar they were to the Cheesecake Factory version. I air fried mine to make them extra crispy and the result was a near-perfect dupe of CF’s Buffalo Blasts. The Trade Joe’s version is a bit smaller, but taste-wise, they’re just as delicious and spicy as the restaurant version.

After devouring them, I figured I couldn’t be the only person who noticed how similar they looked, so I did a Google search. I expected at least a few articles raving about this delicious coincidence, but after scouring the web, all I could find was an old Reddit post from four years ago where a user mentioned CF’s Buffalo Blasts in the comments section. How come more people aren’t talking about how delicious these little frozen appetizers are?!

At the Cheesecake Factory, Buffalo Blasts are served with a blue cheese sauce that doesn’t come with the Trader Joe’s version, so you’ll have to buy (or make) your own dipping sauce. But other than that, if you want a CF dupe that you can make right at home for a lot less money, I can’t recommend this find from the frozen section of Trader Joe’s enough.