I've been meaning to post about this but keep forgetting. When I was a kid one of my mothers staple "frozen" dinners would be chicken croquettes. They were sized slightly smaller than a baseball and a concoction of chicken and stuffing, rolled bread crumbs, fried, frozen then baked/warmed. It came with a decent chicken gravy to pour on top.
Well needless to say a couple of weeks ago I wasn't in the mood to "cook" and wanted something different and this little guys from my childhood came to mind. I don't think my teenage children had ever experienced them so I went to my frozen section to pick some up. Well to no avail, at either of my two local super markets. Does anyone know......are they still commercially made? I did a google search and recipes come up for recipes but not much about them still being commercially produced and or distributed.
Anyone else remember these and know if they are still sold?
(I also really thought I had posted about this previously but I couldn't find it in search)
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/437610
Around here, the brand was Weaver. I probably haven't bought them in 20 yrs and remember that the yellow gravy seemed to have been made from floor polish. The croquettes were less chickeny than they used to be, too.
No surprise there. I make croquettes from Thanksgiving and roast chicken leftovers. Better than the classic holiday meal!
Hahahaha I thought you were providing me a link to the other "mystery" post I believed I made. I have to remember when I search to expand the time span, I think 12 mos is the default so I miss older threads like that one.
Yes, the gravy was perhaps yellow-ish but I think it was a higher quality floor polish!
Weaver, the disappeared maker of the chicken croquettes and also Chicken Roll......................................
Ever since Weaver was bought by Tyson these have disappeared
I don't know of any commercially available frozen chicken croquettes,
Weaver used to make them, but since becoming part of Tyson they were dropped.
I find this ironic that you posted this today. This afternoon I made a large pot of chicken soup with two whole chickens. I just finished boning and separating the meat. 75% will be used to feed our 4 dogs this week. I'm the only one in the house who likes soup chicken, BUT wife and daughters wanted to know if I was making my famous chicken croquettes for supper. So, I minced up the other 25% with some of the soup veg, made mashed potatoes, seasoned and made balls, rolled in Panko bread crumbs and into the electric skillet. Supper tonight in the B house is chicken soup with chicken croquettes served atop a bed of mashed potatoes with gravy on top and a fresh salad. Pecan brownies for desert.
A great winter supper.
That sounds excellent, bagel. I haven't has a chicken croquette in as many years as jr. I make squash croquettes from a recipe from a little old lady in east Texas, they are always a hit.
How do you make your squash croquettes?
I've never had a croquette in any form and am intrigued by a veggie version. TIA.
A squash corquette as Veggo mentions, like any veg croquette was the forerunner of today's veggie burger.
All you have to do is take your veg(s) of choice mince, season to taste mix into not overly wet mashed potatoes to bind and extend, egg wash, bread crum and fry.
I often flatten the croquettes to about 1/2" then spay an electric skillet with PAM, brown on both sides, place on a sheet pan in the oven 350F for about 25 minutes to avoid the fat and mess of traditional frying method.
Youngest daughter likes a mix of carrots, broccoli, mushroom and onions. Eldest likes eggplant, zucchini, a hint of garlic and some seasoned breadcrumbs in the mashed potatoes. Fried in 2" balls, she will top pasta with these and cover with red sauce considering them her vegetarian meatballs. If you eat cheese, a little grated Romano would go well inside.
Sybil's squash croquette recipe:
3 cups squash, grated
1 small onion, finely diced
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup flour
mix all ingredients, plop spoonsful into enough hot oil that they barely touch the bottom of the skillet, a little over an inch. Turn a couple times until they are golden and just starting to brown, place on paper towels, eat while warm, keep them coming!
Veggo...................
Chicken croquettes are still a common item in the Greek owned diners in the area. some serve them with the yellow gravy, some with brown. Some make ball shaped crouetts, but the most common shape is a cone sitting on a bed of mashed potatoes.
My wife had never seen or tasted chicken croquettes until I made them the first year we were married.
I also make salmon croquettes (using canned pink salmon) several times a year. I don't like fresh salmon but this item from my youth I like.
My mother's chicken and salmon croquettes were favorites growing up, and she used the recipes in a well-used copy of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. She gave me a newer edition when I moved off to college, and I still use the croquette recipes now. They involve making a béchamel to bind the meat, and rolling them in Corn Flake crumbs to bake.
As others have mentioned Weaver no longer makes Chicken Croquettes. Tyson sells them as part of their Food Service Line, but not retail. I'm seeing some indications that some Walmarts may sell Catalina Brand Chicken Croquettes which while claiming to be a taste of the Caribbean are just chicken in cream sauce with crumb breading. I know someone else has to be selling it food service wise because the diners around here all serve them and they're all the same style. There are a few good recipes for making Weaver style ones and then freezing them for later. I've also been able to buy a commercial variety at my local Amish market, repackaged in smaller quantities.
So make it yourself. Not that hard.
You can get them at any foodservice outlet, if they do cash and carry (most do) they are very popular as one of the lowest priced entrees you can get. I sold them to prisons and senior homes, and for employee meals, mostly. If you're lucky they might sell them by the single tray, which could be 20 or so? Not Weaver, I don't think, though.
One of our regular staples as well when I was a kid, sometimes if I see them on a menu, I'll order them, I like then real crunchy on the outside.
I can't tell if these Goya brand croquettes have gravy or not...but here they are
It's odd that good dishes simply disappear. Two more: 1) Deep-fried sea scallops. I have had them recently in New England but they have disappeared from the Midwest, where they used to be an ordinary restaurant menu item. 2) Lemon Meringue Pie---made by hand in a decent restaurant, not mass-produced gluey glop colored with yellow food coloring. It is labor-intensive but so are dozens of trendy desserts currently on offer.
I live in Philadelphia and some of our supermarkets carry Meyers' brand frozen chicken croquettes as well as shepherd's pie and creamed chipped beef.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ch...
I just made these tonight. My mom used to make Meyers with cream gravy instead of the supplied packet of gravy mix. Only change I made to the original recipe was to roll each croquette in melted butter and baked at 350 for about 35 mins instead of frying. I would've added a chicken bouillon to the filling next time as the Meyer ones had a stronger chicken flavor than these.
You can get you fill of croquetas.....in Madrid (!)
Here they are usually filled with Jason (ham) or cheese (usually a pungent kind.)
We grew up eating them but that's because my mom cooked Spanish food. And though I no longer eat pork, I find myself craving them.
I just found some much smaller. Myers brand. I couldn't believe it as it has been YEARS.
I absolutely love the chicken crouquetts my mom use to buy the howard johnsons brand .i have been looking and craveing these for a while and cannot find out were to by them or if you can even by them anymore.
Catalina makes Chicken, Ham and Cheese croquettes. They are supposedly sold in Walmarts. Check out their Brand page http://www.walmart.com/ip/21128422?ww...
go here to petition to get them back on the market!!!!
They were one of my husbands favorites. Sadly, they stopped making them years ago. Out only hope to bring them back, even temporarily would be to petition them. Oh how we miss them. Good luck
Does anyone have a great old fashioned recipe? I've made them from scratch, but something is always off. I'm not interested in recipes that use canned cream soup.
We had Stouffer's Chicken Croquettes that came with a plastic pouch with a white sauce. Yum! Don't think any one still makes these. Pittsburgh PA
Me too! What happened to them? They came with gravy.
What was the company name? Can see the box that looked like Bell & Evans now.
I loved them too !
Stouffers !!
Can’t find them either
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